Black History Month: Lyndon Johnson and Robert Weaver
In 1966, the Presidency of Lyndon Johnson was going through a difficult period. Johnson had enjoyed a period of success in his domestic agenda, which he called "the Great Society." It had produced meaningful civil rights legislation and the Voting Rights Act, declared war on poverty, and major health care reform with the creation of Medicare and Medicaid. But growing national impatience over the war in Vietnam was eroding Johnson's popularity. Johnson's approval ratings were reaching new lows of 41 percent. In June of 1966, Sen. Richard Russell, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee declared it was time to "get it over or get out", referring to the war. Press relations became strained. A more focused bombing campaign against petroleum, oil and lubrication facilities in North Vietnam began the end of June.
The cost of the war was making it increasingly more difficult for Johnson to focus on the real war he wanted to fight, the war on poverty. But on September 9, 1965, the Department of Housing and Urban Development was created and in 1966 its first Secretary, an African-American named Robert Clifton Weaver, was appointed. The Department's mission was stated as being "to increase home ownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination." Weaver was an economist, academic, and political administrator. He served as the first Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (abbreviated as "HUD") from January 13, 1966 to December 18, 1968. Weaver was the first African American to be appointed to a US cabinet-level position.
Weaver was born on December 29, 1907 in Washington, D.C. His father, Morgan Weaver, was a postal worker, and his mother was Margaret Freeman. His maternal grandfather was Dr. Robert Tanner Freeman, the first African American to graduate from Harvard in dentistry. Weaver attended the M Street High School, now known as the Dunbar High School. In a time of racial segregation, it was the local high school for African-American children, part of the policy of supposedly "separate but equal" facilities, although the school had a national reputation for excellence. Weaver attended Harvard University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degree. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in economics, completing his doctorate in 1934. Weaver married Ella V. Haith in 1935. They adopted a son, who died in 1962.
In 1933, Weaver was appointed as an aide to United States Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. In 1934 he was invited to join a group that became known as President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Black Cabinet". Roosevelt appointed a group of 45 prominent African-Americans to positions in executive agencies, and called on them as informal advisers on public policy issues related to the African American community, the Great Depression and the New Deal. When the Republican Party took back the Presidency in 1953, Weaver taught economics before being appointed as New York State Rent Commissioner in 1955 under Democratic Governor W. Averell Harriman. He became the first African American to serve as a State Cabinet member in New York and held that position until 1959. He served as the vice chairman of the New York City Housing and Redevelopment Board in 1960. Weaver helped to write the compilation housing bill in 1961. He lobbied for the Senior Citizens Housing Act of 1962.
Newly elected President John F. Kennedy wanted Weaver to serve in his administration. Kennedy tried to create a new cabinet department to deal with urban issues. It was to be called the Department of Housing and Urban Development. After the second world war, suburban development increased with the construction of highways. This along with the post-war economy, drew population and jobs from the cities. The nation faced a problem with substandard, aged housing in many cities, and problems of unemployment. In 1961, Kennedy appointed Weaver Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), a group of agencies which Kennedy wanted to elevate to cabinet status. Some Republicans and southern Democrats opposed the legislation to create the new department. In 1962 Kennedy unsuccessfully tried to use his reorganization authority to create the department. To prevent this, Congress passed legislation prohibiting presidents from using that authority to create a new cabinet department, even though the President Dwight D. Eisenhower administration had created the cabinet-level U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare under that authority.
After Kennedy's death, the department was finally approved by Congress in 1965. Johnson called this legislation "the single most important breakthrough" in federal housing policy since the 1920s. It greatly expanded funding for existing federal housing programs, and added new programs to provide rent subsidies for the elderly and disabled. It also provided for housing rehabilitation grants to poor homeowners, provisions for veterans to make very low down-payments to obtain mortgages, new authority for families qualifying for public housing to be placed in empty private housing and matching grants to cities and towns for the construction of water and sewer facilities, construction of community centers in low-income areas, and urban beautification.
Johnson took an additional step in the War on Poverty with an urban renewal effort, presented to Congress in January 1966. He called it the "Demonstration Cities Program". To be eligible a city had to demonstrate its readiness to "arrest blight and decay and make a substantial impact on the development of its entire city." Johnson wanted an investment of $400 million per year totaling $2.4 billion. In the fall of 1966 the Congress passed a substantially reduced program costing $900 million, which Johnson called the Model Cities Program.
Johnson publicly named Weaver as a potential nominee for the post of first Secretary of the new Department of HUD, but would not promise him the position. In private, Johnson was worried about Weaver's political sense. Johnson considered other candidates, none of whom was African American. Johnson was worried about how the new Secretary would interact with congressional representatives from the South. Johnson considered Richard Daley, mayor of Chicago and philanthropist Laurence Rockefeller for the post, but ultimately, he decided that Weaver was the best-qualified administrator. Presidential aide Bill Moyers rated Weaver highly on potential effectiveness. Johnson put forward the nomination, and Weaver was successfully confirmed by the United States Senate.
Adequate housing for African Americans had long been a concern of Weaver's. In 1930 he wrote an article entitled “Negroes Need Housing”, published in the NAACP magazine The Crisis. He wrote that there was a great difference between the income of most African Americans and the cost of living and he argued that African Americans did not have enough housing supply because of many social factors, including the long economic decline of rural areas in the South. He suggested a government housing program to enable all the African Americans the chance to buy or rent their house. Weaver had drafted the U.S Housing Program under Roosevelt, which was established in 1937. The program was intended to provide financial support to local housing departments, as a subsidy toward lowering the rent poor African Americans had to pay. The program decreased the average rent from $19.47 per month to $16.80 per month. But even so, Weaver claimed the scope of this program was insufficient, as there were still many African Americans who made less than the average income and who could not afford to pay for both food and housing. Since they were generally restricted to segregated housing, African Americans could not necessarily take advantage of other subsidized housing.
Weaver served in the position for only two years, leaving office when the Republicans regained the Presidency in 1969. That year Weaver became president of Baruch College and the following year, he became a professor of Urban Affairs at Hunter College in New York. He taught there until 1978. Robert Weaver died in Manhattan, New York on July 17, 1997, at the age of 89.
The cost of the war was making it increasingly more difficult for Johnson to focus on the real war he wanted to fight, the war on poverty. But on September 9, 1965, the Department of Housing and Urban Development was created and in 1966 its first Secretary, an African-American named Robert Clifton Weaver, was appointed. The Department's mission was stated as being "to increase home ownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination." Weaver was an economist, academic, and political administrator. He served as the first Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (abbreviated as "HUD") from January 13, 1966 to December 18, 1968. Weaver was the first African American to be appointed to a US cabinet-level position.
Weaver was born on December 29, 1907 in Washington, D.C. His father, Morgan Weaver, was a postal worker, and his mother was Margaret Freeman. His maternal grandfather was Dr. Robert Tanner Freeman, the first African American to graduate from Harvard in dentistry. Weaver attended the M Street High School, now known as the Dunbar High School. In a time of racial segregation, it was the local high school for African-American children, part of the policy of supposedly "separate but equal" facilities, although the school had a national reputation for excellence. Weaver attended Harvard University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degree. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in economics, completing his doctorate in 1934. Weaver married Ella V. Haith in 1935. They adopted a son, who died in 1962.
In 1933, Weaver was appointed as an aide to United States Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. In 1934 he was invited to join a group that became known as President Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Black Cabinet". Roosevelt appointed a group of 45 prominent African-Americans to positions in executive agencies, and called on them as informal advisers on public policy issues related to the African American community, the Great Depression and the New Deal. When the Republican Party took back the Presidency in 1953, Weaver taught economics before being appointed as New York State Rent Commissioner in 1955 under Democratic Governor W. Averell Harriman. He became the first African American to serve as a State Cabinet member in New York and held that position until 1959. He served as the vice chairman of the New York City Housing and Redevelopment Board in 1960. Weaver helped to write the compilation housing bill in 1961. He lobbied for the Senior Citizens Housing Act of 1962.
Newly elected President John F. Kennedy wanted Weaver to serve in his administration. Kennedy tried to create a new cabinet department to deal with urban issues. It was to be called the Department of Housing and Urban Development. After the second world war, suburban development increased with the construction of highways. This along with the post-war economy, drew population and jobs from the cities. The nation faced a problem with substandard, aged housing in many cities, and problems of unemployment. In 1961, Kennedy appointed Weaver Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), a group of agencies which Kennedy wanted to elevate to cabinet status. Some Republicans and southern Democrats opposed the legislation to create the new department. In 1962 Kennedy unsuccessfully tried to use his reorganization authority to create the department. To prevent this, Congress passed legislation prohibiting presidents from using that authority to create a new cabinet department, even though the President Dwight D. Eisenhower administration had created the cabinet-level U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare under that authority.
After Kennedy's death, the department was finally approved by Congress in 1965. Johnson called this legislation "the single most important breakthrough" in federal housing policy since the 1920s. It greatly expanded funding for existing federal housing programs, and added new programs to provide rent subsidies for the elderly and disabled. It also provided for housing rehabilitation grants to poor homeowners, provisions for veterans to make very low down-payments to obtain mortgages, new authority for families qualifying for public housing to be placed in empty private housing and matching grants to cities and towns for the construction of water and sewer facilities, construction of community centers in low-income areas, and urban beautification.
Johnson took an additional step in the War on Poverty with an urban renewal effort, presented to Congress in January 1966. He called it the "Demonstration Cities Program". To be eligible a city had to demonstrate its readiness to "arrest blight and decay and make a substantial impact on the development of its entire city." Johnson wanted an investment of $400 million per year totaling $2.4 billion. In the fall of 1966 the Congress passed a substantially reduced program costing $900 million, which Johnson called the Model Cities Program.
Johnson publicly named Weaver as a potential nominee for the post of first Secretary of the new Department of HUD, but would not promise him the position. In private, Johnson was worried about Weaver's political sense. Johnson considered other candidates, none of whom was African American. Johnson was worried about how the new Secretary would interact with congressional representatives from the South. Johnson considered Richard Daley, mayor of Chicago and philanthropist Laurence Rockefeller for the post, but ultimately, he decided that Weaver was the best-qualified administrator. Presidential aide Bill Moyers rated Weaver highly on potential effectiveness. Johnson put forward the nomination, and Weaver was successfully confirmed by the United States Senate.
Adequate housing for African Americans had long been a concern of Weaver's. In 1930 he wrote an article entitled “Negroes Need Housing”, published in the NAACP magazine The Crisis. He wrote that there was a great difference between the income of most African Americans and the cost of living and he argued that African Americans did not have enough housing supply because of many social factors, including the long economic decline of rural areas in the South. He suggested a government housing program to enable all the African Americans the chance to buy or rent their house. Weaver had drafted the U.S Housing Program under Roosevelt, which was established in 1937. The program was intended to provide financial support to local housing departments, as a subsidy toward lowering the rent poor African Americans had to pay. The program decreased the average rent from $19.47 per month to $16.80 per month. But even so, Weaver claimed the scope of this program was insufficient, as there were still many African Americans who made less than the average income and who could not afford to pay for both food and housing. Since they were generally restricted to segregated housing, African Americans could not necessarily take advantage of other subsidized housing.
Weaver served in the position for only two years, leaving office when the Republicans regained the Presidency in 1969. That year Weaver became president of Baruch College and the following year, he became a professor of Urban Affairs at Hunter College in New York. He taught there until 1978. Robert Weaver died in Manhattan, New York on July 17, 1997, at the age of 89.