War on Poverty

Annelise Orleck on "Storming Caesar's Palace" and the Lessons of the Welfare Rights Movement

by Michan Connor

A leading historian of poor people's activism joins HNN for a discussion of the new edition of her acclaimed book on the Las Vegas Welfare Rights movement, which is the basis for a documentary now streaming on PBS. 

Adults Support Empowering Youth – Until Youth Dissent

by Dara Walker

American youth are seldom credited for having a clear understanding of the policies that affect their lives. COVID safety walkouts are the latest example of student activism to be dismissed.

George Floyd’s Death Is a Failure of Generations of Leadership

by Elizabeth Hinton

To begin to dismantle the socioeconomic conditions that led to Mr. Floyd’s premature death, we can look to the principles of community representation and grass-roots empowerment that steered the early development of Johnson’s domestic program.

Revisiting the Poor People's Campaign and Its Legacy

by Bobby Cervantes

Sylvie Laurent’s new book about the Poor Peoples Campaign is not far removed from the political scene today.

Why the "War on Poverty" Isn't Over

by Stephanie Coontz

And why it was actually a remarkable success.

Why Presidents Stopped Talking About Poverty

by Jeff Shesol

LBJ was the last president to talk about poverty in a substantive way.

LBJ's Mistake Was Promising to "Win" the War on Poverty

by Jonathan Cohn

How to measure whether or not the "war on poverty" worked.

Conservatives say War on Poverty failed

On 50th anniversary of LBJ speech.