POSTWAR DOMESTIC POLICIES AND TRUMAN

Kinsey Thomas

GI BILL OF RIGHTSServiceman’s Readjustment Act

Passed in 1944 by CongressUnder part of the law, the federal

government paid a significant portion of tuition and other higher education fees for veterans.

The percentage of college-aged Americans who attended college almost doubled.

Colleges developed into larger institutions○ Updated campuses○ Higher education for everyone, not just

middle and higher classes

EMPLOYMENT ACT OF 1946 Citizens have a “right” to a job. With the influx of soldiers

returning from WWII, the government issued the Employment Act of 1946.Enacted because of what

happened after the First World War—The Great Depression

Aided the transition from wartime goods to other products

There were numerous revisions○ Originally called the Full

Employment Bill of 1945

EMPLOYMENT ACT OF 1946 Created the Council of

Economic Advisors (CEA)Three member boardAdvises the president on

economic policyEstablished the Joint Economic

Committee○ Composed of Congress members

of both political parties○ Charged with reviewing the

president’s report and making recommendations to the Senate and House on economic policy.

EMPLOYMENT ACT OF 1946

Long-Term Effects:Annual inflation rates typically ranged

from 1-5%Strengthened labor market1970’s America: large inflation

○ Resolution 133○ 1977: Congress amended the Federal

Reserve Act○ 1978: Congress passed the Humphrey-

Hawkins Act which amended the Employment Act of 1946

TAFT-HARTLEY ACTThe Labor-Management

Relations Act Enacted June 23, 1947 The law prohibited a

variety of strikes, boycotts, and picketing.

Union shops were restricted and states were allowed to pass “right-to-work” laws that outlawed closed union shops. 

PRIMARY SOURCEO

Political cartoon released after 1947 as backlash to the recently enacted Taft-Hartley Act

PThe purpose of the political cartoon was to raise awareness about the “real” effect of the act

VThis political cartoon shows the power of the press over the government and how the public could be manipulated into believing what they read in the paper.

LThis political cartoon does not show the actual effect the act had on the public or any actually data on how the act helped or hurt the unions in question.

“Now-Now little man, I’m only taking these for your own good.”

HARRY S. TRUMAN FDR died soon after the start of his

fourth term, and his vice president, Harry S. Truman was sworn in.

Accomplishments: Ended WWII by dropping the atomic

bombs on Japan Truman Doctrine

○ Economic aid to Turkey and Greece Helping the US transition into a

peace-time economy Blocking Stalin’s attempts to occupy

and conquer Europe○ Berlin airlift

Creating the state of Israel for Holocaust survivors

THOMAS E. DEWEY Young and well-liked Challenged FDR for the party’s

popular vote in 1944 Former governor of New York

Cut taxes, doubled state aid to education, increased salaries for state employees, reduced the sate’s debt by more than $100 million

Laid down the first state law in the country which prohibited racial discrimination in employment

Previously an isolationist, at the time of the election he had been identified as a internationalist.

THE CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNEThe Chicago Daily Tribune, like

the rest of the country, believed that Dewey would be the overwhelming winner of the 1948 Presidential Election. The printed a few hundred copies of their newspaper with the headline, “Dewey Defeats Truman” before the release of the election results. The mistake was comical to the new president elect: Harry Truman.

ELECTION OF 1948Despite what everyone predicted, Truman

won and was reelected to presidency.Dewey is sometimes seen as being too aggressiveDewey was not as conservative as the Republican Congress

Truman linked him to the “Do Nothing” CongressDewey never ran for presidency again, but he did help Eisenhower win the Republican Party’s presidential nomination

BIBLIOGRAPHY Biography of Thomas Dewey. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.deweydefeatstruman.com/Deweybio.htm Dewey Defeats Truman. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://history1900s.about.com/cs/trumanharry/a/deweytruman_2.htm

Employment Act of 1946 - A detailed essay on an important event in the history of the Federal Reserve. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.federalreservehistory.org/Events/DetailView/15

Projects: Cold War Guide: The GI Bill and the U of I (1947). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://archives.library.illinois.edu/slc/researchguides/coldwar/studentlife/gibill.php

Taft–Hartley Act. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Taft%E2%80%93Hartley_Act.html