Page "Great Society" Paragraph 53

Alan Brinkley has suggested that " the gap between the expansive intentions of the War on Poverty and its relatively modest achievements fueled later conservative arguments that government is not an appropriate vehicle for solving social problems.

" One of Johnson's aides, Joseph A. Califano, Jr., has countered that " from 1963 when Lyndon Johnson took office until 1970 as the impact of his Great Society programs were felt, the portion of Americans living below the poverty line dropped from 22. 2 percent to 12. 6 percent, the most dramatic decline over such a brief period in this century.

" The percentage of African Americans below the poverty line dropped from 55 percent in 1960 to 27 percent in 1968.