Transcript The Cold War

The Cold War
Part Two: Conformity Culture in the
1950s
Learning Targets
• I can trace the development and
manifestations of the Cold War.
• I can analyze Truman’s and Eisenhower’s
leadership during The Cold War.
• I can analyze the extent to which the 1950s
was an era of “conformity culture.”
Demobilization
• Bringing the troops
home
• Baby Boom
• 1946
Economy of the 50s
• In general
• Why the boom?
– Women’s wages
– Pent up demand
– Lack of competition
– GI Bill of Rights (Serviceman’s Readjustment Act)
– NSC 68
• Changes in the world of work
• Consumer Culture
• Construction: houses and highways
Race in the 50s
• Origins in WWII
• Committee on
Civil Rights
• Ban on
discrimination in
federal jobs
• Executive Order
9961
Election of 1948
• Splits in the
Democratic Party
• “Dixiecrats”
nominate Strom
Thurman
• Progressive
Democrats
• Rep. Thomas Dewey
Truman’s Fair Deal
“We have rejected the discredited theory that
the fortunes of the nation should be in the
hands of a privileged few. Every segment of our
population and every individual has a right to
expect from his government a fair deal.”
– Higher min. wage
– Expansion of Soc. Sec.
– Increased farm subsidies
– Public housing & slum clearance
– Universal health insurance
– Repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act
The Second Red Scare
• Background
• House UnAmerican Activities
Committee (HUAC)
• The Hollywood Ten
The Second Red Scare
• Employee Loyalty
Program (47)
• Alger Hiss Case
(48)
– Truman
– Richard Nixon
• Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg (50)
The Second Red Scare
• Joseph McCarthy
• “McCarthy”
Hearings
• McCarran Internal
Security Act
• McCarthy’s
demise
Family in the 50s
• Return of the Cult
• Religious
Participation
Family in the 50s
• Homeownership &
Growth of the ‘suburbs’
• Levittown
Popular Culture
• TV!
• Cars!
• Rock & Roll!
Popular Culture
• Youth culture &
delinquency
• The Beat Generation
The Election of 1952
• Rep. Dwight Eisenhower
– VP Richard Nixon
• Dem. Adlai Stevenson
Eisenhower on the Domestic Front
• “dynamic conservatism”“conservative when it comes
to money, liberal when it
comes to human beings”
• Tries to cut some New Deal
& Defense spending
• Tax reductions for wealthy &
corporations
Eisenhower on the Domestic Front
• “Should any political party attempt to abolish
Social Security and eliminate labor laws and
farm programs, you would not hear of that
party again…”
– Some extensions of Social Security
– Sought federal participation in health insurance
– Agricultural aid extended
– Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956
• The “biggest damnfool mistake I ever made”
Eisenhower & Civil Rights
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•
•
Brown v. Board of Education (54)
Emmett Till (55)
Montgomery Bus Boycott (55-6)
Little Rock Nine (57)
Eisenhower’s Foreign Policy
• Sec. of State John Foster
Dulles
– Rollback
– “massive retaliation”
– “deterrence”
– “brinksmanship”
• New Look Military
Eisenhower’s Foreign Policy
•
•
•
•
•
•
East Asia
Indochina
Hungary
Iran
Egypt & the Suez Crisis
Cuba
Cold War Scares
• Sputnik (57)
– “missile gap”
– Increased Spending
– ICBMs
– Missiles in Europe
– NASA (58)
– National Defense Education Act
“Peaceful Coexistence”
•
•
•
•
Berlin
Planned Summit
U-2 Incident (60)
Francis Gary Powers
Eisenhower’s Farewell Address
Now this conjunction of an immense military
establishment and a large arms industry is new in the
American experience. The total influence -- economic,
political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city….We
recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet,
we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications….
In the councils of government, we must guard against the
acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or
unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The
potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists
and will persist…
Election of 1960
VP Richard Nixon vs. Sen. John F. Kennedy
JFK 2nd Catholic candidate, also 2nd
youngest presidential candidate
Impact of first televised debate;
swings momentum toward JFK
JFK wins one of the
closest elections in
history; 16
Southern Democrat
electors vote for
alternative
candidate Sen.
Harry Byrd of
Virginia in protest.
• What were the Cold War fears of the
American people in the aftermath of the
Second World War? How successfully did the
administration of President Eisenhower
address those fears?
• Restrict your answer from 1948-1961