Lyndon Baines Johnson: “Great Society” Speech

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

Democratic presidents of the twentieth century coined catchy slogans to label their political agendas. Woodrow Wilson proclaimed a New Freedom; Franklin Roosevelt championed the New Deal; for Harry Truman it was the Fair Deal; John F. Kennedy spoke of the New Frontier. When Lyndon Johnson described his vision for America, he talked about the Great Society. Because he had not campaigned for the presidency, Johnson lacked a slogan for his programs when he assumed office, but he soon felt the need for one in order to distinguish his agenda from Kennedy's. When the presidential speechwriter Richard Goodwin suggested “the Great Society,” Johnson decided to build a major address around it. The occasion was the commencement ceremony at the University of Michigan on May 22, 1964. Johnson, who had been president for six months, used this speech to set forth a conceptual framework for his domestic agenda. Goodwin prepared a speech that outlined in broad terms the kind of programs Johnson hoped to implement and spelled out his vision for the American nation. Johnson wanted to demonstrate that he was a politician with a grand blueprint for change, and he needed to build popular support for the measures he would soon introduce to Congress. In addition, the president hoped that this speech would convince those liberal intellectuals who remained loyal to Kennedy's memory that he was a leader with bold ideas for reshaping American society.

In many respects, Johnson's agenda for the Great Society was an updated version of Roosevelt's New Deal. Johnson had come of age during the Roosevelt years. When he was just twenty-six years old, Roosevelt had appointed him to be the Texas head of the National Youth Administration. In Johnson's first run for Congress in 1937, his platform had given 100 percent support to Roosevelt's New Deal policies. He shared Roosevelt's optimism about the ability of the federal government to solve pressing social problems. As president, he made sure that many of his domestic proposals addressed issues for which his Democratic predecessors had not been able to implement solutions.

Speaking before more than eighty thousand people jammed into the university's football stadium, Johnson states that the fundamental challenge facing America is the way it deals with its unprecedented abundance. Americans first conquered the frontier; then they constructed a mighty industrial system; now they have the opportunity to create the Great Society. Johnson refers to his major initiatives to expand civil rights and combat poverty, but these would not be enough. In his vision of the future, all children would be challenged to develop their minds and enlarge their talents; their parents would make productive use of their leisure time; cities would become places of beauty and community spirit; people would be “more concerned with the quality of their goals than the quantity of their goods.” There was much to be accomplished. “The Great Society,” Johnson says, “is not a safe harbor, a resting place, a final objective, a finished work. It is a challenge constantly renewed, beckoning us toward a destiny where the meaning of our lives matches the marvelous products of our labor.”

Rebuilding American cities to accommodate a growing population was an essential component of the Great Society. Erecting new housing, enlarging transportation facilities, and preserving open space were all areas that needed to be addressed. Preserving the natural environment was another priority. Air and water would have to be freed from pollution, green spaces had to be preserved, and more parks and recreational facilities would have to be created. Improving education was the third piece of his grand plan. This would require building more classrooms. It would also mean recruiting and training new teachers and increasing their pay as well as developing new teaching techniques. Johnson does not advance specific proposals to reach these goals. Instead, he promises to bring together the country's best minds in a series of White House conferences to work on solutions. Johnson concludes with an exhortation to the graduates, their families, and the university faculty to work together with him to shape the future of America in the image of his Great Society.