Launching the War on Poverty: An Oral History
Head Start, Job Corps, Foster Grandparents, College Work-Study, VISTA, Community Action, and the Legal Services Corporation are familiar programs, but their tumultuous beginning has been largely forgotten. Conceived amid the daring idealism of the 1960s, these programs originated as weapons in Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, an offensive spearheaded by a controversial new government agency. Within months, the Office of Economic Opportunity created an array of unconventional initiatives that empowered the poor, challenged the established order, and ultimately transformed the nation's attitudes toward poverty. In Launching the War on Poverty, historian Michael L. Gillette weaves together oral history interviews with the architects of the Great Society's boldest experiment. Forty-nine former poverty warriors, including Sargent Shriver, Adam Yarmolinsky, and Lawrence F. O'Brien, recount this inside story of unprecedented governmental innovation. The interviews capture the excitement and heady optimism of Americans in the 1960s along with their conflicts and disillusionment. This new edition of Launching the War on Poverty adds the voice of Lyndon Johnson to the story with excerpts from his recently-released White House telephone conversations. In these colorful and brutally candid conversations, LBJ exercises his full arsenal of presidential powers, political leverage, and legendary persuasiveness to win one of his most difficult legislative battles. The second edition also documents how the OEO's offspring survived their volatile origins to become broadly supported features of domestic policy.
1103373908
Launching the War on Poverty: An Oral History
Head Start, Job Corps, Foster Grandparents, College Work-Study, VISTA, Community Action, and the Legal Services Corporation are familiar programs, but their tumultuous beginning has been largely forgotten. Conceived amid the daring idealism of the 1960s, these programs originated as weapons in Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, an offensive spearheaded by a controversial new government agency. Within months, the Office of Economic Opportunity created an array of unconventional initiatives that empowered the poor, challenged the established order, and ultimately transformed the nation's attitudes toward poverty. In Launching the War on Poverty, historian Michael L. Gillette weaves together oral history interviews with the architects of the Great Society's boldest experiment. Forty-nine former poverty warriors, including Sargent Shriver, Adam Yarmolinsky, and Lawrence F. O'Brien, recount this inside story of unprecedented governmental innovation. The interviews capture the excitement and heady optimism of Americans in the 1960s along with their conflicts and disillusionment. This new edition of Launching the War on Poverty adds the voice of Lyndon Johnson to the story with excerpts from his recently-released White House telephone conversations. In these colorful and brutally candid conversations, LBJ exercises his full arsenal of presidential powers, political leverage, and legendary persuasiveness to win one of his most difficult legislative battles. The second edition also documents how the OEO's offspring survived their volatile origins to become broadly supported features of domestic policy.
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Launching the War on Poverty: An Oral History

Launching the War on Poverty: An Oral History

by Michael L. Gillette
Launching the War on Poverty: An Oral History

Launching the War on Poverty: An Oral History

by Michael L. Gillette

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Overview

Head Start, Job Corps, Foster Grandparents, College Work-Study, VISTA, Community Action, and the Legal Services Corporation are familiar programs, but their tumultuous beginning has been largely forgotten. Conceived amid the daring idealism of the 1960s, these programs originated as weapons in Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, an offensive spearheaded by a controversial new government agency. Within months, the Office of Economic Opportunity created an array of unconventional initiatives that empowered the poor, challenged the established order, and ultimately transformed the nation's attitudes toward poverty. In Launching the War on Poverty, historian Michael L. Gillette weaves together oral history interviews with the architects of the Great Society's boldest experiment. Forty-nine former poverty warriors, including Sargent Shriver, Adam Yarmolinsky, and Lawrence F. O'Brien, recount this inside story of unprecedented governmental innovation. The interviews capture the excitement and heady optimism of Americans in the 1960s along with their conflicts and disillusionment. This new edition of Launching the War on Poverty adds the voice of Lyndon Johnson to the story with excerpts from his recently-released White House telephone conversations. In these colorful and brutally candid conversations, LBJ exercises his full arsenal of presidential powers, political leverage, and legendary persuasiveness to win one of his most difficult legislative battles. The second edition also documents how the OEO's offspring survived their volatile origins to become broadly supported features of domestic policy.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780199779864
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication date: 07/09/2010
Series: Oxford Oral History Series
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 3 MB

About the Author

Michael L. Gillette directed the LBJ Library's Oral History Program from 1976 to 1991. He subsequently served as director of the Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives for twelve years and is currently executive director of Humanities Texas, the state humanities council.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: Camelot Confronts the Culture of Poverty Chapter 2: The War on Poverty Task Force Chapter 3: Creating the Community Action Program Chapter 4: Employment versus Poverty Chapter 5: Rural Programs Chapter 6: The Enactment of Poverty Legislation Chapter 7: The Office of Economic Opportunity: "The Most Action in Town" Chapter 8: The Job Corps Chapter 9: The Community Action Program Chapter 10: An Early Success: Project Head Start Chapter 11: Advocates for the Poor: VISTA and the Legal Services Program Chapter 12: Delegated Programs Chapter 13: Challenges to Head Start Chapter 14: The Job Corps under Siege Chapter 15: "Keeping the Trash in One Pile": Legislative Battles Chapter 16: OEO's Struggle to Endure Chapter 17: Epilogue and Assessments Appendix: Oral History Interviews Notes Bibliography Websites Index
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