8.2- The Cold War from 1945-1980

Origins of the Cold War

The Cold War dominated international relations from the late 1940s to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The conflict centered on the intense rivalry between two superpowers: the Communist Soviet Union and the leading Western democracy, the United States. They competed directly through diplomacy and indirectly through armed conflicts among allies, but rarely through direct military actions against each other. However, in several instances, the Cold War took the world dangerously near nuclear war.

U.S.-Soviet Relations to 1945: The wartime alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union against the Axis powers was actually a temporary halt in their generally poor relations in the past. Since the Bolshevik Revolution that established a Communist government in Russia in 1917, Americans had viewed the Soviets as a threat to all capitalistic countries. In the United States, it led to the Red Scare of 1919. The United States refused to recognize the Soviet Union until 1933. Even then, after a brief honeymoon period, Roosevelt’s advisers concluded that Joseph Stalin and the Communists could not be trusted. Confirming their view was the notorious Nonaggression Pact of 1939, in which Stalin and Hitler agreed to divide up Eastern Europe.

Postwar Cooperation and the United Nations: The founding of the United Nations in the fall of 1945 provided one hopeful sign for the future. The General Assembly of the United Nations was created to provide representation to all member nations, while the 15-member Security Council was given the primary responsibility within the UN for maintaining international security and authorizing peacekeeping missions. The five major allies of wartime—the US, Great Britain, France, China, and the Soviet Union—were granted permanent seats and veto in the UN Security Council. Optimists hoped that these nations would be able to reach agreement on international issues. In addition, the Soviets went along with a U.S. proposal to establish an Atomic Energy Commission in the United nations. They rejected, however, a plan proposed by Bernard Baruch for regulating nuclear energy and eliminating atomic weapons. American leaders interpreted rejection of the Baruch Plan as proof that Moscow did not have peaceful intentions. The United States also offered the Soviets participation in the new International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (now commonly called the World Bank) created at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. The bank’s initial purpose was to fund rebuilding of a war-torn world. The Soviets, however, declined to participate because they viewed the bank as an instrument of capitalism. The Soviets did join the other Allies in the 1945-1946 Nuremberg trials of 22 top Nazi leaders for war crimes and violations of human rights.

Satellite States in Eastern Europe: Distrust turned into hostility beginning in 1946, as Soviet forces remained in occupation of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Elections were held by the Soviets—as promised by Stalin at Yalta—but the results were manipulated in favor of Communist candidates. One by one, from 1946 to 1948, Communist dictators, most of them loyal to Moscow, came to power in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. Apologists for the Soviets argued that Russia needed buffer states or satellites (nations under the control of a great power), as a protection against another Hitler-like invasion from the West.

Occupation Zones in Germany: At the end of the war, the division of Germany and Austria into Soviet, French, British, and U.S. zones of occupation was meant to be only temporary. In Germany, however, the eastern zone under Soviet occupation gradually evolved into a new Communist state, the German Democratic Republic. The conflict over Germany was in part a conflict over differing views of national security and economic needs. The Soviets wanted a weak Germany for security reasons and large war reparations for economic reasons. The United States and Great Britain refused to allow reparations from their western zones because both viewed the economic recovery of Germany as important to the stability of Central Europe. The Soviets, featuring a restored Germany, tightened their control over East Germany. Also, since Berlin lay within their zone, they attempted to force the Americans, British, and French to give up their assigned sectors of the city.

Iron Curtain: “I’m tired of babying the Soviets,” Truman told Secretary of State James Byrnes in January 1946. News of a Canadian spy ring stealing atomic secrets for the Soviets and continued Soviet occupation of northern Iran further encouraged a get-tough policy in Washington. In March 1946, in Fulton, Missouri, Truman was present on the speaker’s platform as former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill declared: “An iron curtain has descended across the continent” of Europe. The Iron Curtain metaphor was later used throughout the Cold War to refer to the division between the U.S. allies in Western Europe and Soviet allies of Eastern Europe. Churchill’s ’iron curtain’ speech called for a partnership between Western democracies to halt the expansion of communism.

Containment in Europe

Early in 1947, Truman adopted a containment policy designed to prevent Soviet expansion without starting a war. The plan, which would guide U.S. foreign policy for decades, was formulated by three top advisers: Secretary of State General George Marshall, Undersecretary of State Dean Acheson, and an expert on Soviet affairs, George F. Kennan. In an influential article, Kennan had written that only “a long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies” would eventually cause the Soviets to back off their plan to spread communism and to live in peace with other nations.

The Truman Doctrine

Truman first implemented the containment policy in response to two threats: (1) a Communist-led uprising against the government in Greece, and (2) Soviet demands for some control of a water route in Turkey, the Dardanelles. In what became known as the Truman Doctrine, the president asked Congress in March 1947 for $400 million in economic and military aid to assist the “free people” of Greece and Turkey against “totalitarian” regimes. While Truman’s alarmist speech might have oversimplified the situation in Greece and Turkey, it gained bipartisan support from Republicans and Democrats in Congress.

The Marshall Plan

After the war, Europe lay in ruins, short of food and deep in debt. The harsh winter of 1946-1947 further demoralized Europeans, who had already suffered through the years of depression and war. Discontent encouraged the growth of the Communist Party, especially in France and Italy. The Truman administration feared that the Western democracies might vote the Communists into power. In June 1947, George Marshall outlined an extensive program of U.S. economic aid to help European nations revive their economies and strengthen democratic governments. In December, Truman submitted to Congress a $17 billion European Recovery Program, better known as the Marshall Plan. In 1948, $12 billion in aid was approved for distribution to the countries of Western Europe over a four-year period. The United States offered Marshall Plan aid to the Soviet Union and its Eastern Europe satellites, but the Soviets refused it, fearing that it would lead to dependence on the United States.

Effects: The Marshall Plan worked exactly as Marshall and Truman had hoped. The massive infusion of U.S. dollars helped Western Europe achieve self-sustaining growth by the 1950s and ended any real threat of Communist political successes in that region. It also bolstered U.S. prosperity by greatly increasing U.S. exports to Europe. At the same time, however, it deepened the rift between the non-Communist West and the Communist East.

The Berlin Airlift

• Who: The United States, the United Kingdom, and West Germany collaborated in a historic airlift operation to supply West Berlin during the Soviet blockade.

• What: This airlift operation, known as the Berlin Airlift, was a massive logistical effort to deliver food, fuel, and other essential supplies to the people of West Berlin.

• Where: The operation took place in Berlin, Germany, a city that was divided into four zones controlled by the Allied powers after World War II.

• When: The Berlin Airlift took place from June 1948 to May 1949, lasting for almost a year in response to the Soviet Union's attempt to isolate and starve West Berlin into submission during the early years of the Cold War.

• Why: The Soviet blockade of West Berlin was a strategic move to assert control over the city and force the Western Allies to abandon their presence in the region. In response, the United States, the United Kingdom, and West Germany launched the airlift operation to demonstrate their commitment to the people of West Berlin and to uphold the principles of freedom and democracy in the face of Soviet aggression.

8.3- The Red Scare

Rooting Out Communists

Prosecutions Under the Smith Act: In addition, leaders of the American Communist Party were jailed for advocating the overthrow of the U.S. government. In the case of Dennis et al v. United States (1951), the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Smith Act of 1940, which made it illegal to advocate or teach the overthrow of the government by force or to belong to an organization with this objective.

McCarran Internal Security Act (1950): Over Truman’s veto, Congress passed the McCarran Internal Security Act, which (1) made it unlawful to advocate or support the establishment of a totalitarian government, (2) restricted the employment and travel of those joining Communist-front organizations, and (3) authorized the creation of detention camps for subversives.

Un-American Activities: In the House of Representatives, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), originally established in 1939 to seek out Nazis, was reactivated in the postwar years to find Communists. The committee not only investigated government officials but also looked for Communist influence in such organizations as the Boy Scouts and in the Hollywood film industry. Actors, directors, and writers were called before the committee to testify. Those who refused to testify were tried for contempt of Congress.

Espionage Cases

The fear of a Communist conspiracy bent on world conquest was supported by series of actual cases of Communist espionage in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. The methods used to identify Communist spies, however, raised serious questions about whether the government was going too far and violating civil liberties in the process.

Hiss Case: Whittaker Chambers, a confessed Communist, became a star witness for the HUAC in 1948. His testimony, along with the investigative work of a young member of Congress from California named Richard Nixon, led to the trial of Alger Hiss. Hiss was a prominent official in the State Department who had assisted Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference. He denied the accusations that he was a Communist had given secret documents to Chambers. In 1950, however, he was convicted of perjury and sent to prison. Many Americans could not help wondering whether the highest levels of government were infiltrated by Communist spies.

Rosenberg Case: When the Soviets tested their first atomic bomb in 1949, many Americans were convinced that spies had helped them to steal the technology from the United States. Klaus Fuchs, a British scientist who had worked on the Manhattan Project, admitted giving A-bomb secrets to the Russians. An FBI investigation traced another spy ring to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in New York. After a controversial trial in 1951, the Rosenbergs were found guilty of treason and executed in 1953.

The Rise and Fall of Joseph McCarthy

Joseph McCarthy, a Republican senator from Wisconsin, used the growing concern over communism to advance his political career. In a speech in 1950, he claimed to have a list of 205 Communists who were working for the state Department. As the press publicized this sensational, though unproven, accusation, McCarthy became one of the most powerful leaders in America.

McCarthy’s Tactics: Senator McCarthy used a steady stream of unsupported accusations about Communists in government to keep the media focus on himself and to discredit the Truman administration. Working-class Americans at first loved his “take the gloves off” hard-hitting remarks, which were often aimed at the wealthy and privileged society. While many Republicans disliked McCarthy’s ruthless tactics, he was primarily hitting the Democrats before the election of Eisenhower to the presidency in 1952. He became so popular, however, that even Eisenhower would not dare to defend his old friend, George Marshall, against McCarthy’s untruths.

Army-McCarthy Hearings: In 1954, McCarthy’s “reckless cruelty” was finally exposed on television. A Senate committee held televised hearings on Communist infiltration in the army, and McCarthy was seen as a bully by millions of viewers. In December, Republicans joined Democrats in a Senate censure of McCarthy. The “witch hunt” for Communists (McCarthyism) had played itself out.

8.4- Economy after 1945

Postwar Economy

President Harry S. Truman was thrust into the presidency after Franklin Roosevelt‘s death in April 1945, Truman matured into a decisive leader whose basic honesty and unpretentious style appealed to average citizens. He attempted to continue the New Deal economic policies of his predecessor but faced growing conservative opposition.

Employment Act of 1946: In September 1945, in the same week that Japan formally surrendered, Truman urged Congress to enact a series of progressive measures. Among these were national health insurance, an increase in minimum wage, and a government commitment to maintaining full employment. After much debate, a watered-down version of the full employment bill was enacted as the Employment Act of 1946. It created the Council of Economic Advisers to advise the president and Congress on means of promoting national economic welfare. Over the next seven years, a coalition of Republicans and conservative Southern Democrats, combined with the beginning of the Cold War, hindered passage of Truman’s domestic program.

GI Bill—Help for Veterans: The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, popularly known as the GI Bill of Rights, proved powerful support during the transition of 15 million veterans to a peacetime economy. It helped more than 2 million GIs attend college and more than 5 million more receive other training, creating a postwar boom in post-high school education. The veterans also received more than $16 billion in low-interest, government-backed loans to buy homes and farms and to start businesses. By focusing on a better-educated workforce and also promoting new construction, the federal government stimulated the postwar economic expansion.

Baby Boom: One sign of the confidence among young people was an explosion in marriages and births. Earlier marriages and larger families resulted in 50 million babies entering the U.S. population between 1945 and 1960. As the baby boom generation gradually passed from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, it profoundly affected the nation’s social institutions and economic life in the last half of the 20th century. Initially, the baby boom tended to focus women’s attention on raising children and homemaking. Nevertheless, the trend of more women in the workplace continued. By 1960, one-third of all married women worked outside the home.

Suburban Growth: The high demand for housing after the war resulted in a construction boom. William J. Levitt led in the development of postwar suburbia with his building and promotion of Levittown, a project of 17,000 mass-produced, low-priced family homes on Long Island, New York. Low interest rates on mortgages that were both government insured and tax deductible made the move from city to suburb affordable for even families of modest means. In a single generation, the majority of middle-class Americans became suburbanites.

Rise of the Sun Belt: Uprooted by the war, millions of Americans moved more frequently in the postwar era. A warmer climate, lower taxes, and economic opportunities in defense-related industries attracted many GIs and their families to the Sun Belt states from Florida to California. By transferring tax dollars from the Northeast and Midwest to the South and West, military spending during the Cold War helped finance the shift of industry, people, and ultimately political power from one region to the other.

Inflation and Strikes: Truman urged Congress to continue the price controls of wartime in order to hold inflation in check. Instead, Southern Democrats joined with Republicans to relax the controls of the Office of Price Administration. The result was an inflation rate of almost 25 percent during the first year and a half of peace. Workers and unions wanted wages to catch up after years of wage controls. More than 4.5 million workers went on strike in 1946. Strikes by railroad and mine workers threatened the national safety. Truman took a tough approach to this challenge, seizing the mines and using soldiers to keep them operating until the United Mine Workers finally called off its strike.

Truman versus the Republican Congress

Twenty-Second Amendment (1951): Reacting against the election of Roosevelt as president four times, the Republican-dominated Congress proposed a constitutional amendment to limit a president to a maximum of two full terms in office. The 22nd Amendment was ratified by the states in 1951.

Taft-Hartley Act (1947): In 1947, Congress passed the pro business Taft-Hartley Act. Truman vetoed the measure as a “slave-labor” bill, but Congress overrode his veto. The one purpose of the Republican-sponsored law was to check the growing power of unions. Its provisions included the following:

• outlawing the closed shop (requiring workers to join a union before being hired)

• permitting states to pass “right to work” laws outlawing the union shop (requiring workers to join a union after being hired)

• outlawing secondary boycotts (the practice of several unions supporting a striking union by joining a boycott of a company’s products)

• giving the president the power to invoke an 80-day cooling-off period before a strike endangering the national safety could be called

For years afterward, unions sought unsuccessfully to repeal the Taft-Hartley Act. The act became a major issue dividing Republicans and Democrats in the 1950s.

The Election of 1948: Truman’s popularity was at a low point as the 1948 presidential campaign began. Republicans were confident of victory, especially after both a liberal faction (Progressive Party) and a conservative faction (Dixiecrats) in the Democratic Party abandoned Truman to organize their own third parties. The Republicans once again nominated New York governor Thomas E. Dewey. Meanwhile, the man without a chance toured the nation by rail, attacking the “do-nothing” Republican 80th Congress with “give ‘em hell” speeches. The feisty Truman confounded the polling experts with a decisive victory over Dewey, wining the popular vote by 2 million votes and winning the electoral vote 303 to 189.

The Fair Deal: Truman launched an ambitious reform program, which he called the Fair Deal. In 1949, he urged Congress to enact national health insurance, federal aid to education, civil rights legislation, funds for public housing, and a new farm program. Conservatives in Congress blocked most of the proposed reforms, except for an increase in the minimum wage (from 40 to 75 cents an hour) and the inclusion of more workers under Social Security. Most of the Fair Deal bills were defeated for two reasons: (1) Truman’s political conflicts with Congress, and (2) the pressing foreign policy concerns of the Cold War. Nevertheless, liberal defenders of Truman praised him for at least maintaining the New Deal reforms of his predecessor and making civil rights part of the liberal agenda.

Eisenhower in the White House (1952-1961)

Much as Franklin Roosevelt dominated the 1930s, President Dwight D. Eisenhower personified the 1950s. The Republican campaign slogan, “I Like Ike”, expressed the genuine feelings of millions of middle-class Americans. They liked his winning smile and trusted and admired the former general who had successfully commanded Allied forces in Europe in WWII.

The Election of 1952: The last year of Truman’s presidency, Americans were looking for relief from the Korean War and an end to “the mess in Washington.” Republicans looked forward with relish to their first presidential victory in 20 years, and nominated the leader of allied forces in Europe, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Senator Richard Nixon of California as his running mate. The Democrats selected popular Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson, who confronted McCarthyism. Eisenhower’s pledge to go to Korea and end the war helped the Republicans win 55 percent of the popular vote and an Electoral College landslide of 442 to Stevenson’s 89. As president, Eisenhower adopted a style of leadership that emphasized the delegation of authority. He filled his cabinet with successful corporate executives who gave his administration a businesslike tone. His secretary of defense, for example, was Charles Wilson, the former head of General Motors. Eisenhower was often criticized by the press for spending too much time golfing and fishing and perhaps entrusting important decisions to others. However, later research showed that behind the scenes Eisenhower was in charge.

Modern Republicanism: Eisenhower was a fiscal conservative whose first priority was balancing the budget after years of deficit spending. Although his annual budgets were not always balanced, he came closer to curbing federal spending than any of his successors. As a moderate on domestic issues, he accepted most of the New Deal programs as a reality of modern life and even expanded some of them. During Eisenhower’s two terms in office, Social Security was extended to 10 million more citizens, the minimum wage was raised, and additional public housing was built. In 1953, Eisenhower consolidated welfare programs by creating the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) under Oveta Culp Hobby, the first woman in a Republican cabinet. For farmers, a soil-bank program was initiated as means of reducing farm production and thereby increasing farm income. On the other hand, Eisenhower opposed the ideas of federal health insurance and federal aid to education. As the first Republican president since Hoover, Eisenhower called his balanced and moderate approach “modern Republicanism.” His critics called it “the bland leading the bland.”

Interstate Highway System: The most permanent physical legacy of the Eisenhower years was the passage in 1956 of the Highway Act, which authorized the construction of 42,000 miles of interstate highways linking all the nation’s major cities. When completed, the U.S. highway system became a model for the rest of the world. The justification for new taxes on fuel, tires, and vehicles was to improve national defense by facilitating movements of troops and weapons. At the same time, this immense public works project created jobs, promoted the trucking industry, accelerated the growth of the suburbs, and contributed to a more homogeneous national culture. The emphasis on cars, trucks, and highways, however, hurt railroads and the environment. Little attention was paid to public transportation, on which the old and poor depended.

Prosperity: Eisenhower’s domestic legislation was modest. During his years in office, however, the country enjoyed a steady economic growth rate, with an inflation rate averaging a negligible 1.5 percent. Although the federal budget had a small surplus only three times in eight years, the deficits fell in relation to the national wealth. Between 1945 and 1960, the per-capita disposable income of Americans more than tripled. By the mid-1950s, the average American family had twice the real income of a comparable family during the boom years of the 1920s. The postwar economy gave Americans the highest standard of living in the world. For these reasons, some historians rare Eisenhower’s economic policies the most successful of any modern president’s.

Economy under the Democrats (1961-1969)

At 43, John F. Kennedy was the youngest candidate ever elected president. He was also the first Roman Catholic to serve in the White, winning despite fears among some Protestants that he would take directions from the pope. Kennedy’s energy and sharp wit gave a new, personal style to the presidency. In his inaugural address, Kennedy spoke of “the torch being passed to a new generation” and promised to lead the nation into a “New Frontier.” The Democratic president surrounded himself with both business executives such as Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and academics such as economist John Kenneth Galbraith. For the sensitive position of attorney general, the president chose his younger brother, Robert.

New Frontier Programs: The promises of the New Frontier proved difficult to keep. Kennedy called for aid to education, federal support of health care, urban renewal, and civil rights, but his domestic programs languished in Congress. While few of Kennedy’s proposals became law during his thousand-day administration, most were passed later under President Johnson. On economic issues, Kennedy had some success. He persuaded Congress to pass the Trade Expansion Act (1962), which authorized tariff reductions with the new European Economic Community of Western European nations. He faced down big steel executives over a price increase he charged was inflationary an achieved a price rollback. In addition, the economy was stimulated by increased spending for defense and space exploration as the president committed the nation to land on the moon by the end of the decade.

Johnson‘s Domestic Reforms: Upon Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became president. Johnson knew how to pass legislation from his years in the House and Senate. He aggressively promoted the domestic programs that Kennedy had failed to get through Congress. Shortly after taking office, Johnson persuaded Congress to pass (1) an expanded version of Kennedy’s civil rights bill, and (2) Kennedy’s proposal for an income tax cut. The latter measure sparked an increase in consumer spending and jobs. The country enjoyed a long period of economic expansion in the 1960s.

Nixon’s Domestic Policy

The election of Richard Nixon in 1968 and 1972 gave the Republicans control of the White House. However, the Democrats continued to hold majorities in both houses of Congress. The Republican president had to live with this reality and obtain some concessions from Congress through moderation and compromise. At the same time, Nixon laid the foundation for a shift in public opinion toward conservatism and for Republican gains that would challenge and overthrow the Democratic control of Congress in the 1980s and 1990s.

The New Federalism

Nixon tried to slow down the growth of Johnson's Great Society programs by proposing the Family Assistance Plan, which would have replaced welfare by providing a guaranteed annual income for working Americans. The Democratic majority in Congress easily defeated this initiative. The Republican president did succeed, however, in shifting some responsibility for social programs from the federal to the state and local levels. In a program known as revenue sharing, or the New Federalism, Congress gave local governments $30 billion in block grants over five years to address local needs as they saw fit (instead of using federal money according to priorities set in Washington). Republicans hoped revenue sharing would check the growth of the federal government and return responsibility to the states, where it had rested before the New Deal. Nixon attempted to bypass Congress by impounding (not spending) funds appropriated for social programs. Democrats protested that such action was an abuse of executive powers. The courts agreed with the president's critics, arguing that it was a president's duty to carry out the laws of Congress, whether or not the president agreed with them.

Nixon’s Economic Policies

Starting with a recession in 1970, the U.S. economy throughout the 1970s faced the unusual combination of economic slowdown and high inflation-a condition referred to as stagflation (stagnation plus inflation). To slow inflation, Nixon at first tried to cut federal spending. However, when this policy contributed to a recession and unemployment, he adopted Keynesian economics and deficit spending so as not to alienate middle-class and blue-collar Americans. In August 1971, he surprised the nation by imposing a 90-day wage and price freeze. Next, he took the dollar off the gold standard, which helped to devalue it relative to foreign currencies, and imposed a IO-percent surtax on all imports. These actions cost consumers, but they made goods produced in the United States more competitive with those made in other countries. By the election year of 1972, the recession was over. Also in that year, Congress approved automatic increases for Social Security benefits based on the annual rise in the cost of living. This measure protected seniors, the poor, and the disabled from the worst effects of inflation but also contributed to increasing costs for these programs in the future.

Ford and Carter Inflation

In the 1970s, the biggest economic issue was the growing inflation rate. President Gerald Ford (1974-1977) urged voluntary measures on the part of businesses and consumers to fight inflation by minimizing price and wage increases, including the wearing of WIN (Whip Inflation Now) buttons. Not only did inflation continue, but the economy also sank deeper into recession, with the unemployment rate reaching more than 9 percent. Ford finally agreed to a Democratic package to stimulate the economy, but he vetoed most other Democratic bills. At first President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) tried to check inflation with measures aimed at conserving energy, particularly oil, and reviving the U.S. coal industry. However, the compromises that came out of Congress failed to reduce the consumption of oil or to check inflation. In 1979-1980, inflation seemed completely out of control and reached the unheard-of rate of 13 percent.

Troubled Economy: Inflation slowed economic growth as consumers and businesses could no longer afford the high interest rates that came with high prices. Inflation also pushed middle-class taxpayers into higher tax brackets, which led to a "taxpayers' revolt." Government social programs that were indexed to the inflation rate helped to push the federal deficit to nearly $60 billion in 1980. The chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Paul Volcker, believed thatbreaking the back of inflation was more importantthan reducing unemployment. Under him, the Federal Reserve pushed interest rates on loans even higher, to 20 percent in 1980. The high interest rates especially hurt the automobile and building industries, which laid off tens of thousands of workers. The policy, though, worked to reduce inflation. By 1982, inflation was under 4 percent.

The Economic Shift in the 1970s: The period f high inflation, high interest rates, and high unemployment in the 1970s changed how many Americans viewed the economy. The postwar economy of the 1940s and 1950s had benefited from a booming private sector, strong unions, high federal spending, the baby boom, and technological developments. However, the economic recovery of Japan, Germany, and other war-torn nations challenged the U.S. position as the strongest economy in the world. Less-expensive and often better-built automobiles and other consumer products from newer overseas factories competed successfully with American-made products. In addition, new technology required fewer workers. The combination of competition and technology undercut the high-paying manufacturing jobs that had expanded the middle class in the 1950s and early 1960s.

8.5- Culture after 1945

Television, Advertising, Paperbacks, and Records: In the late 1940s, television became a center of family life in American homes. By 1961, there was one set for every 3.3 Americans. In all the media, aggressive advertising by name brands promoted common material wants, and the introduction of suburban shopping centers and plastic credit cards in the 1950s provided a quick means to satisfy them. Paperback books, an innovation of the 1950s, were selling almost a million copies a day by 1960. Popular music was also revolutionized by the mass marketing of inexpensive long-playing record albums.

Corporate America: For the first time in history, more American workers held white-collar jobs than blue-collar jobs. People believed that organizations could make better decisions than individuals, and thus serving an organization became preferable to developing one’s individual creativity. Big unions became more powerful after the merger of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations into the AFL-CIO in 1955. They also became more conservative as blue-collar workers began to enjoy middle-class incomes.

Women’s Roles

The baby boom and running a home in the suburbs made homemaking a full-time job for millions of women. The traditional view of a woman’s role was reaffirmed in the mass media. At the same time, evidence of dissatisfaction was growing, especially among well-educated women of the middle class. More married women entered the workforce, especially as they reached middle age.

Social Critics

Not everybody approved of the social trends of the 1950s. Many people criticized conformity and the failure of the wealthy to address the need for increased social spending for the common good.

Beatniks: A group of rebellious writers and intellectuals made up the Beat Generation of the 1950s. Led by Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsburg, the beatniks advocated spontaneity, use of drugs, and rebellion against societal standards.

8.6- Early Steps in the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1960

Origins of the Movement

President Truman established the Committee on Civil Rights in 1946 and strengthened the civil rights of the Justice Department. In 1948, he ordered the end of racial discrimination throughout the federal government, including the armed forces.

Desegregating the Schools and Public Places

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) had been working through the courts for decades trying to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson.

Brown Decision: In the early 1950s, a team of NAACP lawyers led by Thurgood Marshall argued that segregation of Black children in public schools was unconstitutional in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. It was argued that the segregation violated the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of “equal protection of the laws.” In 1954, the Supreme Court agreed with Marshall and overturned the Plessy decision. Chief Justice Earl Warren ruled that (1) separate facilities are inherently unequal” and hence unconstitutional, and (2) school segregation should end with “all deliberate speed.”

Resistance in the South: 101 members of Congress who opposed the Brown decision signed the “Southern Manifesto” condemning the Supreme Court for a “clear abuse of judicial power.” Southern states fought the decision by temporarily closing public schools and opening private schools. The Ku Klux Klan made a comeback, and violence against African Americans increased.

In Arkansas in 1956, when a federal court ordered desegregation, Governor Orval Faunus used the state’s National Guard to prevent nine African Americans students from entering Little Rock Central High School. President Eisenhower then intervened by ordering federal troops to stand guard in Little Rock and protect Black students.

Montgomery Bus Boycott: In 1955, Rosa Parks, an active member of the local chapter of the NAACP, refused to give up her seat on the bus to a White person. The police were called and arrested her for violating the segregation law. This sparked a massive African America protest in the form of a boycott of the city buses. MLK, minister of a Montgomery Baptist church, soon emerged as the inspirational leader of a nonviolent movement to end segregation. The protest and the Montgomery bus boycott resulted in the Supreme Court ruling that segregation laws were unconstitutional.

Nonviolent Protests: In 1957, MLK formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which organized ministers and churches in the South to get behind the civil rights struggle. In February 1960, college students in Greensboro, NC, started the sit-in movement after being refused service at a Whites-only lunch counter. Within a few months, young activists organized the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to promote voting rights and end segregation.

Federal Laws: In 1957 and 1960, President Eisenhower signed civil rights laws. They were modest in scope, providing for a permanent Civil Rights Commission and giving the Justice Department new powers to protect the voting rights of African Americans. Despite this legislation, southern officials still used an arsenal of obstructive tactics to discourage black citizens from voting.

8.7- America as a World Power

Unrest in the “Third World”

Between 1947 and 1960, many former subjects of European empires started to become new nations. These developing nations became now as the “Third World”. They lacked stable political and economic institutions. Their need for foreign aid from either the U.S. or Soviet Union made them pawns of the Cold War.

Foreign Aid: The U.S’s primary tool to win over the developing nations during the Cold War was foreign aid. Most U.S. foreign aid went to European nations, but by 1960, 90 percent of it went to Third World nations. However. despite foreign aid many recipients, such as India and Egypt refused to choose sides in the Cold War and followed a policy of nonalignment.

The Middle East

8.8- The Vietnam War

8.9- The Great Society

8.10- The African American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s

The civil rights movement gained momentum during the Kennedy and Johnson presidencies. A very close election in 1960 influenced President Kennedy not to press the issue of civil rights lest he alienate White voters.

8.11- The Civil Rights Movement Expands

Women’s Movement

The Feminine Mystique- encouraged middle-class women to seek fulfillment in professional careers in addition to filling the roles of wife, mother, and homemaker.

National Organization for Women (NOW): adopted tactics of other civil rights movements to secure equal treatment of women

Title IX: ended sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funding

Equal Rights Amendment- proposed constitutional amendment that the equality of rights should not be denied. NOW and other groups campaigned to pass the ERA, it missed ratification

Latino Americans

Cesar Chavez-

8.12- Youth Culture of the 1960s

8.13- The Environment and Natural Resources from 1968 to 1980

8.14- Society in Transition