Aug 9, 2017
In this podcast episode, we feature President Lyndon Johnson and his speech “The Great Society”. President Johnson designed the "Great Society" legislation by expanding civil rights, public broadcasting, Medicare, Medicaid, aid to education, the arts, urban and rural development, public services, and his "War on Poverty".
Assisted in part by a growing economy, the War on Poverty helped millions of Americans rise above the poverty line during his administration. Civil rights bills he signed into law banned racial discrimination in public facilities, interstate commerce, the workplace, and housing; the Voting Rights Act prohibited certain requirements in southern states used to disenfranchise African Americans. With the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, the country's immigration system was reformed, encouraging greater immigration from regions other than Europe. Johnson's presidency marked the peak of modern liberalism after the New Deal era.
In addition to this audio episode, I also provide several PDF documents: first, a transcript of this speech, secondly a short overview of his life, and finally, a more detailed description of The Great Society envisioned by the president.
Let us now tune our radio dial to May 22, 1964 and listen to President Johnson share his vision for The Great Society.
This podcast is part of the LifePodcast Network which is a group of family-friendly podcasts bringing a positive message of hope and inspiration. Check out the LifePodcast Network at http://LifePodcast.net
The audio recordings is through the American Rhetoric online database. This website provides more than 5,000 speech transcripts, audio recordings, and videos of public speeches, sermons, lectures, interviews, and more. Checkout the website at http://americanrhetoric.com
This podcast is available through the following podcast directories and apps: iTunes, Libsyn, Google Play Music, TuneIn, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Overcast, Pocket Casts, iCatcher, iHeartRadio, RSSRadio, and Castamatic. It is available through the following websites: http://Arendale.org, http://historicvoices.org, Historic Voices Facebook page, and the Historic Voices YouTube channel.
Please post comments to the individual episodes at http://historicvoices.org, podcast review and rating section within iTunes and other apps, or email to me. Thanks for listening, David Arendale, arendale@umn.edu