Great Society

American  

noun

1. the goal of the Democratic Party under the leadership of President Lyndon B. Johnson, chiefly to enact domestic programs to improve education, provide medical care for the aged, and eliminate poverty.

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Great Society Cultural  

1. The name President Lyndon Johnson gave to his aims in domestic policy. The programs of the Great Society had several goals, including clean air and water, expanded educational opportunities, and the lessening of poverty and disease in the United States. (See War on Poverty.)

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How does great-society compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• New Deal vs. Great Society

Example Sentences

Washington countered with a vision bearing the confident stamp of the Great Society era in American politics—the belief that a complex metropolis could still be shaped, and improved, by comprehensive design.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

Lady Bird Johnson launched a series of beautification and urban renewal projects in Washington, a visual taste of the Great Society her husband hoped to bring about nationwide.

From Slate • May 18, 2026

Both of these programs, which were part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society initiative in the 1960s, are designed to prevent poverty and unnecessary death in old age.

From MarketWatch • May 7, 2026

According to a 1965 profile in Time magazine, Moyers was a key figure in assembling Johnson’s ambitious domestic policy initiatives known as the Great Society.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 26, 2025

He would not be able to go any further with his Great Society policies to eliminate poverty and social injustice.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge