The federal government addressed Appalachian poverty in several ways. The first was through direct assistance to people.

In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson launched the “War on Poverty” to help struggling Americans, including those in rural Appalachia and West Virginia. New programs provided job training, preschool education through Head Start, and medical care for the poor and elderly through Medicare and Medicaid.

Programs like the Job Corps helped young people learn job skills. One of the most debated parts was the Community Action Program (CAP), which gave money to local groups to fight poverty. These groups sometimes clashed with local leaders and called into question the fairness of governments and elections.

Many programs were scaled back after the Vietnam War, and President Nixon later ended the Office of Economic Opportunity.