Office of Economic Opportunity - Definition

The Office of Economic Opportunity was the agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs created during United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's Administration. Programs such as VISTA, Job Corps, Community Action and Head Start (though that program was later transferred to the Department of Health Education and Welfare) were all administered by the OEO. It was established in 1964, but quickly became a target of both left-wing and right-wing critics of the War on Poverty. Past directors of the OEO included Sargent Shriver, Bertrand Harding and Donald Rumsfeld. The OEO was dismantled by President Richard Nixon in 1973, though many of the agency's programs were transferred to other government agencies.