Transcript for the Piece Audio version of A Government Out of Sight

(Music Bed - The Washington Post March)
(Lyndon Johnson Clip)

In May of 1964, President Lyndon Johnson outlined his goals for America to become a “Great Society” in this historic speech at the University of Michigan.

(More Johnson Clip)

Add Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal to Johnson’s “Great Society”, and the Twentieth Century was surely the era when America’s government grew to become the powerful and complex entity that we see now. So what was the federal government like in the 19th century? I’m Sarah McConnell and this is With Good Reason.

(more speech, applause fade and music fade)

Later on today’s show,

But first, in this era of government bailouts and town hall meetings over health care reform, it’s clear that many Americans oppose continued growth of the federal government, preferring it to be smaller and less intrusive, the way it was in the 19th century. Or WAS IT? Historian Brian Balogh of the University of Virginia has written a new book about the U.S. government in the 19th century, in which he argues that Americans have always looked to a powerful and effective government—we just don’t want a big bureaucracy.

Interview: Brian Balogh

Brian Balogh is the 20th century historian on VFH Radio’s Backstory. He’s a Professor of History at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs. His new book is A Government Out of Sight: The Mystery of National Authority in Nineteenth-Century America. Coming up next: How the government uses billions of dollars in tax incentives to promote social welfare.

Some of the most popular government programs today don’t require big bureaucracies. Instead, the government redistributes wealth through targeted tax incentives like the Home Mortgage Interest Deduction. The College of William and Mary’s Chris Howard is the author of two books about what he calls “America’s Hidden Welfare State”. He says through the tax code, the government subsidizes a wide range of housing, health, pension, and income support programs that go disproportionately to the more affluent members of society.

(Chris Howard Interview)

(Music)

Chris Howard is a professor of Government and Public Policy at the College of William and Mary. His latest book is: The Welfare State Nobody Knows: Debunking Myths About U.S. Social Policy.

You’re listening to With Good Reason. Elliot Majerczyk and Jesse Dukes are our associate producers. Andrew Wyndham is our executive producer. Nancy King creates our feature capsules. Jeannie Palin handles listener services and Lydia Wilson is our publicity coordinator. With Good Reason is produced by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Visit us at our website at with good reason radio dot org. For a free copy of this show on CD, call 877-451-5098. Or you can find us on facebook. AND, if you become a Facebook fan this week, we’ll enter you in a drawing to win a special prize: I’ll record a family oral history with you or one of your loved ones and present you with the CD as a keepsake. I'm Sarah McConnell, Thanks for listening.

PROMO: The federal government grew by leaps and bounds during the New Deal of the 1930’s and later the Great Society of Lyndon Johnson. But what was it like during the 19th century?

I’m Sarah McConnell. Join me for With Good Reason (station/date/time)