Declaring War on Poverty (feat. Doris Kearns Goodwin)

HISTORY This Week

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History, Education, Society & Culture

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

January 8, 1964. In his State of the Union address, Lyndon Johnson unveils his War on Poverty, an effort to tackle subpar living conditions and create jobs across the United States. Johnson discovers that declaring war—even one on an idea—always comes with great costs. Why did LBJ pick poverty as one of his major initiatives? And what is the legacy of the war he started? Special thanks to Doris Kearns Goodwin, historian and author of Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream; and Guian McKee, professor of public affairs at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. **This episode originally aired on January 1, 2021. To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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0:28.7	T's and C's apply.
0:30.7	The History Channel, original podcast.
0:35.0	History This Week, January 8th, 1964.
0:41.0	I'm Sally Helm.
0:43.5	Mr. Speaker, the president of the United States.
0:52.9	A joint session of Congress.
0:56.3	The chambers full of men in dark suits.
0:58.9	They all rise to applaud President Lyndon Baines Johnson
1:02.9	as he makes his way through the crowd.
1:07.3	Johnson is here to give his State of the Union address.
1:16.6	And when he begins to speak, he sounds subdued, even a little mournful. My fellow Americans, I will be brief, for our time is necessarily short, and our agenda is already long.
1:26.6	Johnson has, at this point, been president for less than 50 days. and our agenda is already long.
1:32.0	Johnson has at this point been president for less than 50 days.
1:37.8	John F. Kennedy was assassinated just weeks ago on November 22nd in Dallas, Texas.
1:42.2	Vice President Johnson was riding in a car behind Kennedy when the shots were fired.
1:45.3	He was sworn in hours later on Air Force One.
	...

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