 
America's War on Poverty
By the early '60s, jobs for unskilled workers had begun to disappear. The North's economic base shifted away from manufacturing, the nation reduced its dependency on coal, and the economy slowed. As part of his New Frontier, President John F. Kennedy proposed several initiatives to address poverty and generally improve the lives of the American people: aid to children of unemployed workers (the Social Security Amendment of 1961); an increase in the minimum wage to $1.25 per hour (the Minimum Wage Act of 1961); the authorization of $5 billion to clear slums and create housing projects (Housing Act of 1961); and The Public Welfare Amendments of 1962.
Building on Kennedy's efforts, President Lyndon Johnson set out to create a Great Society in which poverty would be eliminated. Less than two months after he was sworn into office, President Johnson used his State of the Union address to declare "unconditional war on poverty," launching a series of initiatives designed to end poverty forever. In an effort to provide the poor with "a hand up and not a hand out," Johnson used his extensive legislative skills to pass the Economic Opportunity Act with provisions for Job Corps, VISTA, Community Action Programs, Head Start, Legal Services, Foster Grandparents, and the development of the Office of Economic Opportunity.
Johnson's efforts to combat the ravages of poverty in America were not limited to the War on Poverty programs. The Appalachian Regional Development Act authorized $1 billion in relief to the eleven-state region of Appalachia. The Elementary and Secondary School Education Act (ESEA) was designed to equalize the educational opportunities for all children through loans and grants to elementary and secondary public and secondary schools. Settling years of debate regarding the role of the federal government in supporting medical care, the Social Security Amendments of 1965 included a mandatory program for hospital insurance and an optional program of physician care for those sixty-five years of age or older. Also in 1965 Congress established the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to improve housing in cities, passed the Older Americans and Medicaid Acts, and enacted the Food Stamps program. In 1967 the Johnson Administration sought approval for the Work Incentive Program (WIN) in which employable welfare recipients could participate in job training.
Source: Viewer's Guide for AMERICA'S WAR ON POVERTY, the award-winning television series produced by Blackside, Inc.
The Viewer's Guide was created by Ceasar L. McDowell, Marianne Castano, and Lisa Gregory for The Civil Rights Project, Inc.
(c) 1995 Blackside, Inc. / The Civil Rights Project, Inc.
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