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

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

The Vietnam War was draining federal coffers, forcing Lyndon Johnson to balance military spending with domestic programs like the Great Society.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025

In November 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson added a monumental new institution to his Great Society: the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a “miracle in communication” that LBJ compared to the United States’ first telegraph line.

From Slate • Jul. 17, 2025

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

It was part of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society and was modeled after the Depression era’s Civilian Conservation Corps.

From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore