Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs
Making a Difference in Rural Illinois
A Foundation for Sustainable Rural Community Development
Following Johnson: Richard M. Nixon
Despite the demise of Lyndon B. Johnson’s significant efforts aimed at reducing poverty, the programs continued, helping to foster widespread rural community development activities and the evolution of increased rural development activity at the federal and state level, with a gradual increase in public and private partnerships.
President Richard M. Nixon (1969-1974) opened his administration by appointing a Rural Affairs Commission. The two major themes of the commission’s report involved helping people in rural areas to slow the migration to cities, and the importance of rural leadership development to communities, but with a different level of federal involvement.
Nixon backed passage of the Rural Development Act of 1972, which explicitly designated rural development as a federal policy goal with specific purposes. The act offered minimal new programming or money, yet it is regarded as a milestone in the history of the nation’s rural development history. When coupled with Community Development Block Grants, created in 1974 as part of Nixon’s plan for federal revenue sharing with states and communities, the measure followed Nixon’s philosophy of providing federal guidance and funding to allow communities to make their own development decisions.
Recommended Resource
- Roth, Dennis. “The Nixon Administration through Passage of the Rural Development Act of 1972.” (Accessed: August 19, 2008).
