APUSH REVIEW
Politics and the Cold
War
As found in Barron’s Study Keys EZ-101
American History 1877 t
o the Present
Published 1992
Theme 12: The Age of
American Affluence
After 1945, abundance and affluence
were dominant aspects of
American society. But not everyone
shared in this prosperity and
optimism. While the U.S. middle
class enjoyed rising living
standards, many other Americans,
particularly blacks, in poverty
Key 64: The postindustrial society
Overview: Compared to the situation in the 1920s, American economic growth after 1945 was more widely distributed and
better balanced. Technological changes and steady economic growth, fueled by gov’t and military spending, were
characteristic trends. Unemployment remained around 5 %, and inflation hovered about 3%
Keynesian economic theory: Became widely adopted by economists and the public during the 1950s.
•
It fostered a belief in permanent economic stability and growth
•
Keynes asserted that, by varying the flow of gov’t spending and managing the currency supply, the gov’t could
stimulate the economy, cure recession, and curb growth to prevent inflation.
Consolidation: A trend in both business and farming
•
Over 4,000 corporate mergers occurred in 1950s, and corporations changed from being single-industry firms to
diversified conglomerates
•
Agricultural consolidations also took place, and agribusiness emerged, when much of the productive farmland
was purchased by corporations and financial institutions.
Labor and unions: Union membership remained stable in the 1950s, and many unions became powerful and affluent
bureaucracies.
•
In 1955, under George Meany, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations
became AFL-CIO
•
The Teamsters and the United Mine Workers were plagued by scandals of corruption and violence
Consumer culture: Prosperity produced a middle-class consumer culture, fostered by advertising, increased variety
and availability of products, along with the existence of credit cards, revolving charge accounts, and easypayment plans
Growth of suburbs: During the 1950s, one-third of the U.S. population settled in suburbs.
•
Mass-production techniques in housing construction, such as those pioneered in Levittown, New York, along
with increased affluence, encouraged suburbanization
•
Suburban families found privacy, security, space (for consumer goods) in larger homes, and a sense of
community
•
Suburbs were similar in that they were mostly white and had a class component
Key 65: The postindustrial society
Baby and child care: A famous, widely used child-centered guide to child rearing, by Dr. Benjamin Spock.
•
Reflected the decade’s emphasis on family life
•
Featured the middle-class woman in her role as a mother
•
Encouraged women to stay at home
Television: Replaced radio and movies as the main source of entertainment in the 1950s
•
Shaped American culture and served to homogenize American language and life
•
Conveyed news and entertainment, while introducing viewers to new products and fashions
•
Evoked powerlessness, alienation, and other emotions in its audience and thus could act as a force for social
change or traditional values
Science and technology: The hallmarks of the decade
•
Reverence, pride, and fascination were typical public reactions to the jet plane, computer, and U.S. space
program
•
After the Soviet Union’s launching of a satellite, called Sputnik, science education, research, and the American
space program (established in 1958) received increased funding and support
Bureaucracies: Were highly influential in the lives of both blue- and white-collar Americans during the 1950s
•
Educational institutions responded by training specialists in a wide variety of fields in the “multidiversity.”
•
Bureaucracies symbolized the impersonalized nature of modern society and became the subject of books such
as William H. Whyte’s The Organization Man
Outgroups: Persons (e.g., farmers, blacks, Hispanics, rural whites) who did not share in the affluence of the 1950s
•
Farmers experienced a decline of their incomes along with price increases in consumer goods
•
Black, Puerto Rican, and Mexican ghettos expanded
•
These urban “prisoner,” like the rural poor, lacked adequate schools, health care, and other services.
Key 65: Origins of the Civil Rights Mov’t
Eisenhower’s role in regard to civil rights: Completed the integration of the armed forces, tried to desegregate the
federal work force, and signed a Civil Rights Act in 1957
•
Although a weak bill with few provisions for enforcement, it created a Commission on Civil Rights to
investigate alleged violations of the right to vote, based on race, religion, color, or national origin
•
Intimidation or coercion to stop people from voting was prohibited
Key 66: Eisenhower’s domestic policy
Overview: Dwight D. Eisenhower, familiarly known as Ike, was a conservative and a behind-the-scenes president. His
presidential style avoided confrontation and offered little leadership initiative. Although he was cautious and his policies were
moderate, he did intensify the U.S. commitment to oppose communism. His was a business-oriented administration
ˆDepartment of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW): Created on April 1, 1953; the first secretary was Oveta
Culp Hobby. The new department coordinated all the activities of the gov’t’s welfare agencies
Other social programs fostered by Eisenhower: Included extending the Social Security system and
unemployment compensation to more people, as well as increasing the hourly minimum wage to $1.00
Small Business Administration: Established in 1953 to replace the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, it
provided loans and other gov’t aid to small businesses.
St. Lawrence Seaway Project: Approved under the Seaway Act (1954), it sponsored the construction of the St.
Lawrence Seaway linking the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean
Housing Act (1955): Provided for the construction of 45,000 new public housing units per year for 4 years
Soil Bank Act (1956): Authorized payments to farmers who kept acreage out of production under an acreagereserve program, and who would devote acreage to trees, grass, or water shortage under a conservation
reserve program
Federal Aid Highway Act (1956): Provided $26 billion over a 10-year period for building a national highway system.
A highway “trust fund” raised money for the program through new taxes on fuel, tires, cars, and trucks
Election of 1956: The Republican incumbent, Eisenhower, received almost 57% of the popular vote
•
Democrat Adlai E. Stevenson was again defeated
•
Election issues included the question of radioactive fallout from hydrogen bomb testing, the continuation of the
draft, and civil rights
Key 66: Eisenhower’s domestic policy
ˆNational Defense Education Act (1858): Provided $300 million for loans to college students preparing to teach or
possessing ability in science, mathematics, foreign languages, or engineering.
•
Funds were also delegated to strengthen instruction in these areas
•
National defense fellowships were created, and $15 million was allocated annually to the states to identify and
encourage able students
Labor Reform Act (1959): Assured union members greater participation in union affairs via a “bill of rights,” and
provided fro publicity of union affairs to end abuses and corruption
Key 67: Foreign Affairs under Eisenhower
Overview: in the Eisenhower years Truman’s commitment to containment as a global effort to resist communist subversion
was continued
Global concerns: Two factors joined to help develop policy
•
The threat of nuclear war between the superpowers, which caused the development of more weapons,
sometimes in excess of the need, thus establishing what Eisenhower warned about: a military-industrial
complex.
•
The development of a consistent policy toward new Third World nations, balancing their need for setting
national goals while helping them avoid control by local Communists or the Soviet Union
John F Dulles: As Secretary of State under Eisenhower (1953-59), he was the architect of “massive retaliation”
and “brinkmanship”
•
Fiercely anti-Communist, he called for the “liberation” of Iron Curtain countries
•
He believed the U.S. should respond to Communist threats through “massive retaliation,” which meant using
nuclear weapons
•
“Brinkmanship” meant going to the brink of war with the Soviet Union to keep peace and obtain concessions.
Such as policy relied on nuclear weapons rather than on expensive conventional armed forces, thereby
providing “more bang for the buck.”
•
Dulles’s policy also included the creation of several mutual defense pacts base on NATO
United States-South Korea Security Treaty (1953): The two nations agreed to act together in meeting an armed
attack on either in the Pacific area. At Korea’s request, U.S. forces would be stationed in and about Korea
Baghdad Pact or CENTO Alliance (1953) Called the Central Treaty Organization this mutual defense pact,
included the U.S., Great Britain, Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) (1954): Stipulated that all parties would initiate a self-help and
mutual aid program developing the capacity to resist armed attack and preventing subversive activities from
outside
•
Designed to prevent Communist expansion in the Pacific
•
Included the U.S., Great Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, and Pakistan.
Key 67: Foreign Affairs under Eisenhower
Relations with China: Developments included:
•
The Formosa Resolutions (1955), approved by Congress, authorized the President to make use of armed
forces, if needed, to protect Formosa and the Pescadores Islands
•
United States-China Security Treaty, agreed to in 1955, stated that Nationalist China and the U.S. would
jointly resist both armed attack and Communist subversives activities directed against either nation
1. The treaty pertained to Formosa, the Pescadores Islands, and U.S. territories in the Western Pacific
2. Nationalist China granted the U.S. the right to station armed forces in Formosa
Geneva Summit Conference (1955, 1957): A disarmament program based on Eisenhower’s “open skies” plan
was referred to the Conference of Foreign Ministers. Other issues discussed included German unification,
exchange of ideas and goods, lowering travel barriers, and a plan for a U.S.S.R.-U.S. summit meeting.
Nuclear arms race: The Atomic Energy Commission developed and tested the hydrogen bomb during this
decade. The first test took place in the South Pacific in 1954
•
The distant early warning (DEW) line of radar stations was installed in Canada and in Alaska in 1958
•
Also in 1958, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was launched, and by 1960 nuclear submarines,
carrying atomic-tipped missiles, had been deployed.
•
Nuclear testing in the atmosphere became a major problem
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA): Conducted several operations to change the form of foreign
governments
•
In 1953 CIA agents overthrew Iran’s premier
•
In 1954 the CIA supported a coup in Guatemala
•
The CIA was unsuccessful, however, in overthrowing Indonesia’s leader in 1958 and Cuba’s Fidel Castro in
1961
Europe: The “Iron Curtain” solidified during the 1950s
•
In 1954 West Germany began to rearm; and by 1957 German forces had joined NATO and Germany had
become a U.S. ally
•
A Hungarian nationalist revolt in 1956 was crushed by the U.S.S.R., which installed a pro-Soviet gov’t
Key 67: Foreign Affairs under Eisenhower
Vietnam-Geneva Agreement (1954): Eisenhower had refused the French request for American military
intervention in Vietnam. After the fall of Dien Bien Phu, France agreed to meet with Ho Chi Minh, leader of
Vietnam’s nationalist forces, in Geneva
•
The Geneva Accords (July 1954) temporarily divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel
1. The North was placed under Ho Chi Minh’s control, while the South would be governed by a pro-Western
regime
2. In 1956 democratic elections would unite the nation
•
The U.S., fearing that a Communist government would result from the elections, helped establish a proAmerican government in the South under Ngo Dinh Diem, who would not allow the elections to take place
Domino Theory: This analogy held that, if Vietnam became Communist, the rest of Asia, like a row of dominoes,
would also fall under Communist control
Suez Canal Crisis: In 1952 Egypt gained independence from Britain, and in 1954 Gamal Abdel Nasser assumed
power
•
Soviet arms were exchanged for Egyptian cotton
•
The Soviets offered to finance a Nile River dam; the United States countered with a similar offer but withdrew
it in 1956, as Nasser flirted with the U.S.S.R.
•
Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, run by an Anglo-French company
•
Israeli, British, and French forces invaded Egypt to take the canal by force
•
The United States joined the United Nations in condemning this action
•
The French and British withdrew, while Egypt and Israel agreed to a cease-fire. Thereafter, Egypt turned to
the Soviet Union for assistance
Eisenhower Doctrine (1957): Offered the U.S. economic and military aid to ensure the territorial independence
of Middle Eastern nations threatened by armed aggression from Communist countries
•
In 1957 the doctrine was invoked to assist King Hussein of Jordan
•
In 1958 marines were sent to aid Lebanon
Key 67: Foreign Affairs under Eisenhower
Cuba (1959): Fidel Castro established a new government in Cuba after overthrowing the Batista regime
•
In 1960 it accepted Soviet assistance
•
By 1961 the United States had severed diplomatic relations with Castro
•
Cuba developed an alliance with the Soviet Union
U-2 spy plane incident: In 1959 Nikita S. Krushchev, premier of the Soviet Union, visited the United States and
conferred with Eisenhower at Camp David
•
However, Krushchev cancelled a planned May 1960 summit meeting in Paris after Eisenhower admitted
authorizing the flight of a U-2 spy plane shot down over Soviet territory on May5
•
The pilot, Francis Gary Powers, was captured but later released