| By 1963, Appalachia had replaced the South on the federal agenda as the nation's number one problem. Like the South of the 1930s, Appalachia was experiencing the same chronic problems of high unemployment, weak economies, and inadequate public services. By the 1950s, however, Appalachia's impoverished condition was in stark contrast to the nation's general prosperity. In 1965, Congress created the Appalachian Regional Commission to coordinate long-term comprehensive development of Appalachia. This study examines the ideological and political origins of the commission and its development program.; Formation of the program began in 1956 with the Eastern Kentucky chapters of the Kentucky Junior Chamber of Commerce, under the leadership of John D. Whisman. They formed a partnership with the state to promote regional development. Devastating floods in central Appalachia forced Kentucky to create a regional planning commission in 1957, which prepared a ten-year strategic plan for comprehensive development. The plan included development of a diversified economy and social improvements in the areas of education, vocational training, health care, and public services. Realizing that it lacked the resources to implement the plan, Kentucky formed a confederation with other Appalachian states to push the federal government to adopt the program.; The presidential of election 1960 proved timely for the Appalachian governors. Because of his experience during the West Virginia primary, John Kennedy committed his administration to addressing the region's impoverished conditions. He tried first through the newly created Area Redevelopment Administration. But when ARA proved ineffective, Kennedy appointed the President's Appalachian Regional Commission to recommend a special Appalachian program. After Kennedy's assassination, Pres. Lyndon Johnson pushed unsuccessfully for passage of the Appalachian Regional Development Act in 1964. That effort and his landslide electoral victory led to its enactment by Congress in 1965.; The act created a partnership between the states and the federal government. Both had equal standing in determining how federal funds would be allocated for development purposes. The development program reflected both the New Deal liberalism of Pres. Franklin Roosevelt, which espoused an activist federal role in resolving impoverished conditions, and a conservativism, which demanded less activism and more local control. |
