Ike and JFK 1953-1963

1. Ike and JFK1953-1963 APUSH

2. Ike’s Foreign Policy

3. 1. What did Ike do about the Korean War?

4. Korean War 1950-1953 • Negotiations with North Korea stalled over issue of Chinese and North Korean POWs • Ike hints at possible attacks if negotiations don’t continue • July 1953: truce signed; 38th parallel re-established as division • 54,000 Americans killed

5. 2. How did ike change US policy toward the USSR?

6. Stalin dies in 1953 • Nikita Khrushchev assumes power by 1956 • Ushers in era of “peaceful co-existence” • US policy changes slightly • Move away from expensive ground forces • Move toward airpower, advanced nukes, and covert action (CIA) • Massive retaliation: USSR expansion would be checked by threat of massive US nuke attack • MAD: Mutual Assured Destruction

7. 3. How did Ike respond to the Hungarian revolt?

8. Hungary • Hungary, 1956 • Attempt at democratic revolution • Rebels appeal to USA for help • No help coming – couldn’t launch military operation that close to the USSR • Soviet tanks crush revolution

10. 4. What was Ike’s approach to the Third World?

11. Third World • Overt military confrontation replaced by COVERT action and economic leverage • Role of the CIA • Overthrew leftist government in Iran, put in Shah Pahlavi • Toppled Guzman in Guatemala (with help of United Fruit Company)

12. 5. What was Ike’s policy toward Cuba?

13. Cuba • 1950s: Fulgencio Batista (dictator) supported by the United States • Fidel Castro overthrows Batista (1959) • Castro turns to USSR for aid • Many Cubans flee to US • Ike approves CIA plans for invasion of Cuba

14. 6. What was Ike’s policy toward Vietnam?

15. Vietnam • Ho Chi Minh: communist-nationalist leader of Vietnamese (Vietminh) • Sought independence from France • US supported France • France defeated at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 • Geneva Peace Accords, 1954 • France leaves Vietnam • Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia formed • Vietnam split into communist north, non-communist south (17th parallel) • US starts to send advisors; installs Ngo Dinh Diem • Domino theory

16. Ike’s Domestic Policy

17. 7. What was the economy like under Ike?

18. Period of prosperity • 1950s was period of general economic growth • GNP increases • Consumer goods become more available • Suburbs = automobiles • Shopping malls • Kitchen appliances • TVs

20. Suburban Living • 1 story high • 12’ x 19’ living room • 2 bedrooms • Tiled bathroom • Garage • Small backyard • Front lawn

21. 8. How did Ike improve the US infrastructure?

22. Infrastructure • Highway Act of 1956 • Citied national security reasons to build highways (troop/nuke movements) • Car becomes symbol of US abundance

23. 9. What was the major cultural argument under Ike?

24. Conformity vs. non-conformity • Americans started buying same products from large companies – everyone looked alike • People lost individuality • “other-directed” society • People measured themselves against images created by mass media • TV, advertising, movies, pop music create images we try to live up to

25. 10. What was the Mass Culture Debate?

26. Concerns about conformity and young people were part of mass culture debate • US culture was becoming standardized • Rich people (elitists) saw mass produced cultural things as inferior (ex: rock music was for lower class people – “good” people listened to classical) • Distinctions between localities lessening (ex: the South was losing its character) • TV was easy target: it was making us all zombies who can’t think for ourselves

27. 11. What changes happened for women in the 1950s?

28. Daily life in suburbs structured by “separate spheres” • Reaction to WW II roles (women in factories) • Work/politics dominated by men • Housework and children dominated by women • Dr. Benjamin Spock: said women were natural child rearers; future of US depended on their role • Female role promoted in pop culture • Leave it to Beaver

31. 12. Who revolted against the conservative culture climate of the 1950s?

32. 12A. Youth • Youth revolts against conservative cultural climate of the 1950s • Comic books seen as promoting sex and violence • Rock and roll music • Seen as threatening to white establishment • Rock and roll was blend of “hillbilly” music with jazz, R and B (black music) • Songs, rhythms, and artists seen as overtly sexual • Elvis Presley

34. 12b. Male Revolt • The Male Revolt against “Family Values” and conformity (aka: Why Hugh Hefner is historically important) • Some men became overwhelmed with emphasis on family and children • Hugh Hefner and Playboy • 1953 • Family men were suckers • Men should rent a “pad” and drive a sports car • Women were “playmates” and a man needed a new one every month

35. 12c. Female revolt • The Female Revolt against conservatism and conformity • Suburban female was idealized, BUT many women were entering the workplace • Birth control pill, 1960 • Impact… • Conception could be controlled • Families could be planned around desire of some women to work

36. 12d. African-Americans • African-Americans revolt against conservatism and conformity (Civil Rights in the 1950s) • NAACP • Led by Thurgood Marshall (later appoint to Supreme Court) • Earl Warren • Appointed Chief Justice by Ike

37. 12d. Civil Rights • Brown v Board of Education of Topeka (1954) • State mandated segregation of schools violated Constitution (equal protection under law) • Bolling v Sharpe (1954) • Desegregated public schools in Washington DC • Brown II (1955) • Brown asks court to help force desegregation • Desegregation would move forward “with deliberate speed” • IN THE SOUTH, THIS WAS REAL SLOW

39. 12d. Against Civil Rights • 1956: Southern Manifesto • 100 members of Congress denounce Supreme Court’s segregationist rulings • Would support an legal resistance • KKK used violence • Emmett Till killed in Mississippi, 1955 • Medgar Evers killed in 1963

40. 12d. African-Americans • Rosa Parks defies segregation law in Montgomery, Alabama (wouldn’t go to back of bus) • Martin Luther King leads boycott of bus system; forces desegregation • After, forms Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) • Demanded desegregation of public facilities • Started voter registration drive • Passive civil disobedience • With TV, this wins over many northern whites

41. 12d. Congress & Civil Rights • Difficult to pass laws in Congress because of southern Democrats (segregationists who later went Republican) • Civil Rights Act of 1957 • Expedited lawsuits by African-Americans who claimed voting rights were violated • Created Commission on Civil Rights to advise government on issues

42. 12d. Ike and Civil Rights • Reluctant to address civil rights • Would not ban discrimination on projects paid for by federal government $ • Regarded civil rights as local matter • But sometimes forced to act • 1957: Little Rock Central High School • Federal court ordered integration • Governor Faubus blocked entrance with Arkansas National Guard • Ike sent in the US Army to escort students

44. 12e. Intellectual revolt • Revolted against conformity and materialism • University professors • David Riesman (Harvard) • “other-directed” society of conformists • John Kenneth Galbraith (The Affluent Society) • Wealthy Americans needed to spend more for common good • Novelists • JD Salinger (The Catcher in the Rye) • Individual struggle against conformity • Refers to “phoniness” of society • Joseph Heller (Catch 22) • Stupidity of military, it’s promotion of conformity

45. 12e. Intellectual revolt • Revolted against conformity and materialism • The Beat (Beatniks) • Jack Kerouac (On the Road) and Allen Ginsberg (Howl) • Said current generation was “beaten” down by conformity and materialism • Advocated spontaneity, drugs, improvised jazz, and unorthodox literary styles to rebel against conformity

46. 13. Did anyone revolt against the political ideas left over from FDR and Truman Years?

47. Barry Goldwater, Senator from Arizona • Said Ike was too moderate; FDR and Truman too radical • Wanted… • Tougher policies toward USSR • Said civil rights legislation and most domestic programs were threats to individual liberty • Supported by others like William Buckley & Ronald Reagan

48. 14. What was the impact of Sputnik in 1957?

49. Sputnik was the first artificial satellite in space; launched by USSR • US Reaction… • National Defense Education Act • More $ to college science and engineering departments • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

50. The Kennedy Years