Truman Domestic Policy (Use with the Presidential Cliff Notes Chart)
Truman faced challenge after challenge in domestic affairs. The disorderly
postwar reconversion of the economy of the United States was marked by severe
shortages, numerous strikes, and the passage of the Taft–Hartley Act over
his veto. He confounded all predictions to win re-election in 1948, helped by his
famous Whistle Stop Tour of rural America. After his re-election he was able to
pass only part of the proposals in his Fair Deal program. He used executive
orders to begin desegregation of the military and to create loyalty checks which
dismissed thousands of communist supporters from office.
1947 – Congress Overrides the Truman’s Taft- Hartley Act veto: the Taft–Hartley Act, is
a United States federal law that monitors the activities and power of labor unions. The act, still
effective, was legislated by overriding U.S. President Harry S. Truman's veto on June 23, 1947;
labor leaders called it the "slave-labor bill" while President Truman argued it would "conflict
with important principles of our democratic society,". The Taft-Hartley Act amended
the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA; informally the Wagner Act), which Congress passed
in 1935.
Do you think labor unions should have a lot of power in deciding workers rights? Why or why
not?
1949 – Truman Proposes the Fair Deal: This ambitious economic program was an extension of
FDR’s New Deal and it called for the repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act, a minimum wage,
improvements in housing, and the protection of civil rights. The program of 1949 contained
twenty-four points and began with the words "Every segment of our population and every
individual has the right to expect from our government a fair deal." The Fair Deal promised
increased coverage for Social Security, federal aid to education, and compulsory health
insurance. The last issue brought Truman into frontal conflict with the American Medical
Association, whose leaders cried "socialized medicine" and eventually helped to establish private
programs of health insurance. The only pieces of legislation that passed where the raising of the
minimum wage from 40 cents to 75 cents and an extension of Social Security to 10 million more
people. In the end, Truman's attempt to introduce his Fair Deal was largely a failure.
Should healthcare be universally supplied to all citizens?
Civil Rights Victories: As Senator, Truman had not supported the early Civil Rights Movement.
As President, he did put forward many civil rights programs but most were met with a lot of
resistance by conservative southern Democrats. Most proposals were ultimately blocked.
However, he successfully integrated the armed forces, denied government contracts to firms
with racially discriminatory practices and named African Americans to federal posts. In a 1947
speech to the NAACP, which marked the first time a sitting President had ever addressed the
group, Truman said "Every man should have the right to a decent home, the right to an
education, the right to adequate medical care, the right to a worthwhile job, the right to an equal
share in the making of public decisions through the ballot, and the right to a fair trial in a fair
court.”
Listen to the “Give ‘em Hell Harry Whistle Stop Speech”
Fill in Truman Section on “Presidential Cliff Notes”
Eisenhower Domestic Policy (Use with the Presidential Cliff Notes Chart)
Eisenhower believed that a free enterprise economy should run itself, and he took little interest
in domestic policy. While his 1952 landslide gave the Republicans control of both houses of
the Congress, Eisenhower believed that taxes could not be cut until the budget was balanced.
"We cannot afford to reduce taxes, [and] reduce income," he said, "until we have in sight a
program of expenditure that shows that the factors of income and outgo will be balanced."
Eisenhower kept the national debt low and inflation near zero.
On June 17, 1954, Eisenhower launched Operation Wetback in response to increasing illegal
immigration to the United States. As many as three million illegal immigrants had crossed the
U.S. Mexican border to work in California, Arizona, Texas and other states. Eisenhower
opposed this movement, believing that it lowered the wages of American workers and led to
corruption. The Immigration and Naturalization Service sent back to Mexico about 80,000 immigrants. (Press
releases about one million or more were false statements designed to praise the work of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service.)
What is your stance on undocumented immigrants? Should undocumented immigrants be sent back to their
country of origin or should they be put on a path to citizenship?
Civil Rights Victories: The presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower is characterized by the major changes in the
treatment and the attitude towards African Americans. In 1954, the Supreme Court was presented with the Brown v.
Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas case. The case protested segregated schools claiming that they cannot be
"separate• but equal." They also claimed that the refusal to permit their children to attend the schools was
unconstitutional under the Fourteenth amendment.
In 1957, he sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas after Governor Orval Faubus attempted to defy a Supreme
Court ruling that ordered the desegregation of all public schools. The soldiers escorted nine AfricanAmerican students, who became known as the Little Rock Nine, to Little Rock Central High School. He wrote
legislation that would create a Civil Rights Commission in the executive branch and a civil rights department in
the Justice Department, along with protecting voting rights.
Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956: Eisenhower promoted the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, which created the
United States' Interstate Highways. It was the largest public works program in U.S. history, providing a 41,000mile highway system. Eisenhower had been impressed during the war with the German Autobahn system, and also
recalled his own involvement in a military convoy in 1919 that took 62 days to cross the U.S
Farewell Address to the Nation on January 17, 1961: Eisenhower warned of excessive military entanglements.
A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant
action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction...
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience.
The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the
federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its
grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the
councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or
unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and
will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We
should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the
huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty
may prosper together.
Listen to Eisenhower’s Military Industrial Complex Speech
Fill in Eisenhower Section on “Presidential Cliff Notes”