Great Society

A New History

By: Amity Shlaes

Narrated by: Terence Aselford

The New York Times best-selling author of The Forgotten Man and Coolidge offers a stunning revision of our last great period of idealism, the 1960s, with burning relevance for our contemporary challenges.

"Great Society is accurate history that reads like a novel, covering the high hopes and catastrophic missteps of our well-meaning leaders." (Alan Greenspan)

Today, a battle rages in our country. Many Americans are attracted to socialism and economic redistribution, while opponents of those ideas argue for purer capitalism. In the 1960s, Americans sought the same goals many seek now: an end to poverty, higher standards of living for the middle class, a better environment, and more access to health care and education. Then, too, we debated socialism and capitalism, public sector reform versus private sector advancement. Time and again, whether under John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, or Richard Nixon, the country chose the public sector. Yet, the targets of our idealism proved elusive. What’s more, Johnson’s and Nixon’s programs shackled millions of families in permanent government dependence. Ironically, Shlaes argues, the costs of entitlement commitments made a half century ago preclude the very reforms that Americans will need in coming decades.

In Great Society, Shlaes offers a powerful companion to her legendary history of the 1930s, The Forgotten Man, and shows that in fact there was scant difference between two presidents we consider opposites: Johnson and Nixon. Just as technocratic military planning by "the Best and the Brightest" made failure in Vietnam inevitable, so planning by a team of the domestic best and brightest guaranteed fiasco at home. At once history and biography, Great Society sketches moving portraits of the characters in this transformative period, from US Presidents to the visionary UAW leader Walter Reuther, the founders of Intel, and Federal Reserve chairmen William McChesney Martin and Arthur Burns. Great Society casts new light on other figures, too, from Ronald Reagan, then governor of California, to the socialist Michael Harrington and the protest movement leader Tom Hayden. Drawing on her classic economic expertise and deep historical knowledge, Shlaes upends the traditional narrative of the era, providing a damning indictment of the consequences of thoughtless idealism with striking relevance for today. Great Society captures a dramatic contest with lessons both dark and bright for our own time.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Amity Shlaes (P)2019 HarperAudio

you can handle the truth

excellent treaty on the origins of federal overreach in the USA. the tentacles of this disastrous set of policies haunt us still today

An accurate history of Johnson's "Great Society"!

Amity writes a thorough history of the political scene that resulted in the "Great Society" policies, many of which are significant even to this day!

Essential reading!!

This book should be essential reading for schools. It begins in the 1950’s where her previous book, “The Forgotten Man” left off and goes to the early 1970’s. Hopefully there is a 3rd book continuing from there.

This fills in the blanks on so many historical questions I’ve had and puts context on why so many decisions were made. The overall presentation and recording were excellent as well. I highly recommend this book.

Origins of the Race and Poverty Hustle

Great book in the Amity Shlaes series. This book shed light on the High Modernist Planning behind the origins of woke. How to turn happy, united citizens of an affluent society into fractured, angry, envious mobs. It was Washington DC created to cynically divide the nation for political positioning by both parties. This book explains how the poverty and race hustle was the work of slimy populist politicians (LBJ and Nixon), closet Socialists (Harrington and G. Romney), Marxists (Reuther and Alinski), Corporate Cronies, War Mongers, and Ethno Nationalists Activists - fully financed by Washington. The government was paying self-professed satanic grievance grinders like Saul Alinski. Nixon basically goes socialist so he could win re-election by spiking economy without actually fixing any fundamental issues.

This book further sheds light on the scammers, useful idiots, and the tactics. Even origins with New Deal left wingers that were fascinated by Soviet Super Fascist power. Amazing but sad, that 60 years later, the hustle and "planning" continues and American cities like St Louis and Detroit are enduring cautionary tales.

A College Course on the Great Society

I listen to everything that Amity Schlaes writes. She is meticulous in her research, broadens a topic far beyond a standard history text to provide the listener with context, and describes incidents in compelling detail.

This book is no exception. She writes about the political, economic, and social situation leading up to the Great Society programs, then provides inside stories and insights into the minds and actions of its leading figures - presidents, presidential advisors, union leaders, business executives, and civil-rights leaders.

I was born late in the Eisenhower Administration and was too young to appreciate the forces that shaped the growth of the welfare state during the Johnson and Nixon Administrations. The author transported the adult me into that era, helping me to understand the key players' motivations and strategies, their actions, and their reactions to the events.

The listener w ho pays attention and reflects on this work should receive credit for an upper-level college history course. The book is that thorough and compelling.

Vast Information

Very in-depth knowledge and insight about the historical period. This book was not one you could read hours at a time. The content very over powering with information, that I personally had to take a break. I am very happy I chose this book and it helped me formulate a better understanding of the events surrounding our Country’s current situation.

Unintended Consequences

Honest evaluation of the facts is important. This book tells the story of unintended consequences and is very well researched.

Another home run

Shlaes crushed it in The Forgotten Man and destroys it in Great Society.

Nothing better than a history time based on *reporting facts* and not *creating a narrative* based on the facts.

Has all the details from multiple sources and quotes without the au courant media-style dog and monkey rodeo which characterizes modern "history" books.

Shlaes does not pontificate or spin doctor the *facts*. The reader/listener gets the info and gets to make any decision without the author inserting herself into the timeline.

She profiles presidents without the hagiography associated with an agenda. You get it all the cupcakes and unicorns of triumph with the herpes of failure based on the record.

Àll the presidents presented begin as all politicians based on their altruism but then you get the dark sides of the haughty patrician Kennedy, the knuckle-draggging schoolyard bully LBJ and the insecure backstabber Nixon.

Do NOT miss this book in your queue.

so much great detailed history

I loved it. I think this book gave me so much insight to the historical political workings through Kennedy, LBJ and Nixon.

Social engineering doesn’t work

Shlaes does a masterful job of putting the details together in showing the well intentioned ambitions of people to form committees and bureaucracies that fail in completing the goal. Not only failing but making circumstances worse, usually much worse and selling with talk for convincing the disparaged that they are really being helped. In the meantime the expenditure of funds provides a flood of money that is just wasted.
Conclusion, reduce federal government authority in domestic matters and hold projects to their budget, eliminating those that don’t live up to it (or down to the allotment).