Post WWII
Containment at home
&
Domestic Policies
Do Now: What might prompt Americans
to sacrifice their civil liberties?
Cold War @ Home
• The escalation of tensions
between the US and Soviet
Union, especially after the
Soviets tested their atomic
bomb in ‘49:
– Led to fears of nuclear
warfare
– Led to paranoia in the US
regarding communist spies
(sedition and subversion)
– Cultivated by the govt. to gain
support for containment
Spies Among Us
• Alger Hiss– Communist
working for Roosevelt
Admin. During WWII– 5 years
for perjury
• Julius (and Ethel Rosenberg)
– Accused of leaking secrets–
Executed 1953
• Klaus Fuchs—Passed
information to the Soviets
regarding the Manhattan
Project– 14 years
imprisonment by MI5
Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg
Communists at the
State Department:
- State Department
official Alger Hiss
was imprisoned for
perjury in 1950.
- Hiss had lied under oath, denying that he was a part of a
Soviet spy ring that sent U.S. government secrets to the
Soviet Union.
-June 1949What is the
Washington Post
cartoonist
portraying in his
drawing?
Legislation
• (1947) Executive
Order 9835
– Root out
subversives in
government
– Response to
Republican
pressure (too
soft on
commies)
– Truman did not
want a witch
hunt
– 3 million
questioned/300
released
• (1947) TaftHartley Act
– Undid Wagner
Act
– No Closed
Shops
– No Wildcat
Strikes
– No communists
– No union
money for
political
campaigns
1940
Smith Act
•
Whoever, with intent to cause the
overthrow or destruction of any such
government, prints, publishes, edits,
issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or
publicly displays any written or printed
matter advocating, advising, or teaching
the duty, necessity, desirability, or
propriety of overthrowing or destroying
any government in the United States by
force or violence, or attempts to do so; or
Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to
organize any society, group, or assembly
of persons who teach, advocate, or
encourage the overthrow or destruction of
any such government by force or violence;
or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates
with, any such society, group, or assembly
of persons, knowing the purposes thereof Shall be fined under this title or
imprisoned not more than twenty years,
or both, and shall be ineligible for
employment by the United States or any
department or agency thereof, for the five
years next following his conviction
1950
McCarran Internal Security Act
• Communist groups must
register
• Members of subversive
groups could not become
citizens
• Illegal to preach
totalitarianism
House Un-American Activities
Committee (HUAC)
• Established in the Late 30s
• Began looking into film
industry in 47
– Some pointed to left wing
members of the industry
– When questioned, if no
assistance, then
blacklisted
– If refused to talk–
imprisoned
• Hollywood 10
McCarthy’s Witch Hunt
Begins
· In 1950, Senator Joseph
McCarthy announced that
he had a list of 205 State
Department employees that
were members of the
Communist party.
· McCarthy’s claim was
never proven, but he
helped to increase a fear
of communism in
America known as the
“Red Scare”.
· After thousands of
Americans had their lives
ruined after being
accused of being
communists, McCarthy’s
popularity lessened as
the nation learned that
he had no proof behind
his accusations.
Too Far
•
•
•
•
Ike and the Army
Edward R. Murrow
Movie clip 1
Movie clip 2
Objectives: Evaluate presidential
policies during the Cold War
• Do Now: What was the 2nd Bill of Right
Truman, Eisenhower and
Kennedy
1945-1953
Democrat
FDR’s Vice
A-Bomb
Escalates the Cold War
Fair Deal
1953-1961
Republican
WWII War Hero
Covert containment
Eisenhower Doctrine
1961-1963
Democrat
Catholic
Loved by many
Civil Rights
Bay of Pigs
The Idea of a Second Bill of Rights
• What made this popular?
– The right to a job
– The right to food
– The right to shelter
– The right to health care
– The right to education
How to Guarantee These Rights
• Assuring these rights
would require
– Massive government
planning
– A dramatic increase in
taxes
– Government control over
private business
– Less focus on initiative
and responsibility
• Opposition
One Such Act:
Employment Act of 1946
• “Full Employment Bill”
– No– Why?
• Employment Act of 1946-called for “maximum”
employment
• How to promote economic
growth?
1948 Election
• Truman v Strom Thurmond of the
“Dixiecrat Party” and Henry Wallace,
the head of the Progressive Party.
• Wallace– Socialism
• Thurmond—Opposed the civil rights
pushed by Truman
• Election against Republican Thomas
Dewey
• “Give ‘em hell Harry” won despite
predictions
– Whistle-stop train
• Democrats also took control of the
congress
• Republicans feared more FDR
government expansion
– 22nd amendment limiting the president to
2 terms in office– Passed in 1951
“The Fair Deal”
• Truman’s 1949 inaugural address outlined his plan to
continue moving forward with some of FDR’s ideas
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Federal aid for education
Govt. healthcare bill-Failed but Hill-Burton gave $ to hospitals
Minimum wage laws
Social Security-More intensive then FDR’s
Ending the Taft-Hartley Act
Farming subsidies
GI Bill- $ for college, preferential govt. jobs, training
Housing Act 1949-Promised housing for every American family but
met opposition. Nevertheless 810000 built by govt.
• All funded by a “magically expanding economy”
G.I. Bill
(1944- Serviceman’s Readjustment
Act)
• College and Job Training
for Vets of WWII
– 1947– ½ of College
Students Vets
• Preference in Govt. Jobs
• Good mortgage rates
Social Security Act 1950
–
–
Expanded earlier system
Benefits for 10 million+
people
•
Problems with this
Failing Programs
• Nationalization of Healthcare
• Blocked by AMA and AHA
– Alternative= Hill-Burton Act– Funded
new hospitals
• FHA (Federal Housing
Administration)
– Goal—to provide housing for all who
need it
• Some received housing but failed to help
many
– Urban Renewal Plans
Economic Theory
• Based on Keynesian Theory
– Economists could accurately and efficiently
predict and direct the economy to prevent
booms and busts
• Result– Continued Growth
– Business and Govt. collaborate to Insure This
• Less Social Unrest
–
–
–
–
GNP (New Calculation for Growth ’39)
Worked well with militarization
Worked well with Marshall Plan
Good Times Forever!!!
Eisenhower (Rep.)
General Turned President
• General Dwight David
Eisenhower (IKE)
– Republican candidate
1952 election.
– WWII Hero
– Eisenhower-Nixon ticket
442-89 against
Democrat Stevenson
On with the New Deal
• Eisenhower continues:
– Social Security
– Expanded Department of Health
– Expanded Welfare
• Why is this so unusual???
JFK (Dem.)
• Conservative Domestic Policies:
• Income Tax Cuts
• Lower interest FED rates to expand economy
• Liberal Domestic Policies: “The New
Frontier”
•
•
•
•
Expansion of health care
Expansion of public education
Govt. intervention in economy
Aid to rural regions
What do you think?