1.1 Flashcards
Describe Harding
Made up the world ‘normalcy’ after the war period - he wanted to return to it, which was ‘limited’ federal government after the excessive spending and taxation in WW1
Appointed to lower government spending and federal government’s involvement in people’s lives
Appointed some effective people like Andrew Mellon to loom after the U.S. treasury
However, they were often corrupt like Albert Fall
What did Harding try to do?
Made some new laws e.g. 1921 Sheppard-Towner Act that provided federal funding for maternity and child care
Tried to lower the working day in steel works
Describe Coolidge
Keen on ‘Laissez-faire’ economics and few social policies
Seen as weak and silent - ‘Silent Cal’
Was liked by Americans for leaving them alone
Had a high moral stance unlike Harding
However, he was lazy and worked slowly thinking most things would sort themselves out - saw problems with farmers, child Labour, etc but didn’t do much about them
Describe Hoover
Orphaned at the age of nine
Was a successful engineer and became a self-made millionaire
During the FWW he achieved world stature for coordinating relief for Belgium
Had to face the Great Depression after being elected in 1928
What did Herbert Hoover do to help the solve the Depression^^^^^
Created the Federal Farm Board
Created the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC)
Created the Emergency Relief and Construction Act
What did Hoover do that contributed to the decline of Republicanism ^^^^
In dealing with the depression, Hoover thought the main role of the federal government should be to coordinate private, state and local issues, rather than take direct action himself
Rugged individualism
Private charities
1930 set up the Presidents Emergency Committee
The Bonus Army
Why did Roosevelt win the Presidential election of 1932?
Assistant Secretary for the Navy under Wilson
Governor of New York, 1928
Popular political figure
Popularity enhanced by his campaign to call for bold government experimentation to end the depression
Although FDR had many fine attributes, it was Hoover and the Republicans who lost the election
Faced with worst economic crisis in US history - Republicans slow to act
Too little too late
Who supported the Democrats
Southern whites, immigrant groups, trade unionists, blue collar workers, African Americans
What did Roosevelt do to end the Great Depression
New Deal
Alphabet Agencies, e.g:
Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA),
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA),
Social Security Act - raised taxes on large corporations and wealthy individuals
Give four ways Roosevelt changed the presidency
Increased federal intervention in government
Increased importance of presidency
White House expected to tell media everything
Government responsible for welfare
Who opposed Roosevelt?
Wealthy business people disliked his policies
Republicans disliked his enlarging of the powers of the president
Supreme Court ruled against his laws as unconstitutional
Describe Truman’s personality and his relations with the media and public
not charismatic, not very confident, could be overwhelmed by the importance of the job and make mistakes under pressure - resulting in some people using the phrase ‘to err is Truman’
saw working with media as important, gave careful briefings with flip chart and pointer (economic policy), sometimes didn’t explain enough (Korean War)
Describe Truman’s ability to organise, and manage Congress
worked well with White House administration; didn’t always choose the right people
worked less well with Congress, despite the fact that there was a Republican majority in Congress after 1946, they blocked many reforms he wanted; had fewer contacts and was less able to network and charm
Describe Eisenhower’s personality and his relations with the media and public
Deliberately cultivated optimistic, friendly manner
Stuck by his own beliefs - tried to ease tensions of the Cold War, sent troops into Little Rock to assure the compliance with the orders of a Federal court + concentrated on maintains world peace
Saw working with media as important, but often obscured or minimised a problem (the USSR being first into space, the missile gap issue)
Describe Eisenhower’s ability to organise, and manage Congress
Had exceptional organisation, set up regular briefings and long-term planning sessions, and had everyone concerned about something come in and debate a decision - allowing him to make an informed decision that was best for the country, not for him
Worked well with Congress, good at political bargaining and persuasion, in 1953 he signed a truce which brought an armed peace along the border of South Korea
Describe Kennedy’s personality and his relations with the media and public
Was forward thinking, flexible and fixed his mistakes
Charming and attractive
Believed the media criticising the government was beneficial as it gave them opportunities to improve
The public loved his press conferences - by November 1963 he had held 64 news conferences
The average audience for all the broadcast conferences was 18 million
Describe Kennedy’s ability to organise, and manage Congress
Tended to become a micromanager during crises e.g. Cuban Missile Crisis
Had a strong ability to rally people together
Congress consisted of 2/3 democrats
Democrats obtained 60 of the 96 existing senate seats and 318 of the existing 435 house seats
What was the significance of Kennedy’s personality on the changes in presidency
Disregarded his advisors advice to start a nuclear war and created a hotline to the Kremlin which prevented future hostile activités
Assassination in 1963 made future presidents more cautious
Willingness to accept criticism and listen to new ideas gave the media more of a say in future president’s presidency - more policies and laws might change quicker based on public opinion
Describe Johnson’s personality and his relations with the media and public
Understood the importance of gaining people’s trust and support
Could easily empathise with the public due to his poor upbringing
However became quite arrogant during his presidency
Wasn’t a natural with the media but kept them well informed
Was quite deceitful - told the public he was looking for ways out the Vietnam war but in private was looking for ways to increase hostility
His arrogance is a reason public sentiment towards him turned bad when they found out millions of lives had been lost to the war
Describe Johnson’s ability to organise, and manage Congress
Kept Kennedy’s organisation, and his own organisation blocked legislation before taking it to Congress which was a good way to run government
Passed the Great Society legislation in 1965 that would help improve education, health care and the environment
1948 Johnson won his election to the senate and became the youngest minority leader in US history at age 40 - this political background made him really understand how to use connections and how to persuade
Worked well with Congress
Signed the Civil Rights Act 1964
Describe Nixon’s personality and his relations with the media and public
Nixon was a smart, capable president but was suspicious and hated people in Congress and his staff disagreeing with him, he often made rash decisions then backtracked after backlash from the public
Distrusted the media and was bad at managing the PR metrics of his presidency (Nixon poorly managed the watergate scandal as he put himself in a position to lose his entire support)
He didn’t seem connected with the people, when he spoke publicly he lacked confidence and was awkward and insincere
Describe Nixon’s ability to organise, and manage Congress
He restarted the system of regular meetings with staff - which was useful as it means that he had experts in his corner supporting him and giving him, but not good at taking advice
Was awkward with Congress, due to him being a suspicious character, and it was not easy for him to manage Congress as he had difficulty with personal connections and persuasion
What is rugged individualism and what did believers want
People who could look after themselves would make their own way in the world and prosper, realising the American Dream
People were weakened by government support as it sapped their self-reliance - businesses were free to run themselves
The USA should isolate itself from other countries
The USA should restrict immigration
Why was there a Red Scare?
During FWW workers had not gone on strike over wages, hours or working conditions
However they started strikes when conditions did not improve post-war
Communist Party of America (CPUSA) set up 1919
Communist Labour Party (CLP) set up 1919
Anarchists distributed pamphlets in many cities
1919 more than 3600 strikes
What was the First Red Scare’s impact on the US?
Anti-communist feeling escalated
Businesses sacked employees
People began to suspect their neighbours
No longer felt free to express their opinion
Only 556 deported once cases considered
Attorney General Palmer’s prediction of a ‘Red Revolution’ on 1st May 1920 failed to occur
Anti-communist feeling never went away
What was the HUAC
House of Un-American Activities Commission
Set up in 1938, made permanent in 1945
Investigated people for all ‘un-American’ activities, but focused on ‘communists’
What was the basis for the Second Red Scare
The USSR was spying on the USA
Elizabeth Bentley and Whittaker Chambers told the HUAC they had been part of a Moscow led spy ring and named other government employees
1949 Alger Hiss trial
1951 Rosenberg’s trial
1949 China became communist and USSR held first nuclear weapon test
Korean War
Who was Joseph McCarthy and what did he do
Headed the Second Red Scare
1950 made anti-communist speech, saying he had the names of 205 known communists working in the State Department
The next day he changed this number to 57
When called to the Senate, it was 81
Examples of anti-communism due to the Second Red Scare
Curb on civil liberties
FBI given powers to investigate people and being them to be questioned by loyalty boards or HUAC on very little evidence
They could open letters, tap phones, bug offices and homes
Behaviour moving towards repressive communist regimes
Freedom of speech and freedom of expression severely limited
1950s librarians removed books from Karl Marx off their shelves
Khrushchev visited US in 1959 and was met with anti-communist demonstrations
Anti-communism united Democrats and Republicans
Committee on the Present Danger
