UNIT 6: AMERICA IN THE 50s AND 60s
CHAPTER 14: EISENHOWER PRESIDENCY
THE RED SCARE
--The Cold War intensified Americans’ fears of Communist sabotage. Many Americans worried
that Communist spies and sympathizers, a.k.a. “Reds”, had penetrated all levels of American
society and were attempting to weaken the government. This Red Scare dominated the nation’s
politics for years and led to a massive hunt to uncover Communists across the country. This
occurred after WWII, during the late 1940s and into the 1950s. Americans that were known to
be Communists faced heavy discrimination and persecution by others. All Communist
organizations were required to register with the government and provide lists of its members.
Congress joined in the search for Communists. In 1938, the House of Representatives had
created the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) to investigate possible
subversive activities by fascists, Nazis, or communists. HUAC investigators probed the
government, armed forces, unions, education, science, newspapers, and other aspects of
American life.
--Senator Joseph McCarthy was the most dominant person in America to lead these hunts for
Communists. He publicly attacked many people to be Communists without proof. His
unfounded accusations destroyed the careers of numerous innocent Americans and heightened
the atmosphere of anti-Communist hysteria in the country. A new word was coined,
McCarthyism, which meant the use of unproved accusations against political opponents.
Eventually, when McCarthy launched an investigation of the U.S. Army claiming that the
Communists had infiltrated it, Americans viewed him as a cruel bully who had little basis for his
accusations. This loss of support ended his influence in the Red Scare.
EISENHOWER’S DOMESTIC POLICY
--For the presidential election of 1952, the Republicans nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower, the
popular WWII hero. They had chosen Richard M. Nixon to be his running mate (vicepresident). The American people had grown tired of the Democratic Party and so Eisenhower
won the presidency. The Republicans also won control of Congress.
--Eisenhower followed a moderate approach to domestic policy. He wanted to make the federal
government smaller. He supported economic policies aimed at limiting government spending
and encouraging private enterprise. He also made cuts in government spending. When he left
office in 1961, the federal budget had a surplus, or excess, of $300 million. The greatest
domestic program of the Eisenhower presidency involved building a network of interstate
highways. In June 1956 Congress passed the Federal Highway Act (Interstate Highway Act)
to provide easy transportation for military forces in case of an attack. It funded the construction
of more than 40,000 miles of highways. The highway program also spurred growth in many
areas of the nation’s economy, including the automobile and oil industries. Additionally, it also
increased the construction and population of the suburbs.
--Eisenhower believed that government should protect the basic welfare of Americans; he
extended Social Security benefits and provided more unemployment insurance. He also
approved greater funding for public housing and increased the federal minimum wage. His
moderation and leadership won the approval of many Americans; he won the next presidential
election of 1956.
----During the 1950s the economy soared because of military spending in Korea. Government
spending on housing, schools, welfare, highways, and veteran benefits also spurred the rapid
economic expansion. This was partially brought on by the baby boom, when there was an
increase in the birthrate after WWII, that lasted throughout the 1950s. Technology played an
important role in the economy, such as the computer, when many businesses began to purchase
them. There were also many medical advances, such as vaccinations for diseases. Americans
began to receive higher incomes and the standard of living for Americans became the highest in
the world. This led to consumerism, where we buy many goods and services. Lastly, television
and music like rock ‘n’ roll became very popular and part of the American culture.
EISENHOWER AND THE COLD WAR
--Members of the Eisenhower administration condemned the containment policy of the Truman
administration, claiming that it’s ineffective for fighting communism. A new bolder policy was
proposed: if the Soviet Union attacked any nation, the U.S. would launch massive retaliation—
an instant nuclear attack. This policy produced a nuclear arms race. Both the U.S. and the
Soviet Union built more and more weapons in an effort to surpass the other’s military strength.
The superpowers built immensely destructive hydrogen bombs—nuclear weapons that were
many times more powerful than atomic bombs. Overall, this approach was called
brinkmanship because they believed that by being on the brink of war, the U.S. could protect
itself and its allies. Also, this arms race produced another policy called mutually assured
destruction, in which both nations hoped that either one would not use any of their nuclear
weapons for fear of retaliation.
--In 1957 the Soviets had sent into space the world’s first artificial satellite called Sputnik.
Americans feared that the U.S. was lagging behind the Soviets in scientific knowledge and that
they could launch atomic weapons against America from space. The U.S. tried to launch its own
satellite but it exploded. The U.S.-Soviet rivalry kept the cold war at the center of American
foreign policy. The Soviet launch of Sputnik led America to develop its own space program.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) became the new government
agency in charge of the space program. They launched the Explorer satellite in 1958 and the
space race had begun, where both nations were competing in space exploration.
--The Eisenhower administration also used the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in its
struggle against communism. Congress had created the CIA in 1947 as an intelligence-gathering
organization. Eisenhower had approved secret CIA operations all over the world to protect
American interests.
--When Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin died in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev emerged as the dominant
leader. Both American and Soviet leaders were interested in easing cold war tensions and
improving relations. In 1955, Eisenhower, NATO leaders, and Soviet officials met at a summit
conference to discuss disarmament and German reunification. A summit is a meeting of heads of
government. Although no agreements were made, it was a good step towards future peace.
After this summit, a policy of peaceful coexistence began to emerge. This meant that the two
superpowers would compete with one another but would avoid war. Eisenhower and
Khrushchev both made plans to visit each other’s countries and plan future summits. However,
when Eisenhower had sent a U-2 spy plane to fly over Soviet territory to take pictures of military
bases, which was routine for many years, the Soviets shot down that plane and captured the pilot.
Khrushchev claimed that America had invaded Soviet air space and he called off Eisenhower’s
trip to the Soviet Union. The cold war began to grow again.
CHAPTER 15: THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA
THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
--Since 1896 segregation had been legal in the U.S. because of the Supreme Court case Plessy v.
Ferguson. The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) had
worked on behalf of African Americans attacking discrimination and segregation. They now
wanted to challenge the idea of “separate but equal”. The Supreme Court case Brown v. Board
of Education of Topeka, Kansas was about making segregation illegal. The lawyer argued that
segregated schools violated the 14th amendment. In 1954 segregation was now illegal (the court
agreed and Brown’s lawyer won the case). There was much resistance to this law, like in Little
Rock, Arkansas. Nine African American students were supposed to start school and the
governor didn’t want them to. He ordered the National Guard to go to the school to prevent the
black students from entering. President Eisenhower then sent federal troops to protect the
students and finally they were admitted. The 9 students were called the Little Rock Nine.
--During the same time as this movement, Rosa Parks was making her own movement. She had
refused to give a white man a seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus and later got arrested for it.
This led blacks in Montgomery to boycott the city’s busses. This boycott hurt the transportation
industry and other businesses were affected. This lasted for more than a year. Finally, the bus
segregation law was found unconstitutional and the boycott ended. During this successful
movement, Martin Luther King, Jr. was making a name for himself in civil rights. King
believed in nonviolent protests and did things like refusing to obey laws that are considered
unjust. He became the face of African American civil rights. King was strongly influenced by
Mohandas Gandhi, who had used nonviolent protest to help free the nation of India from Great
Britain. In keeping with his beliefs, Gandhi used protest methods based on civil disobedience,
or the refusal to obey laws that are considered unjust. King applied the same techniques to the
struggle for African American rights in the U.S. In 1957, King and other ministers started a new
organization called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The SCLC
emphasized nonviolent protest. They suggested ways to react to taunts and jeers and showed
civil rights workers how to protect themselves from violent attacks. They also discussed how to
identify targets for protests and how to organize people for support.
KENNEDY AND JOHNSON
--In the presidential election of 1960 the Republican candidate was Vice-president Richard
Nixon (who was President Eisenhower’s vice president) and the Democratic candidate was John
F. Kennedy. Kennedy won the election, partly due to a televised debate in which Kennedy
appeared handsome, youthful, and spoke with confidence about the future. Nixon looked tired,
sick, and nervous. Many viewers thought that Kennedy made a better impression.
--When Kennedy became president he drew up plans for the New Frontier, a group of proposals
involving increased government spending on social programs to improve the economy,
education, healthcare, and civil rights. Reluctant to commit to Kennedy’s expensive programs,
Congress failed to pass most of these bills. However, some things that did pass were an increase
in minimum wage, an extension in Social Security benefits, and improvements in the welfare
system. Additionally, Kennedy and Congress increased government spending on the military
and defense because of the Cold War. They also supported the space race with the USSR and
invested in space programs. This grew our nation’s debt. Kennedy also wanted to help African
Americans in their civil rights movement. In 1963 he asked Congress to pass a bill guaranteeing
civil rights but Congress did not pass it. Meanwhile, Kennedy left on campaign trip to Dallas,
Texas where he was assassinated on November 22, 1963.
--Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy’s vice president, became the new president. Johnson had
outlined a set of programs called the Great Society, similar to Kennedy’s New Frontier. One of
the plans was to help poor people; he created programs for children to go preschool and helped
students go to college. This was known as the War on Poverty. The most important laws passed
were Medicare and Medicaid, for medical care. Medicare helped pay for medical care for
senior citizens. Medicaid provides medical care for the poor and disabled. Other parts of the
Great Society targeted the nation’s crumbling cities. In 1966 Johnson established the
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which helped fund public housing
projects. He also cut taxes on the middle class and funded federal programs to lower the
unemployment rate. Johnson also promised to continue Kennedy’s work in civil rights. He
convinced Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which he signed into law. It
prohibited discrimination in employment, voting, and public accommodation. It banned
discrimination not only by race and color, but also by sex, religion, or national origin.
THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES
--There were growing protests throughout American cities for the civil rights movement. One
form of protest is a sit-in. A sit-in is the act of protesting by sitting down. They were staged
throughout the nation against stores that practiced segregation. The sit-ins helped launched a
new civil rights group, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); it was a key
player in the civil rights movement for several years.
--The Supreme Court had ruled in 1960 against segregated bus facilities. Another civil rights
group, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), decided to see whether the ruling was being
enforced. In 1961 a group of CORE members left Washington, D.C. on two buses bound for
New Orleans. They called themselves Freedom Riders. When it reached Alabama, angry
whites stoned and beat the Freedom Riders. More Freedom Rides occurred throughout the
summer and some CORE members were arrested and jailed in Mississippi. Finally, because the
Freedom Rides did not stop, the Interstate Commerce Commission took steps to enforce the
Supreme Court ruling and issued new regulations that banned segregation on interstate buses and
in bus stations.
--President Kennedy had proposed a new civil rights bill that would outlaw segregation
throughout the nation because of all the violence that had been occurring. On August 28, 1963
Martin Luther King, Jr. and the SCLC organized a march in Washington, D.C. to gain support
for the bill. More than 200,000 were present at the march. This is when King issued his “I have
a dream” speech. Finally, Congress had passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This was followed
by the 24th Amendment which made the poll taxes illegal in the voting polls. Additionally,
there is the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which gave the federal government the power to force
local officials to allow African Americans to register to vote and banned literacy tests.
--Despite the changes that had been made many African Americans were still upset that all of
these changes were happening too slowly and there was still a lot of violence and unrest by
whites. Malcolm X was a leader in the Nation of Islam (or Black Muslims) who criticized the
civil rights goal of integration, declaring that the best way for African Americans to achieve
justice was to separate themselves from whites. This idea had gained many followers and
eventually more African American leaders embraced more radical approaches. Stokely
Carmichael advanced the idea of Black Power. This was a philosophy of racial pride that said
African Americans should create their own culture and political institutions. Eventually, a new
group called the Black Panthers formed; their goal was to protect the African American
community from police actions that Panther leaders considered brutality.
--On April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, an assassin shot and killed Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. King’s assassination set off angry rioting in more than 100 cities. Fires burned in the
nation’s capital, just blocks from the Capitol and the White House.