Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society (American Ways Series) [Paperback]

John A., III Andrew (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 9, 1999 | ISBN-10: 1566631858 | ISBN-13: 978-1566631853

Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society was the most ambitious and controversial American reform effort since the New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt. Conceived in a time of prosperity rather than devastating depression, it sought to forge a consensus that rested on ideals rather than harsh economic realities. In this narrative analysis, John Andrew examines the underlying ideas and principal objectives of Great Society legislation in the areas of civil rights, poverty, health, education, urban life, and consumer issues—legislation that addressed some of the most important and complex problems facing American society in the mid-1960s. These efforts in some way touched the lives of most Americans. But, as Mr. Andrew points out, LBJ’s consensus could persist only by avoiding divisive issues. As times changed and the economy deteriorated, the mood of the nation shifted, and the ideals of the mid-sixties collapsed in the face of ideological and political polarization. In the end, as Mr. Andrew shows, much of the Great Society failed along with the idealism that had sparked it. Yet the issues it addressed proved so intractable that the search for solutions continues to generate political controversy even today.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This succinct survey of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society initiative and its aftermath recounts the genesis and fates of the various programs that today will evoke a wave of nostalgia in those old enough to remember them, inter alia, the War on Poverty, Model Cities, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Head Start. Andrew (The Other Side of the Sixties) is fair and humane as he dissects the individual components of the Great Society and evaluates their successes and failures while pointing out what he considers to have been flaws in the conception and design of some of the programs. Citing the period of the mid-'60s that gave birth to the Great Society as "a liberal interlude unmatched in the twentieth century... and unlikely to recur in the foreseeable future," Andrew argues that the biggest failure of the Great Society was "its lack of understanding and appreciation for the challenges it confronted. Once Americans saw the scope of the task, its complexity and costs overwhelmed them." This account is especially useful for helping us understand why though we're a people of wildly differing extremes of wealth, we have been dismantling federal welfare for our citizens.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Andrew displays a remarkable evenhandedness in this essay on the still-controversial Great Society. Rather than ruminate on whether Johnson's expensive dreams were successes or failures--opinions about which still animate contemporary politics--Andrew concentrates on what the main programs of the Great Society were, how they emerged from Congress, and how political support for them evaporated as they were implemented. Andrew illustrates the collapse of consensus by 1968 in his discussion of the 1964 Civil Rights Act; opposition to the Great Society mounted as, it seemed to opponents, the principle of equality of opportunity gave way to equality of results. Andrew then takes up the War on Poverty, the establishment of Medicare and Medicaid, "model cities" programs, environmental protection, and cultural funding. Delivering an overview of the events, such as riots and "black power" militancy, that either alienated crucial white, middle-class support for LBJ's vision or cemented it, as with guaranteed old-age medical care, Andrew renders a balanced introduction to the mixed bag that was the Great Society. Gilbert Taylor --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R. Dee (February 9, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566631858
• ISBN-13: 978-1566631853
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #886,518 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #56 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( J ) > Johnson, Lyndon

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finally a Book that Focuses on Great Society Programs, December 7, 1999

By 

Alexander Tsesis (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society (American Ways Series) (Hardcover)

Andrew has written an interesting and informative book about some of the programs that created vital opportunities for indigent people to escape poverty. Andrew discusses the key laws Johnson passed to improve the lives of Americans, including Civil Rights Act of 1964, Medicaid, Medicare, Head Start and many others. As a historical account of legislative acts it is excellent, and on that point it deserves five stars. However, when Andrew discusses how the Great Society affect later laws, the book becomes quite week. In fact it seems like Andrew wrote the bulk of the work in the eighties and only later interspersed a few sentences about the nineties. The index is also a bit sparse and could have been more detailed. This book is, nevertheless, a good read and deserves the attention of persons interested in the Johnson administration.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Decent Look at the Great Society, March 18, 2004

By 

T. Carlsen - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society (American Ways Series) (Hardcover)

This book looks at the government policy view of Great Society programs. It is flawed in that it detaches the Great Society legislation from LBJ's political skills, the nation at the time, and the political environment at the time.

Many Great Society programs have provided a hand-up to success, better medical care, less polution, and much more. I would rank college funding very high, along with health care for the elderly.

However, the book details that Great Society was also misguided in some ways. The urban renewal programs were flops. CAP and Model Cities come to mind as being especially inept. It was these Great Society programs that Reagan railed against as "big government, and correctly so.

Hoever, much of the Great Society was a great success. High school graduation rates doubled, and college graduations tripled. Poverty was almost cut in half, even if the underlying caused sometimes remained (Johnson failed in his proposal to reform welfare). Head Start has helped tens of millions of children prepare for school. Pollution of the air, soil, and water was greatly reduced. Mass transit we take for granted in many cities was built.

Medicare has served a couple hundred million people, when before few elderly people had health care of any kind. The number of doctors graduating doubled. Good medical centers became far more widespread, and medical excellence in our society reached new heights through research and funding. Life expectancy has jumped substantially. We owe our advances in medicine in large part to the programs of the Great Society.

The National Endowment for the Arts has greatly expanded the arts in the nation. And how about public TV?

So there were successes, and there were failures. This points out what is going right, what could be done better, or what should just be left alone.

The author suggests that LBJ should have imposed more radical means to save costs (such as health care) and ensure proper outcomes; accountability. However, that was not possible at the time. Johnson, the politician of amazing instincts and legislative power, rammed his massive programs through while the window of opportunity was there after his landslide election, leaving it to later leaders to review his work later. He rammed so many bills through Congress that some of the details were a little sloppy.

Which brings us to this book.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good work on 1960's social welfare policy, October 19, 1999

By 

Luis ([e-mail]) (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society (American Ways Series) (Hardcover)

Anyone who reads this book will find that LBJ's Great Society was far from a failure, as Republicans today characterize it, but a mixed bag with many successes and a few long term failures. Yet, overall, it was - and still is - positive for America.

Just look at the record -- Clean Air and Water bills, Medicare(health insurance for the elderly), Medicaid(health insurance for the disabled and poor), The Elementary and Secondary Education Act(for the first time the federal government gave K-12 schools funds), Head Start, labor law reform, Minimum Wage increase for the working poor, housing expansions through HUD, the Department of Transportation, increased farmer aid, wage supplements for the poor, job training expansions, the National Endowement for the Arts and Humanities, public broadcasting, consumer protection laws etc. The list goes on and on and on. These successes benefited - and benefit - everyone. The middle class and poor benefit from Medicare and education, as well as job training. The poor are given dignity in Medicaid and the Minimum Wage. All benefit from public broadcasting, as well as with clean streets, aid and environment and consumer laws. Working people support pro-labor labor law reform. And, let us never, ever forget, LBJ passed 3 monumental civil rights laws which benefit all persons of morality and conscience.

Yes, as the book points out, there are some failures here. Welfare policy for the poorest of the poor - as well meant as it was - was a failure. Yet, I suspect it failed not because of what Great Society liberals intended to do long term, but because of what they expected the program to become with more funding. That is, funding was decimated for AFDC, and liberals in the 1970's wanted public works instead, which never came, so they settled for AFDC. In regard to Model Cities, the same rings true - failure.

Yet, the positives outway the negatives by far and away - as this book shows all too well. Long live the Great Society!