Fifty years ago today, President Lyndon Johnson stood before Congress and declared an "unconditional war on poverty in America." His arsenal included new programs: Medicaid, Medicare, Head Start, food stamps, more spending on education and tax cuts to help create jobs.
In the coming year, NPR will explore the impact and extent of poverty in the U.S., and what can be done to reduce it.
When President Johnson waged war against poverty in 1964, he traveled to Martin County, Ky., an Appalachian coal-mining region with a poverty rate of more than 60 percent, to promote his campaign.
Today, the poverty rate in Martin County is lower than it was when Johnson visited, but it's still 35 percent, more than twice the national average. Coal mines are shutting down, and many of the youngest and brightest residents say that they have to leave the county if they want to make a living.
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