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Truman’s Impact: From Fair Deal to Cold War

Explore Harry Truman's leadership during the Cold War era, his Fair Deal policies, and the geopolitical tensions between the USA and USSR. Learn about the causes and battlefields of the Cold War, including the policy of containment and major events like the Berlin Crisis. Discover how Truman shaped American history through crucial decisions and foreign policy challenges. Dive into post-WW2 American prosperity and the struggle for civil rights under his administration.

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Truman’s Impact: From Fair Deal to Cold War

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  1. Chapter 26 Harry Truman and the Cold War

  2. 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

  3. 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”

  4. Harry Truman • Democrat • Salary $75,000 • Election of 1948 (defeated Thomas Dewey) • Made some of the most crucial decisions in Am.history

  5. 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

  6. Fair Deal • Proposals were hindered by a Conservative Congress & Cold War foreign policy crises.

  7. 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)

  8. 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

  9. 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.)

  10. 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

  11. Dixiecrat Party

  12. Dixiecrat Party (1948)

  13. Jackie Robinson

  14. 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

  15. 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

  16. 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

  17. 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)

  18. 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)

  19. Battlefields for Cold War • Sports: Olympics (Hockey, gymnastics, etc) • Miracle on Ice • Rocky 4 • Which country can produce the best athletes?

  20. Rocky 4

  21. 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”

  22. 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)

  23. 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)

  24. 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

  25. Warsaw Pact • Soviets’ response to NATO was the Warsaw Pact. • Created a communist alliance of nations in Eastern Europe

  26. 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

  27. Creation of CIA • U.S. created the 1st permanent worldwide intelligence agency • U.S. officially in the business of spying on other nations

  28. 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”

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