Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Prelude To The Great Society: Cultural Change In The 20th Century America, Julie Davis

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The decades immediately following World War II were prosperous but filled with great inequalities. Many social change movements, including the War on Poverty, attempted to eliminate these inequalities. Yet, programs as large and far reaching as these required many changes to the society itself. President Lyndon Johnson and Dr. Julius Richmond, director of Head Start, agreed that certain societal factors were necessary before social change could occur. Johnson felt that these conditions were "a recognition of need, a willingness to act, and someone to lead the effort" (Johnson The Vantage Point 70). The widespread existence of poverty in Post World …