The Great Society
was revolutionary
when you look back
and think of what America was like
before these programs
were adopted
life was very different
there was
an outbreak of hope
across this country
it was quixotic it was kind of Arturian this idea of might for right
these things are all
resonating to this day
I really don't know where I’d be without Job Corps
Thank God for Medicare
I can
feel worthy
I can be great
I think many of the Great Society
programs were so successful and had an impact on so many of our lives
in an overwhelmingly positive way
we have to question why did we move away from that
Great Society was a
cluster
of projects undertaken
by the President
he saw racial discrimination and he saw poverty
as moral issues not just as political issues
in nineteen sixty-four Johnson and the civil rights groups
managed to pass
the first major civil rights legislation
and it was the first comprehensive civil rights legislation
in the United States since
eighteen seventy-five
the Civil Rights Act said
public accommodations
have to be available to
everybody
no discrimination on the basis of race
so in one fell swoop
the Great Society wiped out all the whites only signs
this administration
today declares
unconditional war on poverty in America
the War on Poverty
was part of this idea that you have not a handout but a hand up
in the sixties it was hardscrabble for a lot of folks
and what we saw with the War on Poverty was for a lot of people it just meant jobs
what it’s saying is we're going to bring the less affluent into
the mainstream of society
when Lyndon Johnson became president the poverty rate
was about twenty two percent when he left office five years later
the poverty rate was thirteen percent
that decline is the greatest one-time reduction in poverty in the history of this country
maybe the greatest impactment of the Great Society act has been the Medicaid program
up until Medicare was passed
people who reached the age of sixty-five did not have guaranteed health insurance of any kind
and of course Medicare now has tens of millions of people in it
and it seems like a humane and generous act of the society
most presidents are just happy to have one or two bits of
legislation that endure that have a historical resonance to it
Johnson slammed out bill after bill
act after act in education alone
he proposed legislation to provide scholarships grants and work-study programs for college students
today that legislation provides the resources for sixty percent of the people that are in college
in the United States of America
I’ve got the maximum amount
any person could get to go to college I certainly would not even able to attend
school
without this type of help
America is always best when it is
operating close to its founding ideals
among those founding ideals is that it’s our country we should care about it
and we should take care of it
college work study
Kennedy cultural center
Age Discrimination Act
the question that people have just how do we get back to such a progressive agenda
they can look to the past
to see examples
aid to Appalachia urban mass transit
scenic rivers and trails
we have stellar moments in
the history of our country
we can experience the same euphoria
seeking things that we haven't done that and are there for us and we're going to do that
the best of American life cries for it
I hope it may be said
a hundred years from now
that by working together
we helped to make our country
more just for all of its people
I believe
at least
it will be said
that we tried