Great Society
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs proposed or enacted on the initiative of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the “war on poverty” and new civil rights legislation. New major spending programs that addressed education, medical care, urban problems, and transportation were launched during this period. The Great Society in scope and sweep resembled the New Deal domestic agenda of Franklin D. Roosevelt, but differed sharply in types of programs enacted.
Some Great Society proposals were stalled initiatives from John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier that Johnson was able to move forward as a result of his persuasive skills and an overwhelming mandate from the American public in the 1964 election.
Some of the Great Society programs have been eliminated or scaled back since their introduction, but many of them have become staples of the modern liberal democracy, including Medicare, Medicaid, and federal education funding.
