Kenneth Kang
Crash, Depression, and New Deal
Roosevelt, Franklin suffered the loss of his legs and this made Elenor Roosevelt much more active in the political scene. His mother tried to make Franklin a permanent invalid, but shy Eleanor resisted and had to take a more public role. Franklin dominated politcs between 1933 and 1945 making the New Deal which was a series of laws and agencies.
Black Thursday occured when there was a sharp rise in stock prices and speculation saw everyone getting involved. Money supply increased and businesses fed the flame and finally the Fed acted and on October 24, 1929, Black Thursday came. Stocks became worthless. The economy began some recovery but had worse problems.
The onset of depression occured because there were the economic problems of a luxuries upper class and overproduction. The Fed also shrank the money supply too quickly to allow a good recovery. Everyone and everything dropped in price and got screwed.
The depression took a human toll of idle job seekers. Farms closed and families were starving. There started some bad health problems that would surface later. Suicides increased.
Hoover responded by waiting and letting the depression go on. He created local public works projects as well as a wage and job freeze amonge the major industries with a National Credit Corporation to bail out small banks. It didn't help the situation. He went further and setup the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to bail out large banks and loaned out the country's gold reserve. He made a public works bill and blamed the Europeans for the depression.
Mounting discontent and protests saw a Hoover that was stubborn and not helping people. There was general disorder in Washington as veterans wanted to get some cash.
The election of 1932 dethroned Hoover and supported the democrates who wanted to hand money and help the farmers. He insulted Hoover's experimentation and he didn't name his specifics.
Digression: Mason City Confronts the Depression
Tons of railroads converged on this city and farmers shipped stuff from here. They had their developers and high land prices. Some farmers tried to band together to limit production.
The Congress passed tons of stuff aimed at industrial recovery, agricultural recovery, and short-term relief for the jobless. The eighteenth amendment was repealed and they focused on depression fighting. FDR focused on duplicating his govenor programs on the national scale. He had his advisors and wife and supporters all in on the job.
The first hundred days saw the four day shut down of banks and the formation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Those aided the jobless and put trust back into the banks. There was the Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) and the Farm Credit Adminstration which prevented foreclosures. He handed money to state and local governments to help their treasuries so that they could help their consitutants. He also revitalized local agencies to help the masses. He paid to have livestock slaughtered to drive prices back up. Immunity from anti-trust laws were given to help industries. They formed the NRA, National Recovery Administration, which functioned like the WIB, War Industries Board. They asserted control over stocks.
NRA bogged down as regulations disturbed the corporate structure. The Supreme court shut it down as unconstitutionally reallocating powers and regulating intrastate trade.
Agriculture was a success, well kinda because the migrant workers didn't get anything. The workers tried to form a union but landowners swashed the unions. There was too much weather problems.
There was debate over the short term relief. The local agencies weren't fast enough. There was the PWA (public works agencies) which were painfully reviewed by Ickes, Harold. Hopkins, Harry wanted faster efforts and won.
Roosevelt was popular and had his "family" in his radio fireside chats. He always was upbeat and sold his programs.
There were the right wingers who said FDR was a socialist and didn't like him at all. There was also Townsend, Francis E. who wanted FDR to give all elderly $200 a month which had to be spent which would stimulate the economy and free up jobs. There was also the Share Our Wealth where there would be a 100% income tax for incomes over $1 million. Still FDRs programs didn't kill the recession.
The Second New Deal involved reorganized federal programs for the jobless, assistance to the rural poor. support for organized labor, social-welfare benefits for older Americans and other disadvantaged groups, stricter business regulation, and heavier taxes on the well-to-do. This involved the Works Progress Administration (WPA) funded by the Emergency Relief Appropration Act of 1935 which gave Roosevelt some play money. WPA put many people to work in tons of projects like the Federal Writers' Project which collected Civil War stories and state and ethnic histories and guides. There was the Federal Theater Project which gave more popular culture to the masses. There was finally the Public Works Administration which made bridges, roads, buildings, and tunnels. This made a nice deficit.
Turning to the left, the second new deal swung to aid the poor instead of everyone. They regulated farm prices in the Agricultural Adjustment Act and electrified the rural farms with the Rural Electrification Administration. FDR permitted closed shops where all employees must be unionized. They also made the payroll-withholding social security taxes. They finally passed the Revenue Act which raised taxes of the rich. The election of 1936 was great for FDR as unemployment was going down, he swept the election against Landon.
FDR expanded Democratic support. He kept all of the strongholds of the south and the machines but he added mid western farmers, unionized wokers, northern blacks, urban immmigrants, and women. He got some businnesses who benefited as New Deal equipment suppliers. Blacks were still discriminated by the organizations and by the legislators which filibusted anti-lynching bills. FDR made the Supreme Court an non-discriminatory body. Elenor Roosevelt stood as a non-discrimination integration person who sat between the Jim Crow law dictated segregation and brought a Marian Anderson to the Lincoln Memorial. FDR also worked to get women involved and campaigned to them and also pushed the benefits of his programs. He did appoint them to judges, cabinet, and ambassador posts.
The New Deal was also partially enviromentalist. Roosevelt liked the outdoors and owned his own tree farms. He really liked the CCC which planted trees and built trails. Soil Conservation in the Midwest and South too root to save from bad dust storms and erosion. They got the Taylor Grazing Act which limited grazing on Federal lands. Wildlife conservation also came about.
FDR started to battle the Supreme Court. He got a new bill to appoint a justice for everyone over 70. The bill was left to die but the Court listened and started to retire and uphold New Deal measures.
There was arecession in 1937 as a result of payroll withholding social security and the cutback of the WPA and PWA programs. They pushed money back into the programs rather than follow FDRs wait and see attitude.
The New Deal slowed as less reforms were being passed. There was the Farm Security Administration which made low-interest loans and got people their own farms. There was a minimum wage established as well as more use of the federal warehouses. The conservatives started attacking the president. By the midterm election, the anti-New Dealers took a hold and FDR declared the New Deal over in the 1939 State of the Union address.
Not all the New Deal programs succeded but a lot of the were passed. Business finally wasn't dominating the act and started to advocate the poor. The president had more power as a result. FDR was experimenting to save the nation once again. He was an optimist.
"Arsenal of Democracy" (1937-1941) Adolf Hitler revived a war economy in Germany. The US just focused on the economic crisis. There was a media image of the rich ideal and people hoped that the Depression was over. The West benefitted from New Deal. In 1937, FDR cut back and the economy crashed again. States, counties, and towns passed vagrancy laws which hold people out. There were photographers which documented the plight of the vagrant workers. In 1938, FDR restored aid and people started to look at Germany. World's Fairs opened in New York and Treasure Island, California. John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath was a hit. Elanor Roosevelt took a fact finding trip. Germany invaded Poland and WWII began. People woke up and didn't like the Japanese. Britain got bombed but the US didn't do anything. Worrying over being dragged into the war, people opposed FDRs war aid to Britain.
People got work and started support the president. Blacks still were discriminated and fought to work. Blacks scheduled a march on Washington. FDR backed down and he made an executive order that banned discrimination. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and Japanese Americans, including citizens, were interned. People didn't proteest because they wanted to be patriotic. People came from all over to California even people who didn't read.
Class: Issues of isolationism existed in the United States as they didn't want to be in another major war. They regretted the war and had done it for economic reasons and propaganda. The treaty ending WWI was too harsh on Germany. They made the Neutrality Laws to keep the US safe (1935-37). An amendment was cash and carry where the countries could come and pay and take some goods at a US port (1939). Neutrality was screwed because of lend-lease (Jan 1941) and the fall of France (May 1940). This was a slow process.
American Life in a Decade of Crisis at Home and Abroad
There was a United Auto Workers (UAW) strike where the police tried to stop it but there was just too many people and the UAW won.
The American People in the Depression Decade
There was a large human toll to this randomly striking economic storm. The jobless rate was 14% and people were employed below the skill level. Kids stayed in school rather than getting jobs.
The depression started with few workers being unionized but unions started everywhere. There was the CIO (Committee for Industrial Organization which got all workers. US Steel gave up anti-union measures and the Steel Workers Organizing Committee was formed. There was the Flint Strike at the GM body plants where the workers guarded company property and their wives setup kitchens and spoke out in picket lines. GM didn't like this but finally they recognized the UAW. Ford and Republic Steel Company resisted unions. Textile industries also manages to stifle unions. There was much violence when there were destructive strikes.
There still was anti-female hiring. People felt that women shouldn't work with so many men out of work. Wage discrimination and married women were shunned. They also tried to unionize.Women started to gain more work nonetheless.
Blacks, Hispanic-Americans, and Native Americans cope with hard times. Blacks weren't hired as long as there were white workers. There were lynchings and messed up justice. The NAACP fought for them and tried to boycott discriminatory places and get new legislation. There was the support of the Communist party too. Hispanic-Americans were cheap farm workers. There was discriminatory signs and many returned to Mexico. They tried to organize and unionize. The Native Americans were also important. The New Deal programs were extended into the reservations. They tried to stop the Dawes Act which slowly gave land to white settlers. They did get a bill passed where Reservations would revert to Indian tribes.
Family life and population trends were different as the depression changed lifestyles. The poor developed better emotional skills than the affluent. There were more missed marriages. There were smaller families and contraceptives were deemed okay. There was a breaking of the social standards like the male breadwinner and the birthday gifts. Revival of old skills like canning, painting, and hunting, along with sharing helped the communites grow together.
Digression: The Los Angeles Barrio in the 1930s
There was free trains to Mexico. They came to the city still. Discriminated as a waste of relief funds, they were deported. Prejudice and welfare costs were united against the Mexican Americans. Eventually life was back to normal and there was Mexican music and food. Youth went for street life or to higher goals.
The American Cultural Scene in the Thirties
Despite the mass media there was other growth. The golden age of radio had finally arrived. There were tons of commedians and soaps. People found an escape and with good ratings, imitators followed.
The silver screen also went through changes. The industry had almost gone bankrupt and it came back. There were sympathizers to the New Deal and others who went to expose the modern criminals. It was an escape for 50% of the American population; they atttended weekly. There was the new technology of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the Wizard of Oz. It still stereotyped Blacks and Women although there were a few exceptions for females.
The literature of the early thirties was cynical and desparate. Authors like Passos, John Dos wrote workes which emphasized failure and fate. Some literature focused on the daily lives of the poeple and writers groups and contests were made to get worker/writers.
The later thirties was the time of the popular front and cultural nationalism. The Communists attacked the New Deal until the Fascists came. The Popular Front opposed the Fascists and this spawned Hemingway, Ernest's departure from the old in For Whom the Bells Tolls. The Popular Front died when Stalin made peace with the Nazi's. People abandoned their cynicism and went for positives. This included Steinbeck, John in The Grapes of Wrath and Saroyan, William, The Time of Your Life. There was the modernity of music with Gershwin, George in Porgy and Bess and there was an expansion of jazz everywhere including New York's Carnegie Hall. Regional literature started in the 1930s and included artists who sought self examination. People liked American things and that was cool. They liked their heritage and history.
The age of streamlining emphasized the new technology of flight. It helped the consumers trust the businesses again and people liked it. They looked to the future of the interstate highway system and nice looking home appliances.
Undercurrents of aprehension however persisted. There was the fiction radio broadcast of the War of the Worlds based on the novel by H. G. Wells. They had the story of aliens landing in Princeton N. J. who blasted everything in their paths. People drove off into the night and some attempted suicide. The whole nation stoped and people thought it was the Europeans who were in a mess. The world had already become scary.
The United States in a Meanacing World
FDR was not that hot about internatioal affairs. His secretary of state, Hull, Cordell, wanted international free trade. FDR pounced his plans. He did however affect the Latin American nations. He adoped the Good Neighbor policy which prevented the US from intervening. This got rid of Dominican Republic occupation and a freer Canal Zone in Panama. It also lead to the subtle financial and undercover operations which overthrew the revolutionary Martin, Grau San in Cuba.
The rise of fascism in Europe and Asia was seen in Germany and Italy. Hitler took advantage of run away inflation and a seemingly inactive government. He crushed opposition and stuff that was "un-German." Germany took Austria and Italy took Ethiopia but they were defeated in the Olympics where black American Boxer, Louis, Joe, knocked out a germany and Owens, Jesse got 4 golds and tied 3 world records in track. The reach for Sudetenland, Czech Republic, ended in appeasement. Japan also joined in.
People didn't want war or the old brainwashing propaganda. They thought they were protected by the oceans. The businessmen were accused of causing the war. The Neutrality Acts were passed in 1937 to prevent a WWI like coercion into the war. There was the Ludlow amendment which tried to make any declaration of war require a national referendum except for direct attacks.
Americans initially liked Mussolini as a good man who made the Italian penisula really smooth running. They mocked the moustache of Hitler, the stiff salutes and the marching. The Popular Front immediately opposed it as did the librarians. FDR followed the public and talked with leaders to find better ways. They felt more threated by Japan. They knew from business ties, missionaries, and the open door policy that they would lose money so they hand waved at Japan and boycotted Japanese goods.
Nazi troops entered Czechoslovakia and with a treaty with Russia, Poland. The US started to seriously worry and people promoted stopping the war. FDR sent a letter of demands that the Axis powers stop invading, but Hitler laughed and FDR asked for war money.
The Jews were stripped of rights and require to register everything. They had a fine imposed and they were terrorized. Hitler had his final solution up his sleave and 60,000 came to the US. There was tons of talent that came here too. The immigration was small because Congress refused to open the immigration laws.
The St. Louis, carrying Jews was turned back from Florida by the US. It started with the stock market crash and lead to better products and slowly new media developed. The world had a shadow on it.
Class: American Homefront During WWII
The war was percieved as good by many Americans who were shocked at the attack at Pearl Harbor. They lost a lot of lives but not as much as the Europeans. America again became the land of opportunity and family structures changed a lot.
The German and Japanese aggression would not go unoiteced, but the Americans didn't want to get drawn into another war. Hitler took Poland and France and Britain joined with Polan. The US took the Neutrality Acts which prevented aid. FDR later modified this to allow cash and carry by war parties, like the British. Germany took France, Denmark, Norway, and the Low Countries.
In 1940, FDR ran for a third term and he played the concerned polititian. He made a peacetime draft and increase in defense spending. He appointed some GOP (Republican) people to his cabinet. People said he was getting to close to the war, but he said he needed to have "Fortress America."
They started to intervene more with the lend-lease policy which gave the president the power to loan war materials to any country vital to US security. The US started to help the British protect its convoys against the German submarines. Soon the Germans shot at, torpedoed, and sunk an American destroyer which made the US really mad and allowed all US ships to sink U-Boats on sight. He barely held the draft, so he could only keep a limited war.
The Americans needed time to build the two ocean navy. FDR tried to stall with Japan but there was very little US opposition to starting war with the Japanese. After deadlocked negotiations and the US started to embargo and Japan started to take French Indochina. The situation was tense on both sides and the Japanese used a premptive strike on the Pacfic Fleet to take Australia. The US declared war on Japan and thus by the various treaties, declared war on Italy and Germany.
The US was not ready to fight a war and the U-Boats had the Atlantic Coast. The US got pounced on in the Atlantic and the Pacific.
Roosevelt and the US were slowed down by political opponents and business hesitation. After Pearl Harbor, the President got more powers and everything was regulated and 15 million men and 350,000 women joined the services with the formation of the Air Force, Joint Cheifs of Staff and the Office of Strategic Services which spied and got the strength of the enemy.
Organizing for victory, The US made 60 thousand planes, 45000 tanks, 20000 anti-aircraft guns, 8 million tons of shipping and tons of other stuff in 1942. They formed the War Production Board, War Manpower Commission, National War Labor Board, Office of Price Administration, and the Office of War Mobilization. The Government converted civilian plants to make war supplies and synthetic rubber plants grew. The US had made 300000 military aircraft, 86000 tanks, 372000 artillery pieces, 2.6 million machine guns, and 6 million tons of aircraft bombs, 5000 cargo ships, and 86000 warships. This cost a lot and prefabrication allowed the manufactures one cargo ship a day and a warship in 2 weeks.
The war economy spent a lot of dollars but everyone got double the stuff. People were employed and the farmers were farming all of their land, especially when consolidating into big farms. Labor unions stuck together and bargained for paid vacation and other stuff while letting workers work overtime and allowing new minority workers. However, some wayward strikers forced FDR to make the Smith-Connally War Labor Disputes Act in 1943 which allowed FDR to seize any striking facillity if it was crucial to the war. War bond were gobbled up and prices were controlled by a price freeze.
The war had immense science and technology found by the Office of Scientific Research and Development. They used more DDT, pencillin, and quanine substitute Atabrine. They made radar, sonar, rockets, proximity fuses, pressurized cabins, high altitude sights and more. They made the atomic bomb.
Propaganda was made so that the people would feel motivated. There was the Office of Censorship which helped to regulate what if any secrets were being said. The media made the Axis seem like beasts. With the working class gone, Roosevelt had less of a base during the 1942 elections and thus they lost some seats and the Republicans got rid of the WPA and the CCC, however, debt still flowed in as the war continued and everyone was employed.
The military personnel called themselves GIs after Government Issue and thought they would be temporary. Finding themselves in foreign lands with Americans from all walks of life, GI's found themselves breaking down the prejudices of past years. After the war the US Congress passed the GI bill which gave living expenses and educations to the veterans.
The new mobility caused people to move to war production centers like California. This caused people to become more accepting and somewhat more dysfunctional as a result of mixing.
Education and entertainment was greatly affected by the war. High schoolers dropped out in record numbers forcing colleges to take more women and to take in more military and government meddling. Entertainment boomed as the industry glorified war heroism and the days of peace. Non-fiction gained ground with historical fiction and accounts of the war. Time and other magazines fed the thirst for war information. Paperbacks became popularized by Pocket Books and GPO (Government Printing Office).
Women and the family became more involved in working. Women in the work force increased as well as union membership. They started working even when they were married and had children. They tended blast furnaces, riveted, drove taxis and more. Discrimination was still there, shown in the training videos that related work tasks to home tasks. The children, unattended, made juvenile deliquency rise.
African Americans sought to end discrimination at home with the war. Earlier in WWI they fell behind and followed the president. Now they wanted freedom so the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional, all white primaries. Blacks threatened Roosevelt to march on Washington so Roosevelt made an order that the military be integrated. The armed forces started some integration but many blacks remained in segregated units. Some fighting Black units gained distinction in Europe. Americans couldn't tolerate racism at home and this turned to violence. Americans became more sensetive to the race issue as well as the political parties.
Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and Jews worked during the war. Native Americans worked as communication officers and also as workers in war industries. They returned to reservations after the war because of discrimination only to find indian budgets cut. Mexico gave some employment but they were overused by the agribusinesses of the Southwest. They were discriminated and beaten in riots. Spanish speaking Americans were discriminated in the military. Jews were discriminated at home and there were quota systems in place. People knew about the death camps. The US placated the Palestine allies by not giving Israel yet.
The internment of Japanese-Americans was brought by years of prejudice and competition. They were rejected by the Supreme Court and they just went alog with it.
The Second World War, 1942-1944
The Americans became key in the 26 nation grand alliance. The allied drive in Europe started and the Soviets continued dying as the US and British soldiers took north African and Italy. The Atlantic became secure as sonar, radar, and other techniques were used. They started moving on the second front as the Soviets advanced quickly into Poland. They landed and managed to defeat the Germans.
The war in the Pacific started with Midway island where the US had an intelligence edge and won. They started on Guadalcanal which had suicidal resistance. They started a two pronged island hopping attack. Europe was a priority and Pacific forces increased slowly.
The Grand Alliance was only connected by the comon enemy. It was already fracturing as the allies wanted their own interests. They met in Tehran and discussed getting France, partitioning Germany, and getting reparations.
The election of 1944 was again a slide for Roosevelt. It was a personality contest.
Stalin had an edge as Japan was pesky and messy. The US got China to give some land to the Soviets. They all agreed at the Yalta Conference to join the United Nations. Soviets wanted to keep Poland and they agreed to have elections after the war.
Germany was defeated as the allies got it from both sides. The US held back so that the Soviets didn't get too tense. On May 2, Hitler suicided and Soviets took Berlin. On May 8, Germany surrendered. Americans celebrated and learned about the death camps, focused on the Pacific, and mourned for Roosevelt's death.
A new president, Truman took over. Roosevelt hadn't kept Truman updated and distrust with the Soviets made an all time low. Military power remained as the diplomats deadlocked.
The atomic bombs were key as Iwo Jima and Okinawa were taken with 50,000 and 75,000 casulties just to subdue resistance. Bombing had taken a toll on Japan, but with heavy resistance, taking the island would be too much. The US made the Potsdam Ultimatum with the Russians and dropped the atom bomb on August 6. The japanese surrended in August 14 after the second bomb blew on August 8. People now debated if the bombs were really necessary. Only after the bombs did the Japanese government think of surrender. It was also a fact that the Soviets were another motivation. Every new technological innovation had been used.
Atomic bombs ended the most deadly war in history. Twenty five million civilians and 14 million soldiers had died. The US was untouched but much of the world had been destroyed. The war had speed the economy and given the president tons of power. Technology had played a big part in the war and promised to provide better lives.
People went to Detroit to make a better living. They were blocked by the Real Estate Association from getting a good home. They started to vote and children attended school. Eventually a riot began and the National Guard came in. The US government refused to take a stand on the issues.
Truman took a world of trouble with the atomic age. He faces returning GI's who were having babies and settling on a good life. Republicans and Soviets started splitting. The US started building the military as the formerly isolationist Russia had a military and alliances. Americans fought the cold war by extending American reaches of power and fighting "traitors" at home.
Truman was little known and he wasn't really supported by any people. He wasn't a New Dealer and didn't want experiments to go on.
Demobilization and reconversion were at the top of the docket. Tons of GI's were comming home. There was a reduction from 15 million to 1.5 million in three years. Government contracts were cut and people lost jobs. Businesses, with new war technology and profits, reinvested in new machinery. With the world in ruin and little consumer goods, production went up and the economy boomed. Foreign countries pegged their currencies to the dollar in the Bretton Wood Agreement, 1944.
Truman faced certain troubles like labor unions and deregulation. Truman tried to get the Employment Act of 1946 but it was rejected as it retained the Fair Employment Practices Comission, minimym wage, social-security, anti-poll tax, federal education aid, and public housing. The OPA, price fixing thing, was killed by Truman as he vetoed the bill to curtail its power. This caused a jump in food prices which people din't like. He wrote a price control bill, but the suppliers threated to "starve" the voters and Truman backed down. He also faced the labor unions who striked everywhere. He wanted to draft all critical striking workers, but this set a chilling anti-labor tone.
The US and USSR abandoned their war time alliance and started to fear each other. The USSR wanted Poland as a buffer. They thought it was their "payment" and they messed on the Yalta conference. Truman didn't want to be a "weak" guy and started to try to get a foot on the post war settlement.
The Cold War began with Stalin's reaction to hard line Truman. Kennan, a Russian history person, advocated a strong policy. This stuck and was relatively foolish as it arroused suspicion. They wanted an English speaking anti-Russian aliance and the US tried to get the UN to kill the Russian nukes.
The European Crisis spawned the American Commitment. The Italians and Greeks had tons of communists and Europe was starving without fuel (1947). The Truman Doctrine was made as Truman said keep out to the Soviets. This started the Marshall Plan which gave aid to all European countries.
The Soviets responded by blocking off West Berlin. They wanted a communist Berlin. The US started an airlift and stationed deterent atomic bombs in England. They startd NATO in 1949. The Soviets set off an atomic bomb and made the Warsaw Pact.
The Cold War in Asia started with the US ruling Japan. Then the US used the Japanese mandated island as atomic test sites. China got US aid to fight the communists as well as Philippines. H-Bomb development also began and the anti-communist scare started with the fall of China and the Russian A-Bomb. They also approved an arms buildup.
The Korean War represented the Greece in Asia. There was initially the 38th parallel as the dividing line and the US intervened with UN approval. They got the land back after the DPRK had pushed to the Southern tip of the peninsula. The US got the go ahead to cross the 38th parallel and then China intervened. They settled to negotiate although they could have easily had war. The cease fire negotiations took two years and people died. The US also paid for French Indochina defense.
Digression: Los Angeles Confronts the Atomic Age
They started to make bomb shelters. There were tons of books and media material about bombs. They got fashion advice as well as funky cities and two radio channels. They had bomb shelter packs.
They loitered and took a look at the bomb damage. Truman thanks God for the bomb and not giving it to the enemies. They used virgin targets to study bomb damage. Bikini Atoll was evacuated with ease. They had propaganda against the communists. They want to win in Korea and use the atomic bomb. They started to hunt down spies.
The Truman Administration at Home
People were prospering and got tons of luxuries. The New Deal was being rolled back. The eightieth Congress passed the anti labor Taft Hartley Act (1947). They had to override Truman's veto to do so. Truman recognized Israel as soon as it was formed (1948).
The politics of civil rights was also brewing. The African American's didn't see the improvement as a result of the war. Southern whites wanted to keep their superior roles. The Soviets blasted us for our dilemma. The Democrats backed down from Truman's civil rights position.The democratic party was split entering the election of 1948. The Republicans ran Dewey but Truman swept the election anyway. Truman barred discrimination in federal employment. Truman enlarged the New Deal and went to economic security, housing, and conservation.
There was the Red Scare where the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) spoke accusations. It made everyone take oaths and change their habits.
They had found secret documents passing between the State Department and a navy officer. Truman started a program to root out subversives. This had safeguard but was reimplemented in states without the safeties. They forced people to resign without evidence.
Dissent and disloyalty lost meaning and Hollywood enacted bans of communist sympathizers. They prosecuted Communist party leaders.
Alger Hiss (1948) was accused of being an underground party member. He was a good person but Whittaker Chambers implicated him by showing microfilm copies of government documents. The Rosenbergs were sentenced to death for espionage of bomb secrets.
McCarthyism started really bad accusations which were supported by the GOP but opposed by the Democrats. People couldn't discuss some things because McCarthy would have their heads. The Congress passed the McCarren Internal Security Act (1950) which required "communist" organizations to register with the Department of Justice and the McCarren-Walter Immigration and Nationality Act (1952) which tightened immigration quotas.
Truman lost public support as the Election of 1952 approached. Eisenhower and Nixon ran against Stevenson, Democrat. The Republicans won because of all the hype about Commies and Stevenson's failure to separate Truman's fold.
There was tons of prosperity but there was the Cold War and repression. This era would change American lives for the rest of the century.
Russia US
-The Communist expansion threatened - Russia "retaliated" since it had
the United States and ignited the Cold taken so much war losses. The US didn't
War. make the second front.
-Agressive policies, Poland, - Fear of appeasement policy
Czechoslovakia
- Call for world revolution
- Russia's fear of encirclement, - Marshall Plan, Truman Doctrine, NATO,
buffer zone NSC-68
-CIA
- Nuclear policy, the military wanted
more and better weapons
Table 1: Cause of the Cold War Debate
It was a good time even though there was nuke paranoia. There was also an over idealizing by the media. Baby booms also changed the society.
The General as Chief Execuitive was a middle ground person who unified the parties. He tried to keep everything smooth. He was a good manager and wouldn't mess with the legislator or his cabinet member's duties. Taking many vacations, he was considered more of a slacker, but he had his ways.
"Dyanmic Conservatism" made a lot of liberal spending to prevent tons of depression. He vetoed the abolition of the Council of Economic Advisers. He balenced economic spending with people. Embarking on the Interstate Highway Act (1956), Eisenhower drove up suburbia and also made more pollution and cars.
The Downfall of Joseph McCarthy came as Eisenhower did the opposite of tighten restrictions. Giving him free reign, McCarthy started to accuse the State Department and soon the Army. Starting an investigation upon the Army's protest, they publicized McCarthy on TV and people didn't like his stupid tactics and he got screwed. However, there came the radical right who wanted to crush socialism.
The Warren Court was the name of the Supreme Court under Earl Warren, an Eisenhower appointee. He made the court liberal and revise Plessy v Ferguson. Eisenhower thought it was a mistake and the South made the null and void argument and they started the KKK again.
The Laws of the Land were upheld in the Little Rock Central High School Incident where the National Guard was keeping nine black students out. Eisenhower brought the Guard under federal command and protected the students. The high schools were shut down and forced by the courts to reopen. They also got the Civili Rights Act of 1960 which made it a bit easier for Blacks to vote.
Eisenhower tried to end the fighting and have a treaty in 1952. He however had to do other things. Only the threat of nukes ended the deadlock on the forcible POW exchange. The resolution didn't solve Korea's problems.
Ike had his advisor, Dulles who was dull and he invented brinksmanship where they would go to the brink of war which pleased the right. Eisenhower never used that tactic.
The UN and the US saw too much radioactivity from the atmosphereic tests so they started to control testing in 1955. For defense, tons of pacts were made and atomic bombs were mass produced.
The Clandestine CIA engineered the puppet government revolutions in Iran and Guatamal. Over three fourths of the CIA budget was used in covert actions. It became a weapon to weaken opponenets
Conflict in Vietnam was resolved by a Geneva convention. This divided the country at the 17th parallel until elections were held. The CIA was called because the country would have been communist. Propping up autocratic Catholic Diem, the CIA tried to keep Vietnam democratic.
Antiwesternism in the Middle East started with the Dulles' cancelation of a loan as a result of neutrality by Nassar's Egypt. Israel, Britain, and France attacked and the USSR threated bombs. This made Nassar a hero and the Europeans like brats. This made the Eisenhower doctrine where help would occur if they asked.
Frustrations Abroad increased when Fidel Castro took power in 1958. There was also a messy incident with the shooting down of a U-2 spy plane by the Russians.
The Eisenhower Legacy saw the dependence on military contracts. He didn't want too much military action, however, he did use the cover CIA.
Popular Image of the 1950s include cars and highways and diners, suburbia with nice track houses, Marilyn Monroe, plaid and conservative dress, Elvis Presley and teen culture, fast food and diners. TV shows included Leave it to Beaver, Fater Knows Best, and I Love Lucy. It was a golden age with house, family, cars, and money which fulfilled the American Dream.
Pro Con - large increase in consumption and - Age of conformity: end of radical home ownership: 60% have own homes reform or even liberalism - better than 1930s and 40s - Civil Rights - baby boom - 25% of Americans are in poverty - Ike: popular president, keeps peace - creation of inner cities and stability and sought the middle of - scare of nuclear war the road, accepts the New Deal - covert US operations: Iran Shah - - US allies with other countries and 1953; Guatamala - 1954; (Suez Canal - hiatus on Cold War 1956)
Table 2: Reality of the 1950s
People got tons of material goods. Therewas tons of production especially with the nuclear arms race and the R&D done by the federal government. They went all electric and gas dependent. The computers of WWII became better and they started to do more things. Transitors were invented. The government bought computers to count censuses and taxes and stuff. Concentration and Consolidation and Industry and Agriculture saw consolidation with broad casiting and other services. These were multinational monopolies. There was the formation of a management. Agriculture used tons of chemicals despite scientist warnings about DDT and stuff.
The AFL-CIO was joined in 1955. The improvement of working conditions halted the unions. People started to be viewed as middle class and not proletariat. Machines also took more jobs. Prosperity, Suburbanization, and Mobility included stuff like credit cards and cars. This made suburbia, car accidents, and fast food outlets with gas stations. Urban crime raged. Migration increased a lot. Some didn’t like the strict conformity of tract housing.
Digression: Levittown, U. S. A.
Abraham Levitt and his sons used WWII construction to create fast houses. Using unskilled “assembly line” labor, they could be made very quickly. They had regulations about the neighborhoods. People liked the small-town interaction. They tried to create a good community with parks and doctor’s offices. Urban tax base suffered.
People didn’t like the conformity and surface unity. They promoted ideals of a household with a mother and a father. There were a lot of children because of new improvements in disease fighting. Mothers retired to their mom’ing duties. Women were expected to have kids and a family and they completed educations to become assistants. Women continued to work, but they were still called girls.
Tons of educational schools were opened, but they were still inadequet in California. Colleges espoused silence and conformity. There were massive support for religion and evangelical furver took hold.
Books continued their dismal alienation and doubt themes. However, there was glorification of the “standard” American in the movies and television. Television grew fast and with the TV dinner in 1954, it became a centerpiece. It influenced the whole culture and at first there were tons of interesting shows but as time went on with the McCarthy era, conformity was established by profits and ratings.
People were shielded from the poverty with walled expressway. A whole fifth of the nation was in poverty and they didn’t get basic necessities as a set of clean clothes and food. They were in New York and the South and Southwest barrios. Low cost housing couldn’t be made and tax bases shrunk and cities were stuck. Civil liberties people began to try to reverse the Brown decision and boycotted buses (1955, Rosa Parks, Montgomery). There was much entrenchment and the Supreme Court affirm the lifiting of Brown.
The Hispanic and Native American populations had a lot of friction. There were illegal imigration and tons of crap as peopl were deported. They were excluede from America and the Native Americans were really poor. The Congress dissolved the reservations and made the relocation of the indians a new thing.
There was Cuba amd Krushchev who threatened the US downfall. Spunick was launched in 1957. They started the NASA organization and launched a Vanguard missile. There were tons of new science programs and federal aid to education increased. The youth started to rebel in war zones and gangs. Music and lyrics were targets as well as rock and roll. Change started with revolt against middle classes.
The 1950s ended with more disaccord and applauded Eisenhower. They still were against communism and started to have supremacy and confrontation.
WWII veterans register to vote. The Upper South between 1940-1947 it started to go up to 12%. The Lower south had really small amount of voters (1,500 in 500,000). The Fair Employment Practices Comission was a gain and got 200,000 (1946) employed in the government. There is a migration from the south to the north and a migration to urban cities. There was the development of mechanical cotton picker and just the social condition. The NAACP triples its membership during the 1930s and 40s. In 1946, African Americans get into legislatures. The United Negro College Fund is established in 1943 and CORE, Congress of Racial Equality, included both whites and blacks and they start having sit ins (1942). Both political parties pay more attention to the Black voters.
The NAACP challenges to the Supreme Court in 1938 that U of MO has to desegregate its law school. The period of 1945-55 was called the interim decade. This happens also in U of OK (1950). In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruled that separate but equal was not equal and overturns Plessy v. Ferguson. Thurgeed Marshall ran the case. This was under Earl Warren which advocated liberal change (1953-1969).
Blacks started their sit ins which broke discrimination. Investigations into the poor Blacks started. Johnson's Great Society and Kenedy's New Fronteir were rallying points until Vietnam.
JFK represented the new young people in America. He was impeded by his Catholic religion, but he had his dad's political connections with his upbeat spirit. The election of 1960 was a challenge because no Catholic had won the presidency. Nixon defended Eisenhower instead of setting out. Nixon was pale and messed up on his debate. The U-2 incident also helped Kennedy who won, barely.
"To Get America Moving Again" Kennedy got intellectuals involved. He made TC appearences and got artists and media involved. His domestic record didn't get the New Frontier due to Congressional roadblocks. He got more conventional and nuclear military along with special force and a cool man on the moon space program. He slowed inflation by threatening companies. He kept economic growth with large debts. There were more environmental issues that were neglected.
Kennedy and Civil Rights met half-way. The President danced around it so that he would not cause tensions within the US. He signed fluff measures. He helped CORE and James Meredith when there was violence.
The African American Revolution saw the brutailiy of Eugene Connor who would revulse Americans into supporting Civil Rights. Thus Kennedy did what the people wanted and made states desegregate. A reform bill was started but the anti-desegregation lobby went hard at it.
New Frontiers Abroad, 1960,1963
Nuclear power tripled to be flexible in all wars. He stopped communism by making the Peace Corps in 1961 which helped teach and build stuff in third world nations. Cold War Activism included the Bay of Pigs in 1961. The Soviets waved some hands at grabbing East Germany legally and then the US built up and shipped men over. The Soviets stalemated.
To the Brink of Nuclear War happened when US satellites saw missles in Cuba. JFK denounced the missle pads and setup a force from Florida to invade Cuba, a naval blockade and sent up the B-52s when Soviet ships came. Unknown to the US, there were 36 missles for launch with more 9 tactical weapons. These weapons were authorized to be launched by local commanders. JFK made the hot-line and they banned atmospheric and undersea testing.
Kennedy and Indochina saw escalation. He sent more weapons as Laos fell. South Vietnam's Diem didn't listen to his people and put down rebellions. He was later overthrown, but no new government could deal with the problems he faced. JFK had said to aid them with advisors and equipment but it was their war.
The Thousand-Day Presidency ended in 1963 when JFK was assasinated. The US stopped for four days. He followed his predecesors and didn't do things that well. He couldn't implement his New Frontier. He spent more on missles and space than on people and he helped reformers.
JBL had served in many national political posts. He handled the power transfer well and he got a good landslide victory in 1964. He passed tons of social legislation.
Toward the Great Society involved reducing the deficit and engaging in social programs and reducing taxes. He sought to give everyone knowledge and people could pursue their desires for happiness.
The Election of 1964 was a victory for LBJ even though he had fussed the consevatives. Barry Goldwater, the Republican candidate, supported abolition of the graduated income tax and desegregation and sending troops to Vietnam. There were tons of conservative groups. LBJ won.
Triumphant Liberalism involved 63 messages to enact social reform. The War on povery started medical insurance, urban development, support for all education, housing, transit, the arts, and the Department of Transportation. Conservation was also reflected. Depite all these programs, some of which lasted, LBJ got screwed in Vietnam, spending 20 times more money in that theater.
The Warren Court was very liberal. The right called for impeachment and the court ruled contraceptive bans unconstitutional and they said that people must be given attorneys and the arrested must have their rights read.
The Changing Struggle for Equality, 1964-1968
There was an end to legal discrimnation, but a lot of problems persisted. The Civil Rights Act of 1965 was a start fo LBJ. There was the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party which registered Black voters. LBJ gave them 2 at large seats. There was the televised Jim Clark, sheriff, beatings of black protestors. This made the Voting Rights Act, 1965 go through along with the 24th amendment which killed poll taxes.
The Long, Hot Summers had tons of riots. There was one in Los Angeles in 1965 and another in 1966 in many cities. National Guards were called in to help. More riots happend with the assassination of Dr. MLK Jr. in 1968. People thought this was the communist uprising and that Black were mad.
"Black Power" movement was lead by Malcolm X who wanted freedom by any means necessary. They vented frustration over the slow implementation of civil rights and got guns and formed the Black Panthers. They rallied behind Black pride.
Native Americans and Chicano Power were calls for cultural identity during the 1960s. The Native Americans drew up a Declaration of Purposes and marched to Washington to get assistence on the war on poverty. They started trying to get preferential hiring and tried to buy Alcatraz Island from the Federal government. They also started the American Indian Movement that patrolled their people to protect against police brutality. The Mexican Americans went behind César Chávez who used religion and nonviolence to help his people get better wages and working conditions. Young Mexican Americans went with the title Chicanos and they called for Chicano power so that they could control the schools to get better educations and jobs.
A Second Feminist Wave started during the 1960s after seeing the Black and antiwar demostrations. JFK established the Comission on the Status of Women and also stopped sexual discrimination for employment. Women for the National Organization for Women in 1966. They wanted to escape suburban domesticity. They started small discussion groups and they ditched "chick," "gal," and the Miss America Pagent. They got more credit and stopped Male and Female job listings.
The Lost Crusade in Vietnam, 1964-1968
LBJ needed to stay hard against the communists and expanded the limited war. The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was a reaction to the attack on US destroyers. This allowed any force to stop aggression on US forces.
Americanization started with bombing which did nothing to the conflict. He committed US troops to the battlefield. Almost a half a million troops were there in 1967.
Opposition to the War started in college campuses. The draft calls were opposed and people said it was a civil conflict. There were tons of antiwar agitators including MLK. People saw napalm and defoliating chemicals. The nation was split on this conflict.
JFK's time saw the possiblity of contaiment and killed segregation. Reform increased under LBJ but wasn't long term enough. Vitenam was really messy and people started getting angry.
Digression: Washington, D. C., in 1963
It was racially segregated and infested. They marched onto the capital with a quarter million people. MLK spoke then started his "I have a dream" speech. He made a political event into history, only to be killed in 5 years.
Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1965
The Montgomery Bus Boycott started when Rosa Parks didn't give her seat to a white. The Supreme Court outlawed segregation in Montgomery (1956). There is the formation of the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference).
Southern opposition to Brown involves massive resistance. Southern congressmen produced the "Southern Manifesto" in 1956 and blatantly stated non-adherance to Brown. The upper south begins the integration process which is very different from the response in the lower south. North Carolina was only 0.026%.
The second stage of the civil rights movement starts in 1960. The major sit ins started and were not led by the upper leadership but by high schoolers and college students. April 1960 SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) was formed on a biracial basis and CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) is really reborn. They go both in the South and North. In 1963, Birmingham, AL, nonviolent protestors were ruthelessly put down. They marched to Washington and MLK gave the I Have a Dream speech (1963). This march formed a rift between the radicals and the older conservatives. Kennedy takes action.
The final victories were the Civil Rights Act (1964). Another act is the Voting Rights Act (1965) which removed all restrictions to vote. There is a lot of economic discrimination and moves northward in 1965.
A Troubled Journey: From Port Huron to Watergate
The era of Baby Boomers deluged the upper learning brackets and lead protests. Nixon got the presidency and reduced tensions amongst the major powers. However, he got into his watergate mess.
The Rise and Fall of the Youth Movement
They wanted to be secure and have a family. The activists were from rich families that were secure and wanted quick results. A motion Toward a New Left started the student liberal movement. They wanted the radical rebels and hated Vietnam. They, the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) issued the Port Huron Statement in 1962 which was their manifesto. They started or tried to start a grass roots political movement. From Protest to Resistance, they held sit ins and changed curriculums and threatened to shut down universities. They rallied around anti-Vietnam. The harassed people and recruiters and ROTC meetings and draft cards. They occupied buildings and held administrators up. The police brutally put down the protest and the whole campus was then shut down by the sympathetic majority of students. They also protested the New Mobilization and started the March Against Death in Washington, D. C. They marched single file from Arlington Cemetary to the Capitol.
Nixon called for the invasion of Cambodia, a neutral staging ground for the Viet Cong. Kent State University students threw bottles and stuff. National Guards men came and were simply ordered to disperse a peaceful assembly. They spread tear gas and one group fired a volley of shot and 4 died. Tons of protests happened. They all had many peaceful protests but there were colleges that had to suspend normal operations. Some citizens liked the put down of protests and that's how Ronald Reagan got CA governorship. The movemend died down as the SDS turned more communist. There was some change and dress code, curfews and requirements were changed and student opinions sought.
The Youth Culture had more experimentation with drugs and sex. They grew long haire and like rock music. They went to Woodstock and shared drugs, sex, and swan nude. This slowly went down as there were rapists, muggers, and dope peddlers which culminated into a rutual murdered.
The Sexual Revolution started with better contraceptives. There were abortions and protection for erotic media. The FCC deregulated obscenity and pornography and films made money with R and X ratings. This reduced moral standards and created a bigger gap between the sexually free and the monogamous peoples.
They were mutually exclusive and made each other impossible. LBJ takes on both projects, domestic and international. LBJ is a tragic president. Dr. Horten despised LBJ as a result of Vietnam but later changed his mind as he saw the two side of LBJ. LBJ felt completely trapped and didn't know how to get out of it.
Vietnam just happened and never was planned. This was motivated by the domino theory where if they don't do this now, the whole SEAsia would be lost.
Year Personnel Jul 1965 100 000 Dec 1965 185 000 1967 480 000 1968 over 500 000
Table 3: Troop Build Up in Vietnam
AntiVietnam War protest had been building. The first protest occured in 1965 and the people were still behind the war. The demonstrations become larger (200,000) during 1966 and 1967. This reaches the mainstream and gets a majority after 1968. Nixon runs on pulling out.
There were assasinations, violence at political conventions and international insurgency by DPRK. First there was the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. In 1968 a democrat Eugene McCarthy advocated pulling out of Vietnam but LBJ stuck to it and got screwed by the Tet Offensive which was a massive offensive which struck 100+ cities towns and capitals. People no longer believed the White House which said it was winning the war. LBJs popularity went down the tubes.
The Shaken President, LBJ requested more men. Robert Kennedy entered the democratic primary just as McCarthy had been gaining ground. Only in March did LBJ start searching for peace and declined nomination.
Assassinations and Turmoil started in April 4 when MLK was killed. Blacks started to riot violently. Humphrey, LBJ's vice president stood pro-Vietnam and split the Democrats. Robert Kenedy was shot in June 1968. The Democrats were furious and tried to turn to George Wallace. Nizon tried to get the attention of the people. He got the loyal standard american image going which was exactly what Wallace was doing. These guys got an edge with the violence of the Democratic convention.
Conservative Resurgence started with Nixon and his support of the South. Wallace went anti business. Nixon got about 43 percent like Humphrey and Wallace squeaked with 13 percent. Nixon won and there was an anti Great Society feeling. Nixon had been in the OPA and the navy in the Pacific Theater with Senate, VP experiences with losses for President and governor of CA. He wanted stability and easing of tensions and appointed Henry Kissinger to the Secretary of State where power was considered important.
Vietnamization involved the Nixon Doctrine where the US is a partner not a defender. Army desertions rose and racial conflicts ensued. The US soldier s were cruel and killed the innocent. Nixon said peace with honor and Vietnamized the US troos by placing them side by side. The numbere were reduced. US bombing increased to leverage negotiations.
LBJs War becomes Nixon's War as Nixon ordered the invasion of Cambodia to destroy Communist war caches. Laos was also invaded. Nixon mined the Northern ports and bombed more. The American Retreat from the War started with bombing which started the Paris peace talks. Nixon campaigned in 1972 that he had brought peace. South Vietnam refused to sign and North Vietnam started to demand more so Nixon, against UN and US protests, bombed North Vietnam on Christmas which made the North Vietnamese cooperate. The US soldiers were younger and dishonorably discharged. The Veterans had come back to a changed world and the US abodoned them. Cambodia eventually would be racked by tye Khmer Rouge which would succumb to the Vietnamese.
Détente involved a visit to China. This started with the tone down of "Red China" to the People's Republic and there were secrety meetings with Kissinger and also a ping pong tournament. Then with media crews, Nixon visited China to normalize relations in 1972. He also went the Moscow and got SALT I which limited ABM (Antiballistic Missle Defence = Star Wars = Strategic Defense Initiative = Theater Missle Defense).
American Self-interest Abroad started with the middle east. In 1967 there was the Israeli six day war and Israel got land and wanted to negotiate. The PLO was formed in 1964 and kept up terrorism. Egypt started to back down and went more to the US. There was an oil embargo in 1973 that strangled the US and pushed for more peach. Kissinger started shuttle diplomacy. Arms were supplied the the Phillippines South Korea, Argentina, and other captialists. Chile was CIA'd and crunched by cutting of foreign aid and loans. After a captialist overthrow, Chile was normalized. Nixon drove down tensions while keeping up comtainment.
Digression: Haight Asbury in the Mid 1960s
This was a youth migration hot spot for college drop outs. There wer opium dens and artists. Drugs and sex abounded with rock groups like the Gratful Dead. There were tribes and families which shared work, meals and sex. There were tons of hippies starting to move in in 1967 after media frenzy. There were robbers and rapists among the crowd and crime rose. It eventually became a slum.
Domestic Problems and Divisions
Nixon was a hard driven guy who wanted to annhilate his opponents. He appointed people like him and Americans felt the same way as Nixon who was disciplined and hard working. Nixon extended some New Deal policies including the 18 year old votes, Job Corps, and the space program. He also allowed the EPA along with OSHA. Earth day started and people advocated zero population growth. Nixon's administration vetoed and refused to spend money on other programs.
Nixon reduced spending and hiked interest rates. The Democrats screamed and he saw a trade deficit which would make him float the US currency and impose limits on wage increases. Nixon vigilantly followed the democratic opponenets and used the IRS, FBI, and CIA to squizh the SDS, black student groups, Black Panthers, and congressional critics. He setup units to plug White House leaks. Nixon tried to get the white south by killing court ordered integration busing. He tried to get more conservative court memebers.
People listened to the calls for law and order and a revolt against the elitist groups. McGovern was nominate by the Democrats. Nixon ran against Wallace. Nixon made some tricks so that there was dissension in the Democrats. Watergate was the attempt to install bugs in the Democratic Headquarters. Nixon used the CIA to try to stop the FBI investigation. Nixon thought it was all good when he won.
The federal judge Sirica refused to accept the guilty plea of the officials caught. A person inside the Nixon administration wrote about it all in some front page articles. Nixon announced the resignation of some of his members and got a new attorney general charged with getting an investigator. Somehow people learned of the secret taping system in the Oval Office and the court ordered the tapes and Nixon tried to dump another person. His vice president was charged with tax evasion. The court got edited transcripts, but they wanted the whole thing. Impeachment began with the charge of obstruction of the Watergate investigation. He gave up the tapes and then with certainty that he would be convicted, he resigned.
With the end of vietnam, Watergate bred more lack of confidence in the government. There waas prosperity, but services sitll lacked. Nixon rode the anti-Washington wave but he was too antagonistic and he fell.
Turning Inward: Society and Politics from Ford to Reagan
There were Yuppies, young urban professionals who took inner city apartments and renovated them. VCRs and TV and CD developled. Computers started to move into people's homes. A New cycle of feminism started with Roe v. Wade. Abortion and the glass ceiling became the primary hurdles. These issues were politcally ignored.
Blacks were stuck in an upper and lower (drug) culture. There were gangs. Immigration started more from Mexico. Illegal aliens also started to come in and the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was passed.
Native Americans started to feel more pride and federal legislation made it possible for them to be communal again. The fear of AIDS translated sometimes to the fear of homosexuality. Religious faith sstarted again and the CBN (Christian Broadcast Network) was founded. However, they were plagued with scandals.
Politics After Watergate: The Limits of State Power, 1974-1984
The Oil crisis and the cut in the Fed rate caused a depression in 1974 which was opposite to "stagflation" (stagnant business, inflation). Carter didn't have a straight agenda and he floundered. There was the creation of the DOE as the oil crisis made the US slow down a lot.
The New Right started to promote moral values. Reagan took this cause and started to ask "Are you better off tha 4 years ago?" His presidency would be messed by the Iran hostage affair. His economic plan started with spending cuts and lowered tax rates. Deregulation started to take hold. Higher interest rates started a recession and falling exports.
The Dow stayed pretty steady and mergers started to make it roll forward. Then there was the stock crash of 1987.
Digressing, Houston was an economic roller coaster and it was familiar to the boom and bust cycles that it often had. It had no zoning laws so it sprawed. The arts were catching on, but suddenly the economy slumpted. S&Ls collapsed and harder times came. Jobs went out the window and service positions were left. There was a rise in urban problems.
From Détente to a Renewed Cold War, 1974-1984
There wer a lot of diplomatic things in Chile, Venezula, Argentina, and Ethiopia. Still, there was the communist China and South Korea and the Philippines. SALT II died as the USSR went for Afghanistan. The Middle East was focused on diplomatically as the US walked between Israel and the Arab states. Reagan focused on El Salvador and other South American nations. Americans felt another Vietnam and were weary and stopped aid to the Contras. He also took Grenada.The PLO gave more trouble and a peacekeeping force was called in. The Reagan Plan would also fail ans Syria was excluded. Military build up started gaina and NATO supported the effort. SDI was also flagged as the threat of nukes scared the US and Reagan had promoted backyard shelters.
He got reelected for being antigovernment. They liked his strong America message and the democrats tried to oppose with a wider more liberal audience. Democrats, however, retained control of the congress.
Concluding, there was a whole wave of yuppies who aspired to be rich. The end of FDRs new deal came and Nixon and Carter tried to deal with complex international conflicts. Reagan didn't deliver, but started more belligerence and threatened nuclear war again.
Black Power, 24
Black Thursday, 2
Bonus March, 6
braceros, 10
Bretton Wood Agreement, 15
brinksmanship, 19
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 22
cash and carry, 7, 11
CCC, 3
CIO, 6
Civil Rights Act, 25
Civilian Conservation Corps, 3
Congress of Industrial Organizations, 6
Council of Economic Advisors, 18
Cuba, 23
D-Day, 14
Employment Act, 18
Fair Employment Practoces Commission, 10
Farm Credit Adminstration, 3
Fascists, 8
FDIC, 3
Federal Deposit Insurance Company, 3
Fortress America, 11
G. I. Bill, 18
Good Neighbor, 9
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, 24
HOLC, 3
Home Owners Loan Corporation, 3
I have a dream, 25
Ickes, Harold, 3
Interstate Highway Act, 19
Kennan, 15
Keynes, John M, 5
Keynesian economics, 5
lend-lease, 11
Little Rock Central High School Incident, 19
Ludlow amendment, 9
Malcolm X, 24
Marshall Plan, 15
Montgomery Bus Boycott, 25
National Organization for Women, 24
National Recovery Administration, 3
National War Labor Board, 11
NATO, 15
Neutrality Laws, 7
NRA, 3
Office of Censorship, 12
Office of Price Administration, 11
Office of Scientific Research and Development, 12
Office of War Mobilization, 11
Plessy v Ferguson, 19
Popular Front, 8
Randoph, Philip A., 10
Rural Electrification Administration, 4
SCLC, 25
Smith-Connally War Labor Disputes Act, 12
Social Security Act, 6
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 25
Stalingrad, 14
Taft-Hartley Act, 18
Tet Offensive, 27
Truman Doctrine, 15
Voting Rights Act, 25
War Manpower Commission, 11
War Production Board, 11