Transcript Aim: What changes occurred in the United States after WW2?

 Student will be able to discuss postwar
economics, politics and culture of the
1950s.
 Now that the United States had won WW2,
they faced problems not only in foreign
relations, but in domestic affairs as well.
 After World War 2, the three main
domestic questions were:
(1) How does the US switch from a
wartime to a peacetime economy?
(2)What role does the government play in
postwar America?
(3) How does the US respond to the threat
a new Red Scare?
 Harry Truman and the US Congress have
to answer these questions now that the
war is over.
 When the US returned from World War 2,
the government had three points to
address:
(1) The size of the military decreased after
the end of WW2.
(2) The economy went from depression to
overproduction-now it must return to
peacetime standards.
(3) Now that the Depression is over-how
does the government handle labor?
 What issues did the US government have
to deal with in regards to the post-WW2
economy?
Now the re-adjustment begins……..
 One of the first tasks of the government is to cut
the size of the armed forces.
 The US Army after the end of World War 2 had
nearly eight million men. By the time the Korean
War starts in 1950, the number of men in the US
military had shrunk to 600,000 men.
 The reduction of the military is tied to the 1944
G-I Bill. This bill granted government money for
education, business or vocational (job) training.
Passed in 1944, returning veterans received money for college, business
or vocational training.
 What did the GI Bill provide?
 The United States also had to change
industry over to peacetime production.
 To do this, the United States Government
sold many of its war plants to private
companies.
 Factories that were making military
supplies returned to producing consumer
goods.
 By the end of 1945, nearly 93% of all war
plants had been closed or shut down.
 What steps did the government take to
change the economy over to peacetime
conditions?
 One problem the United States faced after
World War 2 is inflation.
 By the end of WW2, the US had saved
over $130 billion dollars and were eager to
spend the money.
 After the war, goods were scarce and
prices rose despite government regulating
prices.
 Truman kept controls on the prices after
the war, but in 1946, after political
 Once he lifted the government controls,
the prices of goods rose even higher.
 The problem was wages did not go up and
this led to an increase in the costs of living
in the United States.
 What economic problem developed after
WW2?
 Rising prices led to demands by labor for
higher wages.
 After the war, the number of strikes
increased.
 In these strikes, the companies met the
demands of their labor unions, but to cover
wages, the companies raised prices on
goods. This led to an increase in the
standard of living and more demands for
higher wages.
 The companies now demanded the
government to impose stringer controls
over labor.
 In 1947, the Taft-Hartley Act was passed.
This act:
(1) Outlawed the closed shop-forcing men
to join unions before they were hired.
(2) Allowed the President to have an 80day cooling-off period when a strike
threatened the economy.
(3) Unions were now prohibited from
giving money to political campaigns.
 The act alarmed many labor unions
because it made it harder for them to
attract new members.
 Even with the Taft-Hartley Act, union
membership grew to 15,000,000 members
by 1950.
 Why did a large number of labor strikes
take place after WW2?
The original copy of the act, seen here, is on display at Harry
Truman’s Presidential Library in Independence, Missouri.
 When Truman took office after the death of
FDR, he wanted to continue the policies of
the New Deal.
 However, the feelings of the American
people were changing away from the idea
of a big government that they had under
the New Deal.
 In 1946, Truman watched as the
Republicans won back the US House and
Senate. This made it hard for Truman to
 As the election of 1948 grew near, the
Republicans grew more confident that they
would win back the White House for the first
time in 20 years.
 The Democrats were not unified behind
President Truman.
(1) Southern Democrats were not behind the
Democratic stance on civil rights, so they
supported Governor Strom Thurmond for
President.
(2) Liberal Democrats created the
Progressive Party and supported Henry
Wallace
 With no chance of winning, Truman
refused to admit defeat. He traveled
thousands of miles and gave thousands of
speeches.
 The Republicans chose Governor Thomas
E. Dewey, the governor of New York.
 In the election of 1948, Truman defeated
Dewey, but some newspapers had it
wrong.
Given no chance of winning, Harry
Truman pulled a giant upset when
he wins the Election of 1948 against
Thomas Dewey and Strom Thurmond.
Thomas Dewey
Strom Thurmond
 Who was favored to win the election of
1948? Who won?
 After his victory, Truman set a new plan of
reform, known as the Fair Deal off to the
US Congress.
 The Fair Deal was, in part, a continuation
of the New Deal established by FDR. It
called for new programs in education,
health care, housing . Truman wanted to
extend social security and end
discrimination.
 Republicans and southern Democrats
united to kill most of Truman’s programs in
the Fair Deal.
 The two pieces of the Fair Deal accepted
by the US Congress were the National
Housing Act which built more public
housing and the extension of social
security to 10,000,000 workers.
 With problems at home and in Korea,
Truman did not run for President in 1952
 What was the Fair Deal?
 Why did Harry Truman not run for
President in 1952?
 In March 1952, Truman decided not to run for
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President.
The Democrats nominated Governor Adlai
Stevenson of Illinois and the Republicans
nominated World War 2 General Dwight
Eisenhower.
Eisenhower wins the Election of 1952. He
receives 442 electoral votes to Stevenson’s
89.
Eisenhower also receives some 34 million
popular votes to Stevenson’s 28 million.
The Republicans take back the White House
for the first time since 1928.
Eisenhower wins the Election of
1952 in a landslide against Adlai
Stevenson.
This gives the Republicans the
White House for the 1st time since
1928.
 Who won the Election of 1952?
 As Eisenhower assumed the Presidency, a new
fear of communism was sweeping the United
States.
 Since the end of WW2, the United States had
watched the Soviet Union take over Eastern
Europe, did nothing to prevent the Communists
from controlling China, allowed for other nations
to receive our atomic secrets (including the
Soviets) and arrested the Rosenbergs who gave
the secrets to them.
The Soviets began liberating Eastern Europe in 1945.
They promised free elections but installed
Communist governments.
This was the first breaking of the Allied powers alliance
of WW2.
In 1947, the Soviet Union blockaded Berlin.
To aid the citizens of Berlin, Truman began the
Berlin Airlift, in which the US/UK/ French flew supplies
into Berlin.
In 1949, the Soviet Union was able to receive secrets
from Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. This upped the ante of
the Cold War. The Rosenbergs were American citizens.
China became a communist nation in 1949 and formed
an alliance with the Soviet Union. They, too, would also
detonate an atomic weapon after the Soviets.
The Korean War starts in 1950.
This made Americans fearful.
American citizens who spied for the Soviet Union. They were accused, tried,
convicted and then executed for selling our atomic secrets to the
Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union used their secrets to detonate their first atomic bomb in
1949.
 What events caused some Americans to
begin questioning the loyalty of other
Americans?
 To stop the spread of communism, the US
Government passed laws to defend itself.
 The nation was split over these laws. Some
people were put at ease by the measures,
however, others felt these laws to violate their
civil liberties.
 The Smith Act (1940) made it illegal to
support any group that wanted to overthrow
the government.
 The McCarren Act (1950) forced Communist
groups to register with the Attorney General.
 The McCarren Act also stopped Communists
from entering the United States. The
McCarren Act also gave the President the
right to jail Communist subversives (people
who work to overthrow the government) in an
national emergency.
 The McCarren-Walter Act (1952) allowed the
Attorney General to deport people whose
actions were thought to be against the
interests of the United States.
 The Communist Control Act (1954) banned
the Communist Party in the US.
One of the Senators who backed the
US Government in their attempts to
stop the spread of Communism in the
United States.
Responsible for the McCarran Act, as
well as the McCarran-Walter Act.
 FDR, Truman and Eisenhower all
screened government workers to see if
they were Communists.
 The big step towards a Red Scare came in
1954, when Senator Joseph McCarthy of
Wisconsin accused people of being
communists in the State Department and
in the army.
 McCarthy formed a Senate committee was
formed to see if there were communists in
the army.
 As millions of Americans watched the
hearings on television, many were fearful
of the accusations.
 However, McCarthy was criticized for his
way of treating witnesses. He also lost a
majority of support when his charges were
clearly false.
 The US Senate then condemned
McCarthy for his actions.
Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-WI)
Senator Millard Tydings who tried to stop McCarthy.
He and his committee proved that McCarthy’s charges were a
“hoax”.
McCarthy was seen as a fraud and was laughed at by his fellow
Senators.
After the failure of McCarthy to prove
his point regarding the allegations
of Communists in the State
Department, McCarthyism seems to
be a particular issue that the
Republican Party is not going to
endorse, as illustrated by the GOP
elephant refusing to move towards
McCarthy.
Edward R. Murrow, CBS Newscaster was responsible for
turning the American press and public opinion against
McCarthy between 1953-1954.
“ His primary achievement has been in confusing the public mind, as
between the internal and the external threats of Communism. We must
not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that
accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and
due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not
be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history
and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful
men. [...] This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthy's
methods to keep silent--or for those who approve...We proclaim
ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom--what's left of it-but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home. The
actions of the junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and
dismay amongst our allies abroad and given considerable comfort to our
enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn't create this
situation of fear. He merely exploited it, and rather successfully. Cassius
was right: 'The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves.'[
”
Senator Ralph Flanders (R/VT)
Senator Arthur Watkins (R/UT)
 What did Senator Joseph McCarthy do?
 During his eight years in office, Eisenhower’s
presidency has been characterized as
“middle of the road”.
 What that meant was that Eisenhower, at
times, came to agreement with some
Democratic ideas and bills, angering
members of his party.
 Instead of finally ending New Deal programs,
Eisenhower kept social security and low-cost
housing programs. He did eliminate the
government in business and favored private
 Eisenhower did get the Congress to help
pass his Federal Highway Aid Act in 1956.
 This act set up a federal program of
highway construction that would link the
major cities of the United States.
 When it was completed in the 1990s, the
US had constructed some 42,000 miles of
highways.
 Many of the roads in and around NYC are
built during this period of time.
Signed in 1956 and finished in the 1990s, the US constructed about
42,000 miles of interstate highways in approximately forty years.
 What approach did Eisenhower take in
dealing with issues?
 Just as the 1920s were a period of
prosperity, the 1950s also were a period of
strong economic conditions in the United
States.
 The United States became an affluent or
wealthy society.
 Many Americans had more money for their
needs such as food, clothing and shelter.
 One of the reasons for the growth in the
economy was the growth in the population.
 The population of the United States in
1950 was around 151 million people.
 By 1960, the population increased to
around 180 million people.
 There were two reasons for the growth.
The first was great medical care that
allowed for more Americans to live longer
than the preceding generation.
 The second was a baby boom. Veterans of
WW2 returned home, got married and had
large families.
 Partly because of the baby boom, there
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was a shift in the population during the
1950s.
As cities became more crowded,
Americans began moving to the suburbs.
By moving to the suburbs, people hoped
to escape crime, high taxes, pollution and
better schools for their children.
In addition, more than one million farmers
were moving to the suburbs.
Suburban residents settled in rows of
 Many of these suburbanites became
commuters, traveling back and forth from
the suburbs to their jobs in the cities.
 Between 1950 and 1960, the suburban
population of the United States doubled.
 What were the people that moved to the
suburbs hoped to escape?
 In the 1950s, Americans had many
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popular pastimes.
With new technology and greater
prosperity, Americans had more leisure
time than ever before.
Television became a main source of
entertainment.
Developed in the 1930s, television
became available to the general public in
the late 1940s.
In 1950, about 3,200,000 people owned a
television. By 1960, 50,000,000 people
Philo T. Farnsworth is credited with inventing the
1st electronic television, a working electronic
pickup device and the first to demonstrate
the electronic television.
He did this between 1928 and 1934.
1948 Admiral Television
1959 Zenith Television
The development of television programming was established during the 1950s.
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4.
Sid Caesar was the star of “Your Shows of Shows”.
Lucille Ball was the star of “I Love Lucy”.
Milton Berle was the star of “Texaco Star Theater”.
“The Honeymooners”, starring Jackie Gleason, was a popular show.
 Sporting events and athletes were also
helped by the development of television.
(1) Baseball had stars in Willie Mays,
Mickey Mantle and Hank Aaron.
(2) Football had stars in Jim Brown and
Johnny Unitas.
(3) Slowly, games were being broadcasted
live on television.
 Americans also became interested in
pursuing individualized sports such as golf
Henry “Hank” Aaron (755 HRs), Willie Mays (660 HRs) and Mickey Mantle (536 HRs)
were the heroes of the baseball diamond during the 1950s. The Yankees won eight
World Series during the 1950s and the Giants and Dodgers played in Manhattan and
Brooklyn until the two teams moved west following the 1957 season.
Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns was the most dominating running
back of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Johnny Unitas was the most
prolific passer of the 1950s and 1960s.
The NFL Championship Game of 1958 was between the NY Giants and the Baltimore
Colts. The Colts won the game, but it cemented football and television as at
tradition for most Americans. Football gets the best ratings on television.
 Many Americans also began to enjoy
cultural activities such as Broadway, art
museums, science museums and
concerts.
 Here are some of the Broadway plays
people enjoyed during the 1950s. Many of
them have been turned into plays and are
enjoying a comeback across many
American cities.
Marilyn Monroe
Grace Kelly
Elizabeth Taylor
Natalie Wood
Marlon Brando
Jimmy Stewart
Jack Lemmon
James Dean
Tony Curtis
 In the 1950s, a new form of music called
rock and roll was developed from
combining jazz, rhythm and blues, country,
and pop music.
 Rock and roll music had a strong beat and
was the first style of music to use
electrified instruments.
 Major stars included Elvis Presley, Chuck
Berry, the Coasters, Little Richard and the
Everly Brothers sold millions of records.
 Television was a place for teenagers to
see their stars perform. Shows like
Jackie
Wilson
Ricky Nelson
Ray Charles
Buddy Holly
Clyde
McPhatter
Elvis Presley
The Coasters
Sam Cooke
Chuck Berry
Jerry Lee Lewis
Roy Orbison
Little
Richard
Fats Domino
Dion
Bill Haley
The Everly
Brothers
Dick Clark created American Bandstand. A television that showed
performances of the top musical acts of the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s,
90s and today. His show was instrumental in that some of his
performers became celebrities and big musical stars much like
American Idol. You see him every New Years Eve.
Leo Fender (Left)/Les Paul (Right) were
crucial in that both men pioneered the
development of the electric guitar.
Allan Freed was a Cleveland DJ who coined the term rock and roll.
Freed was responsible for the birth of rock and roll and rock and roll
concerts.
 Some works of literature in the 1950s were
about World War II. Many of the novels
dealt with the theme of people’s
helplessness in the face of such a horrific
event.
Norman Mailer
The Naked and the Dead
Herman Wouk
The Caine Mutiny
James Jones
From Here to Eternity
 Another group of authors were called the
“Beat Movement”
 There were beat movements in New York,
New Orleans and San Francisco.
 Some of the biggest beat writers included
poet Alan Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William
S. Burroughs
 Other novels such as Carson McCuller’s
Member of the Wedding and J.D.
Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye dealt
with ordinary people caught up in the
problems of modern life.