1 18 1966 chron bg

Great Society Legislation

  • Economic Opportunities Act

    Economic Opportunities Act
    Was central to Johnson's Great Society campaign and its War on Poverty. Implemented by the since disbanded Office of Economic Opportunity, the Act included several social programs to promote the health, education, and general welfare of the poor. Although most of the initiatives in the Act have since been modified, weakened, or altogether rolled back, its remaining programs include Head Start, and Job Corps.
  • Volunteers in Service to America

    Volunteers in Service to America
    VISTA or Volunteers in Service to America is an anti-poverty program created by Lyndon Johnson's Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 as the domestic version of the Peace Corps. Initially, the program increased employment opportunities for conscientious people who felt they could contribute tangibly to the War on Poverty. Volunteers served in communities throughout the U.S., focusing on enriching educational programs and vocational training for the nation's underprivileged classes.
  • Elementary and Secondary Education Act

    Elementary and Secondary Education Act
    The Act is an extensive statute which funds primary and secondary education, while explicitly forbidding the establishment of a national curriculum.As mandated in the Act, the funds are authorized for professional development, instructional materials, resources to support educational programs, and parental involvement promotion. The Act was originally authorized through 1970, however the government has reauthorized the Act every five years since its enactment.
  • National Endowment for the Humanities

    National Endowment for the Humanities
    s an independent federal agency of the United States established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965 (Pub.L. 89-209) dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is located at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C. in the Old Post Office.
  • Medicare

    Medicare
    Medicare is a social insurance program administered by the United States government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are aged 65 and over, or who meet other special criteria. Medicare operates similar to a single-payer health care system.The program also funds residency training programs for the vast majority of physicians in the United States.
  • Medicaid

    Medicaid
    Medicaid is the United States health program for people and families with low incomes and resources. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the state and federal governments, and is managed by the states.[1] Among the groups of people served by Medicaid are certain U.S. citizens and resident aliens, including low-income adults and their children, and people with certain disabilities. Poverty alone does not necessarily qualify someone for Medicaid.
  • HUD

    HUD
    The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government. Although its beginnings were in the House and Home Financing Agency, it was founded as a Cabinet department in 1965, as part of the "Great Society" program of President Lyndon Johnson, to develop and execute policies on housing and metropolises.
  • Water Quality Act

    Water Quality Act
    Commonly abbreviated as the CWA, the act established the goals of eliminating releases of high amounts of toxic substances into water, eliminating additional water pollution by 1985, and ensuring that surface waters would meet standards necessary for human sports and recreation by 1983.
  • Immigration Act

    Immigration Act
    Abolished the National Origins Formula that had been in place in the United States since the Immigration Act of 1924. It was proposed by United States Representative Emanuel Celler of New York, co-sponsored by United States Senator Philip Hart of Michigan, and heavily supported by United States Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.
  • National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Act

    National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Act
    Was enacted in the United States in 1966 to empower the federal government to set and administer new safety standards for motor vehicles and road traffic safety. The Act created the National Highway Safety Bureau (now National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). The Act was one of a number of initiative by the government in response to increasing number of cars and associated fatalities and injuries on the road following a period when the number of people killed on the road had increased.