Chapter 27: America at Midcentury

1. Chapter 27:America at Midcentury West Blocton High School AP United States History Mr. Logan Greene

2. Chapter Objectives • How did the “Decade of Affluence” alter social and religious life in America? • What impact did Dwight Eisenhower’s foreign policy have on U.S. relations with the Soviet Union? • What was John F. Kennedy’s approach to dealing with the Soviet Union? • What was the significance of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka? • How did Lyndon B. Johnson continue the domestic agenda inherited from the Kennedy administration?

3. The Post War World • The end of World War II launched a boom that would last for 25 years as the economy flourished under activist foreign policy • The Soviets and Americans faced off in the Cold War as both countries stockpiled weapons and entered into an uneasy relationship through MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) • The Korean conflict showed the growing battles between Democracy and Communism as the Soviet backed North Korea fought the American backed South Korea to a standstill • The Second Red Scare occurred as Senator Joseph McCarthy led witch hunts to find supposed communists in the United States

4. The Decade of Affluence • President Dwight Eisenhower was elected in 1952 to oversee the government in a new way • Eisenhower was truly moderate as conservatives saw him as conservative and liberals saw him as liberal • Eisenhower allowed much of the New Deal to stay in place but did not expand reform

5. The Decade of Affluence • The 1950’s economy of the United States was as impressive and more stable than the economy of 1920’s • The economy grew over 3% each year with thousands of jobs available and wages increased faster than consumer prices • The Federal Highway Act of 1956 created an interstate highway system to provide for Cold War emergencies

6. Families and Money • Families again began relying on credit • With the interstates came the birth of truly national firms like McDonald’s • Malls and full service credit cards made their appearances • Families were built around the professional male head of household • Women were expected to marry quickly and forego any kind of career

7. Teenagers and Religion • Teenagers for the first time became an independent economic group on the 1950’s as they listened to rock and roll, went to movies, and dating became more universal • Religion made a huge spike in the 1950’s as church attendance surged and the US government made increasing ties between church and state (adding of Under God to pledge of allegiance and In God We Trust to money)

8. Gospel of Prosperity • The Gospel of Prosperity began in the 1950’s to define the continued affluence of America society as based around abundance of natural resources and the freedom of choice that democracy offered (as opposed to Communism) • However, many believed this hid inequality and the growing interdependence of big business, the military, and the economy

9. The Soviets • Eisenhower was a master of NOT saying the wrong thing • By dodging tricky questions and not drastically interfering in a successful America he was easily reelected in 1956 • The Soviets and the US still had a tenuous peace hold amid a huge arms race based around Mutually Assured Destruction • However, when the Soviets launched the first satellite into orbit, Sputnik, in October 1957 Americans became incredibly nervous

10. The Soviets • The US immediately began NASA to close the non existent missile gap • Eisenhower believed the war against the Soviets and communism should be about “containment” not roll back. The idea was about keeping Communism where it was • Americans believed, very much in the spirit of TR, that the US had a right and need to interfere abroad when necessary

11. The Soviets • The United States interfered in both Iran and Guatemala to protect pro-US interests • However, the biggest issue came in the small southeast Asian country of Vietnam • France was trying to control its colonial holding in Vietnam but was failing against pro communist forces under Ho Chi Min • The United States took up the banner in a limited way as an attempt to contain Communism

12. Global Standoff • Eisenhower refused to get involved in European affairs as they could to easily result in nuclear war • However, several standoffs occurred that could of began a Nuclear annihilation • The best example was the shooting down of a US Spy plane (a U-2) on May 1, 1960 over Russia and the capture of the pilot • The tense situation delayed political talks for year

13. JFK and the Cold War • In 1960 John F. Kennedy was elected President • A Democrat, JFK promised a New Frontier, but defined his presidency in continuing Eisenhower’s stand on the Cold War • Kennedy was the first truly visible President thanks to the new mass media of broadcast television • He won his election by seeming to be more impressive and professional than Richard Nixon

14. Bay of Pigs • Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev pushed each other further into the Cold War • To try and stem communism JFK sponsored an invasion of communist Cuba • Landing at the Bay of Pigs 1400 anti-Castro Cubans started an invasion backed by CIA training and the approval of Kennedy • The invasion was squashed and Kennedy was embarrassed on the international scene

15. Vietnam • America became more involved in Vietnam under Kennedy • Since the mid 1950s the US had only invested a minor force of advisors to the country • Under JFK the US sent more weapons and increased the advisors to help South Vietnam’s Ngo Dinh Diem fight the North Vietnamese Vietcong under Ho Chi Minh

16. Cuban Missile Crisis • In 1962 the US learned the Soviets were building missile launching stations in Cuba • In response JFK created a “quarantine” of Cuba from incoming trade until the missile sites were removed • Soviet ships stopped before entering Cuban waters and JFK and Khrushchev stared one another down • The Soviets agreed to take down the sites and the US agreed to leave Cuba alone and also remove missiles from Turkey • Only in later years was it revealed how close the two nations were to coming to nuclear war over this incident

17. Civil Rights • The 1960’s finally started to see a rebirth of activist Federal Government in Civil Rights that had not been seen since Reconstruction

18. Brown v. Board • For decades Civil Rights activists had tried to overturn the decision in Plessy v. Ferguson of separate but equal • Finally the case of Brown v. Board of Education Topeka, Kansas arrived at the Supreme Court • The decision reversed Plessy v. Ferguson and demanded the desegregation of Public Schools • Southern states reacted with universal anger (despite one of the leading justices on the case Hugo Black being from Alabama)

19. Public Accomodation • As Brown was argued and passed in 1954 activists went after other forms of segregation • Rosa Parks symbolically began the major Civil Rights movement by refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery Bus to a white man in 1955, the following boycott jumpstarted the career of a young pastor: Martin Luther King Jr. • King formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to coordinate actions • Later the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded to draw on young activists

20. 1963 March • To highlight the still disturbing issues of race in the South King organized the march on Washington in March 1963 • At this March King delivered the famous “I Have a Dream” speech that is considered to be the greatest oratory of the 20th Century

21. Kennedy Gone • In November of 1963 Kennedy visited Washington at the height of his popularity • While driving through the city he was fatally shot by Lee Harvey Oswald • Lyndon Johnson, from Texas, was forced to take over at one of the most unstable points in American history (very similar to Andrew Johnson after the Lincoln assassination)

22. War on Poverty • Johnson turned his attention from the Soviets to domestic policy • Johnson was going to attempt to define JFK’s ideas of a great society by first fighting what he called an “unconditional war on poverty” • The Office of Economic Opportunity was set up to help the lowest levels of Americans close to the poverty line • Through Johnson the war on poverty improved the lives of millions of Americans

23. Civil Rights 1964-1965 • Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed discrimination in public places and also outlawed employment discrimination • King and his associates fought through the Freedom Sumer of 1964 to register previously unregistered black voters across the South • Johnson went further in 1965 signing the Voting Rights Act making it illegal to require literacy tests or poll taxes

24. 1964 • 1964 saw several major issues come to light • The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed in response to a North Vietnamese/US skirmish and allowed Johnson the right to use all means necessary in Vietnam • To help the Great Society Johnson passed Medicare and Medicaid to give poverty stricken Americans safety • 1964 also saw Johnson win a landslide election for his own outright term

25. Chapter Objectives • How did the “Decade of Affluence” alter social and religious life in America? • What impact did Dwight Eisenhower’s foreign policy have on U.S. relations with the Soviet Union? • What was John F. Kennedy’s approach to dealing with the Soviet Union? • What was the significance of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka? • How did Lyndon B. Johnson continue the domestic agenda inherited from the Kennedy administration?