Transcript The Cold War Begins - Auburn School District

Truman and Eisenhower
Introduction
 After WWII the country enjoyed economic prosperity.
 Television became a favorite form of entertainment.
 America’s prosperity did not extend to Hispanics,
African Americans, Native Americans, or people in
Appalachia.
Return to a Peacetime Economy
 A Return to the Great Depression?
 Americans spending money on luxury items that were not
available previously because of the war prevented it
 The GI Bill: provided generous loans to veterans to
establish businesses, buy homes, and attend college
Return to a Peacetime Economy
 Inflation and Strikes
 A greater demand for goods led to higher prices
 The cost of living increased
 During the war strikes were not allowed
 After the war, workers demanded higher pay and went on
strike to get it
 The automobile, steel, and mining industries had workers
go on strike
 Truman, fearing an energy crisis, forced miners back
to work, and pressured the mine owners to give in to
most of the worker’s demands
Return to a Peacetime Economy
 Republican Victory
 Labor unrest and high prices prompted many Americans
to call for a change
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Republicans won both houses of congress in 1946
 Taft-Hartley Act:
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outlawed closed shops—the practice of forcing business
owners to hire only union members
Right-to-work laws: outlawed union shops—shops in which
new workers were required to join the union
Featherbedding—prohibited the practice of limiting work
output in order to create more jobs
Truman’s Domestic Program
 Truman’s Legislative Agenda
 Expand Social Security Benefits
 Raise minimum wage from 40¢ to 65¢ an hour
 Increase employment through federal spending
 Public housing and slum clearance
 Long range environmental and public works
 A system of national health insurance
 Protect African American’s right to vote
 A Republican congress blocked most of these measures
Truman’s Domestic Program
 The Election of 1948
 Truman was given very little chance of winning
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Reacting angrily to Truman’s support of civil rights, a
group of Southern Democrats formed the States’ Rights
or Dixiecrat party and nominated Strom Thurmond
Also, the Democrat’s more liberal party members were
frustrated with Truman’s inability to pass domestic policies
through congress and his anti-Soviet foreign policy
The Republican candidate, Thomas Dewey, was very popular
 Truman won by a slim margin
 The Chicago Daily Tribune incorrectly predicted Dewey
the winner and had printed newspapers declaring
Dewey the winner
Truman’s Domestic Program
 The Fair Deal
 Truman’s State of the Union Message: “Every segment
of our population and every individual has a right to
expect from…government a fair deal.”
The Eisenhower Years
 The Election of 1952
 Mostly the Korean War gave Truman a low approval
rating in 1952 and Truman chose not to run for President
 Adlai Stevenson ran as the Democratic nominee
 Dwight D. Eisenhower, with his vice president Richard
Nixon, won the election easily as the Republican
candidates for President

Richard Nixon had a dog named “Checkers” that was
given to his family from a business as a gift. Nixon was
accused of receiving other gifts as a Senator in California in
the form of $18,000 as well but Nixon denied it.
The Eisenhower Years
 Ike as President
 “Middle of the Road” described Eisenhower’s
political beliefs
 Eisenhower did not believe that government should
aid businesses which he called, “creeping socialism”
The Eisenhower Years
 Extending the New Deal
 Although a Republican, Eisenhower…
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extended the Social Security System to an additional 10
million people
extended unemployment compensation to an additional 4
million citizens
and agreed to increase minimum wage from 75¢ an hour to $1
 Eisenhower won a second term as President quite easily
as Americans successfully transitioned from war to
peace and enjoyed a decade of prosperity
As president, Eisenhower had a conservative side and activist
side. Describe some of his programs and actions that reflected
these two sides.
As president, Eisenhower had a conservative side and activist
side. Describe some of his programs and actions that reflected
these two sides.
 Eisenhower showed his conservative side by appointing several
business leaders to his cabinet. He ended government price and rent
controls and tried to curb the federal budget by voting against a school
construction bill and slashing government aid to public housing. To
accompany these cuts, he supported some modest tax reductions. In
other conservative actions, he abolished the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation and slashed funding for the Tennessee Valley Authority.
He displayed his activism by advocating passage of the Federal
Highway Act and authorizing construction of the Great Lakes-St.
Lawrence Seaway. Although President Eisenhower cut federal spending
and worked to limit the federal government’s role in the nation’s
economy, he agreed to extend the Social Security system to an
additional 10 million people. He also extended unemployment
compensation, increased the minimum wage, and continued to provide
some government aid to farmers.