Chapter 37 - The Eisenhower Era, 1952-1960 I. Affluence and Its Anxieties 1.

With the 50s economic expansion, the transistor became the key item that made the electronics business go big o The transistor helped IBM become successful 2. The first passenger-jet airplane by Boeing was made from the super-bomber designs of the Strategic Air Command giving birth to the Boeing 707 3. 1956-marked the first time office white collars surpassed the industrial blue collars in number. o Unions found their peak in 54 and slowly, but surely declined from there o Despite pop culture in the form of shows such as Ozzie and Harriet and Leave It to Beaver portraying women as subservient housewives, many would enter the workforce during the 50s 40+ million new jobs came into existence 4. A handful were rather shocked with the movement of women into the workplace but most simply now just regarded them as workers and housewives o The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan in 63 made many women yearn for a life outside of the home Friedan is considered a matriarch of the feminists II. Consumer Culture in the Fifties 1. Diners Club cards, Disneyland, Mickey Ds, and the expansion of TV all came into being during the 50s 2. TV ads became the norm in advertising and Billy Graham, Fulton J. Sheen, and Oral Roberts all used TV to preach marking the beginning of televangelism 3. Los Angeles and San Francisco became home to the Dodgers and Giants in 58 4. Elvis Presley, King of Rock, wooed the girls with sexually-provocative pelvic work, singing rock n roll, and redefining music o Drugs would kill him in 77 at the age of 42 5. The open sexuality of the king flabbergasted those who were used to the old way o Marilyn Monroe helped promote the definition of sexuality and sensuality via her spreads in Playboy o The transition into a consumerist society was lamented critics such as David Riesman, William H. Whyte, Jr., and Sloan Wilson o Comparison started being made such as when John Kenneth of Harvard analysed the relationship between private wealth and public good in The Affluent Society III. The Advent of Eisenhower 1. The election of 52 saw Adlai E. Stevenson running for the Democrats whereas the Republicans rejected Robert A. Taft and went with Dwight D. Eisenhower, certified war hero with anti-communist Nixon by his side 2. Heavily liked and considered a war hero, Eisenhower let Nixon do the dirty work

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Nixon would berate Stevenson about corruption, weakness in Korea, and communism o Instead of being kicked from the seat of VP for being caught with a slush fund, Nixon saved his hide by delivering the Checkers Speech in which he talked about his daughters cocker spaniel, Checkers. People found the speech to be touching and let him keep his station This Checkers Speech would be a testament to the new power of TV. He begged to keep his position in front of a national audience and producers even later edited a clip that made it look as though he was having a Q and A from a live audience o TV would prove to be vital in the future as it would allow loners to influence the people directly instead of become entangled in the dangerous game of party machines and leaders Eisenhower dominated with 442 to 89 and fulfilled his promise to his supporters, flying to Korea to try to negotiate peace o Despite failing, he did manage to make the Koreans sign an armistice by threatening nuclear attack 1. This armistice was successful but was violated on numerous occasions Korea saw to 54,000 casualties and expenditure in the tens of billions o People took solace in the fact that they managed to contain communism Eisenhower was a highly effective leader, capable of negotiating peace between practically any two parties o This made him absolutely qualified to lead a nation that had gone through 20 years of nuclear tension, depression, and war o He was extremely successful in leading his country as a commander and negotiator, but could have done more for civil rights, considering his incredible popularity

IV. The Rise and Fall of Joseph McCarthy 1. February 1950-McCarthy would suddenly explode onto the political landscape, declaring that there were loads of undeclared and unknown communists hiding under everyones noses 2. Seeing the lack of evidence, the American people began asking the question of whether or not this was pushing it. Freedom of speech was now in jeopardy 3. McCarthy shocked everyone with just how successful his misguided crusade was. He became a big deal by accusing Secretary of State Dean Acheson of employing 205 Communist members o He never managed to prove his Acheson accusations but didnt stop there. He hounded after possible communists, ripping apart families and destroying peoples lives o Eisenhower absolutely hated McCarthy behind closed doors, but never did much to stop the crusader due to his views being shared by the population 1. Ike would end up removing all major Asian experts in the State Department, damaging the Americans dealing capabilities when Vietnam rolled along 4. McCarthy even extended his scorn to General George Marshall, the ex army chief of staff in the war 5. 54 marked the breaking point, when McCarthy accused the army

The drunk and liar was finally exposed, resigning him to die three years later, with no praise or condolence

V. Desegregating American Society 1. The Jim Crow Laws acted as the de jure method of segregation in the South o Despite being eligible, only a fifth of blacks could vote. 1. Whites discriminated, intimidated, taxed the polls, and schemed to keep the black man from casting his vote 2. Vigilantes took matters into their own hands, lynching and murdering blacks o They were practically never convicted 3. Swedish scholar Gunnar Myrdal managed to point out the prevalent American hypocrisy in which all were supposed to be created equal, but the white man oppressed the black. Also included in his 1944 book, An American Dilemma was an observation of how the Americans failed to defeat both dictatorial racism overseas and racism at home o Despite successes in breaking the race barrier such as Jackie Robinson, the national conscience was yet to be swayed, making the black man suffer longer 4. Sweat v. Painter (1950) showed that professional schools for blacks failed to meet requirements of equality VI. Seeds of the Civil Rights Revolution 1. Instead of following Trumans example of desegregating the armed forces after the 46 lynching of black soldiers, Ike failed to support civil rights laws o The law of the land alone worked to improve civil rights 2. Earl Warren Chief Justice on the SC, would often rule in favour of blacks and surprise conservatives by attacking injustice against blacks 3. Board of Education v. Brown (1954) VII. Eisenhower Republicanism at Home 1. Dynamic conservatism would be what Ike dubbed his new policy which promised liberal interactions with people and conservative maintenance of money 2. Government expenditure was reduced via decreased military spending, transfer of offshore oil to the states, and TVA curbing via the opening of a new private company o Strangely enough, Ikes secretary of health, education, and welfare called the distribution the Salk anti-polio vaccine as a socialist act o The Secretary of Agriculture was ultimately unsuccessful at helping farmers despite buying a surplus of grain and storing it in massive silos 3. The Bracero Program that helped during wartime was being undermined by illegal Mexican immigrants of whom Eisenhower rounded up 1 million of and sent back to Mexico in 1954 4. Many New Deal Programs ended up being kept since Social Security and insurance for the unemployed were important to the public o Ike would also improve the Interstate Highway Act, backing it in its building of 42,000 miles of freeway 5. In his two terms, Eisenhower only managed to balance the budget thrice o His peacetime deficit was also the largest in all of US history

Saying he lacked economic cojones, Ikes critics blamed the economic downturn in 57-58 on that

VIII. A New Look in Foreign Policy 1. Containment was simply not enough for Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and he said that the US needed to liberate the people under Communism and push it back o This method of combating was dubbed rollback and Dulles called for a cut on defence expenditure and the formation of the Strategic Air Command which would be comprised of an impressive fleet of super-bombers that had the capability of dropping huge nuclear bombs 2. Appeals for peace were met with rejection as Khrushchev refused Ikes peaceful advances at the Geneva Conference in 55 3. American hypocrisy would garner much scorn from the Hungarians that requested American assistance in their revolt against their Soviet lords. IX. The Vietnam Nightmare 1. Woodrow Wilson was called on by the revolutionary Ho Chi Minh to fight against the French o His communist leanings turned the Americans against him 2. Wishing to help the French at the pivotal battle of Dien Bien Phu in March of 1954, Eisenhower planned to bomb the guerrilla forces of the Viet Minh o Afraid of getting the Americans in another Asian war so soon after Korea, he held back and the Viet Minh won Dien Bien Phu, splitting the country at the 17th parallel o Free elections were promised by Ho Chi Minh but it soon became apparent that the north was Communist and the south was pro-West o The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the beginning of US dealings with Vietnam o The creation of the Southeast Asian Treaty Organisation by Dulles was an attempt to copy NATO but was rather ineffective X. Cold War Crises in Europe and the Middle East 1. 1955 saw the forming of the Warsaw Pact, in response to NATO o Good progress was being made in the Cold War, with Ike asking to reduce arms and the Soviets agreeing o The Soviet premier would also denounce the evils of Stalin publicly o The Hungarian revolt against in the Soviets in 56 however, was met with much blood and brutishness o 30,000 Hungarians fled to the United States, prompting a shift in immigration laws 2. 53 saw the installation of the young Shah Mohammed Reza Phalevi in Iran as result of a CIA-instigated coup in the Middle East to protect American oil supplies o The vengeful Arabs would pay the Americans back in the 70s 3. Needing to build a dam in the upper Nile, President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt appealed to both the Soviets and the Americans and British for funds

Learning of his dealings with the communists, Secretary of State Dulles took back his offer and forced Nasser to make the dam a national matter o October 56 saw to the sudden attack of Egypt by Israel, Britain, and France who thought the US would back them up with crucial oil of which Eisenhower refused, resulting in the aggressors withdrawing from Egypt o This incident would be the final chance the Americans would have to flex their oil weapon 4. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, a cartel, consisted of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, and Kuwait and was formed in 1960 XI. Round Two for Ike 1. 56 once again saw Stevenson and Ike butt heads, with Ike coming out on top 2. The Republicans declared themselves the party of peace whereas the Democrats would use an offensive based mainly on Ikes weakened health due to his myocardial infarction in 55 and abdominal surgery in 56 o The Democrats did manage to hold the House and Senate 3. With his most reliable aides gone due to the death and scandal, Eisenhower now had to focus his attention to the governance of his people 4. A bill was passed in 59 to reform labour due to repeated strikes in vital industries 5. Landrum-Griffin Act (1959)-brought about to punish labour leaders for their financial misdeeds as well as keep them from bullying 6. 57 marked the first year of the space race o October 4, 1957-Sputnik I is sent into space followed by Sputnik II a month afterwards This proved communist superiority in the sciences This demoralisation was added on to the fact that Soviets could fire upon the US from space o Critics would blame this on missile programs being underfunded and American ingenuity being funnelled into television o 3 months after Sputnik II, a 2.5 pound American satellite made it into orbit There were concerns however, about the quality of education in the US in comparison to in the USSR *The 1958 National Defense and Education Act (NDEA) gave $887 million in loads to needy college students and grants for the improvement of schools. XII. The Continuing Cold War 1. Scientists with the future of humanity in mind called for the ceasing of atmospheric nuclear testing o October 1958-Both the US and USSR cease atmospheric testing but regulation proved rather unsuccessful and difficult 2. Ike invited Khrushchev to America in 59 to talk o Khrushchev started right off the bat with talk about disarmament but lacked a way to do it o Camp David would set the stage for positive talks, with the Soviet premier saying that the Berlin evacuation ultimatum would be extended forever

3. The Soviets entered the conference at Paris rather pissed however, angry about the flying of a U2 spy plane over Soviet land XIII. Cubas Castro-ism Spells Communism 1. In contrast to the Good Neighbour policies set in place in previous decade, the Latin Americans began resenting the Americans generosity for Europe as opposed to them, the American intervention such as in 54 with Guatemala, and American support of dictators that were supposedly fighting against communism 2. 1959-Fidel Castro rises to power, toppling American-backed Fulgencio Batista, calls the Americans imperialists, and divvied up American property to distribute o The US retaliation of cutting off American import of Cuban sugar triggered even more American property confiscation o 61-The Cubans and Americans were no longer diplomatically speaking 3. The Americans created the Organisation of American States as a way to fight against communism in the country o Khrushchev warned that if the US were to attack Cuba, missiles would be launched to the American mainland o $500 million was finally given up by Eisenhower in a Marshall Plan 1. Many saw it as something that was far too late to be effective XIV. Kennedy Challenges Nixon for the Presidency 1. Nixon became the choice of the Republicans with Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. by his side. Against him with the Democrats was John F. Kennedy with Lyndon B. Johnson beside him 2. Being Catholic, Kennedy found himself antagonised in the South. The staunch Catholics of the North however, regained him that support o JFK won comfortably, swaying the nation after debating four times on national television 1. He would become the youngest president ever elected XV. An Old General Fades Away 1. Despite criticism, Eisenhower would be remembered for ending a war and preventing involvement in others 2. Despite the 22nd Amendment preventing him from taking more than two terms, his second terms showed him at his strongest, with the most vigour and control over Congress 3. 1959-The Union is made into 50 states with the inclusion of Alaska and Hawaii 4. Instead of dealing with the social problems of the time, Eisenhower let them be instead of taking them head on