Postwar America
UNIT 12
Return to Peacetime Economy
and the Eisenhower Years
Guiding Questions
 What happened when the nation returned to a
peacetime economy, and how did government try to
ease the transition?
 How did the Truman administration seek to
continue New Deal Goals?
 How did Eisenhower’s presidency signal a more
conservative direction for the government?
Terms to Know
 Closed shop
 Right-to-work laws
 Union shop
 Dynamic conservatism
Return to Peacetime Economy
 Many Americans feared of a recession after the war
 Military production stopped
 Fear of unemployment as soldiers need work
 Economy continued to grow
 Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944
 Provided funds to members of the armed services who
returned for war to help them set up businesses, buy homes,
and attend college
Economic Problems
 Higher demand for goods led to inflation which caused labor
unrest

Workers in mining, electrical, automobile, and steel industries went on
strike

Wanted better pay to help of cost of living increase
 Republicans used concern over labor unrest and high process
to help win the both houses of Congress in 1946
 Taft-Hartley Act (1947)
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Outlawed the closed shop- Businesses were forced to hire only union
members
Allowed states to pass right to work laws- outlawed union shops which
forced workers to join unions after they started to work
Banned featherbedding- reducing work output in order to create more
jobs
Banned use of union money to support political campaigns
Truman vetoed the bill, but Congress passed the bill over Truman’s veto
Truman’s Legislative Agenda
 Truman wanted to continue the work of FDR’s New Deal
Programs despite the Democratic Party losing both
houses of Congress
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Expand Social Security, raise minimum wage, create a program to
ensure full employment
Wanted to expand federal spending and investment to create public
housing
Proposed a system of national health insurance
 Issued an executive order forbidding discrimination in
federal jobs and ending segregation in the armed forces
 Most of Truman’s policies failed because Congress voted
against many of his proposals
Election of 1948
 Democratic party split because they were frustrated
with Truman’s policies


Truman ran for the Democrat Party
Southern Democrats formed the DixieCrat Party
Strom Thurmond (SC Governor)
 Were upset with Truman’s support of civil rights


Liberal Democrats formed a new Progressive Party
Henry A. Wallace
 Were critical of Truman’s anti-Soviet foreign policy

 Republicans nominated Thomas Dewey
 Governor of New York
 Was frontrunner for presidency; Seemed unbeateable
Truman Wins Re-Election
 In campaign stops, Truman attacked the majority
Republican Congress as a “Do-Nothing” Congress

Refused to approve many of his plans
 “Do-Nothing” Congress had passed many important bills
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Gave aid to Greece and Turkey
Passed the Marshall Plan
Created the Department of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and set up
Air Force as separate military branch
Passed the 22nd Amendment- limited president to two terms of office
 People sided with Truman because Congressional actions
were not directly affecting many Americans directly
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
Truman won by a narrow margin
Democratic Party took back control of both houses of Congress
The Fair Deal
Successes
• Minimum wage raised
• Increased Social Security benefits
and extended benefits to 10 million
more people
• National Housing Act- allowed
construction of low-income housing
with long-term rent subsidies
Failures
• Did not pass national health
insurance
• Did not provide subsidies for farmers
• Did not provide federal aid for
schools
• Did not pass any civil rights
legislation
The Eisenhower Years
 President Truman’s approval ratings began to drop
after the Korean War became a stalemate

Decided not to run for reelection
 Republicans nominated Dwight Eisenhower as
president


Former commander of Allied Forces in Europe
“I like Ike”
 Eisenhower won in landslide
 Republican gained an eight-seat majority in House and Senate
became evenly divided
Eisenhower’s Dynamic Conservatism
 Dynamic conservatism
 Balancing economic conservatism with activism that would be
good for the country
Conservatism
•
•
•
•
Vetoed school construction bill
Limited aid to public housing
Ended the Reconstruction Finance
Corporation
Limited aid to the Tennessee Valley
Authority
Activism
Federal Highway Act- largest public
works program in history
* Provided for a $25 billion, 10 year
project to build more than 400,000
miles of interstate highways
• Approved the construction of the St.
Lawrence Seaway
* Series of locks along the St. Lawrence
River that would allow ships to travel
from the Great lakes to the Atlantic
Ocean
• Extended Social Security
• Raised minimum wage
•
Discussion Questions
 How did the experience of World War II
veterans returning home from the war differ
from that of World War I veterans?
 What was the main difference between the
economic policies of Truman and
Eisenhower?
The Affluent Society
Guiding Questions
 How did the lives of Americans change after World
War II?
 How did technological advances change society?
 How did the new mass media reflect the
characteristics of the time?
 Why did young people in the 1950’s develop their
own popular culture? How were the results different
from previous generations?
Terms to Know
 Baby boom
 White-Collar jobs
 Blue-collar worker
 Multinational corporation
 Rock ‘n’ Roll
 Suburb
American Abundance
 1950’s were a decade of great wealth

Average family income almost tripled between 1940-1950
 Economist John Galbraith published the Affluent Society
in 1958
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Claimed the nation’s postwar wealth was a new phenomenon
U.S. had created an “economy of abundance” by using new business
method
New technology increased production, which raised the standard of
living
 Advertising became the fastest growing industry in the
U.S.

Manufactures used marketing techniques to create consumer
demand for their goods
American Lives Change
Growth of Suburbia
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•
•
•
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Suburban population
doubled in the 1950’s
People wanted to escape
crime and overcrowding
of cities
Homes were less
expensive
Suburbs offered a better
life
GI Bill offered lower
interest rates
Homeowners could
reduce income taxes by
taking deductions for
paying mortgages and
property taxes
The Baby Boom
•
•
•
•
•
More than 65 million
children were born in the
U.S. from 1945-1961
Child was born every 7
seconds during the height
Soldiers returning home
from WWII and Korean
War began families
Government encouraged
the growth of families by
offering GI benefits for
home purchases
Society favored
pregnancy, parenthood,
and large families
Changing Workplace
•
•
•
White collar workers
outnumbered blue collar
workers for first time in
1956
Corporations became
multinational
corporations and
expanded overseas to
benefit from cheaper
labor and resources
Franchises- businesses
that person owns and
runs that is part of a
bigger chain- became
popular
Scientific Advancements
Electronics and Aviation
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•
•
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Transistors- tiny electric parts that make
it possible to make radios very smallwere created
Earliest computers were created to make
military calculations and process business
data
Aircraft designers began using plastics
and light weight materials
Jet engine technology
Medical Breakthroughs
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•
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CPR was developed
Doctors learned to replace damaged heart
valves and implanted the first
pacemakers
New medicines helped tuberculosis to
become less deadly
Scientist Jonas Salk discovered a polio
vaccine, which became available to the
public in 1955
Alber Sabin developed a polio vaccine as
well that could be taken orally
The New Mass Media
Television
•
•
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More than 80% of
families owned at least
one television by 1957
Variety shows featured
comedy, music, dance,
and acrobatics
Westerns and police
shows became popular
Hollywood
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•
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Movie attendance fell by
more than half by 1950
1/5 of nation’s movie
theaters had closed by
1960
Invention of
Cinemascope- process
that showed movies on
large, wide screens, and
in color- helped to draw
back huge audiences
Radio
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•
Radios began to
broadcast more recorded
music, news, weather,
sports, and talk shows
Many radio listeners were
people driving
automobiles from the
suburbs
Number of radio stations
more than doubled
between 1948 and 1957
Teenage Culture in the 1950’s
 Teens during the 1950’s were able to develop their
own pop culture
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
Had money to spend on entertainment
Mass media allowed teens from across the country access to
the same music and television shows
 Entertainment and advertising industries began to
target the youth culture
Rock ‘n’ Roll
 New style of music influence by African American sounds
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Beats made it perfect for dancing
Lyrics were relatable to young people
 Elvis Pressley became the first rock ‘n’ roll idol in 1956

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Popular for singing and dancing
Dancing movements and performances shocked many adults
 Rock ‘n’ Roll helped to create a generation gap between
the parents and children
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Adults felt it was mindless, dangerous, and loud
Teens were united by the songs in a world their parents did not shar
The Beat Movement
 Group of mostly white writers and artists who
criticized American culture for its emptiness and
conformity during the 1950’s
 Helped start the youth cultural revolution of the
1960’s
African American Entertainers
 Nat King Cole, a popular African American singer,
was given a 15-minute musical variety show on NBC
in 1956

Cancelled after 2 years
 African American rock ‘n’ roll singers became very
popular

Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Ray Charles


Helped influenced the Beatles who became hugely popular in the
1960’s
Female African American groups such as the Shirelles and
Ronettes
Discussion Questions
 In what ways were the suburbs of the 1950s a
good place to raise children?
 What disadvantages did suburban life
present to families?
 How did the television industry affect the
U.S. economy?
 How did rock ‘n’ roll help create the
generation gap?
The Other Side of American Life
Guiding Questions
 Are the people and regions most affected by poverty
today the same as in the 1950’s?
 What factors were blamed for the rise of juvenile
deliquency?
Terms to Know
 Poverty line
 Urban renewal
 Termination policy
 Juvenile deliquency
Poverty in America
 1/5 Americans lived below the poverty line in the
1950’s
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Single mothers
Elderly
Minoriites
Rural Americans
Inner-city residents
Inner-City Problems and Government Response
 Poverty was most visible in urban centers
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Middle class left for suburbs
Loss of tax revenue caused cities not to be able to afford to keep cities
in good repair

Public transportation, housing, etc…
 Federal government response often made problems
worse
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Urban renewal programs-government programs that attempt to
eliminate poverty and revitalize urban areas
Tore down slums and built high-rises
Very crowded
 Often sites of violence
 Government evicted tenants who began earning more money

Minorities Struggle
African Americans
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•
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Racial discrimination
kept many poor
Average salary was only
51% of white workers
A Raisin in the Sun- play
written by Lorraine
Hansberry telling the
story of a working-class
African American family
struggling against poverty
and racism
Hispanics
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•
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5 million Mexicans had
come to the U.S. through
the Bracero program to
work on farms and
ranches in the Southwest
Often worked long hours
for little pay in horrible
conditions
Many returned home
About 350,000 stayed in
the U.S.
Native Americans
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•
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U.S. government began
the termination policy
after WWII
Government would no
longer recognize Native
American groups as legal
entities (independent)
Native Americans had to
follow same laws as white
citizens and were
encouraged to move to
cities
Native American hopes of
improved lives after
WWII were destroyed by
termination policy
Juvenile Delinquency
 U.S. saw a 45% rise in juvenile crime rates between 1948-
1953

Juvenile delinquency- disruptive, harmful, or illegal behavior of
young people
 Disagreement on causes of rise in youth crime
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
Blamed TV, movies, racism, busy parents, increase in divorce rate,
lack of religion, anxiety of military drafts
Failure to discipline children
 Although most teens were not involved in gangs, drugs,
or crimes, the public accepted stereotypes of young
people as juvenile delinquents


Long hair
Using slang
Education As A Solution
 Many parents focused on education as a possible
solution to misbehaving children
 Enrollments increased by 13 million during the
1950’s

Schools could not afford new buildings and teachers
 More panic about education after USSR launch of
Sputnik I and Sputnik II, the world’s first space
satellites
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Felt U.S. had fallen behind the USSR
Blamed on lack of technical education
 U.S. began to improve math and science education
Discussion Questions
 Why do you think inner-city neighborhoods
became worse during the 1950s?
 Why did a number of Native Americans wind
up living in poverty following the termination
policy?
 In what ways could schools have helped curb
the “epidemic” of juvenile delinquency?
 Do you believe television, movies, and other
entertainment media encourage antisocial
behavior or rebellion among young people?