Great Society

President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society aimed to end poverty and racial injustice. The
effectiveness of the program is the subject of ongoing debate. In this lesson, students consider the
impact of Great Society programs by comparing a speech delivered by Johnson in 1964 with two
recent commentaries.
Source: What is the author’s What are three pieces of
1) Who wrote this? main argument? evidence that the author
2) What is his uses to support his
perspective? claims?
3) What do you predict
the author will say?
PRO Great 1. By Joseph A. Califano Jr. 1. That the Great Society 1. Americans living below
Society/ The Washington Monthly definitely helped societies the poverty line dropped
War on (online), October 1999 and its problems. from 22.2 percent to 12.6
Poverty percent,
2. His perspective is
democratic 2. Great Society's food
stamp program helps feed
3. I predict the author will more than 20 million men
say that the Great Society
had major positive impacts 3. By 1998, there were
on society some 9,000 elected black
officials across the nation,
including 6,000 in the
South.

CON 1. By Thomas Sowell 1. The Great Society did 1. during an era of virtually
Great Capitalism Magazine not solve any problems no major civil rights
Society/ (online), August 17, 2004 society solved them on legislation or anti-poverty
War on it's own and The Great programs.
Poverty 2. His perspective is Society also helped these
 republican.
3. I predict that the author
will disagree that The Great
Society was helpful.
problems continued. 2. before any of the
legislation
and policies that are credited
with producing that rise.
3.helped by War on Poverty
money. These downward
trends suddenly
reversed and skyrocketed.

Which author do you find more convincing? Why? Answer this in 1 long or 2 normal length
paragraphs.
The author By Joseph A. Califano Jr. from the By Joseph A. Califano Jr. The Washington Monthly
(online), October 1999, convinced me that The Great Society was a pro due to all the help it's
programs did to help societies people. In the Article it states, ¨Americans living below the poverty
line dropped from 22.2 percent to 12.6 percent.¨ This sentence explains that once The Great
Society was created the poverty rate dropped from 22.2 percent to 12.6 percent. This article proves
that The Great Society helped society and its people in the best way possible.