The Cold War

Part Two: Conformity Culture in the 1950s

Learning Targets

• I can trace the development and manifestations of the Cold War.

• I can analyze Truman’s and Eisenhower’s leadership during The Cold War.

• I can analyze the extent to which the 1950s was an era of “conformity culture.”

Demobilization

• Bringing the troops home

• Baby Boom• 1946

Economy of the 50s

• In general• Why the boom?

– Women’s wages– Pent up demand– Lack of competition– GI Bill of Rights (Serviceman’s Readjustment Act)– NSC 68

• Changes in the world of work• Consumer Culture• Construction: houses and highways

Race in the 50s

• Origins in WWII• Committee on

Civil Rights• Ban on

discrimination in federal jobs

• Executive Order 9961

Election of 1948

• Splits in the Democratic Party

• “Dixiecrats” nominate Strom Thurman

• Progressive Democrats

• Rep. Thomas Dewey

Truman’s Fair Deal

“We have rejected the discredited theory that the fortunes of the nation should be in the hands of a privileged few. Every segment of our population and every individual has a right to expect from his government a fair deal.”

– Higher min. wage– Expansion of Soc. Sec.– Increased farm subsidies– Public housing & slum clearance– Universal health insurance– Repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act

The Second Red Scare

• Background• House Un-

American Activities Committee (HUAC)

• The Hollywood Ten

The Second Red Scare

• Employee Loyalty Program (47)

• Alger Hiss Case (48)– Truman– Richard Nixon

• Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (50)

The Second Red Scare

• Joseph McCarthy• “McCarthy”

Hearings• McCarran Internal

Security Act• McCarthy’s

demise

Family in the 50s

• Return of the Cult• Religious

Participation

Family in the 50s

• Homeownership & Growth of the ‘suburbs’

• Levittown

Popular Culture

• TV!• Cars!• Rock & Roll!

Popular Culture

• Youth culture & delinquency

• The Beat Generation

The Election of 1952

• Rep. Dwight Eisenhower– VP Richard Nixon

• Dem. Adlai Stevenson

Eisenhower on the Domestic Front

• “dynamic conservatism”- “conservative when it comes to money, liberal when it comes to human beings”

• Tries to cut some New Deal & Defense spending

• Tax reductions for wealthy & corporations

Eisenhower on the Domestic Front

• “Should any political party attempt to abolish Social Security and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again…”– Some extensions of Social Security– Sought federal participation in health insurance– Agricultural aid extended– Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956

• The “biggest damnfool mistake I ever made”

Eisenhower & Civil Rights

• Brown v. Board of Education (54)• Emmett Till (55)• Montgomery Bus Boycott (55-6)• Little Rock Nine (57)

Eisenhower’s Foreign Policy

• Sec. of State John Foster Dulles– Rollback – “massive retaliation”– “deterrence” – “brinksmanship”

• New Look Military

Eisenhower’s Foreign Policy

• East Asia• Indochina• Hungary• Iran• Egypt & the Suez Crisis• Cuba

Cold War Scares

• Sputnik (57)– “missile gap”– Increased Spending– ICBMs– Missiles in Europe– NASA (58)– National Defense Education Act

“Peaceful Coexistence”

• Berlin• Planned Summit • U-2 Incident (60)• Francis Gary Powers

Eisenhower’s Farewell Address

Now this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city….We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet, we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications….

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist…

Election of 1960VP Richard Nixon vs. Sen. John F. Kennedy

JFK 2nd Catholic candidate, also 2nd youngest presidential candidate

Impact of first televised debate; swings momentum toward JFK

JFK wins one of the closest elections in history; 16 Southern Democrat electors vote for alternative candidate Sen. Harry Byrd of Virginia in protest.

• What were the Cold War fears of the American people in the aftermath of the Second World War? How successfully did the administration of President Eisenhower address those fears?

• Restrict your answer from 1948-1961