War On Poverty

2 Pages 562 Words

Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty”

Lyndon Johnson was sworn into office directly after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. With this in mind he had a heavy burden on his shoulder. John F. Kennedy’s shoes were no easy shoes to fill. He was the most beloved president this country has ever been part of. With this in mind he had pressure from every angle.
Weeks after President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn into office he gave his first state of the union address. The date was January 8, 1964, when he made this impact on the American people. He was doing something that was remarkable, and might have been a gamble at that time. Lyndon Johnson didn’t know what the reaction of congress and the American people would have on his “War on Poverty”. American’s that had large families felt this most since almost half the national poverty was in rural areas. The purpose was to bring America out of lower income status, and into a country that provided for their citizens. Family’s that had 4-7 children couldn’t support themselves to the changing market of America. Costs were going up, which made bills and basic needs harder to pay for. This is why Lyndon Johnson set in motion a series of bills and acts that were to be passed. For instance head start, food stamps, work study, Medicare, and Medicaid. Most of these categories are still in place today. This was really influential to lower class citizens. The vision of the United States of America was that of poor lower class citizens. They were holding back the progressiveness of the country. While the United States of America was growing and already had been an industrial giant. These rural poverty stricken people were the demise of this great country. Someone had to do something about the direction the country was going.
I understand that the United States of America was taking initiative to free the country of poverty stricken families. Without Lyndon Johnson’s campaign to fig...