3/14/17 1 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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3/14/17
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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”
• 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
• 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)