Postwar Years in America 1945 1960 Chapter 20

Postwar Years in America (1945 -1960) Chapter 20: Sections 1 -3 Focus Question: If you had to spend 5 years deprived of modern convenience (technology, etc. ) what would be the first thing you would buy after you no longer were limited? Why? How would you feel?

The Postwar Economy

Businesses Reorganize ¡ ¡ GNP and Per Capita Income increase 60% Major corporate expansion—new products Conglomerate: corporation made up of three or more unrelated businesses Franchise: business that contracts to offer certain goods and services from a parent company l Ray Kroc (Mc. Donalds)

Technology Transforms Life ¡ Television l l ¡ The Computer Industry l ¡ Transistor: circuit device that controls electrical signals Nuclear Power l ¡ 4 to 5 hours a day Commercials Nuclear Fission Advances in Medicine l l Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine Antibiotics

Changes in the Work Force ¡ Blue-collar jobs to white-collar jobs l ¡ Blue-collar workers move to the middle class l ¡ Easier physically Wages and working conditions up Unions unite

Moving to the Suburbs ¡ GI Bill of Rights l l l ¡ ¡ Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 Low-interest mortgages to WWII veterans Educational stipends for college William J. Levitt built whole communities The average American could afford to buy their own house

Cars and Highways ¡ ¡ ¡ Move to suburbs calls for more dependence on cars Automakers make new models each year New businesses l ¡ Gas Stations, etc. 1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act l Money to build interstate system

The Growth of Consumer Credit ¡ ¡ ¡ Gasoline companies begin offering credit cards to loyal customers Consumer credit debt grows from $8 billion to $56 billion in 14 yrs U. S. becomes an “affluent society”

The Mood of the 1950 s Focus Question: What do you consider to be the “proper” role for men and women today? Do your views differ from those of your parents/grand-parents?

Reading Assignment Page 675 -679 The Mood of the 1950 s Conformity 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Roles in Society 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Challenges to Conformity 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Comfort and Security ¡ Youth Culture l l ¡ “Silent Generation” Good economy = in school longer More free time Advertisement aims them A Resurgence in Religion l l l Response to “godless communism” “In God we Trust” on currency “under god” in Pledge of Allegiance

Men’s and Women’s Roles ¡ Men: l l ¡ Go to school, get a job, and support family Earn money and make political, social, and economic decisions Women: l l Supporting role to men Keep house, cooked meals, and raised the children

Challenges to Conformity ¡ Women at Work l l Liked their jobs during WWII Not all left jobs after marriage Secretaries, teachers, nurses, and sales clerks Wanted to purchase the items of the “good life”

Challenges to Conformity ¡ Youth Rebellion l l l Rejected parents values, felt misunderstood Rebel Without a Cause Alan Freed: disc-jockey who started playing rock ‘n roll (Moondog Rock ‘n Roll) Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and the Comets, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley Beatniks: challenged traditional patterns of respectability

Domestic Politics and Policy

Truman’s Domestic Policies ¡ The Peacetime Economy l l l Reconversion from wartime to peacetime Workers go on strike for higher wages Taft-Hartley Act ¡ Allowed President to declare 80 -day cooling off period during which workers had to return to work, if in an industry that effected national interest.

Truman’s Domestic Policies ¡ Truman’s Fair Deal l l Extended New Deal’s goals 21 -point Program ¡ Promoted a higher minimum wage, greater unemployment compensation, full employment, & housing assistance Approval rating drops Congress battered Truman

Truman’s Domestic Policies ¡ Truman on Civil Rights l l l Publicly supported civil rights Met w/ African American leaders to discuss their goals Appointed a Biracial Committee on Civil Rights Congress never took action on these issues Ended segregation in armed forces

The Election of 1948 ¡ Truman seeks 1 st term l ¡ Henry Wallace l ¡ Republican Candidate All polls pick Dewey to win l ¡ Progressive Candidate Thomas E. Dewey l ¡ Served FDR’s term Truman pulls the upset After the win the 22 nd Amendment is ratified l President term limits

Eisenhower and the Republican Approach ¡ Adlai Stevenson l ¡ Democratic Nomination Dwight D. Eisenhower l l l Republican Nomination WWII Hero “K 1 C 2” Approach ¡ l Korea, Communism, Corruption Richard Nixon as running mate ¡ Nixon hammered the topic of corruption

The Checkers Speech ¡ Snag in popularity l ¡ Suggested to drop Nixon l ¡ Eisenhower sticks w/ him Allowed Nixon to “Save Himself” l l ¡ “Secret Nixon Fund” Televised speech Admitted to Accepting 1 gift Political Disaster Turns into a Public Relations Bonanza l Nixon saved himself and catapulted Ike to office

Modern Republicanism ¡ “Dynamic Conservatism” l ¡ ¡ ¡ Conservative when it comes to money, liberal when it comes to human beings Favored Big Business 3 recessions under Ike Meeting the Technology Challenge l l Created NASA National Defense Education Act: improve science and math in schools