In May, 1964 President Johnson (LBJ) summed up his vision for America in a phrase:
the “Great Society.” The President declared that “the Great Society demands an end to poverty
and racial injustice” through a program that would create not only a higher standard of living and
equal opportunity, but also promote a richer quality of life for rich and poor, white and nonwhite.
LBJ set lofty goals for his nation and himself. Like his idol Franklin Delano Roosevelt
(FDR), he wanted to change America. From 1965 to 1969, LBJ managed to get 206 laws and
programs passed to try to make his “Great Society” a reality and continue the social agenda of
the New Deal. Click here if you would like to watch a 4 minute video explaining the Great
Society.
Read the following primary source document, an excerpt from a speech by
President Lyndon Johnson, and answer the questions that follow.
Great Society Speech - May, 1964 - Michigan
The Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for all. It demands an
end poverty and racial injustice, to which we are totally committed in our time. But that is just the beginning.
… I want to talk to you today about three places where we began to build the Great Society -- in our cities, in
our countryside, and in our classrooms.
… In the remainder of this century the urban population will double, city land will double, and we will have to
build homes, highways and facilities...There is not enough housing for our people or transportation for our
traffic. Open land is vanishing and old landmarks are violated.
…Our society will never be great until our cities are great.
A second place where we begin to build the
Great Society is in our countryside.
We have always prided ourselves on being
not only America the strong and America the
free, but America the beautiful. Today that
beauty is in danger. The water we drink, the
food we eat, the very air that we breathe, are
threatened with pollution... Green fields and
dense forests are disappearing…
A third place to build the Great Society is in
the classrooms of America. There your
children's lives will be shaped. Our society will
not be great until every young mind is set free
to scan the farthest reaches of thought and
imagination. We are still far from that goal.
Today, 8 million adult Americans, more than
the entire population of Michigan, have not
finished five years of school. Nearly 54 million
-- more than ¼ of all Americans -- have not
even finished high school.
Each year more than 100,000 high school
graduates...do not enter college because
they cannot afford it…
Most of our qualified teachers are underpaid,
and many of our paid teachers are
unqualified. So we must give every child a place to sit and a teacher to learn from. Poverty must not be a
bar to learning, and learning must offer an escape from Poverty.
Understanding the readings – Gathering Information from the background and a primary
the “Great Society.” The President declared that “the Great Society demands an end to poverty
and racial injustice” through a program that would create not only a higher standard of living and
equal opportunity, but also promote a richer quality of life for rich and poor, white and nonwhite.
LBJ set lofty goals for his nation and himself. Like his idol Franklin Delano Roosevelt
(FDR), he wanted to change America. From 1965 to 1969, LBJ managed to get 206 laws and
programs passed to try to make his “Great Society” a reality and continue the social agenda of
the New Deal. Click here if you would like to watch a 4 minute video explaining the Great
Society.
Read the following primary source document, an excerpt from a speech by
President Lyndon Johnson, and answer the questions that follow.
Great Society Speech - May, 1964 - Michigan
The Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for all. It demands an
end poverty and racial injustice, to which we are totally committed in our time. But that is just the beginning.
… I want to talk to you today about three places where we began to build the Great Society -- in our cities, in
our countryside, and in our classrooms.
… In the remainder of this century the urban population will double, city land will double, and we will have to
build homes, highways and facilities...There is not enough housing for our people or transportation for our
traffic. Open land is vanishing and old landmarks are violated.
…Our society will never be great until our cities are great.
A second place where we begin to build the
Great Society is in our countryside.
We have always prided ourselves on being
not only America the strong and America the
free, but America the beautiful. Today that
beauty is in danger. The water we drink, the
food we eat, the very air that we breathe, are
threatened with pollution... Green fields and
dense forests are disappearing…
A third place to build the Great Society is in
the classrooms of America. There your
children's lives will be shaped. Our society will
not be great until every young mind is set free
to scan the farthest reaches of thought and
imagination. We are still far from that goal.
Today, 8 million adult Americans, more than
the entire population of Michigan, have not
finished five years of school. Nearly 54 million
-- more than ¼ of all Americans -- have not
even finished high school.
Each year more than 100,000 high school
graduates...do not enter college because
they cannot afford it…
Most of our qualified teachers are underpaid,
and many of our paid teachers are
unqualified. So we must give every child a place to sit and a teacher to learn from. Poverty must not be a
bar to learning, and learning must offer an escape from Poverty.
Understanding the readings – Gathering Information from the background and a primary
