The Early Cold War in America

1. The Early Cold War in America

2. Baby Boom It seems to me that every other young housewife I see is pregnant. -- British visitor to America, 1958

3. Baby Boom Dr. Benjamin Spock

4. Suburban Living Levittowns“The American Dream” 1949  William Levitt produced 150 houses per week. $7,990 or $60/month with no down payment.

5. Suburban Living:The New “American Dream” - 1 story high - 12’x19’ living room - 2 bedrooms - tiled bathroom - garage - small backyard - front lawn By 1960  1/3 of the U. S. population in the suburbs.

6. New American Dream?

7. Election of 1952 Dem- Adlai Stevenson Rep – Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower

8. Who won the 1952 election?

9. Eisenhower championed its formation. • Saw highways as necessary for national defense • System allowed private and commercial transportation, BUT • more importantly  • allows transport for military supplies and troop deployments in case of an emergency Interstate Highway System

10. Massive Retaliation January 12, 1955 Secretary of State John Foster Dullesannounces Massive Retaliation. Threatens full-scale nuclear attack on the Soviet Union in response to communist aggression Brinkmanship: a willingness to push a dangerous situation to the verge (to the brink of) disaster in order to secure the greatest advantage by creating diplomatic crises, etc "The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art. If you cannot master it, you inevitably get into war. If you try to run away from it, if you are scared to go to the brink, you are lost." - John Foster Dulles

11. COLD WAR: HOMEFRONT Fear of Nuclear War. Americans were urged to build bomb shelters in their own basements.

12. Federal Civil Defense Administration (1950) -Educate people how to survive Atomic blast -Mobilize people in event of Atomic warfare

13. In the 1950’s, communism = clear and present danger/enemy • Communist Conspiracy?? • Institutions sought to rid themselves of real or imagined subversives. • fear of being suspected • Panic gave way to… The Red Scare : Hysteria

14. Gained national spotlight in 1950 • Became the most visible public face of anti-communism (and for some paranoia) Republican US Senator from Wisconsin Joseph McCarthy

15. MCCARTHYISM: Characterized by uncontrollable, and unproven accusations, as well as public attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents • Criticizing McCarthy brought a risk of being called a communist spy or sympathizer McCarthyism

16. Republican-controlled Congress established HUAC • House Committee on Un-American Activities: Sought to root out Communists in US gov. • Created to investigate treachery and subversive associations. (1938–75) • HUAC’s anti-communist investigations are often confused with those of McCarthy (a Senator) HUAC

17. 1947: HUAC had hearings into alleged communist propaganda and influence in film. • Hollywood blacklist—a list of screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals  denied employment because of their political beliefs or associations, real or suspected. The Blacklist

18. Paranoia was increasing among the American nation because: • Russia & A-Bomb • Invasion of South Korea by the North • Revelations and confessions of communists • The intensity of the McCarthy mentality of the times • The Rosenbergs were convicted on March 29, 1951, and sentenced to death under Section 2 of the Espionage Act. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

20. TEENAGE AMERICA: 1950s  the word “teenager” entered the American lexicon By 1956  13 mil. teens with $7 bil. to spend a year. 1954 Elvis Presley releases his first record. Rock & Roll seen as dangerous …“race music” Teen Culture

21. “Juvenile Delinquency” ??? 1951 J. D. Salinger’sA Catcher in the Rye Teen Culture Marlon Brando inThe Wild One (1953) James Dean inRebel Without a Cause (1955)

22. Beat Generation: group of American writers. Came to prominence during the 1950s. The Beat Generation

23. I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night -Howl Allen Ginsberg " But then they danced down the street like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!" -from On The Road Jack Kerouac

24. Sputnik On October 4, the Soviet Union launches Sputnik, the first man-made satellite to orbit the Earth. In 1958, the U.S. creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the space race is in full gear.

25. 1959 - Castro takes power January 1, 1959 leftist forces under Fidel Castro overthrow the US supported Batista regime Castro nationalizes the sugar industry and signs trade agreements with the Soviet Union. The next year, Castro seizes U.S. assets on the island.

26. The U-2 Affair • May, 1960: a U-2 spy plane shot down over the USSR • The US denied the mission • BUT USSR produced plane and the pilot • Eisenhower refused to publicly apologize to Khrushchev. • Caused a peace summit to collapse • Relations between USSR and US severely damaged

27. Republican Vice President Richard Nixon faced Democratic Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy. • Alaska & Hawaii • 20th century. Election of 1960

28. MIC refers to policy relationships between governments, armed forces, and the industrial sector. • These relationships include political approval for research, development, production, and use of weapons “An informal and changing coalition of groups with vested psychological, moral, and material interests in the continuous development and maintenance of high levels of weaponry, in preservation of colonial markets and in military-strategic conceptions of internal affairs.” –Daniel Guerin Military Industrial Complex

30. The Berlin Wall Goes Up (1961) • The Wall was constructed in 1961. • It completely enclosed the city of West Berlin, separating it from East Germany 

31. Bay of Pigs, Cuba: April 17, 1961 CIA trained 1,400 Cuban Exiles Kennedy cancelled air support Cubans did not rise up in support of exiles Castro personally led defense of island 1,189 captured/100 killed Failure!...Influence??

32. Cuban Missile Crisis

33. September 1962: Cuba & USSR began to build bases for ballistic nuclear missiles • October 14: U2 spy plane discovered proof • Kennedy considered an attack on Cuba…decided on “quarantine” instead. • no weapons on Cuba • demand Soviets dismantle the missile bases Cuban Missile Crisis

34. Secret negotiators resolved the crisis. • Crisis ends on October 28, 1962 with an agreement to • USSR  dismantle the weapons • US Agrees to never invade Cuba. • unwritten part of the agreement, the US removed ballistic missiles from Turkey. Cuban Missile Crisis

35. November 22, 1963 • Dallas: JFK rallying support for re-election.

36. 6th floor

37. Sniper’s perch • This is Lee Harvey Oswald’s view from the 6th floor of the School Book Depository

39. Sniper perch 1st shot 3rd shot

40. Oswald fled the scene • He checked into his boarding house on 1026 Beckley. • Officer J. Tippit stops on the street to talk to Oswald. • Oswald shoots him 4 times

41. Arrested • Oswald finally caught in a movie theater

42. LBJ was sworn in at Love Field

43. Oswald transferred to another jail. • While being escorted to another prison Oswald shot/killed • Jack Ruby: Dallas nightclub owner • Oswald never gave a reason…claimed his innocence while in custody.