Who was the director of the Office of Economic Opportunity?

• A. Sargent Shriver
• B. Michael Harrington
• C. John F. Kennedy
• D. Earl Warren

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is who ran the federal effort created to fight poverty as part of Johnson’s War on Poverty. The Office of Economic Opportunity was established in 1964 to coordinate programs like Head Start, Job Corps, and VISTA, aiming to reduce poverty and bring new social services to communities. The person chosen to direct this new agency was Sargent Shriver, a prominent public servant known for organizing large-scale initiatives and for his work with the Peace Corps. As director, he steered the early implementation of these antipoverty programs and helped shape the approach of the War on Poverty.

Michael Harrington helped popularize the issue of poverty and influenced public policy, but he wasn’t the administrator of the OEO. John F. Kennedy started many reforms that laid groundwork for later changes, but the Office of Economic Opportunity was a Johnson-era program. Earl Warren led the Supreme Court and was not involved in directing the OEO.