This article talks about a pioneering federal preschool program, launched during the War on Poverty that faces reauthorization amid competition from state programs and perennial debates about its efficacy. The nutritional, social, and educational needs of disadvantaged children--combined with opportunities for parents to be involved--have been elements of the Head Start program since it started more than 40 years ago as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty. As federal debate over reauthorization of the program drags on for a fourth year, Head Start finds itself coping with pressures that its founders might not have anticipated.