POWERPOINT 27 Postwar America 1946 — 1952

POWERPOINT 27 Postwar America, 1946 - 1952

Reconversion n Americans face two major questions at end of WWII: What will be relationship with Soviet Union? n Will the economy thrive or flounder? n n Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (G. I. Bill) n Provided new opportunities for veterans to purchase homes and attend college n Economy surges forward as consumer spending begins in earnest n Militancy of labor led to strikes

Affluence and Anxiety n Baby booming n Families place greater emphasis on children n Listening to experts and agonizing over child rearing n Woman displaced in workforce by returning vets n Post-war women became nation’s primary consumers n Many women still worked outside home, in “feminine” jobs n Suburbia after the war n Levittown n Reinforced traditional family roles

The Soviet Threat n Soviet containment n Winston Churchill and the Iron Curtain n George Kennan n President unveils Truman Doctrine n Civil war in Greece n Implements help from Europe n Marshall Plan n 27 billion spent to help Europe recover n National Security Act of 1947 n Created National Security Council, Department of Defense, and the Central Intelligence Agency

Liberalism in Retreat n House Un-American Activities Committee n Searched for communists in America n Alger Hiss and Whittaker Chambers n Pumpkin Papers n Taft-Hartley Act curbs power of unions and fosters racial discrimination n Jackie Robinson breaks baseball’s color line n Truman surprises experts with wins in 1948 n Dixiecratics n Strom Thurmond

Racial Segregation, 1949

Election of 1948 © 2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.

Trouble in Asia n Communism prevails in China in 1949 n Chiang Kai-Shek n Mao Tse-tung n North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) n North Korea invades South Korea in 1950 n United States and United Nations send forces n Douglas Mac. Arthur n Inchon n Truman relieves Mac. Arthur, April 1951

© 2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license. Korean War

Mc. Carthyism and the Election of 1952 n Red Scare brings fear and “Mc. Carthyism” to U. S. n Joseph Mc. Carthy n Dwight Eisenhower runs for presidency in 1952 n Adlai Stevenson n Richard Nixon is named running mate for Eisenhower n Democratic attacks against Nixon backfired n Checkers Ike elected president n Republicans gain slim control of Congress n

Web Presidential Election, 1952

Discussion Questions n Examine the rise of consumerism in the U. S. after the war. What role did the G. I. Bill play in post-war economy? n What factors caused the U. S. and the Soviets go from allies to enemies? n What were the causes of the Korean War? What was America’s reasons for becoming involved? n What part did Alger Hiss and Joe Mc. Carthy play in the “Red Scare” of the 1950 s?