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Chapter 26. Harry Truman and the Cold War. Harry Truman 1945-1952. Born in Lamar, Missouri Occupation: farmer, WW 1 soldier, small businessman, public official U.S. Senator 1935-45 VP under FDR 1945 (only few weeks) 33rd President April 12, 1945-1952. Trumanisms.
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Chapter 26 Harry Truman and the Cold War
Harry Truman 1945-1952 • Born in Lamar, Missouri • Occupation: farmer, WW 1 soldier, small businessman, public official • U.S. Senator 1935-45 • VP under FDR 1945 (only few weeks) • 33rd President April 12, 1945-1952
Trumanisms • “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog” • “the buck stops here” • “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen • “I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me”
Harry Truman • Democrat • Salary $75,000 • Election of 1948 (defeated Thomas Dewey) • Made some of the most crucial decisions in Am.history
Truman’s Fair Deal • Presented to Congress a 21 point program of progressive ideas to follow the traditions of the New Deal • National health care • Increase minimum wage (75 cents hour) • Fair employment practices act • Public housing /slum clearance projects
Fair Deal • Proposals were hindered by a Conservative Congress & Cold War foreign policy crises.
American prosperity • Income saved during WW2 • Big demand for consumer goods (cars, houses, etc) • Gov’t. road building projects (created many jobs) • G.I. Bill (1944): gov’t backed, low interest loans to veterans (bought homes, farms, businesses, college)
Signs of Confidence • Baby boom: postwar explosion in marriages and births • 50 million babies born 1945-1960 • 1957: record number of births • 2007: record broken 4,317,119 • Growth of suburbs (housing shortage) white middle class left cities
Postwar problem in Am. • Inflation: due to big demand for consumer goods • Prices rose 6% in 1 month • Prices rose 25% in 1 1/2 years • 4.5 million workers went on strike in 1946 (RR, auto, steel, coal, etc.)
Civil Rights Under Truman • First modern President to use his powers to challenge racial discrimination • Issued Executive Order to desegregate all branches of armed forces • Urged Congress to pass anti-lynching laws, abolish poll tax, desegregate the schools
The Cold War (1945-1960) • A state of hostility between the U.S. and USSR, short of direct military conflict • 1945-1991 • Two rival superpowers • Dominated American foreign policy
Major causes of Cold War • Spread of communism after WW 2 • Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, E. Germany, Albania, Yugoslavia • Soviets said they needed a “buffer zone” of satellite nations to prevent another invasion into Russia
Winston Churchill • 1946 speech: “an iron curtain has descended across the continent of Europe” • Referring to the Soviet satellite nations • Called for a democratic partnership to stop the spread of communism
Causes for Cold War • Competition over the Atomic Bomb • U.S. tested A-bomb July, 1945 • USSR tested A-bomb Aug, 1949 • Next came development of H-bomb • Short, medium, long range missiles (ICBM’s)
Battlefields for the Cold War • Weapons race • Space race • Oct. 1957 Sputnik (1st satellite to orbit Earth) • Nov. 1957 Sputnik II (carried dog-Laika) • Feb. 1958 Explorer I (1st U.S. satellite to orbit Earth)
Battlefields for Cold War • Sports: Olympics (Hockey, gymnastics, etc) • Miracle on Ice • Rocky 4 • Which country can produce the best athletes?
Cold War = Fear • http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/sfeature/panicquiz.html • Take the Panic Quiz that was found in Collier’s Magazine in 1953. • Don’t be a “victim of panic”
Policy of Containment • Truman’s new foreign policy to stop the spread of communism • 2 key ways: • Economic aid (to poor countries willing to resist communism) • Military might (building democratic alliances with countries in Europe)
Economic Aid • Truman Doctrine: 1947--asked Congress for 400 million to aid Greece and Turkey • Marshall Plan: 1947--U.S. offered aid to Western Europe • 13 billion • 16 nations (most $ went to G.B., Fr., Italy, W. Germany)
Military Might • NATO: 1949 (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) • 1st peacetime allliance in U.S. history • U.S., Canada, 10 Western European nations formed a defense alliance • Each country would provide soldiers to defend against communism
Warsaw Pact • Soviets’ response to NATO was the Warsaw Pact. • Created a communist alliance of nations in Eastern Europe
The United Nations • Created at the end of WW2 • Ratified by Senate (82-2 vote) • Structure: • A) General Assembly • B) Security Council • C) Secretary General • D) International Court of Justice
Creation of CIA • U.S. created the 1st permanent worldwide intelligence agency • U.S. officially in the business of spying on other nations
Cold War turns “HOT” • Berlin Crisis: 1st direct challenge between the U.S. and USSR • Germany divided into 4 zones of occupation after WW 2 • Berlin (capital) also divided into 4 zones • Stalin wanted to unite Berlin under “Soviet occupation”