Contemporary United States Presidents: Impact on American Poverty

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of policies and programs implemented by U.S. Presidents since 1964. That year, President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty and made a conscious decision to mobilize the resources of a nation to address this adverse social condition, a problem which has become an almost inherent fact of American life. The primary objective of this paper is to better understand why some federal policies and programs which were designed to reduce poverty were successful while others failed. Obviously, an understanding of policies and programs which result in sustained reductions in poverty rates could have significant structural implications for future local, state and federal policy and program initiatives. These lessons could also help improve the economic development models used by policy makers, at all levels, to address poverty and adverse social conditions throughout the United States.