They, too, frequently spoke only of the program's goals. They had been convinced that antipoverty legislation was essential as a matter of principle, and they were not very familiar with the legislative details. Also aiding the campaign were a number of articles and books aimed at convincing the layman of the scope of the problem. 18 Unlike the more technical literature, these books had as their goal the mobilization of attitudes rather than the presentation of data.
Zarefsky 26)
Johnson went further, than any president before him in that he demanded that change occur within the context of even the most poverty stricken, those who did not have a fish to eat today, and also did not know how to fish to gain access I the future. Using his persuasive skill he informed the nation that his plan would incorporate changes that would help those people, who previously had been viewed as voiceless and possibly undeserving of social assistance. "The people I want to help," President Johnson told White House aide Joseph Califano, "are the ones who've never held real jobs and aren't equipped to handle them. They have no motivation to reach for something better because the sum total of their life is losing" (Califano 1991, 75).
Flanagan 585)
Though all of Johnson's programs may not have been successful in the long run, in regards to his War on Poverty, the actions he took changed the manner that American's view poverty. Poverty was now seen as something that could be overcome, with hard work and community involvement, including a heavy emphasis on the involvement of the poverty stricken in the development of their future.
At the center of this effort...
In poor locales across the nation, federal dollars established Community Action Agencies (CAAs) as clearinghouses to administer and coordinate social service, education, job training, and legal service programs. CAP had two central goals. The first was to deliver federal aid to the poor and give them the skills to upgrade their economic status and enter into the working and middle classes.
Flanagan 585)
Johnson, laid the groundwork for the development of community and government ability to solve problems on a local level, when previously much social action had been administered by private organizations, many religiously affiliated. "A second, less discussed goal was to revitalize the federal bureaucracy's capacity to deliver social services and contend with the complex problem of poverty through an institutional reorganization that emphasized decentralization and local control."
Flanagan 585) a group of programs that demanded civic action and altered the manner in which services were delivered and thought of, a system that has a legacy even in the manner in which services are provided to the poor today, was begun by Johnson.
Works Cited
Flanagan, Richard M. "Lyndon Johnson, Community Action and Management of the Administrative State." Presidential Studies Quarterly 31.4 (2001): 585.
Zarefsky, David. President Johnson's War on Poverty: Rhetoric and History. University, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1986.
