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President L. B. Johnson And The War On Poverty

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What is the "War on Poverty"? “President Lyndon Johnson declared "unconditional war" on poverty. The term "war on poverty" generally refers to a set of initiatives proposed by Johnson's administration, passed by Congress, and implemented by his Cabinet agencies. President Johnson addressed his efforts, "Our aim is not only to relieve the symptoms of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it."” The war on poverty was initiated to help people in need off financial, housing, educational, and occupational support in order to help citizens. The program was used to place programs throughout the U.S based on demand system. Programs implemented by President L.B. Johnson are “the Social Security Amendments of 1965, the Food Stamp Act of …show more content…

The Food Stamp Act provides people on certain types of government aid to receive food stamps to purchase food. The Economic Opportunity Act “established the Job Corps, the VISTA program, the federal work-study program and a number of other initiatives. It also established the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), the arm of the White House responsible for implementing the war on poverty and which created the Head Start program in the process.” The Elementary and Secondary Education Act provides free education for children in the public school system. This Act dispensed “subsidizing school districts with a large share of impoverished students, among other provisions.” They instilled another Act called “the No Child …show more content…

“Since Lyndon Johnson's launching of the War on Poverty in 1964, America has spent $22 trillion in taxpayer dollars on programs aimed at reducing poverty.” (Have We Won the War on Poverty?, 2014) “We won in the sense that programs for the poor have dramatically reduced hardship and kept millions from destitution.” (Samuelson, 2014) The decrease of the poverty line is attributed to supply of government programs throughout the U.S. These programs help both students and adults gain the financial support in which they are unable to support themselves. The U.S have won in regards to providing these programs. Many programs have been implemented based off of the programs created by President L.B. Johnson. Factors that present a positive outcome of the War on Poverty includes, “The percent of the population in poverty when measured to include tax credits and other benefits has declined from 25.8 percent in 1967 to 16.0 percent in 2012.” With the aid of government assistance, people are more likely to rise above the poverty line which aids the growth of the economic structure. “Social Security has played a crucial role in lowering poverty among the elderly. Poverty among those aged 65 and older was 35 percent in 1960. Following rapid expansions in Social Security in the 1960s and 1970s, poverty among the elderly fell to 14.8 percent in 2012.” When people retire they often do not

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