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The Eisenhower Era

The Eisenhower Era. 1952-1960. AN AFFLUENT SOCIETY 1950s. GUIDING QUESTION. To what extent did the decade of the 1950s deserve its reputation as an age of political, social, and cultural conformity?. “Conservatism, Complacency, and Contentment”. “Anxiety, Alienation, and Social Unrest” ??.

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The Eisenhower Era

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  1. The Eisenhower Era 1952-1960

  2. ANAFFLUENT SOCIETY1950s

  3. GUIDING QUESTION To what extent did the decade of the 1950s deserve its reputation as an age of political, social, and cultural conformity? “Conservatism, Complacency, and Contentment” “Anxiety, Alienation, and Social Unrest”?? OR

  4. The Affluent Society • 1950’s prosperity: • Surge of home construction • 1 of 4 homes in 1960 built in 1950’s 2. Technology- the transistor (1948)=revolution in electronics (computers). • ENIAC- US government computer (large as a small house) did basic computations • Transistors & circuits on silicon= miniaturization of electronics. • IBM- prototype of “high tech” company • Computers transformed billing, printing, telecommunications

  5. AN AFFLUENT SOCIETY: Suburbia • Mass-produced housing on the edge of cities • Levittown – 17,000 mass-produced, low-priced homes • 1949 William Levitt produced 150 houses per week. • $7,990 or $60/month with no down payment. Effect on inner cities: increasingly poor and racially divided

  6. ENIAC- US Military computer

  7. Affluent Society 3. Aerospace Industry- Eisenhower built up Strategic Air Command & passenger airline businesses. • B-52 long range bomber • 1957- Boeing Company= 1st large passenger jet (707) • 1959- Air force One 4. Changing workforce- service sector jobs offered opportunities to women (1950-1970 = 40 million new jobs created= many service & clerical • 1950’s celebrated “cult of domesticity” • New opportunities for women= social & psychological shift= 1960’s, 70’s etc. • **Betty Friedan wrote: The Feminist Mystique (1963)= launched modern feminist movement

  8. The 1st Air force One

  9. American Consumerism • 1950’s Middle class expanded greatly • More ‘white collar” than “blue collar” jobs • Americans have more disposable money & leisure time • 1948- 1st McDonalds opens • 1955- Disneyland opens • Easy credit, high volume fast food, new recreation Television • TV- 1951 7million sets sold; 1960 almost everyone has one = movie going shrank • Mid-1950’s- advertisers were spending $10 billion

  10. Impact of TV • Televangelists ( Billy Graham, Oral Roberts)- used TV to spread the Gospel • Commercialization of Sports • Movement of sports teams from east to west= reflected population shifts

  11. Popular Culture 1950’s • Music- Elvis Pressley fused black rhythm & blues with white bluegrass & country= rock & roll= “crossover” • Marylyn Monroe- commercialized & sensationalized new sexuality • Playboy Magazine (1955)

  12. Critics of Popular Culture & Society • David Riesman (Harvard sociologist) The Lonely Crowd= US citizens are pack of conformists • William H. Whyte Jr. –The Organization Man • Sloan Wilson-The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1955) • *John Kenneth Galbraith(Harvard economist) – wrote The Affluent Society: questioned relation between private wealth & public good- called for government social spending.

  13. The 1952 Election 1.Democrats Party problems Military deadlock in Korea Inflation at home Whitehouse scandals Nominated Adlai Stevenson(Gov. of ILL) 2. Republicans- nominated Dwight Eisenhower (‘I Like Ike”)- mostly non-partisan & grandfatherly.’ Running mate- Richard Nixon(Calf. Congressman)- “red hunter”

  14. 1952 Campaign Ads

  15. 1952 Presidential Campaign Nixon –accused Democrats of corruption, ineptitude in Korea, & soft on communism. Adlai “the appeaser” 1st election in which TV played a role ‘THE Checker’s Speech”- Nixon was accused for maintaining a “slush fund” while holding a seat in the Senate. Nixon used TV to address charges=“Checkers’ Speech”= scandal disappeared (candidates could bypass traditional party organization & speak directly to voters). Eisenhower appeared in scripted TV spots (1st version of political TV ads) ** Eisenhower announced that he would personally go to Korea to end the war= Eisenhower won election!

  16. 1952 Election Outcome • Election of 1952: Dwight D. Eisenhower vs. Adlai Stevenson • Ike won: 34 million to 27 million popular votes; 442 to 89 electoral votes. • “Modern Republicanism” • Fiscal Conservative: sound business principles, Reduce federal spending, balance budget and cut taxes • Social Moderate: maintain existing social and economic legislation • avoid partisan conflicts President Eisenhower(Courtesy Dwight D. Eisenhower Library) Ike with VP Nixon on the Links.

  17. Ike Takes Office & Ends Korean Conflict Republican’ s rode Ike’s coattails= paper thin majority in Congress Ike went to Korea (3 days)- Dec. 1952- 7 months later- an armistice was signed-ends Korean War. Chinese ended the war because of the cost- mostly War lasted 3 years (54,000 Americans Killed) 1 million Chinese, North Koreans & South Koreans killed Status quo returned= Korea divided at 38th parallel (even today) Communism had been contained in Korea

  18. Rise & Fall of Senator Joseph McCarthy Wisc. Republican- anti=communist crusader Won Senate seat by defeating Robert La Follette (called him a red) Feb. 1950- accused Sec. of State Dean Acheson of employing 205 known communists & stated he had a list (never produced) Republicans – realized usefulness of communist accusations-esp.. against Democrats Accused writers, actors, officials= black listed= could not get work 1954- Army-McCarthy Hearings( televised)- McCarthy accused Army officials of being communist (20 million Americans watched) Few months later= McCarthy formally censured 1957- died an alcoholic

  19. The Foundations Civil Rights Movement 1950- African-Americans= 15 million (2/3 lived in the South) 1896- **Plessy v. Ferguson= est. “separate but equal” as constitutional= Jim Crow laws in the South. 1950’s= 20% of eligible southern African-American voters registered (poll taxes still existed & literacy tests). Deep South (Mississippi, Alabama) only 2% registered 1960- White southerners sensitive about race issues Fear & violence used where the Jim Crow laws were insufficient 1946- 6 black war veterans claiming civil rights were killed.

  20. Foundations of the Civil Rights Movement Niagara Falls Conference – W.E.B. Dubois & others met = est. NAACP 1909. FDR executive order- forbidding discrimination in war factories (FEPC- Fair Employment Practices Commission created) Double V Campaign (WWII) CORE- Congress of Racial Equality ( 1942)- used sit-ins to protest segregation in public places (more “militant” than NAACP) Post WWII- more racial progress made in the north= African-Americans secured equal access to public accommodations. 1947- Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson- 1st African-American allowed in the major league (Brooklyn Dodgers)

  21. Civil Rights Post WWII- Generated a new militancy among African-Americans. 1940’s NAACP- had pushed to end segregation 1948- President Truman –ended segregation in US civil service & **integrated the armed forces 1950- Sweatt v. Painter– Supreme Court ruled separate professional schools for blacks represented unequal treatment (argued by Thurgood Marshall for NAACP- later Marshall appointed 1st African-American to Supreme Court)

  22. The Movement Begins in Earnest 1954- **Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas- Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was unequal & unconstitutional- “must end with all deliberate speed”. --**Chief Justice Earl Warren Border States made efforts to desegregate Deep South= resisted (1956- Southern Manifesto-101 Southern Congressmen vowed to fight the ruling) States diverted public funds to crate private schools= new segregation

  23. *The Montgomery Bus Boycott Dec. 1955- Montgomery, Alabama-Rosa Parksrefused to her seat in the white section of the bus. • Parks was arrested for breaking segregation laws *The Montgomery Bus Boycott(1955-1956)- led by Martin Luther King Jr. • *Martin Luther King Jr.- 27 years old, pastor of Dexter Ave. Baptist Church- born to prosperous Atlanta family. • advocated *non-violent protest(influenced by Gandhi)

  24. Eisenhower & Civil Rights Reluctant to promote integration (co-mingling of the races). Failed to use his popularity to push civil rights 1. **1957-Little Rock Nine Gov. Orval Faubus used National Guard to block admittance of 9 African-American children to LittleRock Central High School- a state thwarting FEDERAL LAW! Eisenhower sent troops to escort the 9 children to class. 2. Civil Rights Act 1957- 1st civil rights act since Reconstruction; set up Civil Rights Commission to investigate abuses & authorized federal government to issue injunctions to protect voting rights

  25. Little Rock Nine 101st Airborne escorting “Little Rock Nine”

  26. The Sit-In Movement 1957- Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)- founded by MLK ; mobilized black churches. *AP writers know that you know MLK –know he headed SCLC The Sit-In Movement Feb. 1960- Greensboro ,NC: 4 black freshmen from NC ATT demanded service at Woolworth’s lunch counter-black waitress refused service. Next day-19 students returned to Woolworth’s Next Day= 85 students= end of week =1000 students **inspired other students across the south to conduct sit-ins, pray-ins, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Organized April 1960 Often were at odds with SCLC

  27. Greensboro Sit-In-beginning of a nationwide sit-in movement

  28. Eisenhower’s Domestic Agenda • *“dynamic conservatism”- “in all things that deal with people-be human…when it comes to people’s money, or the economy…be conservative”. • Worried about “creeping socialism”- • Cut back on Truman’s military spending (MOVED FROM 13%-10% of GNP) • Control of off-shore oil from federal government to states • Tried to curb power of TVA

  29. Eisenhower’s Domestic Agenda • Operation “Wetback”- deported about 1 million illegal Mexicans. **Termination Policy • Cancelled FDR’s “Indian New Deal” & “terminated” Indian tribes as legal entities=goal is assimilation (Dawes Act 1887) Legitimatization of New Deal Programs • Eisenhower knew that all New Deal Programs could not be scaled back

  30. ***The Interstate Highway Act-1956 • $27 Billion to build 42,000 miles of interstate highway Effects: • Created construction jobs • Sped up suburbanization of America • Increased growth of trucking, auto oil, travel businesses. • Hurt RR • Hurt air quality • Crated energy consumption issues we still deal with today • Deteriorating cities

  31. Eisenhower’s Foreign Policy A. *“new look”- “containment” –negative, futile, immoral– wanted to “roll back” communist gains & liberate. • Promised to cut military spending & balance budget • Promoted by Eisenhower & Sec. of State John Foster Dulles • Cut spending on conventional troops (army & navy)– spent more on super bombers (B-52’s) • build up of nuclear weapons= cheaper than conventional= “more bang for the buck” • **“massive retaliation”- with increased strength of Strategic Air Command. • Negotiations with new Soviet leader (Nikita Khrushchev-1953) • The Hungarian Uprising (1956) showed limits of massive retaliation as a threat to the Soviets

  32. Vietnam • 1950’s –Western Europe was mostly secure from communist threat (NATO, MARSHALL PLAN) Vietnam (French Indo-China) • Nationalists had wanted independence from French colonial rule for decades • 1919- Ho Chi Minh tried to appeal at Post WWI Paris Conference to Wilson-no success • Post WWII-Indochina turned back over to French control= faced resistance from HO CHI MINH & Vietminh • 1954- US supported French (to get French support to rearm West Germany) with 80% of costs ($1 billion/year) & about 150 military “advisors” (starting with Truman).

  33. The French leave Indochina • 1954- Dienbienphu (French military stronghold) attacked & taken by communist forces. *The Geneva Conference (1954) • meeting of multiple nations • Agreed to divide Vietnam in half at the 17th parallel • Ho Chi Minh agreed= if Vietnam wide elections would be held in the future • North Vietnam= Communist led by Ho Chi Minh • South Vietnam= “Democratic” led by Ngo Dinh Diem (supported by the US)

  34. Eisenhower & the Middle East • The Iranian Crisis (1953)- Iranian government (backed by Soviets?) began to resist Western owned oil companies operating on Iranian soil. • 1953- CIA- engineered a coup (overthrow) of the Iranian government. • US placed the shah of Iran (Mohammed Reza Pahlevi) in charge. • Iranian resentment= 26 years later the shah is overthrown & Iranian’s take US embassy workers hostage for 444 days (CARTER PRESDIENCY)

  35. Eisenhower & the Suez Crisis • Egyptian leader Gamal Nasser (plays the US & Soviets against each other) • Nasser wanted to build a dam (US & Britain reluctantly agreed support $) • Nasser started flirt with Soviets= US withdrew support for the dam. • Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal (owned by British & French companies) • Britain & France carried out an attack on Egypt (Oct. 1956) • Soviets threaten nuclear attack on Paris & London • US did not support French or British (why??) • Troops evacuated Egypt • UN “POLICE FORCE” sent to Egypt (1st time) • Last time US could use oil as a weapon

  36. *The Eisenhower Doctrine • 1940- US produced 2/3 of world’s oil (5% from Middle East) • 1948- US was a net importer of oil (Middle East) • *Eisenhower Doctrine (1957)- pledged US military & economic aid to Middle Eastern nations threatened by communism. • 1960- OPEC(Oil Producing ExportingCountries) formed (Saudis, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Venezuela)

  37. **The Space Race • 1956- Eisenhower re-elected= lost control of Congress. • Oct. 1957- Soviets launch *“Sputnik” -184 lbs. ball that beeped. • Nov. 1957- launched “Sputnik II”- 1,120 lbs. carrying a dog into space. Effect- fear in the US! • Soviets with “ICBM’S” could place a warhead on one & hit the US • US created NASA- to compete against the Soviets= 1958 US launched its 1st satellite. • By late 1950’s US had tested its own ICBM’s 2. 1958- (NDEA) *National Defense & EducationAct- $887 million on math & science education & loans for college.

  38. Sputnik I “Laika” 1ST ANIMAL IN SPACE-Sputnik II

  39. Eisenhower & Khrushchev • Goal- discuss “détente”- easing of tensions, arms limitations, testing restrictions. • March 1958- Soviets & US announce a halt to underground & atmospheric atomic testing. • 1959- Eisenhower & Khrushchev met in NY; Khrushchev appeared before the UN general assembly – proposed disarmament • CAMP David- Khrushchev demands evacuation of Berlin Paris Summit (MAY 1960) • Eisenhower & Khrushchev met • US spy plane (U-2) shot down (pilot survived-Gary Powers) • Ike denied at first-then admitted to it • Later Powers was released

  40. The Cuban Revolution • Latin Americans resented US aid to Europe • 1954- CIA directed coup in Guatemala • US supported dictators in Latin America Cuba • 1930’s-1960- US supported Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista • Encouraged US investment • 1959- Fidel Castro ousted Batista & denounced the US= NATIONALIZED US businesses & redistributed property. • US cut off imports of Cuban sugar • Castro aligned Cuba with the Soviet Union= threat 90 miles off US coast!! • 1960-2000- almost 1 million Cubans escaped communist Cuba & came to the US • 1961- US broke diplomatic relations with Cuba • Soviets declare Monroe Doctrine dead-threatened nuclear attack for US INTERVENTION.

  41. Eisenhower’s Legacy • Limited to 2 terms by 22nd Amendment (1951) • universally admired & respected • Cemented some New Deal policies • Failure: to address civil rights • Alaska & Hawaii added as US states • Prosperity & real income increase

  42. Election of 1960 • Democrats-nominate John F. Kennedy/Lyndon Johnson • Republicans-nominate Richard Nixon • Campaign Issues: • Kennedy accused Republicans of falling behind the Soviets= “missile gap” • Kennedy & Nixon called themselves “Cold Warriors” • Kennedy's Catholicism- many Americans still hesitant about electing a Catholic to the WH. • Kennedy allayed many fears in a speech=northern dems gravitated to Kennedy in big numbers.

  43. The Nixon-Kennedy Debates • Both candidates agreed to a series of 4 debates • audiences of 60 million or more watched • Kennedy held his own against the seasoned Nixon • 1st Debate was a clincher- Kennedy appeared to be more relaxed & confident • JFK won by 100,000 popular votes (303-219) • **1st Catholic elected President (youngest man elected)-workers, Catholics, AA • Democrats swept both houses of Congress • Called Americans to a “New Frontier”

  44. Election of 1960 TV Campaign ADS

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