Foreign Relations of the United States, 1917–1972, Volume VII, Public Diplomacy, 1964–1968

63. Message From the United States Information Agency to All United States Information Service Posts¹

Infoguide No. 66–2

Washington, October 6, 1965

INFOGUIDE: The Great Society²

SITUATION

USIA-State CA–868³ of October 5, 1965 discusses the Great Society as a program reflecting the Administration’s and the President’s commitment to the most ambitious domestic goals ever established by this nation. It urges posts to make the Great Society meaningful to foreign audience groups because an understanding of the Great Society is fundamental to an understanding of the U.S. of today and of the future.

Significant legislation passed during this Session of Congress will enable many of the Great Society’s goals to become realities. Following is a list of the most important legislation bearing upon those goals:

88th Congress (adjourned Oct. 3, 1964):

Poverty Program: Omnibus Bill

Food Stamp Program

National Defense Educational Act, Impacted Areas

Civil Rights Act

Library Services Act

Indigent Legal Aid

National Commission on Technology, Automation, and Economic Progress

National Council on the Arts

National Wilderness Preservation System

Urban Mass Transportation Act

Land and Water Conservation Fund

Park Lands Legislation (Ozark National Riverways, Fire Island National Seashore, Canyonlands National Park)

Highway Trust Fund

Water Resources Research

89th Congress (As of October 3, 1965)

Medicare

Appalachia Assistance

Regional Development

Aid to Elementary & Secondary Education

Omnibus Housing Act

Voting Rights Act

Public Works and Economic Development Act

Creation of Department of Housing and Urban Affairs

State Technical Services Act

Assateague Island Seashore National Park Bill

Creation of Arts and Humanities Foundation

Immigration Act

TREATMENT

(1) We want to use the aspirations and the accomplishments of the Great Society as a means to show important audiences that (a) the United States, President Johnson, and his Administration are committed to a great and attainable program to improve the quality of American life, and (b) this program has meaning to foreign peoples.

(2) We want to demonstrate that, even while deeply committed to the defense of free nations and free institutions in many parts of the world, the U.S. is equally committed to the preservation and the development of the basic American institutions which provide this nation with the strength and vigor required to meet its foreign commitments.

(3) We want the Great Society to illustrate what “government of the people, by the people, and for the people”⁴ means—how progress toward national goals engages the effort of many individuals acting through a wide variety of voluntary, nongovernmental and civic groups, and how the system of free choice encourages and responds to the concern and initiative of its citizens.

(4) Recognizing that every people has its own ideals of excellence, we want to suggest American readiness to learn from the experience of other peoples in progressing toward peaceful goals, and to share the evolving American experience of the Great Society where it is applicable.

(5) We want to convince people that a nation so committed to the Great Society could not strive less energetically for peace or refrain more steadfastly from aggression or aspirations for territorial gain or political domination.

(6) We want to demonstrate that a nation which can afford the Great Society must be a strong and reliable friend and ally and, if necessary, a determined adversary.

Cautions

(1) Never suggest that the United States promises to bring the fruits of the Great Society to all people, everywhere, lest the Great Society be interpreted as some sort of vast foreign aid project.

(2) Use extreme care in projecting “the American standard of living” as requiring improvement, for that standard already is considered beyond the hopes and expectations of numerous peoples especially in the developing areas.

[Omitted here are background information and a list of supporting USIA materials.]

Marks

1. Source: National Archives, RG 306, DIRCTR Subj Files, 1963–69, Bx 6–29 63–69: Acc: #72A5121, Entry UD WW 257, Box 27, Government Agencies—White House 1965. Limited Official Use. Drafted by Oleksiw and Pauker on October 4; cleared by Dillon; approved by Anderson. Pauker initialed for himself and Oleksiw; Ryan initialed for Anderson. Sent via pouch.
2. See footnote 3, Document 55.
3. Not found.
4. The quotation is from President Lincoln’s November 19, 1863, “Gettysburg Address.”