Launching the war on poverty : an oral history / Michael L. Gillette.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gillette, Michael L.

Series:

Oxford Oral History Ser.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Poverty--United States.

Poverty.

Economic assistance, Domestic--United States.

Economic assistance, Domestic.

Politicians--United States--Interviews.

Politicians.

United States--Social policy.

United States.

United States--Politics and government--1963-1969.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (481 pages)

Edition:

2nd ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 2010.

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 CAMELOT CONFRONTS THE CULTURE OF POVERTY

2 THE WAR ON POVERTY TASK FORCE

3 CREATING THE COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM

4 EMPLOYMENT VERSUS POVERTY

5 RURAL PROGRAMS

6 THE ENACTMENT OF POVERTY LEGISLATION

7 THE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY: "The Most Action In Town"

8 THE JOB CORPS

9 THE COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM

10 AN EARLY SUCCESS: Project Head Start

11 ADVOCATES FOR THE POOR: VISTA and the Legal Services Program

12 DELEGATED PROGRAMS

13 CHALLENGES TO HEAD START

14 THE JOBS CORPS UNDER SIEGE

15 "KEEPING THE TRASH IN ONE PILE": Legislative Battles

16 OEO'S STRUGGLE TO ENDURE

17 EPILOGUE AND ASSESSMENTS

Appendix: Oral History Interviews

Notes

Bibliography

Websites

Index

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0199750688

9780199750689

OCLC:

649478986