Economic Opportunity Act of 1964
The origins of the "war on poverty" began with the Kennedy Administration in 1963. Walter W. Heller, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors under President Kennedy, went to see President Johnson the day after Kennedy's assassination and discussed the poverty program that Kennedy had approved before his death. President Johnson's immediate response was, "That's my kind of program! I want you to move full speed ahead."
The poverty program was the first major legislation originated by President Johnson and it was designed to make a coordinated attack on the multiple causes of poverty. The major attack on poverty, which consisted of one fifth of the nation's population at the time, can be broken down into three major weapons:
Weapon I - Education
- "It is our primary weapon in the war on poverty and the principal tool for building a Great Society." President Johnson believed that the improvement of education would help eliminate the causes of poverty.
Weapon II - Income Maintenance
- "The second prong on the attack on poverty is to protect individuals and their families from poverty when their own earnings are insufficient because of age, disability, unemployment, or other family circumstances."
Weapon III - Job Creation
- "Our American answer to poverty is not to make the poor more secure in their poverty but to reach down and to help them lift themselves out of the ruts of poverty and move with the large majority along the high road of hope and prosperity."
The poverty program was the first major legislation originated by President Johnson and it was designed to make a coordinated attack on the multiple causes of poverty. The major attack on poverty, which consisted of one fifth of the nation's population at the time, can be broken down into three major weapons:
Weapon I - Education
- "It is our primary weapon in the war on poverty and the principal tool for building a Great Society." President Johnson believed that the improvement of education would help eliminate the causes of poverty.
Weapon II - Income Maintenance
- "The second prong on the attack on poverty is to protect individuals and their families from poverty when their own earnings are insufficient because of age, disability, unemployment, or other family circumstances."
Weapon III - Job Creation
- "Our American answer to poverty is not to make the poor more secure in their poverty but to reach down and to help them lift themselves out of the ruts of poverty and move with the large majority along the high road of hope and prosperity."