The Postwar Era (1945-1963)

1. The Postwar Era (1945-1963) Chapter 23

2. President Harry S. Truman • High School Graduate • Democrat • Senator • April 12, 1945 • Uninformed • Atomic Bomb

3. Presidents Eisenhower & Kennedy

4. Cold War

5. United Nations • Began April 25, 1945 with 50 nations • Based in New York City • Three major agencies • General Assembly – delegates from member nations, meets annually • Security Council – 5 permanent members (U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China) + 10 elected for 2 year terms • Secretariat – bureaucracy and administration

6. United Nations • Goals: • Forum for rational discussion • Means of furthering world peace • Hampered by limited powers (Is this a good thing?)

7. Containing Communism • Cold War – period of intense competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.) • Communism v. Capitalism • Republicanism v. Totalitarianism

8. Containing Communism • Eastern Europe • Pro-Soviet governments in Poland, Romania, East Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia • Iron Curtain • Churchill’s term for the separation of communist east Europe from the free west.

9. Containing Communism • The doctrine of CONTAINMENT, expressed by diplomat George F. Kennan, stated that the U.S. must involve itself in the patient, firm, vigilant, and long-term “containment” of communism. • Tolerate its existence, but don’t let it expand.

10. Containing Communism • Middle East – Iran • Mineral rich • Neutral in WWII • Supply route from Allies to USSR • 1946 USSR withdraws forces • New Shah Reza Pahlavi – pro-Western • Overthrown in 1979; U.S. embassy overrun.

11. Containing Communism • Truman Doctrine – policy of “aiding” countries fighting Communist takeovers. • Turkey & Greece • USSR wants naval bases. • US sends $400 million in aid.

12. Containing Communism – Marshall Plan • Massive economic aid to all European countries to rebuild their economies after WWII. • Restored U.S. trading partners • Immunized the region against communism • $13 billion

13. Containing Communism NATO WARSAW PACT

14. Containing Communism • Division of Germany, 40 years • USSR blockade of West Berlin • Berlin Airlift, May 1949 Construction of the Berlin Wall, 11/20/1961

15. 1949: Year of Shocks Communists take China. Mao Zedong vs. Chiang Kai-shek • Taiwan - Nationalists Soviets get the A-bomb.

16. Korean War • 38th parallel • Communist – North • Non-Communist – South • 1950 Communists invade South Korea • UN sends troops. • MacArthur • China’s entry • Limited War – limited objective 33,000 American deaths

17. Korean War • Frozen Chosin page 544.

18. Containment & Accommodation • Eisenhower becomes president in 1952. • JFK in 1960. • Policy of containment continues, but with a willingness to accommodate communism. • Peaceful co-existence

19. Containment & Accommodation • Indochina-Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia • French colony • Japan • Communists • French defeat • U.S. intervenes, 6K advisors • Domino Theory

20. Containment & Accommodation • Cuba • Castro 1959 • 90 miles • Nationalization of industry • Eisenhower response • Kennedy • Operation Mongoose • Bay of Pigs (April 1961) • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qXZp8bxpNY&feature=related Fidel Castro, 1959

22. On the Brink of M.A.D. • Cuban Missile Crisis – 13 very tense days • October 1962, U-2 • Nukes • U.S. Blockade • Agreement: • U.S.S.R. removes missiles • U.S. not to invade Cuba • U.S. removes nukes from Turkey http://www.history.com/videos/inside-a-prefab-fallout-shelter#cold-war

23. Http://www.hpol.org/jfk/cuban/Kennedy’s audio files. How close we were…

24. Berlin Wall, August 1961 • http://www.history.com/videos/kennedy-responds-to-berlin-wall#kennedy-responds-to-berlin-wall

25. Today the Cold War is over, but… • http://www.history.com/videos/inside-a-prefab-fallout-shelter#cold-war

26. Domestic Reform

27. Truman & the Fair Deal • Truman’s domestic program was an expansion of Roosevelt’s New Deal. • Government spending to create jobs • Council of Economic Advisors • Atomic Energy Commission

28. Republican Opposition • Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 – allowed states to pass “right to work” laws banning unions from requiring membership to get a job in certain professions/industries. • National Security Act of 1947 – provide for coordination of armed forces, created office of Secretary of Defense, National Security Council, Central Intelligence Agency

29. Election of 1948 • Harry Truman – Democrat • Liberals left the Democrat party and supported pro-Soviet Henry A. Wallace. • Southern Democrats left the Democrat party to support Strom Thurmond on the States’ Rights (or Dixiecrat) ticket. Thomas Dewey – Republican Papers reported that Dewey had won. (p. 548)

30. Election of 1948 • In fact, Truman won in a landslide. • The Democrats passed many Fair Deal proposals. • Raised minimum wage • Extended social security • Aid to farmers • Rejected Civil Rights bills • Rejected federal aid to education • Rejected national health insurance

31. Anti-communism in America • Second Red Scare • Communism spreading • Fear of spies • Alger Hiss, State Dept. • Whitaker Chambers • Accused Hiss of passing documents to the Soviets. Alger Hiss

32. Anti-communism in America • Rosenbergs • Convicted of passing atomic secrets to the Soviets during WWII. • Executed in 1953 for their treason. U.S. Government responds to the “Communist Threat.”

33. The McCarthy Era • House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) – investigated federal employees and the entertainment industry. • Senator Joseph McCarthy, WI • Senate subcommittee hearings • Fraud and a hoax Senator Joseph McCarthy

35. Hollywood stars, producers, directors, etc. were “blacklisted and not allowed to work because of accusations of communist ties.

36. The McCarthy Era • “McCarthyism”- use of lies, distortion, and innuendo to root out alleged communists. • Problem: He brought genuine anti-communism into disrepute. Real communists were protected from future allegations because of McCarthy.

37. Fight Against Communism • William F. Buckley’s National Review • Very influential in producing a new generation of anti-communist thinkers and voters.

39. Eisenhower and “Dynamic Conservatism” • Elected president in 1952 – More BIG government. • First Republican president since Hoover. • “Dynamic Conservatism” – “Conservative when it comes to money and liberal when it comes to human beings. • Interstate Highway System – ostensibly for national defense • National Defense Education Act – federal funds into education Campaign Button

40. Kennedy & the New Frontier • 1960 JFK defeated Richard Nixon for the presidency. • JFK, WWII Veteran, Senator • Age 43, youngest president elected • First Catholic president • “New Generation of Americans”

41. Kennedy & the New Frontier • Idealism – quote p. 554 • Peace Corps – video clip (50th Anniversary 2011) • Recession • Public works, BIG government • Man on the Moon • Symbol over substance • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fJ0fuxrohw&feature=related

42. Kennedy Assassinated • November 22, 1963 • Dallas, Texas JFK, Jackie, & Governor J. Connelly moments before tragedy

43. Life in Postwar America

44. The Affluent Society (John K. Galbraith) • Unprecedented economic prosperity • Defense spending on the Cold War • Supplier of industrial goods to the world • Little to no competition • Homeowners, goods (cars, appliances, tvs) • Marketing – “Planned Obsolescence”

45. Elvis Presley • Suburbs • Malls • Credit Cars • Celebrities

46. Baby Boom! • Rise in birthrate • Population increases 30% between 1945 and 1960.

47. Juvenile Delinquency • Dr. Spock • Working Moms • Increase in divorce

48. Minority Rights • Civil Rights Movement • Blacks seeking to secure the exercise and protection of their civil rights - Equal treatment • Brown v. Board of Education – segregated schools are unconstitutional.

49. Montgomery Bus Boycott • 1955 • Rosa Parks • Launched Martin Luther King, Jr. as leader Almost empty bus…

50. Martin Luther King, Jr. • Pastor/Preacher • Influenced by • Henry David Thoreau • Ghandi Non-violent civil disobedience March on Washington, August 1963 “I have a dream…”