41.2 Postwar Politics
Harry Truman
• Harry Truman never wanted to be President.
• He ran for Vice President with Franklin D.
Roosevelt in 1944.
• When Roosevelt died in April of 1945 he was
scared of the challenge.
• His Presidency was one of many decisions.
A Rocky Transition Into Peace
• Truman and his Fair Deal : this would increase minimum wage, increase aid to agriculture and education, and enact national health insurance
• Millions of Americans lost jobs post war
• Inflation soared, so workers demanded higher pay
• Workers refused to pay more, resulting in more unions and strikes
• Strikes occurred in industries such as railroad, steel, coal, and oil
Truman Battles a Republican
Congress
• Republicans gained control of both houses in congress
• Passes the 22nd amendment of limiting presidential terms to 2 (1951)
• Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act outlawed the closed shop (employer only hires from certain
union) also sympathy strikes banned (other unions striking for other unions)
Upset Victory in 1948
As the election of 1948 drew near, Democrats were filled with gloom. Truman, who had been unable to get any of his reforms passed by the Republican
Congress, looked like a weak candidate, while the democratic party had also split into 3 factions.
Left-wing Democrats
- Led by former U.S. vice president Henry Wallace
- Wallace was more liberal than Truman
- Advocated friendlier relations with the Soviet Union
Upset Victory (Cont.)
Segregationist southern Democrats
- Known as Dixiecrats
- Left to form the States’ Rights Democratic party
- Nominated Strom Thurmond for presidency
- Thurmond ran a platform of complete
segregation of the races
The republicans
- Nominated Thomas E. Dewey to run against
Truman
- Dewey was heavily favored to win despite his
Upset Victory (Cont.)
- Truman decided to fight for the presidency
- Launched the “whistle-stop” tour of the
country, and made 365 stops to directly speak
to voters
- Truman ended up winning the election, being
Ike Takes the Middle of the Road
Dwight “Ike” D. Eisenhower
• War hero
• Head of NATO after WWII
• Republican nominee for ‘52 election
Ike Takes the Middle of the Road
Embraced his own policy he called “modern Republicanism”
• “Conservative when it comes to the economy, liberal when it comes to the people.” is how he described it.
• Believed that social programs were crucial to national success regardless of which party controlled the White House, and worked to expand Social Security during his presidency.
• Worked on building massive peacetime arms reserve
• “Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action.”
Short Answer Questions
1.What was President Truman’s role in fighting for civil rights?
2.Why was President Truman’s role in advancing
Social Security important? What impact does
Chapter 41.3
Introduction
During the 1950s, the U.S. saw a surge of economic growth due to soldiers returning and families having a higher standard of living. As a result, people were able to spend more, benefitting
businesses who implemented new ideas to bring in more customers, and overall impacted American culture then and now.
Here is a picture of a couple
Important vocab
Real income- income measured by the amount of
goods and services it will buy, regardless of inflation
Planned Obsolescence- the desire to own
something a little newer, a little better, a little sooner than is necessary
Cost-of-living index- measures differences in the
price of goods and services over time
Franchise- an agreement to operate a business
Important Vocab (continued)
Blue Collar Worker- a working class person who
performs non-agricultural manual labour. Ex: Miner, Firefighting, Construction
White Collar Worker- a person who performs
professional, managerial, or administrative work. Ex: Manager, Doctor, Engineer
Consumer Demand Spurs Economic
Growth
-In the 1050s, families had 2x the real income as families in the 1920s had.
-In 1955, US produced half of the world’s goods.
-Economy grew--->Income rose
-Americans had so much money that they could not stop spending it.
-7,600 shopping centers
-In 1955, there was $8 billion spent a year on ads that encouraged consumption
-In 1958, American Express launched
Economy Begins to Shift from Goods to Services
- In 1950, the US economy was dominated by industries
- These industries produced goods such as steel, appliances, and cars
- By 1960, industries that provided services were growing in importance
- In 1955, General Motors became the first corporation to earn more than $1 billion dollars/year by improving worker relations
- Cost-of-living index tied to regular wages brought years of
labor peace
In these picture there is a distinct change from
the need of goods in the 50’s to the want of
services in the 60’s 50’s
Services Compete for the
Consumer’s Dollar
- Restaurants took initiative when consumers wanted cheap, fast, good-tasting food at an affordable price.
- 1954, Ray Kroc spread the McDonald's brand with franchising - he carried out the business of McDonald's under their
corporate name, and sold their products to expand their reach
- He established new McDonald's restaurants across the country
- McDonald’s was revolutionary because it was a casual restaurant where families with young children could feel comfortable, contrary to before the 1950’s where there were only formal restaurants
In 1955, there were 7
McDonald’s. Today, there are close to 37,000.
Motels
- Motels were growing in importance, people
need places to stay when they travel.
- Most places has restrictions like no kids or pets,
others were in bad conditions.
- Kemmons Wilson planned to start a chain of
approximately 400 motels that were cheap, clean, easy to find, and family friendly
- This chain later became known as Holiday inn, which is still one of the most popular motels today
Kemmons
Workforce Shifts from Blue- to White-Collar Jobs
• As the economy grew and changed, there was also a shift in
kind of work people did
• When the 1950’s began blue collar workers made up the
largest part of the American workforce, typical blue collar jobs included factory work and skilled trades such as auto repair or plumbing
• By the end of the 1950’s, the majority of the American
workforce transitioned to white collar jobs which includes professionals such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc
• Both groups prospered during this time, with that blue collar
workers could now afford the luxuries white collared workers enjoyed which further stimulated the economy and extremely impacted American culture
• This pattern of white collar workers making up the majority of
This is an image of an blue collar worker,
consulting white collar workers. Note the
differentiation in the clothing of those pictured, which is where the name of blue collar and
Questions
1) What well known restaurant today, was one of the first franchises in America?
2) In 1955, America produced how much of the world's goods?
41.4 Marriage, Families, and a
Baby Boom
The Depression
In the previous era, people had been worried about their futures and put off big decisions like getting married or having a
A Marriage Boom Leads to a Baby Boom
- Started in 1946, immediately after troops came
home from WWII
- The largest population boom in United States
history
- Industrial boom followed
- Furniture and appliances
- Suburb homes
- Cars
- Schools became packed with children and there
Statistics
- By 1964, four Americans in ten were under the age of 20
- Everyday 11,000 babies were born in America
- There were almost 2.3 million marriages in the U.S. in 1946
- Average Age of Marriage in 1950s
- 22, Men
- 20, Women
- CA opened a new school per week
“It seems to me, that nearly every other housewife I see is pregnant”
Family Roles: Working Dads and
Stay-at-Home Moms
• Traditional family: dads who work and moms who stayed home
• Most beliefs held the idea that women should not work outside the house unless it was for purely economic reasons.
• “The family is the center of your living. If it isn’t, you’ve gone far astray.”
• Mass media reinforced this idea through the use of television, news articles, and radio.
• Children were raised to fulfill the same roles as their parents. Toy stores contributed to this, having dolls and hope chests for girls, and toy guns for boys.
Television was a big influence, especially to teach children the roles they would be expected to fulfill as adults.
This picture is from a show called,
Leave it to Beaver. The mom, June
Question 1
1.What does this picture say about a woman's role in
Question 2:
Depression and War Hits Homes
Hard
• The Depression and WWII caused home
production to drop from 1 million homes to
100,000 a year
• In Chicago, they used 250 trolley cars as homes
Levittown
• The Levitt brothers, struggling to create homes, found a way to mass produce good cheap homes
• By 1948, they were able to produce 36 houses a day while keeping prices under 8,000 dollars
• The GI bills allowed the returning veterans to afford these homes
• From 1950-1956, the number of Americans living in suburbs increased by 46%
Sunbelt
• In the Sunbelt, manufactures and other
businesses were able to have low labor costs
• As a result, many people began to move from
the north to the south
• California’s population grew 50% from
1950-1956
• Attractions such as Disneyland drew more
Sunbelt cont..
• Other big reasons for people moving to the
sunbelt were massive water projects such as
dams and aqueducts.
• Also, room air conditioning made summer
41.6 The Triumph of the
Automobile
Missy, Paige, Denzel, Joseph,
Bailey, Nadia,
Images
Late 1950’s highway packed with cars
To keep consumers interested car makers would
Major Events
• September 4, 1957- the Ford Edsel was put on display, becoming the first luxury car available for purchase
– Ford noticed that many people came to VIEW the car but not many BOUGHT it, making it one of the few failures in the auto industry during the 1950s
– Advertisements influenced consumerism
• 1950s- 7 million car sales per year
• 1958- there were 67 million cars on the roads
• 1956- Congress authorized the Interstate Highway System which connected major cities
– Inspired by the autobahns in Germany
• 1960- 10,000 miles of highway
Vocabulary
• Status Symbol- sign of wealth and prestige
– cars
How the Automobile and Interstate System impacted American Culture during the 1950’s
• Daily commute easier and faster
• Gave the opportunity and made travel by road over long distances safer and more efficient
• The highway created economic opportunities for new roadside businesses
– Gas Stations
– Motels
– Restaurants
– Interstate Exits
• Gave more choices as to where to live, work, shop, and vacation
How does this impact life today?
• How many of you drive today?
• Around 210 million people drive cars with an issued license
• People have to get somewhere, somehow, and we drive
What connections can be made to
today?
• Most modern, suburban cities throughout the
United States have been designed for residents
who own cars
• As in the 50’s, today the type of car you drive
can reflect your personality and social status
• Companies advertise on billboards along the
How does this connect to our own
lives?
- Today, 91% of US households have at least one car
- Americans dependence on cars as the main form of
transportation is at an all time high due to the immense amount of highways and roads connecting places together
Technology Advances Transform
Everyday Life
Section 41.7
Polio Strikes America
- Polio aka properly poliomyelitis, was one of the most feared and studied diseases of the first half of the 20th Century.
- The first epidemic of
Polio in America was in
1916 and 27,000 were paralyzed and 9,000 dead.
- After 1916, every
summer for 40 years
FDR Fell Victim of Polio
- In 1921, Franklin D. Roosevelt fell to the polio illness.
- In 1938, FDR established the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis to seek a cure for polio. After 17 years they created a vaccine for Polio.
- The vaccine was proved to 90%
Advances of Surgical Techniques in 1950s
- Due to new technology, surgical
techniques advanced rapidly in the ‘50s.
- In the 1950’s the first open heart surgery and kidney transplant was performed.
- Experiments with heart
transplants lead to the invention of the Pacemaker.
Use of Antibiotic Drugs in 1950s
- Throughout the ‘50s many
diseases marked as “killers” soon became marked as “curable.”
- Penicillin, streptomycin, and other “wonder drugs” attacked bacteria that caused everything from
earaches to pneumonia and tuberculosis.
- These advances in medicine
Increase of Life Expectancy
- The advances of surgical
techniques and the use of
antibiotics caused an increase of life expectancy.
- In 1950 the average life
expectancy would be 68 years old
- With the current advances of
surgery and medicine the average life expectancy
Nuclear Power Plant in Pennsylvania
- Created in Shippingport,
Pennsylvania in 1958 by President Eisenhower.
- The first ever nuclear
power plant fully devoted to electricity and peaceful use.
- Proved to the world that
nuclear power doesn’t have to be for wartime
purposes.
Nuclear Medicine
- In The 1950s, Scientist began
using nuclear energy for peaceful uses.
- Medical researchers began using
nuclear energy for diagnosis, like
an x-ray, and treatment of
disease.
- Specialists in nuclear medicine
Computers Entering the Workplace
- People could perform larger math equations with ease.
- Able to store large amounts of information.
- It helped company departments to organize all their data.
- Made everyday tasks easier for certain work groups
- Organized payroll process and record management for the company.
Impact on today’s world:
- Faster communication through e-mail
- Online shopping, online advertisements
- Allows for easier group projects for students/workers
Left: Used in a Powers-Samas Magazine to promote females operating electronics in the workplace.
ENIAC and UNIVAC Computers
- 2 Engineers from the University of Pennsylvania built the 2 earliest electronic digital computers.
- In 1946, ENIAC could do about 300
multiplications/second taking up about 1500 sq ft, only handling numbers.
- In 1951, UNIVAC was created which handled letters, words, and numbers.
- In 1952, UNIVAC successfully predicted the the election of Eisenhower just 45 minutes after the polls closed.
- In 2012, an average American household had 3 computers, up from only 1.56 in 2000.
ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)
Transistor
- The Transitior came in 1947
revolutionizing the electronics industry leading to dramatic changes in computer design.
- In 1959, the Transistor replaced unreliable vacuum tubes shrinking the size of the
computer.
- As computers shrank, they became more common in workplaces speeding up the work of many jobs.
- At the end of the decade, many foresaw a personal computer on almost every desk.
- Though this did not come till 1975, today it is true almost every desk has a personal computer or has access to one.
1964
