HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle
Expand

The Failure of LBJ's Great Society and What It Means for the 21st Century

Views:979
@ReasonVids

Historian Amity Shlaes talks about the last time a president massively expanded the federal government to help people.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Subscribe to our podcast at Apple Podcasts: https://goo.gl/az3a7a

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.

----------------

In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson announced his plans for what he called "the Great Society," a sweeping set of programs that marked the most ambitious expansion of the federal government since Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal.

Johnson declared war on poverty, jacked up federal spending on education, and pushed massive new entitlement programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, which promised to deliver high-quality, low-cost health care to the nation's elderly and poor. When Republican Richard Nixon succeeded Johnson, a Democrat, as president after the 1968 election, he continued and even expanded many of the Great Society programs despite being from a different political party.

But did the Great Society achieve its goals of eradicating poverty, sheltering the homeless, and helping all citizens participate more fully in the American Dream? In Great Society: A New History, Amity Shlaes argues that Lyndon Johnson's bold makeover of the government was a massive failure despite the good intentions of its architects and implementers.

Shlaes, who is the author of The Forgotten Man, a best-selling history of The Great Depression (read Reason's 2008 interview with her), and the chair of the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation, says remembering the failure of the Great Society is especially relevant in an election year when presidential candidates are promising to spend huge amounts of money on all sorts of new government programs.

Nick Gillespie sat down to talk with her about the origins of the Great Society, its failure, and what it all means for 21st century America.

Interview by Nick Gillespie. Intro by Lex Villena. Edited by Ian Keyser. Cameras by Jim Epstein and Kevin Alexander.

Music Credit: 'Late Truth' by Audio Hertz

libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
    Thumbnail for Will Robots Cause Mass Unemployment? A Soho Forum Debate1:25:11
    Will Robots Cause Mass Unemployment? A Soho Forum Debate
    ReasonVids
    713 views
    Thumbnail for EDMUNDO TIENE FECHA DE RETORNO | AHORA MISMO | 4 DE OCTUBRE1:27:11
    EDMUNDO TIENE FECHA DE RETORNO | AHORA MISMO | 4 DE OCTUBRE
    invidious
    193 views
    Thumbnail for Reason's Bob Poole on How to Fix America's Airports38:55
    Reason's Bob Poole on How to Fix America's Airports
    ReasonVids
    808 views
    Thumbnail for yeah, well done...0:06
    yeah, well done...
    bestofvoatxyz
    532 views
    Thumbnail for Obama - Four Years and Change2:46
    Obama - Four Years and Change
    ReasonVids
    897 views
    Thumbnail for Adapting the Epic: The Making of Atlas Shrugged the Movie3:26
    Adapting the Epic: The Making of Atlas Shrugged the Movie
    ReasonVids
    879 views
    Thumbnail for Spike Protein completely replacing sperm in vaccinated1:59
    Spike Protein completely replacing sperm in vaccinated
    AOUisgay
    543 views
    Thumbnail for I'm a Christian and my...1:14
    I'm a Christian and my...
    bestofupgoat
    220 views
    Thumbnail for Pretty smooth0:25
    Pretty smooth
    PrincessBananas
    8168 views
    Thumbnail for Analyzing Depeche Mode's Drums - 3 Beats from EASY to INSANE | Captain Pikant24:51
    Analyzing Depeche Mode's Drums - 3 Beats from EASY to INSANE | Captain Pikant
    invidious
    242 views
    Thumbnail for Receive this redpill 4:05
    Receive this redpill
    bestofvoatxyz
    857 views
    Thumbnail for An interesting take from a surprising source2:42
    An interesting take from a surprising source
    bestofvoatxyz
    510 views
    Thumbnail for While we're all awaiting election results, here are some ducks eating peas0:24
    While we're all awaiting election results, here are some ducks eating peas
    bestofupgoat
    149 views
    Thumbnail for SHOCK MOMENT: Trump And Maine Gov. Janet Mills Clash Over Trans Sports Policy At White House Event | Forbes Breaking News0:58
    SHOCK MOMENT: Trump And Maine Gov. Janet Mills Clash Over Trans Sports Policy At White House Event | Forbes Breaking News
    invidious
    130 views
    Thumbnail for How Good Was Adolf Hitler At Chess? | OttoMeister7:23
    How Good Was Adolf Hitler At Chess? | OttoMeister
    invidious
    857 views
    Thumbnail for Thermal imaging drone finds Louisiana girl lost in forest | ABC News0:20
    Thermal imaging drone finds Louisiana girl lost in forest | ABC News
    invidious
    220 views
    Thumbnail for Take her to the limit0:07
    Take her to the limit
    bestofupgoat
    270 views
    Thumbnail for Remy: Do the TSA Pokey Pokey2:10
    Remy: Do the TSA Pokey Pokey
    ReasonVids
    899 views
    Thumbnail for Coming out as a black lesbian is the most courageous thing a person can do0:56
    Coming out as a black lesbian is the most courageous thing a person can do
    bestofupgoat
    485 views
    Thumbnail for Wendy McElroy on The Art of Being Free4:17
    Wendy McElroy on The Art of Being Free
    ReasonVids
    786 views
    Thumbnail for Troop of baboons fights off leopard0:56
    Troop of baboons fights off leopard
    bestofupgoat
    532 views
    Thumbnail for Pushpa 2 The Rule Reloaded - Glimpse (Hindi) | Allu Arjun | Sukumar | Rashmika Mandanna | DSP0:26
    Pushpa 2 The Rule Reloaded - Glimpse (Hindi) | Allu Arjun | Sukumar | Rashmika Mandanna | DSP
    invidious
    62 views
    Thumbnail for Ep. 2522a - Fakes News Inflation Narrative Control, Tick Tock, This Time It’s Different | X22report18:46
    Ep. 2522a - Fakes News Inflation Narrative Control, Tick Tock, This Time It’s Different | X22report
    bitchute_topics
    946 views
    Thumbnail for Milton Friedman's 'Free to Choose' Proved Capitalism Is Superior to Socialism6:13
    Milton Friedman's 'Free to Choose' Proved Capitalism Is Superior to Socialism
    ReasonVids
    1022 views
    Thumbnail for hoppewave | 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕬𝖗𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝕻𝖍𝖞𝖘𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖑 𝕽𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖛𝖆𝖑4:16
    hoppewave | 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕬𝖗𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝕻𝖍𝖞𝖘𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖑 𝕽𝖊𝖒𝖔𝖛𝖆𝖑
    koleslow
    728 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle