Born out of initiatives that developed in Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and expanded in Pres. Harry S. Truman's administration and then in Pres. John F. Kennedy's New Frontier, the Great Society encompassed President Lyndon B. Johnson's "War on Poverty"
In the Election of 1964 Johnson is challenged by conservative Republican Barry Goldwater for president, but wins in a landslide. LBJ platform of "The Great Society" was a sweeping set of New Deal-type economic and welfare measures aimed to transform America. Public sentiment aroused by Michael Harrington’s The Other America (1962) which showed 20% of US population and over 40% of blacks lived in poverty. Compelling description of impoverished areas of America. Played a role in persuading President Johnson to make the war on poverty the centerpiece of his Great Society
Michael Harrington - Poverty: Hopeful or Hopeless" - Part 1
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