US_ch10_info

=**America's "Happy Days" Background Information**=

**Atoms for Peace:**
Having defeated the totalitarian Axis and ending the Great Depression, it was inevitable that the U.S. would develop a can-do optimism and problem-solving confidence. Having fought a second major war in 30 years, having witnessed a massive shift of power to the executive branch, and having seen inflation and high taxes eat away at prosperity they thought would come from defeating the Axis, Americans were open to change in 1946. In the __1946 midterm elections__ (entire House and 1/3 of the Senate up for re-election) Republicans ran against "big government, big labor, big regulation, and the New Deal's links to communism" and gained control of the entire Congress. This shows that despite history books, the American people had enough of FDR's big government New Deal programs and wanted less government. Part of the Republican victory was due to high taxes and heavy regulations of businesses that came from the New Deal.

National security and communism was a postwar concern. The magazine //Amerasia// was passing secrets to the USSR, which gave legitimacy to allegations that the Roosevelt Administration was soft on communism. Most Americans correctly perceived that Soviet espionage (spying) and domestic subversion was a serious threat. Harry Truman would campaign for his 1948 re-election calling the Republican controlled Congress a "do-nothing Congress." In reality, the Republican Congress did a lot, just not what Truman liked. They passed the first balanced budget since the Great Crash, cut taxes by nearly $5 billion, prevented a socialist national health care scheme, passed the Taft-Hartley Act over Truman's veto allowing workers to be free to work without having to form a union, combined the Army Department and Navy Department into one Department of Defense with a Joint Chiefs of Staff to advise on military, National Security Council for times of crisis, formed the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), funded the Marshall Plan, and committed the U.S. to NATO and a positive role in the U.N.

In the atomic world, WWII had turned into the **Cold War** between the U.S. (Democracy and Capitalism) and the USSR (Communism and Socialism). Few in the Truman Administration recognized the dangers of an expansionist USSR. Truman even called Stalin a "fine man who wanted to do the right thing." This about a dictator who was responsible for 25 million mass murders, which exceeded Hitler's and Tojo's combined. Stalin was working on the A-bomb during WWII, but when he saw he wouldn't have it in time to use on Germany, so he set his sights on the postwar world and new enemies - U.S. and Britain. Over time, Truman saw the dangers of the USSR, Stalin, and their expansionist ideas.

**The Iron Curtain and the Cold War:**
Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and potential threats for communism in Greece, Italy, and even France posed a new Communist version of the old Nazi threat. Communism and Fascism looked similar: Totalitarian control of the economy, communication, and information centers, national identity based on a single characteristic (for the Nazis it was race, for the Communists it was class), obsession over the existence of an enemy whose presence supposedly prevented the appearance of the ideological utopia, and that all power was with a dangerous and ambitious leader. Winston Churchill had been warning about the Soviets for years whereas FDR thought he could handle Stalin (like Chamberlain thought he could handle Hitler in 1938). In 1946, Churchill gave a speech stating that an iron curtain has descended upon Europe. This **"Iron Curtain"** speech signified the differences between western Europe, which was free and eastern Europe, which was Communist. The Declaration on Liberated Europe agreed on at Yalta said that representative governments would be set up in Europe. However, Stalin was setting up Communism in Poland.

Harry Truman rose through politics with a reputation of being frugal and lower-middle class in Missouri. He gained national popularity in the Senate when he found examples of waste in war industries. He was put on as FDR's vice presidential running-mate in 1944. As president, in 1946 he knew the nation wouldn't tolerate another conflict especially over Poland, Latvia, Estonia, or Lithuania, but also knew he couldn't allow the rise of another Hitler - meaning Stalin - and when the USSR didn't leave Iran after the deadline, Truman pressed it and diplomats went to the new U.N. Truman held the view that Stalin's USSR was ideological and was looking to expand. Truman had ordered Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov to hold free elections as promised in Poland (tensions).

There was a group in the U.S. active in the government that saw the USSR as a potential model for human development. Many New Dealers (Rexford Tugwell and former vice president Henry Wallace) admired Stalin. Communist agents penetrated FDR's Administration - Harold Ware staffed the AAA agency with Communist sympathizers and colleagues John Abt. Lee Pressman, and Nathan Witt worked with spy Alger Hiss. In the Office of Price Administration Victor Perlo, in the NRA Henry Collins, in the Farm Security Administration Nathan Silvermaster, and in the OSS spy agency Duncan Lee all were Communist sympathizers. Wallace became the leader of the Democrat Party's Progressive/Socialist wing (good thing he wasn't kept on as vice president in the 1944 election - Truman was put on). Wallace had said if he became president, he'd have appointed Communists into state and treasury departments.

**Attacking Communism:**
The **Truman Doctrine** was the new foreign policy of President Truman, which said that the U.S. would support "free people resisting takeover by armed minorities." This would be the start of the **Cold War** between the U.S. and USSR (a war fought by all means except the firing of weapons). The focal point when this doctrine was announced was Greece and Turkey, both of which were trying to resist Communist takeovers. The **Marshall Plan**, suggested by George Marshall, provided economic aid to Europe, which was necessary to stop the spread of Communism with the U.S. injecting capital, expertise, and economic support into the war-torn nations of western Europe. George Kennan, the head of the Policy Planning Staff, wrote the Long Telegram under the alias Mr. X saying the key to winning against Soviet expansionism was **containment**, or keeping the USSR from expanding because Communism will collapse if it cannot expand. Overall the first edge of the sword to fight Communism was the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan in a policy of containment.

The second edge of the sword was an alliance with the free nations called **NATO** (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) that formed April 4, 1949 and linked America directly with European entanglements for the first time since the Revolution. An attack against one member was an attack against all. The Soviet's **Communist Bloc** developed from the Warsaw Pact, which was the Communist version of NATO. Evidence has been revealed that the Soviets developed plans to invade western Europe and their spies kenw the U.S. couldn't deliver atomic bombs to sites in the USSR if used trying to protect western Europe because use of the weapons would cause backlash within NATO and divide the alliance.

Berlin was surrounded by Communist East Germany and was an isolated outpost of liberty with West Germany having limited access into West Berlin (West Germany and West Berlin was free and capitalist while East Germany and East Berlin was Communist and socialist). Stalin aimed to shut off access into West Berlin and his attempt came in June 1948, an election year when Truman was not only running against a Republican, Thomas Dewey, but also two renegade Democrats - Strom Thurmond who formed the Dixiecrats running on Southern states' rights in favor of the Jim Crow South and Henry Wallace, a radical socialist who ran as a Progressive. Dewey was expected to win since the Democrat vote would be split between Truman, Thurmond getting Southern Democrats, and Wallace getting Democrat Progressives (socialists and communists). However, the nation, like in WWII, rallied around the incumbent president in a crisis. Truman wasn't willing to give up Berlin and found a middle position between war and surrender of Berlin that would make the Soviets fire the first shot if there were going to be shots fired. The **Berlin Airlift** would take place from December 1948 through the spring of 1949. In what was called Operation Vittles, the U.S. and allies flew planes into West Berlin and dropped food and supplies from the air. Stalin knew he couldn't shoot them down and ended up lifting the barricades. As a result, the U.S. saw it would have to build up its military. Had Stalin been patient and waited, the U.S. would've disarmed and he could've taken Berlin. General Eisenhower was the commander of NATO and was able to convince Americans and Europeans that they needed to work together to stop Stalin and Communism. An important tool in fighting Communism became propaganda...trying to make your nation appear better than the enemy. Espionage, or spying, was done by the U.S. and USSR to find out secrets about the other.

**Containment and Korea:**
At Yalta, FDR, Stalin, and Churchill agreed to spheres of influence in Asia with the USSR taking the northern part including North Korea and the U.S. getting the southern portion of China and Asia including South Korea with the 38th parallel as the dividing line. Mao Tse-tung and the Communists took control of China setting up the People's Republic of China, or Red China defeating Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists in 1949. Chiang suffered from internal dissention and the bad economy left by Japan and was forced to Taiwan, where he set up a government-in-exile claiming to still be China's true leader. Secretary of State Dean Acheson said there was no hope to impact in China and would require ground forces that could've meant disaster. The U.S. would've needed a massive build up like 1942 and would've needed the use of A-bombs with no guarantee that the USSR would sit still and observe. When Acheson gave a speech that Korea was no longer in the sphere of influence for the U.S., North Korea under Kim Il-sung invaded the Republic of South Korea under Syngman Rhee in 1950. The United Nations voted to go to war in Korea (a USSR walk out took place earlier and so they weren't there to veto U.N. action). General Douglas MacArthur would be the commander in the **Korean War**.

South Korea and the U.N. were barely holding on in what was called the **Pusan Perimeter**. General MacArthur led a daring amphibious attack at Inchon, which is considered one of the most daring invasions in history. The landing was tough since low tide would've had ships stuck in the mud. The first troops that landed would have to wait 12 hours for reinforcements due to the tides. In addition, the Communist North Koreans were entrenched and prepared to fight the attack. In less than two weeks, MacArthur and the Allies took back South Korea and were pushing into the North. China got involved and drove back the Allies to where there would be a stalemate and very little movement north or south of the 38th parallel after 1951. As time passed, General MacArthur became critical of Truman and wanted to bring Taiwan in, bomb Chinese bases, and blockade mainland China. Citing insubordination, Truman relieved MacArthur of command. However, public opinion overwhelmingly favored MacArthur. The Korean War would end with a cease-fire in 1953 (never a formal treaty even to this day) with the 38th parallel still the dividing line. It was a bloody conflict with few memorable battles since strategic hills were given numbers, not names. The Truman Administration was hurt by inflation, labor battles shutting down several industries, plus he inherited FDR's appointees, many who were sympathetic to the Communists.

**Soviet Espionage in 1950s America:**
Senator **Joseph McCarthy**, from Wisconsin, was known as being blue-collar, rough, and an outsider to D.C. politics. He was good friends with young politicians at the time - Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy, and Robert Kennedy. In the Senate, he was on an investigative committee that was suppose to be looking for Communists in the federal government. Communists and sympathizers infiltrated the government during the FDR years and genuine damage was done to American security. McCarthy often gets criticized that he acted on suspicions of subversives, but without proof. He held hearings that were televised with suspected radicals. Support for McCarthy deteriorated when he went after George Marshall. "McCarthyism" became a term for repression and terror.

The Second Red Scare wasn't hysteria, there was a real danger with Communists having infiltrated the federal government. In the workforce, some union leaders kicked out known communists. J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI still went after communists. The public was hostile towards communists in the U.S. understanding that communism destroys a nation. Hollywood even chipped in with pro-American movies and blacklisting the "Hollywood Ten," those who were known to be communist. There were spies in the U.S. for the Soviets. The **Rosenbergs** (Julius and Ethel) were the first civilians executed for treason. They gave Manhattan Project secrets to the Soviets. **Alger Hiss** (gave secret documents to USSR) and **Klaus Fuchs** (sent Manhattan Project information to the Soviets) were two other Soviet spies to get caught. Overall, with the USSR getting the A-bomb, North Korea invading South Korea, and the fall of China to communism a sharp concern of Soviet espionage grew in the U.S. The Red Scare was a genuine concern, not hysteria.

**The Eisenhower Smile and Dynamic Conservatism:**
The 1952 election pitted Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) against Adlai Stevenson (D). Eisenhower appealed to the common man and ran with the slogan "I like Ike." To stop attacks from the McCarthy wing of the Republican Party Ike had Richard Nixon (a friend of McCarthy's) as his running-mate for vice president. Questions came up about Nixon's finances and whether or not he received gifts for political favors. Eisenhower was ready to dump Nixon, but Nixon gave his famous "Checkers Speech," which he said the on gift he ever received was a dog named Checkers and they weren't giving it back. This was appealing to Americans and Nixon stayed on the ticket. Eisenhower defeated Stevenson 457-73. He would also go on to defeat Stevenson again in 1956 for re-election. The Eisenhower years saw low inflation, 3% unemployment, and a growing America.

Truman's domestic policy continued big government forces and was called the Fair Deal. It kept government involvement and got more people to rely on the government with 10 million more people becoming eligible for Social Security, increase of minimum wage, and federally subsidized housing (houses paid for by the tax payers). When Eisenhower took office in 1953, the Republicans also controlled the House and Senate. He would be the first president under control of the **22nd Amendment**, which limited the President to 2 terms or a total of 10 years in office. It came into affect in 1951. Its passage shows that an overwhelming majority of Americans did not approve of FDR's four terms or how big the government grew under FDR. If Americans like these things, the amendment never would've been brought up. As a president, Eisenhower was more bi-partisan than many thought especially more so than the staunch conservative "Mr. Republican" Robert Taft. Taft was known for co-authoring the Taft-Hartley Act, which stated that workers couldn't be forced to join unions. Taft died in 1953, removing a staunch voice that might oppose Ike's bi-partisanship. When in office, Ike cut back the New Deal in his cabinet. Ezra Benson cut back government ownership of hydroelectric power businesses and limited regulations of offshore oil drilling. Eisenhower did spend and give government a new role with the National Highway Act, which would set up the **interstate highway system** and linked the nation together and set up a highway system of defense that he learned in WWII. Eisenhower's strategy was called dynamic conservatism. He didn't end the New Deal (rose minimum wage, rose Social Security benefits, increased spending on education), but slowed the New Deal's growth.

There was consistency between Truman and Eisenhower in dealing with atomic energy and weapons. The U.S. had a commission under civilian control to examine uses of nuclear power and the U.N. had an international agency to supervise atomic development (U.S. agreed to join, USSR did not). The U.S. would test the **H-bomb** (Hydrogen bomb), which was much more destructive. A new concern in America was over nuclear **fallout**, or particles that could cause burns, cancer, or birth defects. Duck and cover drills and fallout shelters became common. It was the policy of the U.S. to prevent Soviet expansion and would keep the nuclear option open if needed. Ike's policy would be that of a flexible response to threats and kept America's enemies guessing and off balance, never sure if aggression might mean nuclear. Even rogue nations stayed peaceful with the threat of America's nuclear arsenal. Secretly, Eisenhower prepared the nation to win a nuclear war if the Soviets got hostile. A key adviser was Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. Nuclear weapons were put on the soil of America's allies (Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Greece, Italy, and Japan) and the U.S. stayed ahead of the USSR and far ahead of Red China. An example of U.S. policy with China is seen when both the Communists and Nationalists claimed two islands in Formosa Straits and with the U.S. having nuclear weapons and the threat to use them, the Communists backed down. Similar policy used to end the Korean War in 1953. There would be a crisis in the Suez Canal region as Egypt, under Gamal Abdel Nasser, took control of the canal. Eisenhower threatened use of nuclear weapons and Nasser backed down. In December of 1953, Eisenhower gave his famous "Atoms for Peace" speech at the U.N. in NYC. The U.S. government would be in charge of nuclear energy, which increased the power of the government, but also opened the use of a new natural resource. Eisenhower had begun building the **military-industrial complex**, a defense industry and military promoting government contracts to build the military.

**Sputnik: Cold War in Space:**
After Stalin's death, a new Communist leader emerged. **Georgy Malenkov** was the leader for two years but had to resign after attacks about his closeness to a Soviet traitor. **Nikita Khrushchev** took power and denounced Stalin's "cult of personality," but at the same time aimed to maintain the Communist Bloc, as seen in crushing the uprising in Budapest, Hungary. In August 1957, the USSR tested an **ICBM** (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile), a rocket that would go out of the earth's atmosphere, arc, come back, and hit its target. In October, the USSR launched **Sputnik**, the first satellite into space. This meant the USSR was capable of launching nuclear weapons to hit the U.S. from bases inside the USSR. The U.S. would keep use of the U-2 spy planes over the USSR to detect attack preparations. The American public wanted a response. First, money was poured into education particularly college engineering, science, and math programs. Second, defense spending increased. The U.S. wanted rockets and a new agency was created - **NASA** (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). In May of 1961, **Alan Shepard Jr.** was the first American in space and in February of 1962 **John Glenn** was sent into orbit. Still, the Communists seemed to be winning the Space Race.

**"Happy Days" - Myth or Reality:**
From 1974 to 1984, there was a hit TV show called //Happy Days//, which depicted life in the 1950s as lighthearted and easy. The show didn't depict 1950s racism or alcoholism and divorce in the family structure. Despite some social problems, for most Americans, the 1950s were happy days. One view of the 1950s focused on the **GI generation**, those born from 1901-24, who were in the prime earning years by 1946, which coincided with a postwar economic boom during the 1950s. The 1950s Americans received the benefits of the largest one-generation jump in educational achievement in history having learned the importance of hard work, yet had to work less outside the house than any previous generation. This group effectively changed the debate on racial segregation as well. This generation was also one of the least religious generations, which will account for why genuine success would crumble in later decades - civic virtue was less supported by deeper spiritual committments. There was still plenty of structure as marriage and motherhood was the destiny of most young females though actresses such as Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Jane Russell, and Brigitte Bardot showed women in a more provocative way. This was also seen in a new magazine in 1953 by Hugh Heffner. Along with the availability of the new birth control pill showed a change from America's heritage in Christian values.

The new **"Baby Boom" generation** would be the largest generation and were those born after WWII (1946-64). New foods and medicines for this new generation of babies with more shots and operations conducted on this generation than any other in the past. Frank Gerber's baby products and pediatrics were put on the market. New toys included Barbie dolls, Hula-Hoops, Davy Crockett coonskin caps to go along with earlier invented toys - Tinkertoys and Lionel trains. A best-selling baby book by **Dr. Benjamin Spock - //Common Sense of Baby and Child Care//** (1946) advised parents on disciplining children and to let children determine when and where everything took place from bathroom habits to education. Spanking/physical discipline was viewed as unhealthy. Overall, the dangerous combination of material comfort and loose control made for a generation that lacked toughness and one that literally fell apart under the pressures of civil rights, Vietnam, and economic stagnation (all in the 60s and 70s). It's not surprising that the baby boomers turned to drugs and sex in record numbers and divorce among this generation skyrocketed.

More travel and movement, whether for job relocation or better climate, saw movement to the **Sun Belt** (South and West). This is also seen with the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York (baseball) Giants moving their baseball teams to California. Suburbs grew with William Levitt and **Levittown**, a planned community, which became common. There was also an auto boom in the 1950s with highway driving rose 400%. "Muscle cars" in the 1950s were being manufactured. A negative is that the gas tax remained even after highway construction ended with almost half of the gas price being taxes from the federal, state, and local levels. Air travel entered a new age with the new jet plane. The **DC-8** was the first commercial jet that had more speed and room and less cost. Americans could fly and dive more because paychecks purchased more than ever before. With travel increasing, so did food as soldiers coming back from Italy wanted pasta; Asian recipes moved inward; Mexican dishes moved northward; ethnic foods we know of today were started to get on the shelves around America. No one symbolized the effort to maintain continuity between 1950s America and its small town roots and patriotic past more than painter **Norman Rockwell**, who painted covers for //The Saturday Evening Post// among other works. His scenes captured the American spirit of family. Religion in the 1950s grew less denominationally contentious (meaning Americans felt less need to live in communities of others practicing the same exact Christian denomination).

Entire industries grew to meet demands of a mobile population. **Kemmons Wilson**, a Tennessee architect was upset that hotels charged for children and some lacked quality. He and his family traveled across the country and he took notes on room size, facilities, cost, etc. When he returned home, he developed the model motel of optimal size, comfort, and pricing, which resulted in the Holiday Inn. He wanted all of them to be the same so that travelers knew what they were getting. **Ray Kroc** developed a milk shake mixer and was impressed by a California burger stand owned by the McDonald brothers. Kroc purchased the rights to the name and recipe and standardized all of the food and in 1954 he opened the first McDonald's drive-in restaurant in Des Planes, Iowa. Fast food had begun (was a negative term in the 1950s). With a world of change and America more mobile and changing Wilson and Kroc were just two who brought some consistency.

There would be major scientific and technological advances in the 1950s. The **transistor** replaced vacuum tubes making electronic goods such as the radio smaller and portable. The **ENIAC** (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was the first computer, used for the military, with 2.5K memory. The **UNIVAC** (Universal Automatic Computer) was the first computer for commercial use. **IBM** (International Business Machines) improved computers with the integrated circuit, a single piece of material with many transistors and computer chips. Medical advances included the **Salk Vaccine**, a vaccine for polio developed by Dr. Jonas Salk. Also, there would be new techniques to fight heart disease as well as cancer (radiation and chemotherapy), TB tests, and the first pacemaker in 1952. A negative drug, Thalidomide, stopped nausea in pregnant women, but led to birth defects. The major change was **television**. In 1950, 5 million owned a TV - by 1959, 40 million did. News became famous with CBS Evening News with **Walter Cronkite**. The radio industry declined and would only survive due to car radios, which is what saved the industry. A new music craze developed - **Rock 'n' Roll** with the king being Elvis Presley. There was also a movement against the norms of society, called the Beat Movement, which included writer Jack Kerouac and actors Marlon Brando and James Dean. There would be a major religious revival in the 1950s with the Red Scare and nuclear threat. Eisenhower worked to "bring God back" with //In God We Trust// put on the money and //one nation under God// put onto the pledge. Billy Graham used TV to give evangelical sermons. America was the land of growing affluence (prosperity), but there was poverty among rural Americans, single mothers, and some elderly. **Appalachia** was the moutainous region from New York to Georgia that was among the poorest. Juvenile delinquency grew in the U.S.

**The Invisible Man:**
Ralph Ellison's novel //The Invisible Man// captured the fact that to most white Americans, blacks didn't exist as segregation in the Jim Crow South still existed and was upheld in the 1896 //Plessy v. Ferguson// case. There would be two major civil rights events in the 1950s. The first was **//Brown v. Board of Education//** under Chief Justice Earl Warren (appointed by Eisenhower), which ruled that schools had to desegregate. Southern states dominated by the Democrat Party was defiant and some politicians promised to fight to keep segregation. Racists would delay enforcement in the South. Eisenhower supported civil rights, but said real integration couldn't be brought on by force. The **Little Rock Nine** were nine black students who were prevented from entering Little Rock, Arkansas's Central High School as Governor Orval Faubus had the National Guard blocking the entrance. President Eisenhower had to take control to allow the students to enter and the courts had to also get involved in the South - nothing the Founding Fathers ever imagined. The second major event was on December 1, 1955 when **Rosa Parks** refused to give up her seat to a white man on a public bus. Her arrest led to the **Montgomery Bus Boycott** under the leadership of **Martin Luther King Jr.** who would become the leader of the **Civil Rights Movement**. The boycott worked and illustrated the power of the market as the blacks become allowed to sit anywhere.

Equality was improving, but still the ballot was the most important. Since Reconstruction, Southern whites kept blacks from voting by intimidation, threats, and violence as well as the poll tax and literacy tests (whites had to read their name, but blacks had to interpret Shakespeare's //Beowulf//. The **Civil Rights Act of 1957** under Eisenhower set up a commission to prosecute election crimes. Southern Democrats opposed and Southern Democrat governors wouldn't support it either, which left enforcement up to the federal government, which was not equipped to police every voting precinct in the South. More widespread change depended on the transformation of hearts and attitudes, which will take place in the 1960s. King set up the **SCLC** (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) to accomplish this.

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