The two great speeches of the 20 th century between Johnson and Regard had had two great visions for Americas colliding. From the two speeches, it is evident that one of them saw America on the rise and made the country the greatest while another saw America in peril and deep recession. On the other hand, one of these speeches valued the role of government and saw it as a vital tool to smooth away the roughness of life and assure widespread freedom. However, the other saw government as an intrusion in the natural order of life and the enemy of liberty. Lastly, one of these great speakers spoke of a reverie while the other on his excellent speech spoke of a nightmare ( Ellwood, John Williams, 234). Lyndon Baines Johnson was running for re-election when he gave a statement outlining his ambitions which shock the world. The Great Society speech came at a time many reforms such as civil right; racism was on the process. Ronald Reagan would later make a speech that was meant to support the republic challenger during the same year of the election. These two speeches saw the rise of the two dominating politicians of the 20 th century in American history. Though both of these speeches were critical and significant in American history, Reagan speech was the greatest.
Reagan saw it necessary to reduce taxes and reduce the government expenditure other than increasing spending as the great society proposed. Johnson speech focused on the following pertinent issues which were facing the county. They include transportations, education, healthcare, Civil rights and beauty of the nation. He passed different bills which encouraged government expenditure in these areas. He claimed in his speech that “ The Great Society is when America's promise and her practice come together. The Great Society isn't a dream of mine. ” He further claimed that the “ Great Society is as real as tomorrow, and it is yours for working at it. … It's the time — and it's going to be soon — when nobody in this country is poor.” From these quotes, it is evident that his ambitions needed urgency and the government had to work faster to ensure that such issues were looked into as quickly as possible. What makes this speech an imagination during this time was the fact that Johnson the state of the American economy which was too low to support these actions. The country was languishing in heavy taxation and had billions of debt ( Medhurst, Martin 98). The situation was just abnormal. As the president, these changes though some were made, thy later had a massive impact on the great country. The economic recession was on the throat of Americans, and everything could not be avoided.
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Reagan on his speech spoke of reality. His emphasis was on issues which could be achieved. He outlined what ought to be done not to improve the Americans economy but to deal with the situation at hand. He claimed that heavy taxation has to be reduced. He later claimed that the government must reduce its influence on people and give them the freedom to define their destiny. He worked hard to reduce the federal government influence on people. He also saw the reduction of taxes by signing a bill that reduces it by 25% ( Rowland & Jones, 635). He did not bother with dreams which could not be supported by the low economy. He claimed in his speech that “ But I have an uncomfortable feeling that this prosperity isn’t something on which we can base our hopes for the future.” He further claimed that “Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.” Self-governance was part of his dream, a dream that later brought prosperity and made Americans great in the world.
Works Cited
Ellwood, John Williams. Reductions in US domestic spending: how they affect state and local governments . Routledge, 2018.
Medhurst, Martin J. "LBJ, Reagan, and the American Dream: Competing visions of liberty." Presidential Studies Quarterly 46.1 (2016): 98-124.
Rowland, Robert C., and John M. Jones. "Reagan’s Farewell Address: Redefining the American Dream." Rhetoric & Public Affairs 20.4 (2017): 635-666.
