402 ChaPter^8
trained with government assistance. In larger numbers than ever before, the
elderly and poor now had access to basic medical attention and were enjoying
a markedly better quality of life. Medicare and Medicaid rank as two of the
more successful reform programs in American history and “Socialized
Medicine,” though feared and predicted by conservatives, never came close to
becoming reality.
Lyndon Johnson and his supporters believed that the War on Poverty had
gotten off to a generally successful start. Because of LBJ’s political skills and
a liberal consensus on helping the less fortunate, medical care was now avail-
able to millions who previously went without it because of age or poverty,
and their health and life spans improved accordingly. Social Security benefits
increased, thus raising the standard of living of the elderly. In 1959, about 40
percent of the aged lived below the poverty line, but by 1970 25 percent did,
and by 1974 it was down to 16 percent. Likewise, the numbers of Americans
living in poverty dropped significantly too, from 21 percent in 1959 to 12
percent in 1969. Despite claims that the Great Society was “Socialist,” its pro-
grams served the poor, the government did not take over the economy, and
the Capitalist system somehow managed to survive and expand its profits.
Though not there yet, LBJ and his supporters believed that America was on
the path toward becoming a truly great society.I Have a Dream
African Americans had been fighting for equality and civil rights for centuries
prior to the 1960s with only small successes, but, in barely a decade, saw the
legal system of segregation, or apartheid, broken down by a combination of
court cases, political action, and direct action by black activists, often in the
streets. In the postwar era, it was clear that the system of segregation, in which
about 15 million blacks lived in a system of underdevelopment and legal dis-
crimination, had to change. While the traditional narrative suggests that civil
rights was a moral issue–and it was–there was also a huge need to integrate
African Americans, who comprised over ten percent of the population, into
the American economy and American life. If done, Blacks could buy more
goods and increase the profits of usually-White businesses, while showing to
the world that the U.S., unlike its Communist rivals, respected the rights of