American Odyssey

1. American Odyssey Chapter 19 – Cold War Politics Section 1 – Retreat from the New Deal

2. The Main idea of the section • As Americans searched for a sense of security in an increasingly turbulent world, many turned to conservative politicians who opposed programs or movements that threatened to bring even greater changes to the United States.

3. Vocabulary for the section • Closed-shop • Right-to-work law • Union shop • Whistle-stop tour

4. A conservative turn (p. 631) • After the World War II, Richard Nixon carried a law degree and a modest war record when he came home. • He quickly began to work the powers in Washington D.C. • His quick political climb began when he ran for Congress in 1946. • Nixon was part of the new conservative which was against the New Deal. • He was also an outspoken anti-communist.

5. Richard Nixon Richard Nixon later became President of the United States in 1968.

6. A conservative turn • Americans, at this time, were becoming frustrated over postwar shortages in jobs, goods, and housing. • Often in times of uncertainty, voters look with suspicion at the policies of the party in power. • Is this similar to our governmental status today? • In 1946 many American voters turned against the Democrats and the New Deal.

7. A conservative turn • Two opinions of the American System at this time: • Advocates of the New Deal • Opponents of the New Deal • They wanted individual freedom and all that initiative can produce. • In Congressional districts throughout the country, growing fears about communism resulted in particularly nasty campaign battles. • Many candidates whipped off the campaign rhetoric by calling their opponents “Red”. • A slang term for sympathizers of communism

8. A conservative turn • When the eightieth convened in January 1947, many incumbent Democrats had been replaced. • The conservative shift brought in a new group of Washington and gave the Republican party control of Congress. • They would challenge the New Deal and its primary supporter President Harry Truman.

9. Fears about the economy (P. 632) • Business leaders and conservatives wanted Truman to lift wartime prices on basic foods. Finally he gave in and to the pressure and basic food prices shot up. • The inflation rate climbed about 25% in 1945. • Many workers at this time saw their wages saw their wages to decrease. • Labor unions began to increase and demand better wages from their employers.

10. Fears about the economy • At this time, there were more strikes, measured in lost work hours, than any other time in American history. • In 1946 and 1947 many people became frustrated with high food prices and lingering shortages. • They blamed the labor unions because of their high demands. Also, they criticized the Truman administration for not handling the economic problems properly.

11. Fears about the economy • In 1935 the National Labor Relations Act, part of the New Deal, was passed and it granted employees the right to bargain collectively with their employers . • Congress and business felt the unions were being granted too much. • The Taft-Hartley bill was passed in 1947 – which strengthened the employers. • It banned a closed shop and allowed states to pass right-to-work laws. • The bill also enabled the President to intervene in strikes that endangered national health and safety.

12. Fears about the economy • Truman and Congress went to war over the Taft-Hartley Bill. • Truman at times did not get along with the unions, but he supported their cause against the bill. • Truman vetoed the bill, but Congress employed a supermajority vote to pass the law into effect. • Truman became a popular leader among union members. • The labor support he received helped him win reelection in 1948.

13. The uphill race in ’48 (p.634) • In 1948 Truman really did not want to be President. • He felt it was a dubious task, but a strange paradox happened: he ran for reelection. • Truman lacked the domestic reform passion and foreign policy experience of his predecessor, but he relied on one important skill – which he felt was important, the ability to do the right thing.

14. The uphill race in ’48 • Political experts and certain members of the Democratic party thought someone else should run on the Democratic ticket. • Only 36% of the voters approved of the Truman administration. • Many saw him as weak on communism and labor unions.

15. The uphill race in ’48 • Truman was a strong advocate for civil rights. • He desegregated the military services and supported civil rights legislation that banned lynching and a ban on poll taxes. • What is a poll tax? • Henry Wallace, a former member of Truman’s cabinet, split from the Democratic party to form the more liberal Progressive party. • Some southern Democrats split from the party and formed the States’ Rights Democratic Party, also called the Dixiecrats. • They supported segregation and felt it was the state’s decision whether or not to permit it.

16. The uphill race in ’48 • The Republican nominee in the ’48 election was Thomas Dewey. • He was reserved and meticulous. • He was known as an intelligent and efficient administrator. • During the race, Dewey did not refer to Truman by name. He assumed he had already won the election.

17. The uphill race in ’48 • After the Republicans held their convention, Truman called for a special Congressional session, which he expected the Republicans to pass legislation from the promises they made at the convention. • When they failed to pass any legislation he referred to them as the “do-nothing Congress”.

18. The uphill race in ’48 • Truman pointed out on the campaign trail that the Republicans were not serious about passing legislation. • Truman could now point to a whole menu of New Deal-style measures that the Eightieth Congress rejected: aid to farmers, a minimum wage hike from 40 to 75 cents, a housing bill, increased Social Security coverage, and new price controls. • These ideas provided him points he needed against the Republicans on his campaign tour.

19. The uphill race in ’48 • It was uncommon for Presidents to campaign during their reelection, but Truman decided he was going to. • Truman conducted a very famous train trip, or whistle-stop tour, where he communicated to the American people his political ideas. • The trip went from Labor Day to Election Day. • More than 20 staff members and dozens of media members travelled with him on his 32,000 mile trip. • During his trip he spoke to the crowds from the back platform of the train.

20. The uphill race in ’48 • During the Presidential Election of 1948, the media gave the election to Thomas E. Dewey. • Harry Truman ran an election that highlighted the successes of the “New Deal”. • The strategy worked; in one of the biggest upset elections of the Twentieth Century, Truman won big.

21. 1948 Presidential election The Chicago Daily Tribune printed that Dewey defeated Truman in the election.

22. The Fair Deal (P. 637) • Most historians see Truman’s election as a proof of the resilience of FDR’s Democratic Party, and in effect a vote for Roosevelt’s fifth term. • The old coalition also returned control of Congress to the Democrats. • Truman used his reelection to launch the Fair Deal. The program registered some successes. • Social Security covered an additional 10 million people. • It increased the minimum wage from 40 cents to 70 cents an hour. • The Housing Act of 1949 created 800,000 low-income housing units.

23. The Fair Deal • In other ways the Fair Deal was doomed. • Republicans voted to block Truman’s civil rights initiatives. • Truman received most of the blame from the Communist takeover in China and the stalemate in Korea.