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Truman & Eisenhower

Chapters 36 & 37

Post War United States

What issues did the U.S. face following World War II?

Worries after World War II

•  Many are still worried about a return to the Great Depression – Lots of soldiers returning home would

compete for jobs – GNP down in ‘46 and ‘47 – Prices went up after price controls were

lifted - inflation – Problems with labor again

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Problems with Labor

•  Were a large number of strikes after WWII - org. labor ready to fight

•  1947 - Taft-Hartley Act – Outlawed “closed shop” – Required union leaders to take a non-

communist oath •  Unions had a lot of trouble organizing

part time workers and in the South •  Membership began declining in the ‘50s

Labor Unions – Post War?

How was this similar to the situation faced by labor

unions after World War I?

Truman’s Actions

•  Sold govt. installations and war factories for cheap prices to businesses

•  Created the Council of Economic Advisors •  Servicemen’s Re-Adjustment Act (1944)

–  “GI Bill of Rights”, “GI Bill” – Sent former soldiers to school (8 mill. In 10 yrs) – Mostly technical and vocational schools –  2 million went to colleges and universities – VA guaranteed $16 billion in loans for veterans

to buy homes, farms, start small businesses

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Economic Boom

•  Economy started to rebound in the early 1950s

•  Consumers went wild - had $ for the first time in 20 years

•  Middle-class emerged –  owned homes and cars

•  Women reaped the most benefits – Traditional role of women still emphasized – Sparked the feminist movement of the

1960s

Roots of Post-War Prosperity

•  WWII boosted production – Now have a permanent war economy – Military contracts, research and

development •  Cheap Energy

– Oil from the Middle East – Led to spark in items and services that

require oil or electricity •  Workforce more productive and educated

“Smiling Sunbelt”

•  People moved all over after WWII •  Families spread all over the country •  Many moved to the “Sunbelt”

– VA-FL-TX-CA – Saw huge population increase – Jobs, climate, lower taxes

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“Smiling Sunbelt”

Sun Belt Importance

What are the effects of this mass shift of the population

to the “Sun Belt”?

Rush to the Suburbs

•  Now easier to buy a home •  Govt. built roads connecting the suburbs to the

cities •  Home construction shot up

– William Levitt - “mass produced” homes –  “Levittowns” - first one on Long Island

•  Mostly whites moved – Business and jobs followed – Minorities often didn’t get loans and local

govts. encouraged segregation

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Levittowns

Baby Boom

•  The 15 years after 1945 saw a huge increase in the birthrate

•  Peaked in 1957, 50 mill. babies by 1960 – Huge effect on the

economy through the decades – examples?

Yalta Conference

•  Feb. 1945 , original Big Three •  Made final war plans & agreements

– Poland would have free elections (along with Bulgaria and Romania)

– Announced plans for the United Nations – Stalin secretly agreed to attack Japan three

months after the war in Europe ended •  Was promised some land and ports

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Roots of the Cold War

•  History between the U.S. and Soviets not promising

•  Economies clashed (command economy vs. capitalism)

•  US & GB were not open about research •  Both seemed like were trying to spread

their ideology from the start – Conflict was inevitable

Shaping the Post-War World

•  1944 - International Monetary Fund – Encouraged world trade by regulating

exchange rates •  1944 - World Bank

– To promote growth in war-ravaged and underdeveloped areas

•  April, 1945 - first meeting of the U.N. – Know the basic structure of the U.N.

Problem of Germany

•  Nuremburg Trials – 20 tried for “crimes against

humanity” (new) – 20 executed, 2 jailed, 3 acquitted

•  Divided into 4 occupation zones – Soon apparent it would remain divided after

the war – Berlin also divided up (in the Soviet zone) – Berlin Air Lift - lasted about one year

•  The real beginning of the Cold War

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Division of Germany

Division of Berlin

Truman Doctrine

•  George Kennen - “Containment” – Communism is expansionary, will die if

contained to where it is •  This led to the Truman Doctrine

– He asked for $400 million to help Greece and Turkey rebuild and resist communism

– Promised similar support to other nations opposing communism

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Marshall Plan

•  Europe was still economically in trouble •  If Europe worked with the U.S. they

would get $ to help - we needed this •  After the communist takeover of

Czechoslovakia Congress okayed the $ – Marshall Plan

•  Billions of $ to help rebuild Europe •  Huge success

•  1948 - U.S. recognizes Israel

Reform during the Cold War

•  1947 - National Security Act – Created the Department of Defense – The heads of each service branch would

form the Joint Chiefs of Staff – Established the National Security Council

and the Central Intelligence Agency •  Europe signed a collective defense

agreement, asked the U.S to join – N.A.T.O. - huge step for the U.S.

Europe at the start of the Cold War

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Reconstruction of Japan

•  Was a one man show - Gen. MacArthur – Set up an International Military Tribunal – Japan largely cooperated – 1946 - adopted a constitution (much of it

written by MacArthur) – Formed a democratic government

•  Japan rebuilt successfully, relatively quickly

China & the Next Bomb

•  1948 - Communist revolution led by Mao Zedong – Chaing Kai-Shek fled to Taiwan

•  Were now 500 million new communists – Huge loss during the Cold War

•  Sept, 1949 - Soviets detonated their own atomic bomb – 1952 -we detonate the first hydrogen bomb – 1953 - the Soviets detonate theirs

Anti-Communism in the U.S.

•  1947 - Truman launches a “loyalty program”

•  The Attorney Gen. drew up a list of “disloyal” organizations

•  A Loyalty Review Board was est. – Dennis v. U.S. (1951) - upheld convictions

of persons advocating the overthrow of the govt. under the Smith Act

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Anti-Communism in the U.S.

•  House Un-American Activities Comm. – HUAC, formed in 1938 –  investigated real and suspected

Communists in positions of actual or supposed influence in American society

•  Marked the real beginning of the paranoia of the Red Scare

•  1951-1953 Rosenberg trial and execution

Election of 1948

•  GOP - Thomas Dewey, Gov of NY •  Dems - Truman (Eisenhower said no)

– Dixiecrat - Strom Thurmond (SC) •  Dewey was expected to win in a

landslide – Truman campaigned his rear off and won

•  Truman’s new plan - Fair Deal –  Improved housing, employment, raise the

min. wage, extend Social Security

Dewey Defeats Truman

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Problems in Korea

•  The Soviets were in the northern part of Korea when Japan surrendered – Set up a communist puppet govt.

•  1950 - North Korea invaded South Korea with Soviet weapons – A challenge to containment – Truman ordered a massive military build-up

and quadrupled military spending – UN voted to support South Korea

Start of the Korean War

Korean War Part II

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Korean War Part III

Inchon invasion

was larger than

Normandy!

Korean War Part IV

Korean War Part V

38th Parallel

Line

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CHAPTER 37

THE EISENHOWER ERA

Affluence and Its Anxieties

• Post-WWIIeconomicboombroughtgreatchangeinAmericansocietyinthe1950s

• 83%ofnewhomeswereinsuburbia• Scienceandtechnologydroveeconomicgrowth

• Transistor(1948)• IBM• StrategicAirCommand,Boeing707,• AirForceOne

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American Workforce, 1950s

•  Workforcewasalsochangingin1950s• “white-collar”workersoutnumbered“blue-collar”workers• Unionmembershippeakedat35%(‘54)• Moreopportunitiesforwomen

• Women’sdualroleasbothworkerandhomemakerraisedquestionsaboutgenderdifferences• TheFeminineMystique(BettyFriedan)helpedlaunchthemodernwomen’smovement

Consumer Culture in the ‘50s

• 1950s- Huge expansion of middle class and consumer culture

• McDonald’s (1948)• Disneyland (1955)• TV (7 million sold in 1951)

• Attendance at movies dropped• $10 billion spent on advertisements• Televangelists (Billy Graham)

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Sports and Music

• Sports• NY Giants = SF Giants• Brooklyn Dodgers = LA Dodgers

• Music• Rock ‘n’ Roll• Elvis Presley• Marilyn Monroe and Playboy (1953)

• The Affluent Society (1958)• John Galbraith (Harvard economist• Questioned the relation between private wealth and public good

Election of 1952

•  GOP nominated Dwight Eisenhower – V.P. - Richard Nixon

•  Ike’s hatchet man •  Accused of financial wrong-doing •  Checker’s Speech showed importance of TV

•  Dems nominated Adlai Stevenson – Gov. of Illinois

•  Ike won big – Went to Korea for 3 days – Armistice signed - 54,000 Americans dead

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Election of 1952

McCarthyism

•  Sen. From Wisc. Said there were over 200 communists employed by the State Department – When asked for proof, he lowered the number

57 (later even lower) •  Began mass accusations

– Even accused George C. Marshall –  Led to many lives begin destroyed and really

hurt the State Dept. (Asian experts) –  Ike did nothing- thought it would pass

•  His run ended when he went after the army

Eisenhower’s Domestic Policy

•  Dynamic Conservatism –  Halted military spending, funding for the TVA,

illegal immigration (Operation Wetback) –  Tried to cancel the “Indian New Deal” –  Solidified much of the New Deal

•  Interstate Highway Defense Act (1956) –  Ike was impressed by the Autobahn in Germany –  $27 billion for building the interstate system

(42,000 miles) –  Serves multiple purposes – major one is to make

movement of troops and supplies more efficient –  Hurt RRs, increased pollution and energy

consumption

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Ike and Foreign Policy

•  Looking for alternative to containment •  Sec. of State - John Foster Dulles •  Policy of Boldness

–  Cut back on Army and Navy –  “Brinksmanship” – threaten massive

nuclear retaliation to avoid conflict –  Strategic Air Command (SAC) superbombers

equipped with nuclear weapons –  Hungarian Uprising

•  Nuclear weapons not necessary in minor crises

New Hopes??

•  Was a hope of a better relationship with the Soviets with the death of Stalin –  Replaced by Nikita Khrushchev –  “open skies” rejected

•  1956 – a revolt against the communist govt. in Hungary –  Crushed by the Soviet military –  We could do nothing to stop it b/c the only threat

was nuclear war, too drastic for this

Ike & Vietnam

•  Vietnam saw years of nationalist efforts to get rid of French colonial rule –  Repeatedly appealed to the U.S. – denied –  Eventually looked for help from others??

•  Vietnamese, led by Ho Chi Minh, defeated the French –  Dien Bien Phu

•  Vietnam’s future would be decided at the Geneva Convention in 1955

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Geneva Conference (1955)

•  Future of Vietnam – Elections would be held in 2 years time – Until then Vietnam would be divided in 2

•  North would be controlled by Ho Chi Minh –  Allied to Communist nations

•  South controlled by Ngo Dinh Diem

–  French educated, Catholic, oppressive

•  Diem did not allow elections and Vietnam remained divided

Ike & the Middle East

•  Iran began to resist the power of big U.S. companies – 1953 – the U.S. staged

a coup and installed the Shah (Pahlevi)

– Left a bitter, anti-Western legacy (revenge coming in

the 1970s)

Suez Canal

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Ike and the Suez

•  Suez Crisis –  Leader of Egypt, Nassar, wanted to build a dam

on the Nile •  U.S. and G.B. would not give $, went to Soviets •  Then he nationalized the Suez Canal

–  G.B., France, and Israel jointly attacked Egypt in 1956

•  World waited while the Soviets prepared for war •  Ike applied pressure to G.B., F, and Israel and they

withdrew •  Eisenhower Doctrine – military & economic

aid to Middle Eastern countries to avoid communism

1956 Election

•  Ike v. Stevenson again, Ike wins

Space Race

•  1957 – Soviets launch Sputnik – Showed the Soviets

were ahead –  If a missile could reach

space, it could reach North America… needed to act

•  1958 – est. NASA •  National Defense Education Act

– $ for math, science, and language education

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Communism in Cuba

•  1959 – Fidel Castro leads the communist revolution in Cuba – Not long after his relationship with the US

became hostile and cozied up with the Soviets

•  Communism now 90 miles off the coast of Florida – Embargo and the Helms-Burton Act (1996)