history: usa - changing political environment

• Return to "normalcy"

• Isolationism

• Appeal of Republicanism

• Promised by Harding (1921)

• Problems: short depression caused by war, unemployment rose from 950,000 in 1919 to 5,010,000 in 1921, social discontent

• Return to normalcy would remove these problems.

• Gov. would introduce tariffs to protect US trade, reduce taxation.

• USA had to focus on itself, introduce tariffs that favoured US businesses, cutting back on immigrants entering the country.

• Emergency Quota Act 1921 restricted immigration to 357,000 a year. This was reduced to 150,000 a year in 1924.

• Fordney-McCumber Tariff Act encouraged people to buy American.

• Between 1935 and 1939, Congress passed a series of Neutrality Acts that restricted the help the USA could give to other countries if they went to war.

• However, the US still helped Europe rebuild economically.

• Possibility that USA would have been more internationalist without the Great Depression of 1929; the Depression forced many to focus on the problems in their own country rather than looking outwards.

• Consumerism grew along with the prospering economy

• New technology produced consumer goods much more cheaply, and hire purchase allowed peope to buy these goods over a period of time.

• Contributed to a "boom" period that showed Republican policies were working.

• Harding encapsulated the Republican notion of "laissez-faire."

• This supported ideas that it was not the job of the gov. to control the economy or to manage social problems.

• Combined laissez-faire with dignity and morality to restore fath in the presidency after the Harding years.

• Let Congress go their own way.

• USA entered a period of recovery and prosperity; Republicanism was working.

• The First Red Scare 1919-20

• Rugged Individualism

• The Great Depression

• Decline of Republicanism

• The Bonus Army

• Changing Mood

• Russia monarchy replaced by a communist gov. in 1927

• Encouraged worldwide revolution against capitalism

• W orking conditions did not improve after the war; workers went on strike.

• Communist Party of America was founded.

• 1919: More than 3,6000 strikes, with one in four workers on strike.

• Red Hunting broke out.

• People were afraid to openly express their opinions.

• Hoover outlined his ideas in American Individualism, a pamphlet written in 1922.

• Believed that the poor were weakened by gov. support and it decreased their self-reliance.

• USA should isolate itself from other countries.

• USA should restrict immigration.

• Triggered by out-of-control share trading and underlying problems of the "boom" of the 20s.

• Hoover's laissez-faire attitude did not do much to help.

• Hoover believed the solution was for private charities to offer help on a local level.

• 1930: He set up the President's Emergency Committee for Employment - temp. organisation to find work for unemployed.

• 1930-32: Hoover moved to giving federal help to the states, yet this fell short and he reluctantly asked Congress to provide direct federal aid.

• Many blamed Hoover for the Depression; they even named the huge shanty towns of homeless people "Hoovervilles."

• 1924: Gov gave war veterans a bonus payment.

• Money for veterans went into a fund to pay out in 1945; as the Depression worsened, people asked for their money early. Gov. refused.

• June 1932: 150,000 - 200,000 veterans marched to Washington.

• 28th July: troops were sent in with tear gas, bayonets and machine guns.

• Hoover lost popularity for the way the Bonus Army were treated.

• After Depression, people began to vote Democrat.

• 1931: Democrats had majority in the House of Representatives and were gaining seats in the Senate.

• Hoover was also becoming less popular with some Republicans; they disliked the steps he took to help the Depression as they moved away from Rugged Individualism.

• 1932 Election: Roosevelt had a much better campaign and criticised the way that Hoover handled the Depression. More than 40 million voters went to vote - the largest recorded in American history. Hoover only won 6 states.

• FDR asked Congress for special powers to deal with the economic situation as if it was a war

• National Recovery Administration: set working hours and minimum wage

• Agricultural Adjustment Agency: regulated major crops and bought up surplus crops.

• Gov became much more involved and presidential powers increased.

• FDR was confident, charming and persuasive.

• Set up a separate Executive Office of the President to deal with administration.

• Fireside chats: explained policies to people and involved the public in the presidency.

• Understood the power of the media and held press meetings twice a week to involve them and give them more understanding of policy.

• Republicans disapproved of his enlarging of presidential powers

• Supreme Court ruled some of his agencies as unconstitutional; both NRA and AAA ruled as unconstitutional in 1937.

• 1937: FDR proposed to increase the number of Supreme Court judges, proposing a new judge for every existing judge over 70. This was such a violation of "separation of powers" that he was forced to abandon it.

• Influenced other presidencies: Truman was expected to be involved in the formation of policy and legislation. E.g. Kennedy's New Frontier and Truman's Fair Deal.

• WH expected to tell the media and the public about policy.

• However separation of powers still existed. President needed Congress to agree to policy for it to become law.

• Helped haul USA out of Depression.

• Without taking USA into war, FDR geared up war production and goods were supplies on a "cash and carry" basis. Led to a rise in employment and boosted industry and farming.

• USA joined the war in 1941, after the Japanese bombed the US fleet at Pearl Harbour.

• Within a year of the outbreak, the USA had produced $47 billion of war goods. Industry profits rose from $17 million in 1940 to $28 million in 1943.

• Not charismatic or confident

• Made mistakes under pressure

• Saw working w/ media as important but sometimes did not explain enough (Korean War)

• Didn't instantly appeal to the public and didn't try to explain strategy

• Worked well w/ WH administration

• Worked well w/ Congress despite Republican majority after 1946

• Optimistic and friendly

• Saw working w/ media as important but often minimised or obscured a problem (USSR being first into space, missile gap issue)

• Clear imagery in speeches (explained the knock on effect of a communist takeover like knocking over a line of dominoes)

• Good organisation, set up regular briefings and long-term planning sessions

• Worked well w/ Congress, good at bargaining and persuasion

• Charming, focused on style and presentation, celebrity figure

• Saw working w/ media as important, used TV well

• Poor organisation, abandoned Eisenhower's regular meetings for meetings as needed, did not always consult the right people (Bay of Pigs invasion)

• Worked well w/ Congress, good at bargaining and persuasion

• Understood importance of winning people over, good at getting what he wanted

• Not natural w/ media but kept them informed

• Patchy w/ public, some speeches were good and some were not

• Good organisation

• Worked well w/ Congress, understood how to use connections and persuade, good creative thinking (when school funding became a problem because of the issue of funding religious schools, he gave the funding to the children instead)

• Clever but suspicious and hated people disagreeing with him

• Distrusted the media and was bad at managing it (Watergate)

• Not good with people and often seemed awkward and insincere

• Not good at taking advice but reinstated system of regular meetings and briefings w/ WH staff

• Awkward w/ Congress due to his suspicious nature, found it hard to make personal connections and persuade

• The Second Red Scare, 1947-54

• Liberalism & Counter-culture

• Conservative Reaction

• Korean & Cold War

• "Loss" of China was not something Truman could have stopped, yet members of the "China Lobby" accused Truman of being responsible because he did not give enough support to Chiang Kai-Shek, leader of the Chinese gov. against the communist rebels.

• He had been advised not to give more support because his gov. was corrupt and advisors thought the rebels just wanted change in China, not worldwide communism.

• Media began to question if the gov. was doing enough to fight communism and protect its citizens.

• 9th Feb 1950, Joseph McCarthy (senator) gave an anti-communist speech announcing he had the names of 205 known communists working in the State Department.

• He pretended to have left the list on an aeroplane and the next day he revised the number to 57. When called to the senate, he changed this again to 81.

• He had a lot of support; Tydings Committee was set up to investigate his charges.

• Groups of "red baiters" hounded people, often violently.

• McCarthy remained powerful even when the TC said his accusations were half truths and lies.

• His investigations into the army were televised and around 20 million people watched them.

• His treatment of the interviewees caused him to lose support and the Senate passed a vote of censure against him and the Red Scare died down.

• FBI was given powers to investigate people on very little evidence.

• Allowed to open letters, tap phones and bug offices and homes.

• Its behaviour was moving towards the communist repressive behaviour that the gov. had condemned.

• Freedom of speech was limited as people were worried to express vaguely liberal views

• United Republicans and Democrats; between 1953 and 1962, not one Senator supported a softening of attitude towards the USSR or China.

• Second Red Scare and violence against CR campaigners left people uneasy about the political climate.

• Anti-war protests about Vietnam broke out outside the meeting of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Met with tear gas and batons.

• Donald Peterson led a 2,000 strong march against police brutality the next day.

• Major movements wanted to shift away from traditional values of older generations, e.g. Hippies and radical student groups. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) rejected all forms of bigotry and often protested about war in Vietnam. They used sit-ins and other tactics used by CR campaigners to push for free speech on campus at Uni of California.

• 1969: Nixon campaigned for president on New Right policies, supported by many, as a way to restore order and unite society.

• 1970s: A religious right movement emerged that campaigned for a return to traditional family values, moving away from "liberal" policies such as abortion and contraception.

• Federal Defense Administration set up in the early 1950s to organise evacuations and give out pamphlets with advice in case of nuclear attack.

• Between June 1947 and June 1948, the US holdings of atomic bombs rose from 13 to 50. Cost huge amounts of money.

• Creation of a large, permanent military force affected domestic economy.

• Created a Democrat/Republic and hawks/doves divide that crossed political boundaries.

• Power of president w/out Congress grew.

• Size of the armed forces was greatly enlarged and president could move forces around w/out Congress permission.

• CIA set up by National Security Act, they were to report back to the WH instead of Congress.

• President had the power to react at once to nuclear war w/out consulting Congress. E.g. Truman - Berlin Airlift in 1948 and went to war in Korea without Congress's consent. Also Kennedy - Bay of Pigs invasion.

• Showed presidential attention had moved away from domestic policy and towards international policy.

• Domestic policy went through Congress, and presidents had more freedom to act alone in foreign affairs.

• Defence spending hit a peak of 14% of US GNP.

• Combination of Korean War and the Second Red Scare gave Republicans a chance to become a real opposition force again.

• Truman held back from the media as he didn't want to inflame anti-communist media. Led to the media taking information from other sources, e.g. Republicans, who were very critical. E.g. on 7th July 1950, headlines announced that Truman was considering using the atomic bomb - this was false.

• Truman received little support when he sacked General MacArthur, despite MA openly criticising Truman.

• The media showed disagreements between Congress and the WH; the KW contributed to the disillusionment with the presidency and gov.

• Similar defence budget concerns as KW.

• Loss of credibility for gov. E.g. unpopularity of the draft.

• Vietnam Veterans Against the War had a membership of over 30,000 and marched in a peace demonstration in NYC in 1967.

• Walter Cronkite returned from Vietnam on 7th Feb 1968, and broadcasted a criticism of the way the war was being run.

• Drove presidents into unpopular domestic policies

• Presidents seen as more responsible for foreign affairs

• E.g. "Hey! Hey! LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?" at protests against the war in 1968.

• Chaotic withdrawal negatively impacted people's view of the presidency.

• Media

• Scandal

• Mishandling of events

• WH administration

• Social factors

• Presidents

950,000 in 1919 to 5,010,000 in 1921

357,000 a year in 1921 to 150,000 in 1924

1935-39

Over 3,600 (1 in 4 workers on strike)

• January 1919

• 35,000 shipyard workers, which turned into a general strike of 60,000

President's Emergency Committee for Employment

1931

6 - over 40 million people went to vote (the most ever recorded in US history)

1945

• NRA - National Recovery Administration: enforced codes of practice e.g. working hours and minimum wage

• AAA - Agricultural Adjustment Agency: regulated crops & bought surplus

Executive Office of the President

1936 - they banned the NRA and AAA in 1937

$17 million in 1940 to $28 million in 1943

1949

9th February 1950

205, later revised to 57, and when called to the Senate he changed this to 81

Between 1953 and 1962

1968

Federal Defense Administration

13 in 1947 to 50 in 1948

1948

14%

1968

1972-74

1970 - National Guard killed 4 students and seriously injured another 9

75%

• rejected all forms of bigotry, including racism, anti-communism

• protested (often violently) against war in Vietnam

• set up in 1960

573

was passed by Wilson in WW1 but FDR used it to take action without Congress

employed over 3 million people

• 1944 Republican Election platform supported new deal thinking social security measures

• businessmen agreed that the government should help to manage the economy