Simpson 1

The Cold War Era: 1945-1991 Happy Days

Post War America
Demobilization
Size of the armed forces was decreased in 1946 (12 mil-3 mil)
Some still served in West Germany and Japan to ensure a smooth government transition
Election of 1948

Democratic Nominee: Harry S. Truman- incumbent President

Democratic Party Split: Opposed to Trumans stand on civil rights
Republican Nominee: Thomas E. Dewey- Governor of New York
Truman: campaigned by train- Whistle Stop
TV was a factor
Truman won a close election
Truman: wanted to give the American people a Fair Deal
Fair Deal: an extension of New Deal reforms
Atomic Energy

Atomic Energy Act: preserved government control of fissionable materials

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC): Encouraged private and government research and
development of atomic energy
National Security Act
Armed Forces: Placed under a new Cabinet department
Headed by a civilian: Secretary of Defense
Created the National Security Council and central intelligence agency (CIA)
Presidential Succession Act
Succession passed from Vice President to Speaker of the House and then to the President pro
tempore of the Senate
Truman: Believed the president should be someone elected to office
22nd Amendment
Limited any President after Harry Truman to 2 terms
A reaction to FDRs time in office
Affluent Society and Culture

Simpson 2
White Collar Jobs: jobs that are mainly in sales and management
Blue Collar Jobs: jobs that are physical in nature
Ex: construction, factory workers, miners
Labor

Laborers wanted wage increases

Many had not received them during the war and inflation concerns were growing
Railroads and Coal Mines went on strike
Taft-Hartley Act: Goal- to achieve a better balance between labor and management
President: if strike endangered public safety, he could require a cool off period
During this period Unions could not call a strike, and management could not call a lockout
G.I. Bill of Rights

Provided veterans of WWII with a variety of services

Ex: Hospitals, payments of veterans without jobs, free tuition, books and expenses for job
training, college, or advanced education
Multi-National Corporation
A corporation that has branches in other countries
Franchises
One person owns or operates several stores of a particular chain
Typically have a specific uniform and style (continuity)
Baby Boom
Soldiers coming home from WWII
Number of babies increases exponentially
Typically born between 1946-1964
Consumerism
People desire the objects their neighbors have- Keeping up with the Joness
More disposable income = more spending
Luxury items
Advertising
People are buying more
Companies market goods to try and sell
Advertising explosion

Simpson 3
Levittown

Levittown, NY- one of the first suburbs

Bill Levitt: mass produced similar looking houses
Houses were inexpensive
Other Levittowns spring up
Reasons for Moving to The Suburbs

Escape crime and congestion

Better life
Picturesque environment
Affordability
Effect: leads to urban sprawl
Technical Breakthroughs

Polio vaccination
Jonas Salk 1954
Polio was a huge issue in the 1950s
We didnt know what caused it
Polio Vaccine

Salk first tests in on himself and family

Albert Sabin invents oral vaccination
Polio cases plummet across the U.S.

1950s Popular Culture and the Other side of American Life

Rise of Television Popularity
TVs more affordable
(1946) 7,000 sets
(1957) 40,000,000 sets
Popular TV Programs of the 1950s

Comedy Shows
Bob Hope and Jack Bunny
Action Shows
Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, Dragnet
Variety Shows
Ed Sullivan Show, quiz shows

Simpson 4
Movies in the 1950s

TV grows, movies decline

Try different things
3D
Widescreen
Drive in Movies
Youth Culture

Rock n Roll
Early forms grew from R&B
Music was ideal for dancing
Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and the Comets
Draws teens in
Music and Youth

Rock n Roll became the popular music of the times

Parents do not like it
Youths rebel
People complain that Rock n Roll incites youths
Generation gap
African American Entertainers

TV tended to shut out African American Entertainers

Few break through
Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, and Little Richard were popular
Female groups became popular
Other Side of American Life

During the 50s, 1 in 3 were impoverished

End of 50s, 1 in 5
Most were blind to the poor nations
Thought all were well
Not all Americans were a part of the different society
Minorities and rural were poor
The American Dream remained out of reach for these people
Decline of the Inner City

White families move to suburbs

Tax money goes with these people
Urban centers begin to decline

Simpson 5

Urban Renewal
Tear down slums
Nice high rise towers
Overcrowded; leads to violence
African American Groups in the 1950s

City population increase

Mostly due to African Americans moving north during/after WWII
Life was typically not better in the north
Racial discrimination continues
Last hired, first fired
Hispanic Americans in the 1950s

Bracero Program
Brings millions of workers to work on farms in the South West
Temporary- started during WWII
Long hours, little pay
10-12 hours a day, 100 degrees
Slept where they could, ate what they could
Native Americans in the 1950s

Made $1000 less than a typical African American worker

Termination Policy: federal government terminated separate status
Forced them to assimilate into society
Disastrous policy
Juvenile Delinquency

Increase 45% in the early 1950s

Crime increases
Car theft, muggings
Why?
Stereotypes abound
Education system
Focus is thrown into their better educating younger citizens

Interstate Highway System

Beginnings

Simpson 6
Eisenhower and army personnel crossed the country in 1919
Autobahn
Eisenhower liked the autobahn in Germany
Thought it was efficient
Kept that in his head
How it Came to be
Eisenhower threw his support behind creation of the Interstate System
Revitalizing nations highway system was a high priority
Ownership and Operation
The individual states own and operate the Interstate System
Currently 46,876 miles of highway
Speed Limits
States control the MPH limit
In 1974 it was 55 mph
You could go over, but lose federal funds

Early Cold War Foreign Affairs

United Nations
A new organization to replace the League of Nations
Organized to promote international security and cooperation
General Assembly included delegates from every member nation
Truman Doctrine

Attempted to contain communist growth

Containment Policy
Did so by supporting those who resisted Communism
Peacetime military aid to other countries; became our diplomacy
Ex: Turkey and Greece
Marshall Plan

Secretary of State Marshall: provides gifts to Europe

Wanted to prevent economic, social, and political deterioration
Also, the U.S. was concerned that countries that were in despair would turn to communism

Simpson 7
Russia and Satellites did not accept aid
Berlin Airlift
(June 1948) Russians banned all traffic between Allied-controlled West Berlin and Russiancontrolled East Berlin
Russians: wanted to drive Allies out of West Berlin by cutting off supplies
U.S., England, and France supplied West Berlin by air
(May 1949) Russians lifted the blockade
Fall of China
U.S. former ally, Chiang Kai-shek, was driven out of mainland China
(Oct 1949) Chinese communists led by Mao Zedong controlled the Chinese mainland
The fall of the mainland seemed like one more defeat (to communism) for the U.S.
N.A.T.O.
NATO: North American Treaty Organization
Allied U.S. and Canada with ten W European nations from Norway to Portugal; eventually 15
members
Signed April 4th, 1949; an attack on one is treated as attack on all
U.S. joined the first peacetime alliance in its history
Gen. Eisenhower: Commander of NATO forces
Korean War
Invasion by North Korea
(1949-1950) Skirmishes took place between N and S Korea along the 38th parallel (Dividing
Line)
Suddenly 135,000 N Koreans, armed and organized by the soviets, attacked S Korea
Trumans Action
Had the attack brought before the UN Security Council
UN- called for an end to fighting
Gen. MacArthur- told to furnish arms and naval & air support to S Koreans
UN Action
2 days after invasion, UN Security Council calls on member nations to aid S Korea
Gen. MacArthur- put on command of UN forces

Simpson 8
Inchon Landing
Early days of the war: N Korea pushed S Korea and UN forces south into a small area around
Pusan
(Sep. 15th, 1950) MacArthur lands forces from sea at Inchon
A daring and successful flank maneuver
Chinese Communists in North Korea
UN- wanted to defeat N Korea and create a unified, independent, and democratic gov.
China warned: if UN crossed 38th Parallel, the Chinese would defend N Korea
Chinese troops joined N Korea after UN troops crossed the 38th Parallel
Truman vs. MacArthur

MacArthur: An entirely new war- wanted to bomb mainland China

Truman and Joint Chiefs of Staff refused him
Truman removed MacArthur from his position
Today: the border (close to the 38th Parallel) is a demilitarized zone (2.5 miles wide)
It is the most heavily militarized border in the war
Eisenhowers Domestic Program
Election of 1952

Republican Nominee: Dwight D. Eisenhower

GOP: Grand Old Party- nickname of Republican party
Democratic Nominee: Adlai E. Stevenson
Eisenhower won easily
Eisenhowers Farm Problem

Farm Problem: Surplus farm production

Eisenhower admin: Discouraged overproduction
Soil Bank paid farmers for not planting their crops
Combating Communism at Home
Many believed that there was strong communist conspiracy to take over the U.S.
Truman: issued an Executive Order to go after suspected communists
FBI and Civil Service Communism checked the loyalty of all Federal employees; many were
dismissed
McCarthyism and its Demise

Simpson 9
Senator Joseph McCarthy: felt communism had taken over many government positions
Accused many individuals of communist activities
TV exposed and defeated McCarthy- influence rapidly declined
Election of 1956
Republican nominee: Eisenhower
Democratic nominee: Stevenson
Eisenhower wins his second term easily
Alaskan and Hawaiian Statehood
(Jan 1959) 49th State: Alaska
(Aug 1959) 50th State: Hawaii
Eisenhower and Foreign Affairs
Brinkmanship
Eisenhowers Secretary of State: John Foster Dulles
Dulles threatened massive retaliation against the soviet union or communist China if they
attacked any country
Brinkmanship- necessary to go to the brink of war to preserve the peace of the world
Crisis in Indochina
Following WWII- communist Ho Chi Minh liberated Vietnam
The French tried to regain control and set up a puppet government
US aid to the French
US aided the French because we felt they were helping us contain communism
(1950) US helped the French with money and arms
(1954) US paid for 80% of the cost of war
Dien Bien Phu
Communist Viet Minh troops had trapped a large French force
Should the US assist the French? Decided against it
French were defeated
Geneva Agreement
Vietnam would be divided into two
North: communist

Simpson 10
South: a free government
S.E.A.T.O.
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
Special attention/support to non-communist nations- an attempt to keep communism from
spreading
Hungarian Revolution
(1956) Hungarian people revolted against communism
Crushed by Soviet tanks and troops
US could not provide much help
Eisenhower Doctrine
(March 1957) US would help any Middle East country that requested aid to resist military
aggression from a communist country
Came about as a result of the Suez Crisis
Sputnik and the Space Race

Rocket development became very important

Operation Paperclip- project to rescue German rocket engineers from WWII
Worked on rocket and space travel for the US
(Oct. 4th, 1957) Russians sent up the first man-made earth satellite- Sputnik
(1958) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Scheduled Summit Conference

U-2 Incident
(May 5th, 1960) Soviet forces shot down an American U-2 spy plane
Khrushchev demanded an apology; Eisenhower refused
Wreck of summit hopes
The chance of a summit was now gone
Rise of Castro in Cuba

(1958) Forces led by Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban Government

Set up Communist Government supported by the Soviets
Eisenhower Steps Down
Farewell address: warned of a military-industrial complex

Simpson 11
He and others were concerned with the new relationship formed between the military
establishment and the defense industry
Many did not see a lasting peace in future years and feared spending on defense