Unit 8: 1945-1980

• CCOT Bolshevik Revolution (communist gov) with Russia in 1917, led to the 1919 Red Scare

• The US did not recognize the Soviet Union until 1933

8.1 & 8.2

WW1

• The US-Soviet alliance out of convenience not trust, Stalin bore the brunt of fighting the Nazis since the US and its allies joined later

• 1945 United Nations established permanent seats for the US, GB, France, China, and the Soviet Union

• Soviets did not join the World Bank created at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 (do not support capitalism)

• Soviet forces remained after the war, and elections were held as promised in the Yalta Conference

  • But elections manipulated = satellite states in Poland, Romania, etc

Germany

• The eastern zone became a new Communist state

• Soviets wanted weak Germany for security and large war reparations

• US + GB believed the economic recovery of Germany important to Central Europe's stability

Response

• Iron Curtain “has descended across the continent of Europe” → iron curtain speech by former British Prime minster Winston Churchill

• Containment policy made by George F Kennan: take actions to contain

• CCOT: appeasement does not work, 1938 Munich + Hitler

• Truman doctrine: implemented containment to help communist uprising in Greece and Soviet demands for water route in Turkey

Marshall Plan

• Europe Recovery Program was offered to Western Europe AND Eastern Europe (Soviet Union) but the Soviets rejected

  • Helped US prosperity and Western Europe

Berlin Airlift

• June 1948: Soviets cut off all access by land to Berlin

• Supplies are flown in

  • Stalin finally agreed to open the blockade after 11 months

NATO + National security

• Unlike Washington’s farewell address advised, Truman joined NATO

• The Soviet Union countered with Warsaw Pact

• 1947 National Security Act: modernized military capability and created the CIA

• Soviet Union + US were in an intense arms race regarding the atomic bomb

• NSC-68: quadrupled US government spending, form non-communist countries, and costly arms buildup IMPORTANT

Asia

• Japan under the control of General Douglas MacArthur

• Retained emperor as ceremonial head of state aka figurehead

• Only allowed limited military capability & success of the US

• In China, corruption and inflation led the Nationalist vs Mao Zedong Communists to conflict to resume after the war

  • Truman decided to give $400 mil to the Nationalist gov - failed

  • China fell to the communists

• Korean War → divided along the 38th parallel, leaving North with a communist leader

  • Invaded South Korea and UN forces were sent, but the war had not been declared yet

  • General MacArthur counterattacked until the Chinese border, but then the Chinese joined the fight

  • MacArthur wanted to continue the war, but Truman disagreed → and recalled him for insubordination and a stalemate occurred at the 38th parallel

• Truman administration used the Korean War to justify expanding military

Eisenhower

• Secretary of State John Foster Dulles: brinkmanship, taking initiative and encouraging taking over communist governments

  • Pushing to BRINK of war, but the war prevented by American nuclear superiority

• Massive retaliation: Dulles advocated for spending more on nuclear weapons than conventional military forces

• Korean Armistice 1953: with the death of Stalin, an armistice was agreed on

Soviet Relations

• Geneva conference 1954: a meeting between the “big four” of France, the US, GB, and Soviet Union’s new premier Nikolai Bulganin

  • Thaw in Cold War

• 1956 → Nikita Kruschev became the new Soviet leader and hoped for peaceful coexistence

• Hungarian Revolt: thaw in Cold War encouraged uprisings against Communist leaders, in Hungry, it succeeded

  • Khrushchev sent troops to crush them → Us took no action, scared of starting a war

• The space race began with Soviet Union’s satellites Sputnik

  • Congress passed National Defense and Education Act (more money in schools for STEM) & created NASA

Problems Arising

• 2nd Berlin Crisis: Stalin threatened West to pull out troops from West Berlin

• Eisenhower and Stalin meet, and the problem is diffused → Second summit conference in Paris for 1960

• U-2 incident: Russians shot down a U-2 spy plane flying over the Soviet Union even after the open-skies proposal was rejected by them

  • Kruschev walked out of the Paris summit, ended the thaw

• Military-industrial complex: the relationship between government, military, and industry

  • Eisenhower warned against it in his farewell speech

Cuba

• Fidel Castro overthrew Cuban dictator Batista

  • Nationalized American-owned businesses in Cuba, so Eisenhower cut off trade with Cuba

  • Castro set up a Communist totalitarian state

• CUBA IS VERY CLOSE TO US

• Kennedy became president: and approved Eisenhower’s plan to have the CIA train anti-Communist exiles to invade & overthrow Castro

  • Known as the Bay of Pigs, Kennedy did not send US forces to help, a FAIL

Continued Crises

• Berlin Wall: purpose to stop East Germans from fleeing to West German

• The US took no real action against it

• 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis: Castro invited the Soviets to build missile sites that could reach the US in minutes

  • Kennedy responded by announcing a naval blockade of Cuba until weapons removed

  • After 13 days of tension: Krushchev agreed to remove missiles in exchange for Kennedy’s promise to not invade Cuba and to remove US missiles from Turkey

• Aftereffect: Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: signed by the Soviet Union, the US, and 100 other nations

• Flexible response treaty: devised by Kennedy and his defense secretary Robert S. McNamara → wanted to increase spending on conventional weapons to prevent global destruction with nuclear weapons

Lyndon Johnson

• After President Kennedy was assassinated, Johnson (VP) took over

• Continued containment policy regarding Vietnam War

• Non-proliferation treaty: US, Britain, and Soviet Union promised to not help other countries develop nuclear weapons

Nixon 1969-1974

• Secretary of State/national security adviser: Henry Kissinger

• Nixon visited China and recognized them in 1979

• Used relationship with China to pressure Soviets with Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) to limit anti-ballistic missiles aka ABMS

Ford 1974-1977

• After Nixon’s Watergate scandal, many people lost their trust in the gov

• CIA practices were investigated

Jimmy Carter 1977-1981

• Plans to ratify SALT II until Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan

• Back to the period of confrontation

8.3  Red Scare

Rooting out Communists

• Under Truman (1974): Loyalty Review Board investigated over 3 mil federal employees

• Smith Act: made it illegal to advocate for the overthrow of gov by force

• In the House of reps, the House Un-American Activities Committee/HUAC was reactivated (by Nazis)

• Loyalty oaths became more common

  • The Lottery & The Crucible!!

Espionage

• Alger Hiss: a prominent official, convicted of perjury and suspected Communist spy

• Rosenbergs: found guilty of treason for giving Russia information and executed

  • Civil rights groups unhappy

Joseph McCarthy

• Used accusations about Communists to keep the media focused on himself & to discredit Truman's administration

• Loved by working-class Americans at first

• Army-McCarthy Hearings: McCarthy’s cruelty through televised hearings exposed

• McCarthyism died down

8.4 Economy After 1945

Postwar Economy

• Truman became president after Franklin Roosevelt’s death and tried to continue the New Deal economic policies of his predecessor

• GI Bill of Rights: helped many GIS attend college and supported the veterans’ transition back to a normal economy

  • Did help the overall economy but increased the racial wealth gap (didn’t apply to blacks)

• Baby Boom & Suburban Growth

  • Levittown: mass produced low priced family homes in NY, only for white families

• Rise of Sunbelt: warmer climate, lower taxes, and economic opportunities in defense-related industries

Truman VS Republican Congress

• Unhappy with inflation and strikes, the Republican majority dominated Congress

• 22nd amendment: limited president to 2 terms in office

• Tart-hartley Act: the goal was to keep unions in check

  • Outlawed closed shop (required workers to join a union BEFORE being hired) & secondary boycotts

  • Gave the president the power to invoke a cooling-off period before a possible strike

Truman’s Reflection 1948

• The liberal Progressive Party & conservative Dixiecrafts in Dem Party abandoned Truman→ Reps believed they would win

  • Nominated Thomas E Dewey

• Truman still won

• Launched the Fair Deal reform program

  • Most reforms were blocked by Congress except an increase in the minimum wage and more workers included in Social Security

  • A reason it failed was pressing foreign policy of the Cold War took more attention

Eisenhower Election of 1952

• “Modern Republican”

• Fiscal conservative: wanted to balance the budget

• Even expanded Social Security

• Highway Act of 1956: authorized many interstate highways

  • The goal was to improve national defense by facilitating movement but also creating jobs & accelerated suburbanization

  • Hurt railroads and the environment

Kennedy & Johnson

• Kennedy promised to lead the nation into the “New Frontier”

  • Brought glamour to the white house, the youngest candidate

• Johnson aggressively passed a domestic program that Kennedy failed to get through Congress

• Promoted his Great Society & war on poverty

Stagflation Time Baby!

• Starting with the recession in 1970, there was an economic slowdown and high inflation (aka stagflation)

• Nixon adopted Keynesian economics and deficit spending

  • Imposed a 90-day wage + price freeze

  • Took dollar off the gold standard

• The recession was over by 1972

More inflation

• Ford urged voluntary measures to fight inflation with WIN (whip inflation now)

  • The economy sank deeper into a recession

• Carter: interest rates on loans were pushed higher, which helped to control inflation from 13% to 4% in 1982

• The postwar economy in the 1940s and 50s boomed, but the economic recovery of other nations resulted in less-expensive consumer products by 19702

8.5 Culture

• Television & media resulted in advertising → fast food & credit cards

  • Rise of CONSUMERISM

• The popularity of teenagers’ rock and roll

• Rise of conglomerates and corporates: conformity

• AFL and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge

Critics

• The Affluent Society was the idea that wealthy Americans should increase social spending for the greater good (CCOT gospel of Wealth by Carnegie)

• The Catcher in the Rye

• Beatniks: a model for youth rebellion and advocated drugs and spontaneity

Kennedy’s assassination

• Warren Commission headed by Chief Justice Warren concluded that there was just one assassin

• Conspiracy theories arose

• Loss of credibility in government

8.6 Civil Rights

Origins of the Movement

• Truman est Committee on Civil Rights and ordered the end of racial discrimination in fed gov like the armed forces

• Cold War caused racial segregation to stand out as wrong in America’s reputation of freedom (CCOT WW1 and women’s voting rights)

• NAACP lawyers led by Thurgood Marshall

  • Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

  • Chief Justice Earl Warren ruled that separate facilities are UNEQUAL unlike Plessy v. Ferguson

• Resistance in South: Southern Manifesto & Rise of KKK

• In Arkansas, Governor used National Guard to stop the Little Rock 9 → Eisenhower sent federal troops to protect them

Nonviolent Protests

• Rosa Parks arrested for not giving up a seat, sparked the Montgomery Bus boycott led by Martin Luther King

• He also formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference/SCLC

• College students started a sit-in movement and John Lewis made Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

8.7 America as a World Power

Unrest from decolonization

• Third World: developing nations compared to Western and Communist bloc

• Eisenhower used covert action because it was less subject to public controversy

• CIA helped overthrow Iran gov that tried to nationalize oil → West got favorable oil prices

• Suez Crisis: led by Nasser, Egypt asked the US for funds to build a dam project and turned to the Soviet Union for help

  • British, France, and Israel surprise attacked Egypt and retook the canal

  • Eisenhower (kept in the dark) caused them to withdraw

Oil

• Eisenhower Doctrine: pledged economic and military aid to Middle Eastern countries threatened by communism

• Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries/OPEC

• Yom Kippur War: Syrians and Egyptians attacked Isreal to recover lands lost in a six-day war in 1967

  • Nixon helped Isreal win

  • Arab members of OPEC placed an embargo, causing worldwide oil shortage and even more US runaway in inflation

Peace

• Camp David Accords arranged by President Carter

• Egypt recognized Israel and Israel withdrew troops in land taken from Egypt during the six-day war

  • Opposed by Palestine LIberation Org /PLO

• Hostage Crisis: Islamic fundamentalists overthrew Iran's Shah

  • Shah escaped to the US (but Iranians wanted his return to stand trial for his crimes), so Iranian militants held US embassy staff members as hostages

  • The unsuccessful rescue marked as a failure with Carter

Latin America

• Kennedy est Peace Corps → Young American volunteers would help developing countries

• Alliance for Progress: promoted land reform and economic development in Latin America

  • But anti-American feelings due to the Bay of Pigs and CIA ops

• Johnson returned the “Big stick” policy (CCOT TR)

• Carter (humanitarian) negotiated a new Panama Canal treaty to give back to Panamanians

8.8 Vietnam War

Eisenhower

• Geneva Conference divided Vietnam at the 17th parallel

  • In the North, Ho Chi Minh and Communist, and in the South, Ngo Dinh Diem

  • A general election meant to reunite Vietnam never took place, afraid Communists would win

• Domino theory: if Vietnam fell to communism other Asian Countries would too

• Southeast Asia Treaty Organization/SEATO est by John Foster Dulles

Escalation of war

• Kennedy adopted the domino theory, continued aid to South Vietnam, and increased military “advisers” that trained the army there

• However, Diem was not popular and assassinated

• During the presidential campaign against Johnson, Rep candidate Barry Goldwater attacked Johnson’s administration for its weak support

  • South Vietnam was fighting against the Vietcong

• Tonkin Gulf Resolution: caused by an alleged incident of North Vietnamese gunboats firing on US warships

  • A blank check for the president to take necessary measures in Vietnam

• Operation rolling thunder: prolonged air attack against N. Vietnam

• Hawks vs Doves

Vietcong Response

• Tet Offensive was an attack on S. Vietnam, and militarily it failed

  • However, it demoralized the American public

  • Credibility gap: victory was NOT imminent

• Johnson decides to end escalation and announces that he will not be rerunning for president

Election of 1968

• Robert F Kennedy won a major victory in CA’s primary but was assassinated by Arab nationalist

• This led to a three-way between George Wallace, Richard Nixon, and VP Hubert Humphrey

• Democratic Convention selected Humphrey

• George Wallace ran from the American Independent Party and was a result to the white backlash to desegregation

• Nixon won, with VP Spiro Agnew

  • Was a hawk and ran on “peace with honor” + “law and order,” it was a backlash against protest, violence, and counterculture

Nixon and Vietnam

• “Vietnamization”: gradually reducing US troops from Vietnam but giving them money and support

• Nixon Doctrine: Asian allies in the future would not have extensive use of US ground forces

• He then invaded Cambodia to destroy Vietnamese Communist bases

  • Led to Kent State Protest

• Antiwar sentiment fueled by the My Lai massacre and the publication of The Pentagon Papers

End of the War

• Paris Accords of 1973: promised cease-fire and free elections, but did not end the war between the two

• War powers act: required presidents to report to Congress after military actions, and Congress would have to approve if it is over 60 days

• Fall of Saigon → Communist Vietnam reunified

• Cambodia also fell to Communism, but the domino theory did not necessarily prove true

8.9 The Great Society

The War on Poverty

• Dem: LBJ -→ Liberal agenda

• Rep: Barry Goldwater → Ending welfare + encouraging young conservatives

• Results: LBJ won

• Dems controlled both houses

The Great Society Reforms

• Food Stamp Act (1964): an expanded fed program to help the poor buy food

• National Foundation on the Art and Humanities (1965): Provided fed funding for arts & creative & scholarly projects

• Medicare (1965): Provide health insurance for people 65+

• Medicaid (1965): Provided funds to states to pay for medical care for poor/disabled

• Elementary & Secondary Education Act (1965): Fed funds to poor schools + Special-ed programs+ Expand Head Start (Early childhood education program)

• Higher Education Act (1965): Fed scholarships for post-secondary edu

• Immigration Act (1965): Abolished quotas based on origin

• Child Nutrition Act (1966): Added breakfast to the school lunch program

• Funding for: Mass transit, housing, Rent subsidies for low-income houses, and crime prevention

• Cabinet departments

  • Department of Transportation

  • Department of Housing and Urban Development

• Regulations on the auto industry

• Clean air/water laws

• Fed parks & wilderness areas expanded

Evaluating the Great Society

• Unrealistic promises to eliminate poverty

• centralized welfare being → costly

• Jeopardized achievements with Vietnam

Changes in Immigration

• Undocumented immigrants → Control Act of 1986

• Great Society included legislation to end discrimination based on race

8.10 The African American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s

The Leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

• “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

• Martin Luther King Jr.: Leader of the civil rights movement

• March on Washinton: 200,000 people + “I have a dream” speech

Federal Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965

• Segregation illegal in all public facilities

• School desegregation

• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

• Abolished poll tax + literacy tests

Black Muslims and Malcolm X

• Advocated self-defense + fighting with violence

• Malcolm X: assassinated in 1965

Race Riots and Black Power

• Malcolm X was very influential

• Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

• Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

• Riots

  • In neighborhoods + worst in LA

  • Kerner Commission investigated violence

  • De jure → De facto segregation

• Murder in Memphis

  • MLK won the Nobel peace prize in 1974

  • MLK shot on the balcony in April

  • Riots spread like wildfire

8.11 The Civil Right Movement Expands

The Womens Movement

• Betty Freidans Femine Mystique

• Increased Education + Employment

• Equal Pay Act + Civil Rights Act of 1964 poorly enforced

Campaign for Equal Rights Amendment

• Legislative victory

• Equality of rights will not be denied by the US on account of sex

• Missed acceptance by 38 states

Latino Americans

• Cesar Chavez → United Farm Workers Association

• Hispanics elected into office

American Indian Movement

• AIM→ Self-determination + revival of tribes

• Indian Self-Determination Act of 1875: gave reservations and tribal lands greater control over programs

• Red Power movement

Asian American

• The largest group was Chinese + well represented but still earned below the national average

Gay Rights Movement

• Urged homosexuals to open up about identity

• Don’t ask, don’t tell

The Warren Court and Individual Rights

• Brown v. Board of Edu → desegregation of schools

• The emphasis on individual rights

• Criminal Justice

  • Mapp v. Ohio: illegally seized evidence can’t be used in court

  • Gideon v. Wainwright: required states to prove counsel for defendants

  • Escobedo v. Illinois: required police to inform people of the right to remain silent

  • Miranda v. Arizona: right to Lawyer during police questioning

• Reapportionment

  • States had at least one house of legislature that favored districts that rural> cities

  • Baker v. Carr: unconstitutional + redraw election districts

• Freedom of Expression and Privacy

  • Greater latitude under 1st Amendment

  • Yates v. US: 1st amendment protected

  • Engel v. Vitale: required bible prayers violated 1st

  • Griswold v. Connecticut: citizens’ right to privacy + state could not prohibit the use of contraceptives

  • Controversy + impeachment+ defense of rights of unpopular individuals

8.12 Youth Culture of the 1960s

Baby Boom Generation

• Influenced by the civil rights of Africans and other groups

Student Movement and the New Left

• Student for Democratic Society: called for university decisions to be made through democracy so students have a voice

• Free Speech Movement: demanded an end to university restrictions on student politics

• Students against the Vietnam War

  • Campuses disrupted due to anti-war protests

  • Violence, vandalism, extremists

  • Chicago Convention + Weather Underground

The Counterculture

• Rebellious styles become popular

• Hippies + Folk music + Rock Music + Woodstock music

• Impatience led to violence, destruction, and discredited cause by elders

• Sexual revolution

  • Traditional beliefs are challenged through premarital sex + more

  • Overly sexual themes blamed on loss of moral codes

8.13 The Environment and Natural Resources From 1968-1980

Origins of Environmental Movement

• Rachel Carson → Silent Spring

• Barry Commoner + Paul Ehrlich

Public Awareness

• 3-mile island incident

• Iil + chemicals + radioactivity a big problem

• Earth Day on April 20

Government Environmental Protection

• Environmental Protection Agency → regulating water and air pollution

• Clean Air and Water → regulated emissions + clean up

• Wildlife protection → Endangered species act

• Oil Embargo and Feul Economy → BIGGEST GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS

• Antinuclear Movement → delayed construction of nuclear war plants

• The backlash from conservative groups

8.14 Society in Transition

American Society in Transition

• Racial + ethnic diversity

• Youth revolt

The Nixon Presidency

• Received a popular vote in the election of 1968

• Nixon’s Southern Strategy → appease the South for votes from the South + sun belt

• Election of 1972

  • Dem: George McGovern → liberal hero

  • Rep: Nixon → foreign policy + George Wallace removal

Watergate Scandal

• Involvement in the 1972 break-in at the Democratic national committee headquarters in the Watergate apartment complex

• Impeachment on the basis of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress

• Trust lost in the government --- leads to the conservative era

Gerald Ford in the White House

• Assumed presidency after scandal

• The pardoning of Nixon instead of prolongation

• Investigating the CIA: Dem Congress searched for abuses in CIA

• Bicentennial Celebration→ 2000 birthday

Election of 1976

• Dem: James Earl Carter

• Rep: Ford

• Results: Carter won

An Outside in the White House

• End to the imperial presidency

• Loss of popularity → National malaise speech

The Burger Court

• More conservative the Warren Court

• Roe v. Wade: struck down state laws prohibiting abortions as a violation of a women’s right to privacy

Conservative Resurgence

• Conservative Religious revival → moral majority + religious fundamentalists

• Deregulation of Businesses + Elimination of Racial Preferences (reverse discrimination through affirmative action

• Regents of Uni of CA v. Bakke: race could be considered but not racial quotas

• Taxpayers revolt: proposition 13 + Arthur Laffer

New Era in Ameican Politics

• Rise of conservatism