LBJ & THE WAR ON POVERTY This research paper di

The War on Poverty was oversold by LBJ and others and never lived up to its initial expectations. However, it did make if only temporarily a substantial dent in the rate of poverty in the United States. Certain anti-poverty programs including Medicare and Medicaid, Headstart and some others, which stood the test of time, made lasting contributions to the welfare of the American people. The basic reasons why the War on Poverty failed in material respects were that it was under-financed, largely due to the demands of the Vietnam War, poorly managed and over-politicized.

When LBJ took the helm after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, he made up his mind to persuade the conservative Congress, which had stalled much of JFK's legislative agenda, to enact it. This included a proposed tax cut and civil rights, anti-poverty, medical and education bills. LBJ made the War on Poverty a centerpiece of his domestic goals for several reasons. 1. Andrews (1998) said he had been exposed to poverty during his "childhood in the hardscrabble hills of central Texas, teaching poor children in South Texas, and working for New Deal agencies," including his stint as Texas Director of the National Youth Administration (p. 10); 2. resources appeared to be available

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inued to escalate since then (Dallek, p. 210). Given the tremendous increase in medical and hospital costs in this country since LBJ's time, one can only conclude that without these federal subsidies, the elderly poor would face a a much more catastrophic situation than is in fact the case today. Other programs which formed part of the War on Poverty have proved their value. One is Headstart, federally subsidized pre-schooling for the poor. Another is the foodstamp program which has survived the cutbacks in federal welfare programs during the past decade and other types of aid to children. Opinions differ as to how effective the mainstream portions of the War on Poverty have been. According to Dallek, the number of Americans below the poverty rate (in the 1960s an annual income below $3000), declined from 58 million in 1959 to 25.9 million in 1967 (p. 330). He said that 14 percent of whites were below the poverty rate in 1959 and 10 percent in 1967. The comparable figures for African-Americans were 47 percent and 35 percent, respectively (p. 330). Chafe cited similar statistics: the number of families living in poverty declined from 40 million in 1959 to 25 million in 1968. Median black family income rose during that same perio
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Approximate Word count = 2521
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)