Great Society

President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society aimed to end poverty and racial injustice. The
effectiveness of the program is the subject of ongoing debate. In this lesson, students consider the
impact of Great Society programs by comparing a speech delivered by Johnson in 1964 with two
recent commentaries.
Source: What is the author’s What are three pieces of
1) Who wrote this? main argument? evidence that the author
2) What is his uses to support his
perspective? claims?
3) What do you predict
the author will say?

PRO ​Great Author​: Joseph A. Califino’s main 1. The amount of

Society/ Califano Jr. argument is that the
War on Great Society
Poverty His perspective​: The Programs are not failed
Great Society provided and misguided
For Americans with a good programs as the
amount of help Conservative claimed.
The Great Society
I predict that Califano will Programs were not a
describe the helpful waste of taxpayers
effects that the Great money. Instead these
Society in America. programs helped
decrease poverty, give
better educational
opportunities to the
youth, create better &
more affordable
healthcare to people,
Americans living
under poverty
decreased from
22.2% to 12.6%.
Had this not been
achieved, 24 million
more Americans
would today be
living in poverty
2. The government
has provided over a
trillion of dollars in
college loans and
financial aid and has
set up preschools
which have helped
millions of children.
 and give African
Americans more better
political opportunities.
3. The Great Society
programs have
provided people
with accessible
healthcare through
Medicaid and
Medicare.

CON Author​: Thomas Sowell Sowell’s main 1. Before the

Great argument is that the
Society/ His perspective​: The Great Society
War on Great Society could not programs have not
Poverty help the nation’s helped mitigate the
Revisited problems. nation’s problems (at
Against the time). Instead these
I predict that the author programs have
will talk about the reversed the change/
negative aspects of the progress that was 2. Once the programs
Great Society. slowly in the making for
the worst. Their were
long existing problems
that were supposed to
change with the help of
the Great society 3. Welfare became a
programs but didn’t.
programs, teenage
pregnancies and
sexual diseases had
been decreasing.
But when the
programs were put
in place, the rates
increased again
were put in place,
murder and violence
rates (which had
been decreasing for
decades) increased.
way of life instead of
being an emergency
rescue. People were
living off of welfare.
The rise of blacks
out of poverty did
not accelerate
during the 1960s; it
was already
occurring before the
installation of
programs.

Which author do you find more convincing? Why? Answer this in 1 long or 2 normal length
paragraphs.

In my opinion, Joseph A. Califano Jr. is more convincing in defending the Great Society
programs of the 1960s (though not the most truthful) because of his persuasive and detailed
examples. The reason being, to begin with, is his connection with the Great Society
Programs and president Johnson. Califano was a particular assistant to President Johnson
(1965) and served as his senior domestic policy aide. Whereas Sowell was a prestigious
commentator, economist, and author, Califano was involved in dealing with the (then
current) economic situations of the nation. He was assisting and advising President
Johnson throughout his term and must’ve picked up some information as well observations
of the nation after the installation of the Great Society Programs. Califino reveals larger and
more statistics & data when describing the effects of the programs on society. Califano
makes it clear that the amount of Americans living in poverty decreased approximately 10%
and that if it weren’t for the programs, 24 million more Americans would be in poverty today.
Because of the programs, over a trillion of dollars were used for financial aid and college
loans. Also they helped set up preschools which Califano claims helped millions of children
with their education. Plus, Califano states that the Great Society programs provided almost
200 million people with more accessible & affordable healthcare through Medicaid and
Medicare. These programs have also helped feed over 20 million people, including nearly
100 million children by providing them free breakfast at school.