THE AMERICAN CENTURY

1
THE AMERICAN CENTURY

• The Postwar Economy
• after Roosevelts death, Truman attempted to
  follow Roosevelts policies at home and abroad
• the first issue he confronted after the war was
  reconversion of the economy
• at the wars end, most Americans wanted to
  demobilize the military, end wartime controls,
  and reduce taxes
• policymakers hoped to avoid both sudden economic
  dislocation and a return to depression

2

• torn between these objectives, Truman vacillated
• yet the nation weathered demobilization with
  relative ease pent-up consumer demand spurred
  production
• however, inflation and labor unrest helped the
  Republicans to win control of Congress in 1946
• in 1947, Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act,
  outlawing closed shops and authorizing the
  president to order an eighty-day cooling off
  period in strikes that threatened the national
  interest

3

• At Home and Work
• the wartime trend toward earlier marriages and
  larger families accelerated with the wars end
• government policies, such as income tax
  deductions for dependents, further encouraged the
  inclination of people to have children
• household management and child rearing became the
  career of choice for millions of American women,
  including college graduates
• scholars supported the notion that women belonged
  in the home

4

• although men assumed prominent roles in some
  domestic rituals, they were expected to cede
  management of the domestic sphere to women
• a mans primary contribution to the family was to
  earn enough to sustain it
• unemployment remained low, but the character or
  work changed in unsettling ways
• large corporations depended on increasing numbers
  of managers and clerical workers
• entrepreneurial individuals gave way to
  organization men and the need to conform

5

• attitudes toward marriage and child rearing
  spanned the spectrum of American society
• the growth of suburbs gave a physical dimension
  to emerging ideas of family life
• much as it reinforced the desire to have larger
  families, government policies encouraged the
  growth of suburbs
• not all women in the suburbs lived the life
  portrayed in television situation comedies
• substantial numbers worked outside the home,
  particularly in the clerical and service sectors
  of the economy

6

• The Containment Policy
• Stalin seemed intent on expanding Soviet power
  into central Europe, Asia, and the Middle East
• by January 1946, Truman moved toward a tougher
  stand with respect to the Soviet Union
• George F. Kennan, a foreign service officer,
  contended that origins of Soviet expansionism lay
  in the instability and illegitimacy of the Soviet
  regime

7

• he proposed that the United States firmly but
  patiently resist Soviet expansion wherever it
  appeared
• Kennan never elaborated on how, precisely, the
  Soviet Union should be contained or in what parts
  of the world the policy should be applied

8

• The Atom Bomb A Winning Weapon?
• although Truman authorized the use of the atom
  bomb to force the surrender of Japan, he also
  hoped that it would serve as a counterweight to
  the numerically superior Red Army
• Stalin, however, refused to be intimidated
• in addition, horrifying accounts of the
  devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki left
  Americans uneasy
• Truman came to doubt that American people would
  permit the use of atomic weapons for aggressive
  purposes

9

• in November 1945, the United States proposed that
  the United Nations supervise all production of
  nuclear energy
• U.N. created an Atomic Energy Commission, which
  put forward a plan for the eventual outlawing of
  atomic weapons backed by unrestricted U.N.
  inspections
• the Soviets rejected the American and U.N. plans

10

• A Turning Point in Greece
• in 1947, the policy of containment began to take
  shape
• responding to a communist threat in Greece,
  Truman asked Congress for economic and military
  aid for Greece and Turkey
• the Truman Doctrine promised to support free
  peoples resisting subjugation by armed minorities
  or by outside pressures
• in selling his proposal, Truman overstated the
  threat and couched the request in ideological
  terms

11

• The Marshall Plan and the Lesson of History
• the economies of European countries remained
  unstable after the war
• in 1947, Secretary of State George C. Marshall
  proposed a plan by which the U.S. would finance
  reconstruction of European economy
• western European powers eagerly seized upon
  Marshalls suggestion
• although initially tempted, Stalin declined to
  take part and insisted that eastern European
  nations do so as well

12

• after the fall of Czechoslovakia in a communist
  coup in February 1948, Congress appropriated over
  13 billion for European recovery effort
• the results were spectacular by 1951, the
  economies of western Europe were booming
• western European nations moved toward social,
  cultural, and economic collaboration
• Britain, France, and the United States created a
  single West German Republic from their zones of
  occupation
• when the Soviets closed ground access to Berlin,
  the United States responded with an airlift that
  forced the Soviets to lift the blockade

13

• Dealing with Japan and China
• containment proved far less effective in the Far
  East than it did in Europe
• American policy succeeded in Japan and failed in
  China
• after the surrender of Japan, a four-power Allied
  Control Commission was established, but American
  forces, led by General MacArthur, controlled
  Japan and encouraged Japans nascent democracy

14

• Japan emerged economically strong, politically
  stable, and firmly allied with the United States
• the problems in China were probably
  insurmountable
• Truman dispatched George C. Marshall to negotiate
  a settlement between Chiang Kai-sheks
  nationalists and Mao Tse-tungs communists
• this attempt at compromise failed, and civil war
  soon erupted

15

• The Election of 1948
• by spring of 1948, public opinion polls revealed
  that most Americans considered Truman incompetent
• he had alienated both southern conservatives and
  northern liberals
• Truman still managed to win the nomination but
  southern Democrats, known as Dixiecrats, walked
  out when the convention adopted a strong civil
  rights plank and chose Strom Thurmond to run on a
  third-party ticket

16

• compounding matters, the left wing also defected
  Henry A. Wallace ran on the Progressive ticket
• the Republican nominee, Governor Thomas Dewey of
  New York, anticipating an easy victory, ran a
  listless campaign
• Truman, in contrast, launched a vigorous campaign
• his strong denunciation of the do nothing
  Republican Congress and the success of the Berlin
  Airlift aided his reelection bid

17

• many Democratic liberals thought Wallace too
  pro-Soviet and voted for Truman
• Truman surprised everyone and won a narrow
  victory in the popular vote and a more
  substantial one in the electoral college
• after the election, Truman put forward a number
  of proposals, which he called the Fair Deal
• however, little of his program was enacted into
  law

18

• Containing Communism Abroad
• during Trumans second term, the confrontation
  between the United States and the Soviet Union
  increasingly dominated attention
• the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, designed
  to protect the West from Soviet aggression, was
  formed in 1949
• the Soviet detonation of an atomic bomb in
  September 1949 led Truman to authorize
  development of a hydrogen bomb
• containment failed in Asia. In China, Maos
  communists defeated the nationalists

19

• Chiangs forces fled in disarray to Formosa in
  1949
• right-wing Republicans charged that Truman had
  not supported the Chinese nationalists strongly
  enough and had therefore lost China
• Truman ordered a review of containment
• the resulting report, NSC-68, called for a
  massive expansion of the nation's armed forces
• although Truman initially had reservations about
  the document, events in Korea changed his mind

20

• Hot War in Korea
• American policymakers had decided that a land war
  on the Asian continent would be impracticable
• yet when communist North Korea invaded South
  Korea in June 1950, Truman decided on a military
  response
• despite early gains by the North, U.N. forces (90
  percent American) under the command of MacArthur
  turned the tide and began pressing north

21

• MacArthur proposed conquest of North Korea
• despite opposition from his civilian advisors,
  Truman authorized an advance as far as the
  Chinese border
• in November 1950, 33 divisions of the Peoples
  Republic of China army crossed the Yalu River and
  shattered U.N. lines
• MacArthur urged the bombing of Chinese
  installations north of the Yalu and a blockade of
  China

22

• when Truman rejected his proposals, MacArthur
  openly criticized the administration
• Truman removed MacArthur from command
• in June 1951, the communists agreed to
  negotiations, which dragged on interminably
• initially, this police action was popular with
  the American public, but the bloody stalemate
  eroded public enthusiasm

23

• The Communist Issue at Home
• the frustrating Korean War illustrated the
  paradox that, at the height of its power,
  American influence was waning
• the United States faced internal as well as
  external threats
• exposure of communist espionage in Canada and
  Great Britain fueled American fears of communist
  subversion

24

• hoping to allay allegations that he was soft on
  communism, Truman established the Loyalty Review
  Board in 1947 to ensure that no subversives found
  employment in the federal government
• the Hiss and Rosenberg trials heightened the
  climate of fear

25

• McCarthyism
• in February 1950, Joseph R. McCarthy, an obscure
  senator from Wisconsin, charged that the State
  Department was infested with communists
• although he offered no evidence to support his
  claims, many Americans believed him
• McCarthy went on to make more fantastic
  accusations

26

• the enormity of his charges and the status of his
  targets convinced many that there had to be some
  truth in his accusations
• events of the early cold war and the publics
  resulting fears made people more susceptible to
  McCarthys allegations

27

• Dwight D. Eisenhower
• the Republican party selected Eisenhower as their
  candidate in 1952
• aside from his popularity as a war hero,
  Eisenhowers genial tolerance made a welcome
  change from Truman
• his ability as a leader was amply demonstrated by
  his military career, and his campaign promise to
  go to Korea was a political masterstroke
• Eisenhower easily defeated his Democratic
  opponent, Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois

28

• Eisenhower dismantled no New Deal programs and
  undertook some modest new initiatives
• moreover, he adopted an essentially Keynesian
  approach to economic issues
• Eisenhower proved to be a first-rate politician
  who knew how to be flexible without compromising
  basic values
• in spite of his political skills, however, he was
  unable to recast the Republican Party in his own,
  moderate, image

29

• The Eisenhower-Dulles Foreign Policy
• president and his secretary of state, John Foster
  Dulles, formulated a New Look in foreign
  policy, which reduced reliance on conventional
  forces and relied instead on Americas nuclear
  arsenal to achieve international stability
• this approach promised to save money and to
  prevent the United States from being caught up in
  another local conflict like the Korean War
• moreover, Dulles hoped the new approach would
  make it possible to liberate eastern Europe and
  unleash Chaing against the Chinese mainland

30

• after administration hinted at its willingness to
  use nuclear weapons, Chinese signed armistice
  that ended hostilities but left Korea divided
• threatened use of nuclear weapons also seemed to
  convince the Chinese to abandon their aggressive
  intent toward Quemoy and Matsu
• the New Look did succeed in reducing the defense
  budget, but it did not lead to the liberation of
  eastern Europe
• further, unleashing Chaing would have been like
  pitting a Pekingese against a tiger
• above all, massive retaliation made little
  sense when the Soviet Union also possessed
  nuclear weapons

31

• McCarthy Self-Destructs
• even after it came under the control of his own
  party, McCarthy did not moderate his attacks on
  the State Department
• partly in an effort to blunt McCarthys charges,
  Dulles sanctioned the dismissal of nearly five
  hundred State Department employees
• early in 1954, McCarthy finally overreached
  himself by leveling allegations at the army

32

• televised broadcasts of the Army-McCarthy Senate
  hearings revealed to the American public
  McCarthys disregard for decency and truth
• with Eisenhower quietly applying pressure behind
  the scenes, the Senate voted to censure McCarthy
  in 1954

33

• Asian Policy After Korea
• both Truman and Eisenhower provided aid to
  Frances efforts to defeat the Viet Minh in
  Indochina
• however, during the siege of Dien Bien Phu in
  1954, Eisenhower refused to commit American
  personnel to the struggle
• France soon surrendered and France, Great
  Britain, the Soviet Union, and China signed an
  agreement that divided Vietnam at the 17th
  parallel and called for a national election in
  1956

34

• North Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh, established a
  communist government
• in South Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem overthrew the
  emperor, and the United States provided support
  and advice to his new government
• the planned election was never held, and Vietnam
  remained divided
• Dulles organized the Southeast Asian Treaty
  Organization (SEATO)

35

• The Middle East Cauldron
• American policy in the Middle East was influenced
  by that regions massive petroleum reserves and
  by the conflict between Israel and its Arab
  neighbors
• Truman consistently made support for Israel a
  priority
• Eisenhower and Dulles deemphasized support for
  Israel
• U.S. provided economic aid to Egypts Gamal Abdel
  Nasser but refused to sell him arms
• the Soviets gladly provided the arms, and Nasser
  drifted toward the Eastern Bloc

36

• in response, the United States withdrew its
  funding of the Aswan Dam
• Nasser then nationalized the Suez Canal
• an allied force of British, French, and Israeli
  forces attacked Egypt in October 1956
• the United States and the Soviet Union eventually
  compelled the invaders to withdraw, and the
  crisis subsided
• in January 1956, Eisenhower announced the
  Eisenhower Doctrine, stating that the United
  States would use armed force anywhere in the
  Middle East to halt aggression from any nation
  controlled by international communism

37

• Eisenhower and Khrushchev
• Eisenhower defeated Stevenson by an even greater
  margin in 1956 than he had in 1952
• the cold war escalated when United States
  detonated the first hydrogen bomb in 1952 and the
  Soviets followed suit within six months
• after Stalins death in 1953, his successor,
  Nikita Khrushchev, attempted to move the Soviet
  Union away from Stalinism
• abroad, Khrushchev courted many emerging nations
  by appealing to the anti-western prejudices of
  countries recently held as colonies and by
  offering economic and technological aid

38

• Eisenhower understood that the United States
  maintained superiority in the nuclear arms race
• further, he was aware of the Soviet Unions many
  weaknesses, but the Soviet success in placing
  the Sputnik satellite in orbit alarmed many
  Americans
• Eisenhower knew that, militarily, the Soviet
  Union was no match for the United States and that
  Sputnik had not changed the equation appreciably
• yet to call the Soviet bluff might prod
  Khrushchev to rash action

39

• Eisenhower reassured American people they had
  little to fear and otherwise remained silent
• Eisenhower exercised great restraint in the
  conduct of foreign policy, particularly when
  faced with a crisis
• although he had always guided foreign policy,
  Eisenhower took over much of the actual conduct
  of diplomacy after failing health forced Dulles
  to resign in 1959
• confronted with the threat of nuclear war moved
  the United States and the Soviet Union toward
  accommodation

40

• in the summer of 1959, Vice-President Richard M.
  Nixon visited Moscow, and Khrushchev toured the
  United States in September
• in this new air of cordiality, a date was set for
  a new summit meeting
• this meeting never took place
• on May 1, 1960, the Soviets shot down an American
  reconnaissance plane over Soviet territory, and
  Soviet-American relations quickly soured

41

• Latin America Aroused
• the United States neglected Latin America in the
  postwar years
• like Truman, Eisenhower supported military
  governments in preference to communist
  revolutions
• violent anti-American rioting illustrated the
  depth of anti-Yankee sentiment and forced
  curtailment of Vice-President Nixons good-will
  tour in 1958
• in 1959, Fidel Castro overthrew Cuban dictator
  Fulgencio Batista

42

• although Eisenhower quickly recognized the new
  Cuban government, Castro soon began to spout
  anti-American rhetoric he also confiscated
  American property
• when Castro established close relations with the
  Soviet Union, Eisenhower banned the importation
  of Cuban sugar
• Khrushchev announced that American intervention
  in Cuba would be met with nuclear retaliation by
  the Soviet Union
• near the end of his second term, Eisenhower broke
  off relations with Cuba

43

• The Politics of Civil Rights
• during the Cold War, Americas treatment of its
  racial minorities took on added importance
  because of the ideological competition with
  communism
• Americas blacks became increasingly unwilling to
  accept their status as second-class citizens
• Truman had proposed civil rights reforms but
  failed to sway Congress
• Eisenhower succeeded in integrating the military,
  but the direct assault on racial inequality came
  from the Supreme Court

44

• in Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka
  (1954), the Court overturned the doctrine of
  separate but equal
• although Eisenhower believed that equality could
  not be legislated, he refused to countenance
  defiance of federal authority or the Constitution
• when the governor of Arkansas used the National
  Guard to prevent the execution of a federal court
  order upholding the right of a handful of black
  children to attend Little Rocks Central High
  School, Eisenhower nationalized the Arkansas
  Guard and sent federal troops to enforce the order

45

• the Eisenhower administration gained passage of
  the Civil Rights Act of 1957, which created a
  Civil Rights Commission and authorized the
  Department of Justice to ensure the right of
  southern blacks to register and to vote
• the act proved difficult to enforce

46

• The Election of 1960
• Eisenhower reluctantly endorsed the candidacy of
  Vice-President Nixon
• Nixon ran on the Eisenhower legacy and on his own
  reputation as a staunch anticommunist
• the Democrats nominated John F. Kennedy, a
  senator from Massachusetts, and chose the Senate
  majority leader, Lyndon Johnson, as his running
  mate

47

• although he had not been a particularly liberal
  congressman, Kennedy sought to appear more
  forward-looking as a presidential candidate
• Kennedy benefited from his television presence
  during several debates with Nixon
• in the end, Kennedy won a paper-thin victory in
  the popular vote