1961年,正当民权运动如火如荼,经济增长减速慢行之时,约翰·肯尼迪当选总统。这位美国历史上最年轻的总统把“新边疆”作为施政口号,在令人重温先辈扩张传统的同时,也给这个国家带来了新气象。虽然此后出现了越战冲突、占巴事件及导弹危机等事件,美国的社会经济改革仍取得重大进展:《民权法案》终于出台,国民收入迅速提高,反贫困斗争初战告捷。然而,“新边疆”的美好梦想却随着肯尼迪的英年早逝化为昨日星辰。为摆脱困境,林登·约翰逊临危受命。这位温文尔雅的民主党人提出了“伟大社会”的构想,努力使美国重振雄风。正是那一系列以消除贫困、特权和歧视为核心的施政计划,把美国的社会经济改革推进到了一个新阶段。从“新边疆”迈向“伟大社会”的征程因而成为20世纪美国经济史上熠熠生辉的篇章。 In 1961, just as the civil rights movement was in full swing and economic growth was slowing down, John F. Kennedy was elected president. The youngest president in the history of the United States, using “new frontier” as its policy slogan, has given the country a new look while revisiting the tradition of expanding its ancestors. Although the ensuing Vietnam war, the Occupy events and the missile crisis, the U.S. socio-economic reforms have made significant progress. The Civil Rights Bill was finally promulgated, the national income increased rapidly and the anti-poverty struggle won the first battle. However, the beautiful dream of the “new frontier” has just disappeared into the star of yesterday with Johnny’s premature death. To get out of the woods, Lyndon Johnson was on the verge of death. The gentle Democrat put forward the concept of “great society” and worked hard to revive the United States. It is precisely this series of administrative plans centered on the eradication of poverty, privileges and discrimination that have brought the social and economic reform in the United States to a new stage. The journey from “new frontier ” to “great society ” thus became a thriving chapter of the 20th century’s economic history in the United States.