8.4 Flashcards
Harry S. Truman
- (1945–1953)
- a decisive president who appealed to average citizens. He attempted to continue the New Deal economic policies of his predecessor but faced growing conservative opposition. At the end of the war, pushed for several progressive acts (didn’t work out because of opposition and the Cold War).
Employment Act of 1946
- a watered-down version of a full-employment bill
created the Council of Economic Advisers
Council of Economic Advisers
- advise the president and Congress on means of promoting national economic welfare.
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act/GI Bill of Rights
- (1944)
- supported the transition of 15 million veterans to a peacetime economy. Helped veterans into college and other training and provided government loans (~$6 bil) to pay for homes, farms and start businesses. Stimulated the postwar economic expansion. Helped white veterans more than black because of racial inequality (increased racial wealth gap).
Baby Boom
- Explosion in marriages and births. 50 million babies between 1945 and 1960. Affected the nation’s social institutions and economic life in the last half of the 20th century as the kids aged.
Suburban Growth
- Construction boom due to higher demand for housing. Low interest rates on mortgages that were both government insured and tax deductible made moving to the suburb affordable. In a single generation, the majority of middle-class Americans became suburbanites. Most government policies for loans supported segregation in housing.
William J. Levitt
- led in the development of postwar suburbia with his building.
Levittown
- Levitt’s project of 17,000 mass-produced, low-priced family homes on Long Island, New York. Only for white people.
Effect of Suburban Move
- Older inner cities like Boston to Los Angeles became increasingly poor and racially divided.
Sunbelt
- States from Florida to California that had warmer climate, lower taxes, and economic opportunities in defense-related industries attracted many GIs and their families to move to the suburbs.
Inflation
Truman advocated for wartime price control to limit inflation. However, Southern
Democrats joined with Republicans to relax the controls of the Office of Price Administration which caused an inflation rate of almost 25 percent.
Inflation
Truman advocated for wartime price control to limit inflation. However, Southern
Democrats joined with Republicans to relax the controls of the Office of Price Administration which caused an inflation rate of almost 25 percent.
Strikes
- (1946)
- Workers and unions wanted wages to catch up after years of wage controls. Strikes by railroad and mine workers threatened national safety. Truman used military force to push strikers down.
22nd Amendment
- (1951)
- Limit a president to a maximum of two full terms in office. (Because of Roosevelt)
Taft-Hartley Act
- (1947)
- Republican-sponsored law was to check the growing power of unions. Truman vetoed but Congress surpassed. Divided Republicans and Democrats in 1950s.
1) Outlawing the closed shop (requiring workers to join a union before being hired)
2 0Permitting states to pass “right to work” laws outlawing the union shop (requiring workers to join a union after being hired)
3) Outlawing secondary boycotts (the practice of several unions supporting a striking union by joining a boycott of a company’s products)
Giving the president the power to invoke an 80-day cooling-off period before a strike endangering the national safety could be called
The Election of 1948
- Truman lost support of Progressive Party and Dixiecrats but was still able to win due to his tour and “give ’em hell” speeches (attacked the “do-nothing” Republicans).