Domestic Politics 1945-60 Flashcards
(17 cards)
1
Q
US post WWII
A
- US was the richest + most powerful nation in the world = Americans emerged from the war into sustained economic boom with high living standards
- BUT it was also an age of anxiety = nuclear weapons + Cold War
- 1950s = US went through a red scare
2
Q
Truman’s presidency 1945-48
A
- brought in reforms + extended policies previously introduced by Roosevelt to protect workers’ rights + maintain full employment
- proposed making the fair employment practices commission permanent + planned to bring in national health insurance scheme
- received furious backlash from conservatives in congress, supported by big business = began a legislative warfare as congress repeatedly blocked or watered down Truman’s proposals + Truman kept vetoed measures passed by congress
3
Q
Truman’s re-election
A
- Truman’s prospects of winning a second term were not bright in 1948, with republicans dominating the mid terms elections in 1946
- his own party was also divided = liberals planning to persuade Henry Wallace to run for proesidency + some democrats wanted Truman to step down + let Eisenhower be the candidate
- HOWEVER = Truman’s energetic ‘whistle-stop’ campaign meant Truman overtook Dewey in the last days before the vote + he won convincingly in the both the popular vote + electoral college
4
Q
Truman’s presidency 1948-52
A
- Truman promised American’s his ‘Fair Deal’ = reforms of the tax system, social security + civil rights, federal aid for small farmers, education and public housing
- BUT opposition from congress + special interests meant that the fair deal was only partially implemented
5
Q
Why was domestic politics not Truman’s priority?
A
- communist revolution in China 1949
- the successful test of an atomic bomb by the USSR
- beginning of Korean War
- these setbacks sparked a new red scare inside the US that would impact US politics for years to come
6
Q
McCarthyism
A
- 1950 Senator Joseph McCarthy gave a speech saying he had a list of 205 State Department officials who were known to the Secretary of State to be members of the communist party
- this launched the wave of anti-communist paranoia = McCarthyism
- many republicans followed McCarthy + attacked Truman for being ‘soft on communism’
7
Q
Facts about communism in America
A
- by 1945 the American communist party had 80,000 members
- 1938 = House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) started to investigate the dangers of communism subversion
- used as convenient vehicle for right wing republicans to denounce Roosevelt’s new deal as a ‘communist plot’, but became important when anti-communism took hold of political + public opinion after the war
8
Q
Truman’s response to communism in America
A
- March 1947 passed Executive Order 9835 to check the loyalty of federal government employees
- between 1947 + 51 ‘loyalty boards’ carrying out these checks forced nearly 3000 people out of their jobs
- HUAC began new hearings to investigate + expose communist influence in America
9
Q
To what extent was communism becoming a threat in America?
A
- much of the obsession with hunting down communist subversion was overheated, but there was real life spy rings
- 1945 Canadian govt exposed soviet spies passing US military secrets to Moscow
- 1950 Klaus Fuchs, a scientist who had been part of the team developing the Allied atomic bomb, confessed to being a spy who passed secrets to Moscow + implicated two other Americans
10
Q
Who supported McCarthy?
A
- dominated the political scene from 1950 = hard for people to defend themselves when out on trial before the HUAC against McCarthy’s aggressive questioning + his team of lawyers
- Truman + Eisenhower both didn’t have any sympathy for McCarthy, but they also didn’t openly oppose him
- the Republican Party broadly supported McCarthy, the democrats were afraid of him
11
Q
How did McCarthyism end?
A
- many of McCarthy’s claims were either exaggerated or baseless
- he also had a drinking problem + began alienating people who originally supported him
- 1954 = had an embarrassing clash with Judge Joseph Welch at hearings into the US army
- McCarthy’s career faded out as quickly as it started, but the legacy of McCarthyism outlasted him for a long time
12
Q
1952 election
A
- by 1952 the republicans had experienced 20 years of defeat, after confidently expected to win in 1948 but failed to
- but by 1952 their chances were strong as the democrats were divided + been knocked off balance by McCarthyism
- Eisenhower was an authentic war hero with genuine national appeal
13
Q
Foreign policy in Eisenhower’s presidency?
A
- dominated by foreign affairs + Cold War confrontation
- he wanted to end the Korean War
- concerned about the excessive power + influence of the ‘military-industrial complex’ as the Cold War intensified larger govt contracts were awarded to industries supply US armed forces
14
Q
Domestic politics in Eisenhower’s presidency
A
- supported the 1956 interstate highways act = boosted road-building + automobile industry
- supported the Supreme Court in attempts to bring about desegregation in schools in the south from 1954, but did little else for civil rights
- promoted scientific education in schools + unis = but mostly to keep up with Russia in the space race
- overall, he believed in ‘small govt’ + leaving economic prosperity to look after itself
15
Q
Election 1960
A
- Republicans were confident = their candidate Nixon had been vice-president for 8 years + proved to be a man who could handle the pressures of the Cold War
- the democratic candidate John F Kennedy was young + inexperienced, but his choice of Lyndon Johnson as his running mate helped ‘balance the ticket’
- LBJ’s appeal in the south made him a valuable running mate + his role in the narrow election victory was crucial
- 1960 election regarded as the ‘first televised election’ because it was the first time a debate between the two candidates was broadcasted live on radio + tv
16
Q
Why did Kennedy win the election?
A
- clear speaker, handsome
- audience impressed by the certainty + clarity of his body language in broadcasted debates, where as many thought Nixon seemed shifty
- youthful confidence + repeated call for idealism (a new frontier) were appealing in a society after a decade of anxiety with McCarthyism
17
Q
What did Kennedy promise?
A
- Kennedy tried to identify himself with the liberal reform approach of the Democratic party seen previously with Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman
- promising a new surge of legislative innovation in the 1960s
- He hoped to pull together key elements of the Roosevelt coalition of the 1930s—urban communities of color, ethnicity- based voting blocs, and organized labor
- He also hoped to win back conservative Catholics who had deserted the Democrats to vote for Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956, and to hold his own in the South.
