Concerning Domestic Policy - LBJ has been our greatest Modern President

I thank Con for participating in this debate! I will be arguing that Lyndon B. Johnson, who was given the nickname The Great Legislator, is our greatest modern President in Domestic Policy. Lyndon Johnson was a very intelligent man that came into power at the right time; he pushed America into his Great Society which aimed at eradicating poverty and expanding the legislation of the New Deal. After a meeting with LBJ Alabama Governor George Wallace stated: "That I"m glad I left when I did because if I stayed there any longer LBJ would've had me coming out in favor of civil-rights. (sic)" LBJ's legislative achievements are numerous so I most likely will split them in between this round and the next. For this round we will look at his policies that expanded the public safety net of the New Deal. 1) LBJ started the so called "War on Poverty," and aimed to totally eradicate poor Americans; obviously he failed in this aspect but he did something more important - he brought the poor to the front stage of American Politics and they have not left since then. Some programs created to combat this were: Headstart, Food Stamps, the expansion of community health centers and the passage of Medicare and Medicaid. Headstart has probably been arguably the most successful program financially: for every $1 the America taxpayer pays for this the return to society is $3.50-7 in just crime alone. Children that attend Headstart are more likely to graduate from high school, attend higher education, and are less likely to have a run in with the police and have a child while still a teenager. Medicare and Medicaid, were the most successful programs when it came to getting people out from below the poverty line. Although other groups did see a reduction of those below the poverty line, I want to focus on the elderly who up until the Great Society were the poorest Americans. Before the passage of Medicare and Medicaid over 28% of Elderly lived below the poverty line. A decade later? The number had been reduced by half where only 14% lived below the poverty line. 2) The above programs were products of the Great Society, but like I mentioned above the Great Society did more than create new legislation it expanded on the New Deal, as of this round I will focus on what I believe was the greatest legislative achievement of FDR: Social Security: LBJ helped pass the Social Security Amendments of 1965, the Tax Adjustment Act of 1966 and the the Social Security Amendments of 1967 to increase the coverage of Social Security. I like the definition I found so I will use it: a "liberalization" occurred that rewrote who could get benefits under Social Security, including widows, disabled workers, etc. In total there was a 7% increase in benefits. 3) Another important area the Great Society targeted was Education. For students like me it is LBJ we have to thank for Federal Loans that help us pay for higher education, along with Headstart and other education legislation aimed at the poor and minorities, legislation such as the Higher Education Act of 1965 created scholarships and low-interest loans for students attending college. I will digress to talking about other legislation including the Civil Rights movement until round 3 and eagerly await your rebuttal in Round 2. -RJS