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THE 1950S Chapter 24

CH_24_The 1950s

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Page 1: CH_24_The 1950s

THE 1950SChapter 24

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Election of 1952 Eisenhower (President); Richard Nixon (VP)

Classic “Good cop, bad cop” personalities; Eisenhower (Ike) espoused morality and took the high road regarding criticizing the Democrats

Nixon had no problem at all verbally abusing the Democrats

Democrat opponent was Adlai StevensonTruman chose not to run againTruman was getting too old and was extremely

unpopular because of the Korean War

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Election of 1952

Eisenhower ran on a platform that promised to end the Korean War officiallySettled for a armistice shortly after he enters

office Democrats try to discredit Nixon by

implicating him as a receiver of inappropriate funds/giftsNixon goes on television and bears his entire

personal life (including finances) in the “Checkers Speech”

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Election of 1952 After this, Eisenhower and Nixon easily win

the presidency Eisenhower becomes the sterling example

of a moderate, stable, and unflappable presidentGave the American people a sense of security

amidst a country filled with fear, suspicion, and the terror of nuclear war becoming a reality at any moment.

“I Like Ike” becomes the slogan of the campaign

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Modern Republicanism

Eisenhower surprised many as he kept a good majority of the social programs from the New DealHowever, he reigned in the federal

budget whenever possibleDemonstrated his “flexible” conservative

agenda

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Modern Republicanism

“New Look” for the militaryMassive deterrence over traditional

military mightAllowed the government to cut defense

budgets while engaging in more covert actions; everyone has to be watching all over the world to protect themselves

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Modern Republicanism

“New Look” for the militaryThis becomes the stage for the classic James

Bond movies of the 1960sThe new Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

works quickly behind the scenes to illicit (and sometimes coerce) changes inside countries that they felt were causing problems for America (aiding the communist cause)

Eventually, the area that gave them the most trouble was Vietnam (sort of a second Korean conflict, initially)

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Vietnam (Before the War) Was a colony of France that proved

vital in the American (and French) fight against communism

Vital to keep the spread of communism from affecting the whole country, yet America rejected France’s request for active military aid to retain Indochina (including Vietnam) as a colony

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Vietnam (Before the War) However, Ike prevents an election in

Vietnam that would have allowed Communist Ho Chi Minh from being placed in control of the entire nationIronic?This is again reinforcing the idea of

fascism over communism

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Vietnam (Before the War) China becomes stuck during this time

periodThey cannot trust Russia whenever they are

threatened, but they certainly can’t trust the Americans

Eisenhower realizes their weakness with Russia and decides to take a tough approach to them○ Eisenhower did not realize the differences

between Russia and China, squandering potential with China throughout the 1960s

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Birth of the Civil Rights Era Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

Huge landmark case that led the Supreme Court to strike down Plessy v. Ferguson○ The ruling from 1896 that allowed “separate but

equal” facilitiesRacial segregation was ruled a violation of the

Equal Protection Clause (14th Amendment)○ “No state shall…deny to any person within its

jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”This ruling paved the way for public school

integration and the Civil Rights Movement

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Birth of the Civil Rights Era Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-56

Brought prominence to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks as activists

Showed civil rights activists the efficiency of economic boycotts

Here’s a throwback to the colonial era! This is the Boston Tea Party for the sake of civil rights.

The government starts to listen after the economy gets threatened.

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The Golden Age Seems to be the “Era of Good Feelings” with

TVs, Quiz Shows, and Suburban CulturePresident James Monroe probably would have

been proud of Eisenhower for taking such a deliberate middle course domestically

The economy is surprisingly well in the 1950sReadily shifting away from industrial manufacturingAlso shifting away from high numbers of farms, yet

farming efficiency is growing in Texas, Arizona, and California

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The Golden Age

The main engines of economic growth during the 1950s were residential construction and spending on consumer goods○ Shopping malls come into fad

People were alright living in perpetual economic debt for the sake of owning ‘pretty things’

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The Golden Age

California becomes the symbol of the post-war suburban boomWestern cities become decentralized

clusters of single-family homes and businesses become connected by highways (Federal Highway Act of 1956)

Ushers in an era of “Leave it to Beaver” ideals

Such an odd paradigm amidst an era of paranoia and fear of nuclear attack

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The Golden Age Television

Replaces newspapers as the most common source of information about public events; quickly connects Americans with a common cultural experience (unifies different regions and backgrounds of people)

Becomes the most effective advertising medium ever invented.

Deliberately showed the virtues of a bland, middle-class life○ Trying to prevent paranoia (which the news media and

Joseph McCarthy fueled)

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