8.4 Flashcards
(42 cards)
1
Q
Harry S. Truman
A
- (1945–1953)
- a decisive president who appealed to average citizens. He attempted to continue the New Deal economic policies of his predecessor but faced growing conservative opposition. At the end of the war, pushed for several progressive acts (didn’t work out because of opposition and the Cold War).
2
Q
Employment Act of 1946
A
- a watered-down version of a full-employment bill
created the Council of Economic Advisers
3
Q
Council of Economic Advisers
A
- advise the president and Congress on means of promoting national economic welfare.
4
Q
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act/GI Bill of Rights
A
- (1944)
- supported the transition of 15 million veterans to a peacetime economy. Helped veterans into college and other training and provided government loans (~$6 bil) to pay for homes, farms and start businesses. Stimulated the postwar economic expansion. Helped white veterans more than black because of racial inequality (increased racial wealth gap).
5
Q
Baby Boom
A
- Explosion in marriages and births. 50 million babies between 1945 and 1960. Affected the nation’s social institutions and economic life in the last half of the 20th century as the kids aged.
6
Q
Suburban Growth
A
- Construction boom due to higher demand for housing. Low interest rates on mortgages that were both government insured and tax deductible made moving to the suburb affordable. In a single generation, the majority of middle-class Americans became suburbanites. Most government policies for loans supported segregation in housing.
7
Q
William J. Levitt
A
- led in the development of postwar suburbia with his building.
8
Q
Levittown
A
- Levitt’s project of 17,000 mass-produced, low-priced family homes on Long Island, New York. Only for white people.
9
Q
Effect of Suburban Move
A
- Older inner cities like Boston to Los Angeles became increasingly poor and racially divided.
10
Q
Sunbelt
A
- States from Florida to California that had warmer climate, lower taxes, and economic opportunities in defense-related industries attracted many GIs and their families to move to the suburbs.
11
Q
Inflation
A
Truman advocated for wartime price control to limit inflation. However, Southern
Democrats joined with Republicans to relax the controls of the Office of Price Administration which caused an inflation rate of almost 25 percent.
12
Q
Inflation
A
Truman advocated for wartime price control to limit inflation. However, Southern
Democrats joined with Republicans to relax the controls of the Office of Price Administration which caused an inflation rate of almost 25 percent.
13
Q
Strikes
A
- (1946)
- Workers and unions wanted wages to catch up after years of wage controls. Strikes by railroad and mine workers threatened national safety. Truman used military force to push strikers down.
14
Q
22nd Amendment
A
- (1951)
- Limit a president to a maximum of two full terms in office. (Because of Roosevelt)
15
Q
Taft-Hartley Act
A
- (1947)
- Republican-sponsored law was to check the growing power of unions. Truman vetoed but Congress surpassed. Divided Republicans and Democrats in 1950s.
1) Outlawing the closed shop (requiring workers to join a union before being hired)
2 0Permitting states to pass “right to work” laws outlawing the union shop (requiring workers to join a union after being hired)
3) Outlawing secondary boycotts (the practice of several unions supporting a striking union by joining a boycott of a company’s products)
Giving the president the power to invoke an 80-day cooling-off period before a strike endangering the national safety could be called
16
Q
The Election of 1948
A
- Truman lost support of Progressive Party and Dixiecrats but was still able to win due to his tour and “give ’em hell” speeches (attacked the “do-nothing” Republicans).
17
Q
Fair Deal
A
- (1949)
- Reform program that urged Congress to enact national health insurance, federal aid to education, civil rights legislation, funds for public housing, and a new farm program. Only the minimum wage increase was passed by Congress.
Failed Because:
1) Truman’s political conflicts with Congress
2) The pressing foreign policy concerns of the Cold War
18
Q
The Election of 1952
A
- Americans were looking for relief from the Korean War.
- Republicans: Dwight D. Eisenhower and Senator Richard Nixon as his running mate.
- Democrats: Adlai Stevenson who confronted McCarthyism.
19
Q
Dwight D. Eisenhower (“Ike”)
A
- (1953–1961)
- The Republican campaign slogan, “I Like Ike,” expressed the genuine feelings of millions of middle-class Americans. Ike was a general during WWII. Pledged to go to Korea and end the war. Was a fiscal conservative whose first priority was balancing the budget after years of deficit spending. Opposed the ideas of federal health insurance and federal aid to education.
20
Q
Charles Wilson
A
- Ike’s secretary of defense and the former head of General Motors.
21
Q
Modern Republicanism
A
- Eisenhower balanced and moderate approach. He accepted most of the New Deal programs as a reality of modern life and even expanded some of them. Social Security was extended to 10 million more citizens, the minimum wage was raised, and additional public housing was built.
22
Q
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW)
A
- (1953)
- consolidated welfare programs
23
Q
Oveta Culp Hobby
A
- First woman in a Republican cabinet and led HEW.
24
Q
Soil-bank program
A
- Initiated as means of reducing farm production and thereby increasing farm income.
25
Highway Act
- (1956)
- authorized the construction of 42,000 miles of interstate highways linking all the nation’s major cities. Became a model for other countries. Justified new taxes on fuel, tires, and vehicles which improved national defense by facilitating movements of troops and weapons. Created jobs, promoted the trucking industry, accelerated the growth of the suburbs, and contributed to a more homogeneous national culture. However, it hurt railroads and the environment. And public transportation was ignored (old and the poor depended on).
26
John F. Kennedy
- (1961–1969)
- youngest candidate and first Roman Catholic. Inaugural address spoke of “the torch being passed to a new generation” and promised to lead the nation into a “New Frontier.” Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline (“Jackie”) brought style, glamor, and an appreciation of the arts to the White House.
27
New Frontier
- Kennedy’s domestic policy. Called for aid to education, federal support of health care, urban renewal, and civil rights. Congress didn’t agree and most weren’t passed till the next president.
28
Trade Expansion Act
- (1962)
- authorized tariff reductions with the new European Economic Community (Common Market) of Western European nations.
29
Lyndon B. Johnson
- (1963)
- Was in the House and Senate so knew how to pass laws. He aggressively promoted the domestic programs that Kennedy had failed to get through Congress.
- Persuaded Congress to pass:
1) an expanded version of Kennedy’s civil rights bill
2) Kennedy’s proposal for an income tax cut which sparked an increase in consumer spending and jobs.
30
Great Society
- Johnson’s domestic policy which used the power of federal programs to attack the ills of society. Reduced the number of American families living in poverty.
31
Richard Nixon
- (1968-1974)
- Gave the Republicans control of the White House. Laid the foundation for a shift in public opinion toward conservatism and for Republican gains that would challenge and overthrow the Democratic control of Congress in the 1980s and 1990s. Attempted to bypass Congress by impounding (not spending) funds appropriated for social programs (seen as abuse of power).
32
Family Assistance Plan
- Proposed by Nixon. Would have replaced welfare by providing a guaranteed annual income for working Americans. Rejected by Democrats in Congress.
33
Revenue Sharing/New Federalism
- Congress gave local governments $30 billion in block grants over five years to address local needs as they saw fit (instead of using federal money according to priorities set in Washington). Gave responsibility for social programs to state governments.
34
Stagflation
- economic slowdown and high inflation (US recession in 1970)
35
Kennedy Economic Policy
Kennedy adopted Keynesian economics and deficit spending so as not to alienate middle-class and blue-collar Americans during the 1970s recession.
1) 90-day wage and price freeze (1971)
2) Took the dollar off the gold standard - helped to devalue it relative to foreign currencies, and imposed a 10-percent surtax on all imports.
3) Cost consumers but they made goods produced in the United States more competitive with those made in other countries.
36
Automatic increases for Social Security benefits based on the annual rise in the cost of living.
- 1972
- This measure protected seniors, the poor, and the disabled from the worst effects of inflation but also contributed to increasing costs for these programs in the future.
37
Gerald Ford on Inflation
- urged voluntary measures on the part of businesses and consumers to fight inflation by minimizing price and wage increases. Inflation and unemployment increased.
38
Jimmy Carter on Inflation
- check inflation with measures aimed at conserving energy, particularly oil, and reviving the U.S. coal industry. Failed and US inflation increased.
39
WIN (Whip Inflation Now) buttons
Part of campaign used to fight inflation during Ford’s presidency.
40
1970s Inflation
- slowed economic growth as consumers and businesses could no longer afford the high interest rates that came with high prices. Pushed middle-class taxpayers into higher tax brackets, which led to a “taxpayers’ revolt.” Government social programs exponentially increased the federal deficit.
41
Paul Volcker
- chairman of the Federal Reserve Board that believed breaking the back of inflation was more important than reducing unemployment. Pushed interest rates on loans even higher, to 20 percent in 1980 which hurt the automobile and building industries causing thousands of layoffs. The policy worked to reduce inflation.
42
Economic Shift in the 1970s
- War-torn countries (ex: Japan & Germany) were recovering economically. Less-expensive and often better-built consumer products competed with American-made products and new technology required fewer workers. This had undercut the high-paying manufacturing jobs that had expanded the middle class in the 1950s and early 1960s. Standard of living was on the decline.
