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Interesting US History
A Website Devoted to Interesting Events in U.S. History

 

 
 

 

ON THIS DAY IN UNITED STATES HISTORY

January 4, 1965

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson Proclaims
His "Great Society"

On this day in 1965, United States President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed this "Great Society" during his State of the Union Address. The "Great Society" was a set of social programs intended to eliminate poverty and racial injustice.

Many of these programs including Medicare and Medicaid still exist today. Another element of the Great Society was a tax cut proposed by John F. Kennedy and enacted by Johnson that cut the top marginal tax rate by 20%. The U.S. Gross National Product rose 10% the first year.