The War on Poverty was launched in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. 1 It was an enormously ambitious effort. Its goal was to attack the problem of poverty in the United States.
The country is still feeling the effects of this effort. The costs involved throughout the years plague us. Government dependant households have been created by the various programs which are going on now or have gone on in the past.
However, many of America’s citizens have benefited greatly. Many of the programs have given a hand up to American’s ambitious enough to utilize the tools provided by the various programs.
President Johnson launched his War on Poverty program in his inaugural address 1964. [1] In the years following the initiation of the War on Poverty controversy has accompanied the evolution of the many programs and efforts to help the poor in the United States. In the early years of the program, President Johnson was successful in getting congress to pass a surprising amount of legislation. Viewing a partial list of some of the accomplishments one can see the vast influence the program had over a diverse population. Laws such as Economic Opportunity Act (1964) provided the basis for the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), the Job Corps, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), Upward Bound, Head Start, Legal Services, the Neighborhood Youth Corps, the Community Action Program (CAP), the college Work-Study program, Neighborhood Development Centers, small business loan programs, rural programs, migrant worker programs, remedial education projects, local health care centers, and others. There are more programs which came directly from the War on Poverty initiative. Important measures with antipoverty functions included an $11 billion tax cut (Revenue Act of 1964), the Civil Rights Act (1964), the Food Stamp Act (1964), the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act (1965), the Higher Education Act (1965), the Social Security amendments creating
Medicare/Medicaid (1965), the creation of the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (1965), the Voting Rights Act (1965), the Model Cities Act (1966), the Fair
Housing Act (1968), several job-training programs, and various Urban Renewal-related
projects. [2]
This paper will examine several of the programs that came out of the War on Poverty and their short and long term affects. First to be examined is the program for Education and Family.
The TRIO programs have a long history of supporting students, from middle school to college, as they achieve success and continue into higher education. The first reauthorization of the Higher Education Act in 1968 created the TRIO label that continues to be used today. TRIO initially referred to the three programs; Upward Bound, Educational Talent Search, and Student Support Services that existed within this reauthorization of the Higher Education Act designed to assist low-income, first generation college students, and students with disabilities to begin and complete a post-secondary education. [3]
When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Higher Education Act of 1965, at Texas State University he intended for the new law to give financial and other assistance to students in need of such aid. He wanted higher education to be available to poor whites as well as poor blacks, both from urban areas and from rural areas. This new law focused particularly on giving financial assistance for students in postsecondary and higher education programs.
Congress regularly reauthorizes this law, as they have done in 1968, 1971, 1972, 1980, 1986, 1992, 1998 and 2008. It is next due to be revisited in 2013.
The Educational Opportunity Act was responsible for creating the Upward Bound program. The focus of Upward Bound is to provide needed resources and training for those eligible. One goal of Upward Bound is to help students in grade six through twelve understand their educational opportunities. As Arthur Shostak points out in Journal of Marriage, “the purpose of the program was to facilitate local schools and get parents involved in creating a school system that would equip the students to meet the needs of consecutive generations.
As is present in almost all of the initiatives of the Great Society, Civil Rights issues were addressed. Upward Bound was a benefit to the poor African Americans, rural and urban.
After the reauthorization act of 1968 Upward Bound came under the authority of The Higher Education Act. When that happened the term TRIO came into being. Part of the purpose was to help students stay in college until they earned their degree.
At that time TRIO administered five programs. Now it oversees eight. They are,
o Educational Opportunities Centers
o Robert E McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement
o Student Support Services
o Talent Search
o Training Program for Federal TRIO Programs Staff
o Upward Bound Math-Science
o Veterans Upward Bound
In the opinion of some, one of the most immediately helpful aspects of this program was the creating of the Pell Grant. This grant has helped thousands upon thousands to attend higher educational institutions. Again, as is present in any government run program there was and is inefficiency. The nation as a whole has benefited in some degree from the Higher Education Act.
As Timothy Maga points out in his article All the Way With LBJ, President Johnson was extremely persuasive in urging both parties to join him in his war on Civil Rights. When Lyndon B. Johnson was a senator and contemplating a run for higher office he knew he needed some notoriety and a platform that would resonate with the public. He needed a cause to show himself a national leader and effective in getting things done. He realized that one of the country’s leading issues was the civil rights movement. In February of 1957 Martin Luther King was the cover story on Time magazine. He felt a need to lead the charge to pass a bill in the legislature that ensured desegregation in schools and one that would enforce black voting rights. “We can never make him President unless the Senate first disposes of civil rights,” (two of his associates) Richard Russell told George Reedy in 1956.” [4] (Dallek, 2004)
But the law that was passed in 1957 did little to help race relations. As President, he again visited the issue and after putting great pressure on many senators the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 was signed into law before a national television audience. He was concerned that many in the South would not abide by the law and lead to civil disturbances as well as have a negative effect on his presidency. But as a result, by the 1980’s blacks were able to vote without question and attend school without segregation. [5]
As a major part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society program, the National Council on the Arts was established in 1964. This step was taken even before there was funding for the program. President Johnson appointed the first members of the council and it included many well know artists.
This program evolved into a government agency known as The National Endowment for the Arts, or the NEA. The NEA was established in 1965. Since then the NEA has awarded more than $4 billion by funding more than 128,000 grants.
The general purpose for the NEA is, according to their web site, to encourage state and local arts agencies to develop long-term strategies to help establish the arts as basic to the education of students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade; encourages state and local education agencies to develop and implement sequential arts education programs; encourages the involvement of artists and cultural organizations in enhancing arts in education for a broad segment of the population; encourages the career development of excellent teachers and professional artists involved in education; develops and stimulates research to teach quality education in the arts; encourages the development of improved curriculum materials, evaluation, and assessment of arts education programs; fosters cooperative programs with the U.S. Department of Education; and encourages dissemination of information and research about current and past successful arts education programs. Arts Education Partnership grants, the only grant category at this time, are available for state arts agencies only. The Arts Endowment also supports a limited number of National Leadership Initiatives based on the priorities of the Agency and funds available. Several present arts education initiatives support, directly or indirectly, the professional development needs of teachers and other education service providers. Depending on the type of initiative, grants or cooperative agreements may be made to nonprofit organizations if donations to such organizations qualify as a charitable deduction under Section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. This definition includes state and local governments. Requests for proposals are issued by the NEA for most National Leadership Initiatives. [6]
According to conductor James Levine,
“In the years since its inception, the National Endowment for the Arts has contributed enormously to the health and growth of the arts in the United States. It is a great honor for me to be among the first recipients of this award, and an honor to the art form itself that the NEA is recognizing the important place of opera in the artistic life of this country.”
Gregory Wilson points out that one of President Johnson’s goals was to provide the nation with exhibitions of excellent art in the form of dances, shows, opera, and violin orchestras. The Kennedy Center, in Washington DC is perhaps one of the most recognizable accomplishments of the NEA.
Another evidence of nationwide impact for the arts is the NEA Learning in the Arts for Children and Youth. Grants are direct grants awarded for standards-based arts education programs. In the program children must participate and interact with teachers, artists and visual art. This is accomplished by providing funding to national and state arts education programs. In 2008, 216 grants totaling $6.7 million were awarded.
Another success of the NEA is the “Songs of the Century” project. The “Songs of the Century” project, sponsored by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), is a nationwide education initiative intended to promote a better understanding of America’s musical and cultural heritage in our schools. Distributed to schools throughout the country, the “Songs of the Century” curriculum is designed to help further an appreciation for the music development process, including songwriting, musicianship, recording, performing, producing, distributing and the development of cultural values.” [7]
In a press release on March 7, 2001, by Hilary Rosen, president of RIAA, Recording Industry of America,
The Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the arts (NEA) announced today the “Songs of the Century” project, a nationwide education initiative intended to promote a better understanding of America’s musical and cultural heritage, recording, performing, producing, distributing and development of values.
American Music has touched everyone’s lives throughout its short history. It’s the perfect educational tool”, said Hilary Rosen, President and CEO of RIAA. “Our list represents many different genres throughout all parts of the 20th century. And our hope is that each song will help tell a different story,” Rosen Concluded.
“Songs of the Century” project, which began in September will connect students in 10,000 fifth-grade classrooms with the finest American vernacular music of the 20th Century. Ivey said, “It’s an important first step linking the NEA with America’s popular music heritage, and with the recording industry.” National Endowment for the Arts.
Charles Schottand points out in his article in the Journal of Marriage that many families that use the system never explore ways to free themselves from government aid. (Schottand 1967). The American Independent Party platform in 1968 expressed concern that though living in urban areas seems attractive to many, often those areas cannot provide employment needed to support the population. (American Independent Party Platform 1968)
These are only a few of the widely known programs launched by the NEA. There have been failures and disagreements in this agency, just as there are in any bureaucratic agency. The two most hotly debated issues center around budget and selection of recipients of grants.
Lyndon Johnson’s hope for the Great Society was that the disenfranchised would be given the help they needed to compete and succeed in their society. Many of the individual aspects of the program have succeeded and some have failed. No one can argue that the nation hasn’t made significant strides forward in areas such as civil rights, health care and broadcasting. However, one tragedy is that while helping out many people has occurred handing out has occurred and still does. The dilemma is how to adequately administer such a huge combination of government programs while not creating large groups of people who have no motivation to better themselves.
[1] Johnson, Lyndon B. ‘Great Society’ Speech.” The Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. Retrieved March 21, 2011, from American History Online. ItemID=WE52&iPin;=E02950&SingleRecord;=True
2 http://www.ushistory.org/us/56e.asp
3 Shostak, Arthur B. (1967). Government Programs and the Family. Journal of Marriage and Family, 29, (1): 124-139.
[4] Dalleck, Robert. (2004). Portrait of a President. New York, NY. Oxford Press
[5] Maga, Timothy. (2003). “All the Way with LBJ’: 1964′”1965.” The 1960s, An Eyewitness History. New York: Retrieved March 21, 2011, from American History Online. Inc. http://www.fofweb.com2/activelink2.asp ItemID=WE52&iPin;=EH60SEssay05&SingleRecord;=True
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