Harry Truman!

HARRY TRUMAN!

Post WWII…What now? What to do with 12 million

soldiers that are being cut to 1.5 million men?....unemployment…

What about the Ladies in the workforce?

Race in the Workforce (EX or. 8802…)

War economy to consumer economy.

21 Point program

Improve coverage of unemployment compensation

Increase the minimum wage Maintain & extend price controls to keep

down the cost of living End war time contracts & controls Legislation to ensure full employment.

21 Point Program Make Fair Employment Practice Committee

permanent. Maintain sound industrial relations. Expand the United States Employment

Service to provide jobs for military personnel. Increased aid to farmers. Remove restrictions on eligibility for

voluntary enlistment and allow the armed forces to enlist a greater number of volunteers.

21 Point Program Comprehensive housing legislation. Create a single Federal research agency. Revise the taxation system. Encourage surplus-property disposal. Greater levels of assistance to small

businesses.

21 Point Program Improve federal aid to war veterans. Expand public works, conserve and build up

natural resources. Help post-war reconstruction and settle the

obligations of the Lend-Lease Act. A decent pay scale for all Federal

Government employees—executive, legislative, and judicial.

Promote sale of ships. Maintain stock piles of materials necessary

for meeting the defense needs of the nation.

GI Bill of Rights - 1944

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- Zero down low interest home loans

- Attend college of their choice for free as long as they met admission requirements

-Zero down low interest business loans

- Over 2 million go to school

Railway Strikes - 1946

- Lasted one month, nationwide (passenger and freight)

- Workers upset over gov. control of wages, prices & Unions

-Truman threatened to draft the strikers

Executive Order 9981- 1948Desegregates US Armed Forces, equal opportunity for all races, religions and nationalities.

Congressional Elections 1946

-Backlash for how Truman handled the labor strikes and continued price controls-Truman’s approval rating dropped to 32%

- Republicans won 53% majority in Congress Doh

!

Taft Hartley Act – 1947 Limited the power of Unions Outlawed Closed Shop Unions

(employer can only hire union members and everyone is automatically a member of the union)

Truman vetoed the bill…but the Republican congress overrode his veto.

Post War Prosperity (21 Points) Research and Development

New Technologies Cheap Energy

Oil in Iran and Saudi Arabia Transitional Economy

War to Peace economy, US had saved $, wages high GI Bill

Soldiers in school, buying homes, opening businesses Continued Military Spending

1948 - $97 Mill., 1949 - $128 Mill., 1951- $225 Mill.

1948 Election Early polls showed Dewey (republican)

ahead Truman campaigned like a mad man “Do

nothing Congress” Had support of minorities, farmers &

labor He won 49.6% of the vote

New Dealer gives a Fair Deal Increased minimum wage to 75 cents an

hour Extended Social Security Tried to make national health care…

failed Housing Act

Money for slum clearance Fair Housing Administration created to help

with mortgages

Difficulty with the Fair Deal 1946 Republican Congress made it

difficult to pass legislation Tax cuts were passed Price controls were removed

After years of Democrats, people were becoming more conservative

American Medical Association stood in the way of health care

Handout Questions:1) Evaluate Truman’s peacetime

leadership, using specific examples from the reading to back up your opinion.

2) What problems did Truman have to deal with at home?

3) What were his successes and failures? Explain

Cold War Liberalism Truman held onto New Deal welfare

programs while developing his containment policy

Fought subversives at home Partly by choice and partly by necessity Paranoia over domestic subversion

weakened support for bold welfare programs

The Red Scare Threat?

Files opened in Moscow in 1991 + intercepted Soviet cables (Project Venona) showed there was something

FDR’s assistant Sec. of Treasury, Harry Dexter White, supplied Soviets with information

Strategically planted midlevel people in the State Dept. (Alger Hiss) also gave info

Several 100 more spies only known by their code names were communicating with Soviets

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Convicted of giving atomic secrets to the

Soviets 1995 US gov. released decoded Soviet

cables confirming Julius had given Soviets info and acted as a recruiter

David Greenglass (Ethel’s brother) gave Julius info from Los Almos, confessed and was not executed

Julius and Ethel were executed June 19th 1953

Rosenbergs & Greenglass

Spies Many were young New Dealers in the

1930’s Passing secrets to another country is

indefensible…for many the lines were blurred

After WWII most suppliers to the Soviets stopped

Professional recruiting by Soviets was disrupted by CIA

Many Americans believed it was much worse than it really was

Loyalty Security Program Ex Order 9835 (March

21st 1947) Permitted officials to

investigate any federal gov. employee (2.5 million) for subversive activities (centralization of power)

Loyalty Security Program Intended for sabotage and treason, but

was broad enough to accuse anyone for the slightest reason: Marching in a communist parade in

the 1930’s Signing petition for public housing 1,000’s of homosexuals were

dismissed in the 1950’s as “unfit” for government service

Loyalty Programs State and local governments,

universities, political organizations, churches and businesses created their own anti-subversion campaigns

Congress of Industrial workers expelled a number of unions

NAACP and the National Urban League expelled communists and “fellow travelers” (people who sympathize with communist beliefs without formally joining them)

House of Un-American Activities Launched in 1938 Held widely

publicized hearings on alleged communist infiltration

Hollywood Ten Hollywood was extensively

looked into Writers and directors went

to jail for refusing to testify about their past or name names Dalton Trumbo – Johnny Got His

Gun 100’s of actors, writers and

directors were blacklisted

Red Scare, Labor and Civil Rights Communists were the most effective

labor organizers American Communist Party (CPUSA)

promoted black civil rights before many others

Soviet records show the CPUSA was not independent, and took money and instructions from Moscow, pushing their agenda when infiltrating other organizations

Was the Red Scare real?

McCarthyism

Senator Joe McCarthy from WI gave a speech at Wheeling Virginia, Feb. 1950 claiming he had names of 57 known communists in the government.His numbers changed with every speech.He never released names or gave proof.

McCarthyism His subcommittee was a smear campaign Critics were accused of being soft on

communism Truman called it slander, lies and

character assassination, but could not stop it

Republicans did nothing to restrain him, and took advantages of the political benefits

Downfall of McCarthy 1954 – McCarthy investigated the

military Hearings were broadcast on TV and

showed him to be a bully a loss of public support

Dec. 1954 the Senate voted 67 to 22 to censure McCarthy unbecoming conduct

He dies 3 years later of alcoholism (48 years old)

Containment Policy of halting the spread of communist

influence Reasons behind it:

Sovietization of Eastern Europe Soviets move in on Iran, refusing to pull out

its troops even after Iran seeks help from the UN, starvation tactics used

Dec. 1945 Foreign Ministers Conference US not treated right

84 Americans imprisoned in Poland for being in an underground army that fought Nazis

Reasons for Containment US officials insulted

in Yugoslavia and Bulgaria

US correspondents held incommunicado in China

Feb. 1946 Stalin gave his Election speech blaming WWII on capitalism, and that capitalism is the primary enemy

The Long Telegram George Kennan “Mr. X” Feb 1946 – Kennan did not originate policy of

containment, Truman had been going in this direction

Kennan did not discuss Soviet capabilities – one of containment’s central concerns

LT – discussed Soviet fear of encirclement USSR history and manipulation of UN Underground tactics through comm. Parties

and infiltration in unions etc.

Long Telegram Soviet doctrine stems from traditional

insecurity Significance of ideology in Soviet affairs,

but never accepted it as the driving force behind foreign policy

Truman emphasized soviet ideology as their prime motivation, Bolshevik Rev. had created a new national identity

Truman viewed communism as a secular religion that created their world view and threatened liberty

Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech March 5th 1946 in Fulton

Missouri Blames USSR for dividing

Europe, Truman not exactly neutral

Public accepted it, but did not want a formal alliance with Britain

1945 - 30% disapproved of Soviet foreign policy, 1946 - 71% disapprove and 60% thought the US was too soft

NSC-68 April 14th 1950 Called for extensive military spending Defense of Western Hemisphere Provide aid to allies against communist

threats Discussed Soviet manipulation of the

free world Use of covert operations to defend the

free world

Truman Doctrine March 12th 1947 Britain had support the Republican gov.

in Greece against Greek Communists in their civil war, but could no longer afford to help them

Turkey was being threatened by Soviets Truman argued if they did not receive

aid, they would both fall (Read excerpt of TD)

Marshall Plan (European Recovery Program)

April 1948 Economic support to help rebuild

war torn European nations Offered to ALL, communist

countries refused, although Czechoslovakia and Poland wanted the aid but were bullied to back down

Worked very well and helped build up self-esteem as well as industry (and helped keep communism at bay)

CIA in Italian Elections 1948 – Italian communists were very popular &

received money from the Soviets CIA gave centrist parties $1 million dollars

Forged letters to discredit communist leaders Wrote 10 million letters Broadcast radio announcements for candidates Published books and articles warning Italians about

the dangers of Communism Time Magazine supported the Christian Dem.

Leader by putting him on the April 19th 1948 cover

Italian Elections 1948

Berlin AirliftGermany (and Berlin) had

been separated into 4 zones and governed by the Allied Control Council: USSR, USA, Britain and France

ACC splits after the USA, Britain and France create their own currency against Stalin’s wishes

Berlin Airlift June1948-May1949 Stalin wants to take over Berlin, doesn’t like

that the WEST can easily go through his zone Didn’t want to start a war, so he tried to push

the West into either abandoning Berlin or starting a war by blocking the West’s access to Berlin.

Truman helps set up a massive airlift of supplies to West Berlin, over 200,000 flights

Embarrassed Stalin, and made him look bad for starving workers, the supposed champion of workers

NATO Created in April 1949 in response to the

Berlin Blockade which also led to the creation of Federal Republic of Germany (west) & People’s Republic of Germany (east)

Intergovernmental military alliance for collective defense

Headquarters in BelgiumLed to the counter organization: Warsaw Pact

Organization of American States Founded April 30th 1948 Purpose: hemispheric cooperation &

solidarity Headquartered in Washington D.C. 9th International Conference of American

States in Bogota (March 1948) led by US Sec. of State, George Marshall. Members pledged to fight communism in the Western Hemisphere and created the charter for the Organization of American States.

Organization of American States Members: United States, Argentina,

Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Venezuela,

Adopted the world’s 1st human rights declaration

Created out of fear that the US would intervene against LA governments.

Organization of American States

Disappointment for the US: Other members did not share our Cold War zeal

Disappointment for Latin America: It did not effectively stop the US from intervening, or giving up its “gunboat diplomacy”

Korean War… Korea divided at the 38th parallel, many

soldiers were killed in border skirmishes June 25th 1950 North Korea invaded the

South US advocates the UN to defend South

Korea, the Soviets were not there to veto it.

Gen. Douglas MacArthur led the command…

He gets over zealous and pushes north of 38th parallel.

Korean War China gets involved and

pushes back south of the 38th parallel

MacArthur talks about using nuclear weapons against China. Truman has no choice but to dismiss MacArthur, who was not listening to Truman, and is replaced by Gen. Matthew Ridgway.

Korean War The end of Truman and

the democrats who could not seem to find an end to the war.

Truman was seen as soft for not using nuclear bombs, many Americans saw MacArthur as a hero

Led to the victory of Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953.