1960s WAR ON POVERTY
1960s WAR ON POVERTY
Introduction
In the modern society, the issue of poverty has become increasingly the cause for insecurity through social crimes. Poverty has been a major problem in the United States for a long period of time. The society in the United States was faced by numerous problems in the 1960s. The problems include racism among other issues that contribute to inequality and increased poverty levels. The war on poverty in the 1960s was mainly supported by the then President J.F. Kennedy. The president worked at ensuring that the poverty levels in the society are reduced significantly. The paper focuses on the war on poverty in the 1960s which was facilitated by the political regimes. The regime of President J.F. Kennedy was a major boost to the war on poverty in the US.
The election of J.F. Kennedy as the president of the United States was a significant step towards fighting the issue of poverty and low standards of living in the country. The regime brought in numerous policies that looked at solving the problems facing the people in the country. Some of the ways in which the government worked to ensure that the poverty levels are reduced among the people was through the introduction of Medicare and Medicaid (Shi & Mayer, 2013). Solving the healthcare issues in the society is important as it facilitates reduced cost of living among people. The insurance policies were important as they helped people save more money for their personal growth and development.
The problem of racism in the society was a major blow to growth and development. The rise of civil rights activists who were fighting for equality among the races caused destabilization in the country. The rise of black leaders such as Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. polarized the country and the black people community turned violent in the quest for equality. However, after the election of J.F. Kennedy, the leadership looked at ways in which it can ensure that there was peaceful co-existence among the blacks and whites in the United States. Additionally, President Kennedy discovered that poverty was deeply rooted among the Americans and thus presented policies looking to solve the issues (Harrington, 1997).
Drawbacks to the War on Poverty
The war on poverty in the United States was highly drawn back by two major issues that occurred during the 1960s. First, the Vietnam War let to increase the burden of the government since it used a lot of money to fund the war (Shi & Mayer, 2013). As a result, the efforts put forward to fight poverty could not be accomplished. The Vietnam War led to radicalization among the Muslim Americans. Consequently, the then president J.F, Kennedy was assassinated. Lastly, the assassination of President J.F. Kennedy led to increased tension in the county and the predecessor who was the vice president was unable to implement the projects that were put forward to reduce poverty (Shi & Mayer, 2013). The assassination was thus a major blow to the policies that were set forward to fight poverty and the entire burden left to the predecessor of J.F. Kennedy.
Conclusion
The war on poverty in the United States was thus fought hard in the 1960s despite the challenges that arose. Most of the problems that occurred in the country had accrued from the 1950s and the people were looking forward to having permanent solutions to their problems such as racism and inequality among the people. The assassination of J.F. Kennedy was the major blow to the war on poverty since the policies put forward were likely to successful as he had managed to reduce poverty by 19% in the first phase.
References
Shi, D. E., & Mayer, H. A. (2013). For the record: A documentary history of America. New York: W.W. Norton.
Harrington, M. (1997). The Other America. Simon and Schuster.
