Essay Example on The War on Poverty: A Response to Societal Inequities

Introduction

The War on Poverty was an initiative introduced in the United States by President Lyndon Johnson I the 1960s. The critical function of the Great Society program was to reduce the level of poverty in the U.S. (Humphrey, 1964). Johnson had hoped that the initiative would make the country more equitable, and just since he claimed that poverty had become a disgrace in the nation, and it needed immediate response (Humphrey, 1964). Johnson felt that debt was brought by society's failure to give better education and training, poor housing, and medical care together with poor decent neighborhoods to live and bring up their children. The War on Poverty received favor in Congress as was passed as a law in August 1964, which saw and created new federal programs and agencies. Funds were raised to provide vocational training and other programs to help low-income families (Humphrey, 1964).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

War on poverty has impacted the United States today as the feeding program keeps about 4 million people out of hunger and poverty. The non-transfer programs of Medicare, job Corps, and the Oregon Medicaid has dramatically reduced the financial hardships to their beneficiaries. The Medicare programs are reducing medical expenditures to the people, while the Job Corps has increased the rates of earnings to the poor and reduced arrest and convictions. The War on Poverty funding allocations has helped in the building of more equitable schools for the poor and is proving positive evaluation (Fox et al., 2015).

Identify and explain the importance of the Civil Rights Movement and its impact today?

Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, to mention the least, are the significant proponents of the Civil Rights Movement. Most of the movements were initiated for the reason that there were oppression and unjust acts. For example, after Rosa Parks, an African American woman was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, after refusing to move to the back of the bus, a movement was designed as a struggle for social justice (Morris, 1986). It was mobilized to gain equal rights of the Black community, along with some white Americans to end racism and racial segregation in the United States (Morris, 1986). The Civil Rights Movement gained popularity, especially in the southern States, and was favored by many supporters nationally. Since the movement began, it received several backs up from the Supreme Court, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Civil Rights Act expelled separation and discrimination in gender, religion, race, workplaces, public accommodations, schools, and some federal programs.

The Civil Rights Movement helped achieve fairness in the treatment of black people living in the United States after a long struggle to end the discrimination they received from the white community. The movement provided great social and economic flexibility to African Americans as it has also impacted them today as they fight for injustices and their rights to equal treatment. The movement provided greater access to resources for minority groups, women, immigrants, and low-income families living in the United States. Today the movement remains relevant as the minority are allowed access to employment, equal opportunity, and recognition in workplaces and schools. Women are also entitled to significant positions (Le Blanc & Yates, 2013)

Identify and explain the significance of Pentagon Papers (1971) and its importance today?

The Pentagon Papers was the name given to a top-secret Defence Department Study of the United States military and political movement, which ran from 1945-1967 (Rudenstine, 1998). In 1971, the Pentagon Papers was dripped to the public in small portions and was widely distributed as it revealed the secrets of how the United States expanded the Vietnam War by bombing of the Cambodia, North Vietnam and Laos which was hardly reported in the media. The Pentagon Papers leak led to the revelation that the American leaders had deceived American people and the Congress about the Vietnam War and the United States involvement in the War of giving military aid to France against the communist as opposed to President Johnson's plans to escalate the War (Rudenstine, 1998). The Supreme Court allowed the publishing of the report as they declared that it was in the constitution for the public to be aware of the government's doings. The publications led to the confirmation of people's role in the U.S governance as it affected Nixon's re-election.

The Pentagon Paper has impacted the world today since Americans are vigilant on issues of governance as they believe that they need to be aware of the things happening in the country. The management still believes that leakage of some of the information is a threat to the security of the nation. The Supreme Court still holds the protection of the media publications and journalism of informing the citizens of the issues affecting the country to gain Democracy (Biagi, 2012).

Identify and explain the importance of the War Powers Act (1973) and its impact today?

The War Powers Act of 1973 was a tenacity of the Congress, which was to help limit the power of the United States' president, in particular, his ability to initiate or escalate military activities abroad (Ely, 1988). The law was adopted as a joint resolution on a result of the Vietnam War to tackle the concerns of the President and Congress and to provide them both with procedures to follow in a case where there could be an armed conflict if the United States forces are introduced abroad (Ely, 1988). So, the constitution divides the war powers into two categories, and the president has mandated the power as the commander of the armed forces. In contrast, Congress is responsible for war declarations. The law also stipulated that the president could end a foreign military action by a period of 60 days unless Congress gives the go-ahead of a continuation of the War. The Act limited the president on the basis that he or she cannot declare War or interpret any law.

The War Powers Act remains significant today in the United States since it clearly defines the limits and procedures that the sitting president and the Congress can use in situations of outbreaks of War. Although at times the Presidents do not consult the Congress in the issues of continued War, the 'Act has never triggered an end of a foreign military attack. The Act has impacted the president's ability to respond to emergencies abroad (Howell& Pevehouse, 2007).

Identify and explain the relevance of Watergate and, most importantly, how it still has an impact today?

The Watergate was a scandal that was facilitated during the reign of President Nixon that led to his resignation after Nixon and his staff recruited a team of CIA and Ex- FBI officials to investigate the Pentagon papers saga (Emery, 1995).' The Plumbers' as they came to be later known, bypassed into the Democratic National Committee Headquarters, Watergate Complex, and bugged some staff telephones, film rolls, and cash (Emery, 1995). Five men were arrested, and Whitehouse denied its involvement. Later a report was written that Nixon had transferred some money into an account of one of the men who were arrested (Emery, 1995). After some thorough investigations, Nixon was two other intelligence officers were found guilty of burglary, conspiracy, and the headquarter bugging. Some had already pleaded guilty. This was after it was known that Nixon wanted to pay Watergate bribers a considerable amount of money to cover the scandal. After a couple of Senate hearings, Nixon refuses to submit the Whitehouse conversation recording, he had. After several confrontations, Nixon releases some transcripts that prove his involvement in Watergate, and he resigns (Emery, 1995). The Watergate has impacted America today, in particular, it has facilitated the reformation of the United States Political System. People can now gain trust through U.S. government transparency, combating corruption through bribes and money abuse, protecting the people against abuse of power, and plummeting the power of the president (Feldstein, 2004).

References

Biagi, S. (2012). Media impact: An introduction to mass media. Cengage Learning.

Ely, J. H. (1988). Suppose Congress Wanted a War Powers Act That Worked. Columbia Law Review, 88(7), 1379-1431.

Emery, F. (1995). Watergate. Simon and Schuster.

Feldstein, M. (2004). Watergate revisited. American Journalism Review, 60-71.

Fox, L., Wimer, C., Garfinkel, I., Kaushal, N., & Waldfogel, J. (2015). Waging War on Poverty: Poverty trends using an accurate supplemental poverty measure. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 34(3), 567-592.

Howell, W. G., Howell, W. G., & Pevehouse, J. C. (2007). While dangers gather: Congressional checks on presidential war powers. Princeton University Press.

Humphrey, H. H. (1964). War on Poverty. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Le Blanc, P., & Yates, M. D. (2013). A freedom budget for all Americans: recapturing the promise of the civil rights movement in the struggle for economic justice today. NYU Press.

Morris, A. D. (1986). The origins of the civil rights movement. Simon and Schuster.

Rudenstine, D. (1998). The day the presses stopped: A history of the Pentagon Papers case. Univ of California Press.