| Lesson 11-- Post War America (1945-1960) I PostWar Domestic Politics A. Harry Truman 1. A throwback to an earlier era 2. Born & Raised in Missouri. Thomas Pendergast KC boss was his mentor. 3. 1934-Elected to the US Senate; Identified w/the New Deal wing of his party. 4. His FAIR DEAL: Extended unemployment (social security) benefits; Fair equal employment practice law; Price Controls (keep price of goods down); Increase the Minimum Wage. 5. Lacked ability to push his measures through Congress. 6. Prices were up 25% and Wages were down 12%. 7. 1946-Steel Workers Strike; United Mine Workers Strike; 1.5m workers on strike total that year. 8. 1946-Midterm Elections: Reps ask public--"Have you had Enough?" (enough liberal democratic prgm/policy) (1st time Republican majority elected into Congress since 1928) B. Legislation and Labor 1. 1947-NSA (National Securities Act) Created: the Dept of Defense; NSC (National Security Council); and CIA (Central Intelligence Agency). 2. 1947-Presidential Succession Act (President, Vice Pres, Speaker of the House, President Pro-Term of Senate, Cabinet members by rank). 3. 1947--22nd Amendment: Limit the President to 2 full terms. 4. Labor-Management Relations Act or Taft-Hartley Act: -Prohibited ClosedShop(policy of union-members only) -Gave employers right to sue for broken contracts -Union leaders must take a loyalty oath. -Mandated a 60 day notice for contract changes and an 80 day delay in key industries for strikes 5. 1955-AFL & CIO merged together; 15m members; George Meany=Pres; *Most powerful Labor Mvt. C. Election of 1945 1. 1948-Truman by executive order desegregated American Armed Forces. 2. Democrats split: main body w/Truman; Dixiecrats (Segregationists) w/ Strom Thurmond 3. Republicans: Thomas E. Dewey; Governor of NY 4. Truman went on the road; "Give em Hell Harry tour." Al the polls predicted a Dewey victory. 5. Truman: 24m popular, 303 electoral, 28 states. Dewey: 22m, 189, 16; Thurmond: 1m, 39, 4 (LA, MS, AL, SC-home state) 6. Concessions to Truman after his election: (Congress gives in) -Minimum Wage Act (From $0.40 to $0.75 an hour) -Housing Act ($2.8 million for Federal Housing) 7. Defeated his Brannan Plan (to add health insurance to the social security plan) D. Republican Interlude (1953-1961) 1. Election of 1952 Dem--Adlai E. Stevenson (Northerner from IL) Rep--Dwight D. Eisenhower (Richard M. Nixon-young Senator from CA-was his running mate) 2. Nixon's "Checkers Speech" *Television becomes an excellent medium in politics 3. Republicans blame Democrats for being soft on Communism, losing China, and the Korean War 4. IKE promised to go to Korea and help end the war 5. IKE: 34m popular votes, 442 electoral, 39 states; Stevenson: 27m, 89, 9 states E. Eisenhower's Administration 1. Modern Republicanism--cut federal spending w/o rolling back New Deal Social Legislation "more bang for the buck" (spend $$ on Nuclear Warheads) 2. IKE's style "Hidden Handed Leadership" (be in control w/o being center stage) 3. More Business in Govt. and less Govt. in Business * Appointees of Eisenhower Secretary of State--John Foster Dulles (his brother was the 1st director of the CIA) Defense Secretary--Charles E. Wilson (was CEO of GM Corp) 4. Pieces of Legislation: 1953--Congress established Department of Health, Education and Welfare (later divided) 1955--Minimum Wage Act (raised minimum to $1/hr) 1956--Social Security Amendments (increasing its benefits) 1956--Federal Highways Act (*Most significant) $26 billion, 13 years, 40,000 miles of interstate hwy system. Revenue comes from federal gasoline tax 1957--Civil Rights Act (1st significant Civil Rights action since Recon.) Civil Rights Div. in Justice Dept. 1958--National Defense Education Act ($887 million in edu. grants directed @ math & science) 1958--NASA established b/c Russians were ahead in the race to space w/launch of Spunik (1957) * Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev recording of "The Kitchen Debates" 1959 F. Election of 1960 1. 1956--same candidates as 1952 IKE: 35m, 457, 41 states; Stevenson: 26m, 73, 7 states 2. 1960--JFK vs Richard Nixon; First televised Debates (Nixon didn't look so great on TV) 3. JFK: 303 electoral, 22 states; Nixon: 219, 26 st; only 118,574 pop votes separated them; closest since 1888. 4. Illegal voting in IL, Joe Kennedy Sr. had ties w/organized crime. II. PostWar Economy--Prosperity in the 50's A. Aim=avoid a traditional postwar slump 1. GNP: 1940=$205 billion, 1960=$500 billion 2. Baby Boomers (1946-1964) 12million GIs yearning to return to normal lives. 3. GI Bill (passed under FDR 1944) 5m home loans, 8m edu grants; $14.5 billion 4. College Grads: 1940=160,000 grads/year; 1950=500,000 grads/yr. B. Rage to Consume 1. Residential home construction a. Levittowns (suburbs) William J. Levitt; mass production techniques. who? white middle class Americans b. 15 years of low levels of construction c. Urban Migration d. Return of 12m vets, GI Bill, FHA loan make it possible to buy homes. 2. Appliances also feeding consumerism Televisions 1949=3% 1960=90% of americans have them C. Rise of the Suburbs 1. 1945-1960: Suburbs=36m to 68m (white middle class Americans) Central Cities=52m to 58m Rural Areas= 59m to 54m 2. From manufacturing to serious jobs 3. 1960: First time white-collar workers outnumbered blue-collar workers 4. 1960= 40% of the women were employed; represened 33% of entire work force; 22m women 5. 1950s sit-coms represented an America void of minorities |
| HIST 1302 |
| Pg1-L1 Pg2-L1&2 Pg3-L2 Pg 4-L3 Pg5-L4 Pg6-L5 Pg7-L5&6 Pg8-L6 Pg9-L8 Pg10-L8&9 Pg11-L9 Pg12-L10 Pg14-L11 |
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