Chapters 35 and 36 Flashcards
Harry Truman
33rd Pres (1945 to 1953)
An accidental president, Truman was called the “average man’s average man”
He was stubbornly loyal to his “Missouri gang” on occasion, he would send critics hot-tempered and profane “s.o.b” letters and he was confident to the point of cockiness
A sign on his desk read “the buck stops here” meaning that the Pres had to make the final division. One of his fav sayings “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”
The Cold War
The Cold War is when there is rising tension of communism (Soviet Union) vs democracy (US) but no actual war
Bretton Woods Conference (IMF, World Bank)
At Bretton Woods, NH, the Western Allies formed:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) to encourage world trade by regulating currency exchange rates
The International bank for Reconstruction and Development (IDRD- later called the World Bank) changed with providing economic assistance to struggling nations
United Nations (Security Council, General Assembly)
The first UN Conference opened on April 25, 1945. IN Jan 1942, 26 nations at war with the Axis powers signed the Dec of the United Nations and endorsed the Atlantic Charter. This replaced the League of Nations
The Security Council is made up of 5 permanent nations (The US, The UK, the USSR (now Russian Fed.), France, and China– remember these are this were the most powerful nations and are still on it today), plus ten members are rotated in from the General Assembly for two-year terms (so 15 in total)
Berlin Airlift
(June 1948-May 1949): The Western Allies organized a massive airlift to drop supplies on West Berlin.
The US called this “Operation Vittles.” A plane landed every 45 seconds. Over 200,000 aircraft were involved
The Soviets lift the blockade after a year and Germany was divided two weeks later into two separate states (West Germany and East Germany.)
Note: the Berlin Wall was not erected until 1961. Associate that with the Kennedy era.
containment
Containment doctrine involved using economic measures and psychological warfare to defend the world from Soviet expansion.
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine: it must be the policy of the US to suport free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures
Money was sent to Greece and Turkey to help them resist Soviet Influence
the Marshall Plan
Western European countries were still suffering hunger and economic chaos spawned by the war
Sec of State George C. Marshall invited the European to get together and work out a joint economic recovery plan financed by the US
The European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan) called for spending billions (about 44 billion in the end) yet it proved to be very successful. The Soviet Union and its satellite nations didnt particpite
The European Economic Community (EEC), a free-trade area, later evolved into the Euopean Union (EU)
the National Security Act
The National Security Act of 1947 established the National Security Council to advice the president and the CIA to oversee foreign fact-finding (spying lol)
NATO vs. Warsaw Pact
The US joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949- an alliance of (now 30) former allied nations
NATO remains the largest peacetime military alliance in the world. Most of the former Warsaw Pact nations (except Russia) have since joined NATO
The Soviets formed the Warsaw Pact in 1955 in opposition. (This was dissolved in 1991)
Korean War (cause & effect)
Cause: Korea split up and the North Korean army crossed the boundary, pushing the South Korean army south to around Pusan. The US stepped in to support South Korea.
Effect: The NSC-68, Excutive Order 19981,
There still is no formal peace treaty with North Korea. The US and South Korea signed a mutual defense treaty, and the DMZ was established between the two Koreas
Douglas MacArthur
He was a war hero that served in WW1, WW2, and the Korean War.
MacArthur proposed a blockade of the Chinese coast and a massive bombardment of Chinese bases with 50-100 atomic bombs (wtf dude)
Truman didnt support this plan (no kidding) he didnt want a large land war
MacArthur began to publicly complain about Truman’s policies. Truman and the Joint Chiefs removed him from command in April 1951. General Matt Ridgwar took over
MacArthur returned home a hero, saying “old soldiers dont die, they just fade away”
NSC-68
A proposed massive US military expansion as stated in National Security Council Memorandum 68 NSC-68) was brought to fruition in Korea.
3.5 mil soldiers, 50 billion dollars a year (quadrupling the military budget)
Major step in the militarization of American foreign policy.
Odd for the US bc the US was typically isolationist, but post WW2, the US is looking outward, getting more involved in the world
38th parallel
After Japan surrendered, Korea was divided at the 38th paralell. The US oversaw southern korea, while the USSR oversaw northern Korea
Executive Order 9981
Truman issued Executive Order 9981, which desegregated the armed forces
Loyalty Review Board
The Loyalty Review Board was tasked with investigating more than 3 million federal employees as there was a fear that communist spies undermining the gov.
Over 3k either resigned or were dismissed.
Individual states became security-conscious, demanding loyalty oaths of their employees, especially teachers
Smith Act
The Smith Act (1940) was the first peacetime anti-sedition law since 1798, time of John Adams.
HUAC
The House Committee on Un-American Activites was established in 1938. This is a committee that looks for people who are acting un-american, which is technically anything they didnt like
Alger Hiss
In 1948, Congressman Richard Nixon led the chase after Alger Hiss, a high-level clerk in the State Department who was accused of being a communist spy. He was convicted of perjury and sentenced to 5 years in prison.
Hiss was marked as a communist by “reformed communist” and journalist Whittaker Chambers. The evidence was flawed at best.
The McCarran Internal Security Bill
The McCarran Internal Security Bill (1950) allowed the president to arrest and detain sus people during an internal security emergency (it passed over Trumans veto). This act ended in the mid 1970s.
Klaus Fuchs and the Rosenbergs
Klaus Fuchs and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were tried for espionage (selling secrets about the atomic bomb to the Soviets.)
Fuchs was sentenced to 14 years in jail, and the Rosenburgs were electrocuted in 1953.
McCarthyism
Sentator Joseph McCarthy gained attention for his reelection campaign by claiming that known communists worked for the State Dept. (the actual number varied depended on the day)
High profile figures were named (like George Marshall and Sec of State Deam Acheson)
Eisenhower hated McCarthy but chose to do nothing
Senator Maragret Chase Smith (Republican from Maine) gave her now famous “Declaration of Conscience” speech against McCarthyism in June 1950
McCathy went too far when he attacked the US army. In the Army-McCarthy hearings, in which he defended himself, he was censured by the Senate for unbecoming behavior
The whole thing is that he didnt have any names, he just wanted to get attention smh
Taft-Hartley Act
This act outlawed the closed shop and required union leaders to take an oath that they werent communists.
The act passed over Trumans’s veto, but he used it many times while in office.
It as called a “slave-labor law” by labor leaders.
The anti-communist oath was found unconditional in 1965.
“Right to work” laws in many states make it illegal to force someone to join a union.
The Taft-Hartley Act is still in effect today.
Dixiecrats
This is the 1948 name for Southern Democrats bc they split from the Democratic Party bc of Trumans nomination. They felt alienated by Trumans strong stand on civil rights and thus nominated SC Gov. Strom Thurmond.
Truman’s Fair Deal
The Fair Deal (1949) was similar to the New Deal: it called for improved housing, full employment, a higher minimum wage, better farm price supports, new TVA-like projects, and an extension of Social Security.
Major successes: raising the minimum wage, providing for public housing and extending old-age insurance.
Truman established the President’s Committee on Civil Rights to investigate civil rights abuses
Truman’s “Point Four” program called for the US to lend money and technical aid to underdeveloped countries
Truman’s Committee on Civil Rights
Truman established the President’s Committee on Civil Rights to investigate civil rights abuses
GI Bill
The GI Bill made provisions for sending veterans to school and paid them 20 dollars a week for a year
Era of Affluence
THE LONG ECONOMIC BOOM, 1950-1970
GNP began to climb again in 1948, by 1950 the economy was booming. National income doubled in the 50s and again in the 60s. This ushered in the Era of Affluence
By the mid 50s, about 60% of american are in the middle class (3500-10k a year) (in 2020, median income is 48,500 to 145,500)
Women started to access employment at unprecedented rates (The feminist revolt to the 60s has its roots here, in the clash between employment and the demands of housewifery
Sunbelt
The Sunbelt (a 15 state area stretching from VA through FL and TX to AZ and CA) was a new frontier for America
Jobs, better climate, lower taxes, led to higher population
Federal dollars were pumped into the region (444 billion dollars more annually than the Northeast and Midwest receives)
Fun fact: all presidents from 1964 to 2008 hailed from this region
Levittown
Levittown was the first planned suburb (long island, NY, post ww2) and its imitators (also planned suburbs) sprouted around the country
white flight
Even before the Fair Housing Act of 1968 outlawed redlining, “white flight” out of urban areas was taking place. White flight is when white people start to move out of a neighborhood when more and more POC start living there.
In the 1950s and 60s, business fled the urban areas with their affluent customers, which provided the origin of suburban shopping malls
Baby Boom
More than 50 million babies were added to the population by the end of the 1950s. (bc ppl got frisky after ww2)
They have sent shockwaves through the decades; today, they are placing enormous strain on our nations resources
Pink-collar ghetto
More than 30 mil women worked in clerical-service work (dubbed the “pink-collar ghetto”)
Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique”
In The Feminine Mystique (1963), Betty Fridean (need to know) wrote about how women were unhappy with their lives as suburban housewives. The book started a wave of feminism in the US
Consumerism in the 50s
A new lifestyle of leisure and affluence-
Diner’s Club produced the first plastic credit card in 1950
The first Mcdonald’s opened in CA (1954)
Disneyland opened in CA (1955)
By 1960, virtually every American owned a TV.
Advertisers saw TV as the best way to hawk their wares
Elvis Presley transformed popular music with rock and roll, which “crossed-over” the color line
Marilyn Monroe popularized new standards of sexuality, as did Playboy magazine (1953)
Dwight Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) vs Adlai Stevenson (D)
Eisenhower has severed as commander of the Allied forces in Europe, army chief of state, the first supreme commander of NATO, and as pres of Columbia University. He also went by Ike as his bro couldn’t pronounce Dwight when he was younger. Thus the slogan, “I like Ike”
Stevenson was Gov of Illinois
Eisenhower ran with Richard Nixon, who did a lot of the campaigning
Nixon called Stevenson an “intellectual egghead” and accused Democrats of “coddling” communists”
Eisenhower easily won the election
Nixon’s Checkers speech
Nixon was nearly dropped from the ticket over a scandal involving a “secret” (but not illegal) slush fund he had sued while serving in the Semate
Nixon was open about this fund. He used TV to apoloigize in the heart-tugging “Checkers speech.”
He said that the little dog (Checkers) was the only gift he had ever kept, and his girls loved him.
Nixon also brought on his wife, who said that she didnt wear a fur coat, but rather a “respectable Republican cloth coat.”
Eisenhower’s “Dynamic Conservatism”
Eisenhower believed in humanitarianism but was conservative in his approach to the economy and gov. He wanted to balance the budget (succeeding 3 times out of 8 years), keep government small, and guard against “creeping socialism”
He wanted to sell the TVA, but also backed programs like the Federal HIghway Act of 1956 that were “New Deal-ish”
He put the brakes on military spending (focusing on the air force and nucelar weapons) but incurred the biggest peacetime deficit to that point
“Operation Wetback” (1954)- massive roundup of illegal immigrants from Mexico
“New Look” foreign policy
- Maintain the vitality of the economy
- Rely on nuclear weapons to deter Communist aggression
- Use the CIA to carry out covert actions against those directly/indirectly under Soviet control.
- Strengthen relationships with our allies
massive retaliation
“Massive retaliation”- using nuclear weapons on enemies (the Soviets or Chinese) if threatened
Sadly, the US wasnt able to respond to Hungary’s pleas for help against Soviet aggression. Massive retaliation was an all-or-nothing option
brinkmanship
Brinkmanship-”the ability to go to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art.” (Dulles)
Ho Chi Minh
Now communist, Ho Chi Minh led the Viet Minh (Vietnamese Nationalists) against the French. He had the support of the Soviets and the Chinese. He controlled the North of Vietnam after it was split.
Dien Bien Phu
A key French fort, Dien Bien Phu, fell in 1954. The French gave up fighting in Vietnam shortly after
17th parallel
At the Geneva Conference (1955), Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel.
Domino Theory
Eisenhower promised aid to the South due to his belief in Domino Theory, the idea that if one country falls into communism, the neighboring countries will fall with it (this idea is important as it ties to containment)
“Open Skies” program using U-2 spy planes
Talks with the Soviets went nowhere; Ike proposed an “Open Skies” program to allow both countries to use aerial surveillance for intelligent gathering. Khrushchev, the leader of the USSR in this time, refused.
SEATO
The US also supported the creation of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in 1954, a defensive that only contained two Asian counties (The Philippines and Thailand). This was disbanded in 1977
Taiwan Straits Crisis
Ike threatened the Chinese during the Taiwan Straits Crisis (1954-55 and 1958) when the PRC bombed islands off the coast of Taiwan.
This was part of the ongoing difficulties between the RPC (mainland) and the ROC (Taiwan)
A series of ambassadorial talks continued between 1955 and 1972, when Nixon visited China and formally acknowledged the PRC
CIA overthrow of Mossadegh in Iran
PROBLEMS IN THE MIDDLE EAST: IRAN
The Iranian gov (in collusion with the Soviets) nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company ( a brit corporation)
The CIA engineered a coup (Op. Ajax) in 1953 that overthrew pro-Communist Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh and replaced him with Shan Mohammed Reza Pahlevi
Cost- 200k dollars for a rented mob that would profess loyalty to the Shah, code named “Boy Scout.” Mossadegh was code named “the Old Bugger”
The Brits and Americans then divided up the Iranian oil industry
Mossadeph was put on trial and sentenced to house arrest
In 1979, Iranians took out their revenge on the Western-allied Shah and his allies, deposing the Shah and declaring a republic during the Iranian Revolution. (more on this later)
the Suez Crisis
PROBLEMS IN THE MIDDLE EAST: THE SUEZ CRISIS
The US, France, and Brit, withdrew aid to Egypt for the Aswan Dam project bc Pres Nasser had nationalized the Suex Cancal Co. (formerly owned jointly by the French and Brits)
Nassaar has also brought weapons from Czech communists and diplomatically acknowledged the People’s Republic of China
With Western Europe’s oil supply in danger, France and Brits (Colluding with Israel) attacked Egypt in 1956.
The US voted for a UN resolution publicly condemning the actions of France and Britain and refused to provide the attackers with oil
The attackers withdrew their troops and a UN police force was sent into the region to maintain order.
OPEC
In 1960, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Iran joined with Venezuela to form the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a cartel.
the Eisenhower Doctrine
The Eisenhower Doctrine (1956) pledged US military and economic aid to Middle Eastern nations threatened by communist aggression
the DEW line
The Distant Early Warning (DEW) line was in place by 1957. In cooperation with Canada, the aim was to detect Soviet bombers
ICBMs
Fear that the Soviets would reach the US with Inter-continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMS) swept the nation
The National Defense Education Act
The National Defense Education Act was passed to ensure that students had access to science and math courses
Military-Industrial Complex
In his farewell address, Eisenhower warned the public about the dangerous cycle of miliary build-up aided by the large arms industry, which was vulnerable to abuse of power. (connection to Nye Committee findings post ww1)
Ike advised Americans to be vigilant in monitoring the military-industrial complex
Kennedy-Nixon debate
Richard Nixon (R) vs John F. Kennedy (D)
TV debates demonstrated the importance of image- people who watched it thought that Kennedy did better, but people who only listened thought Nixon did better.
Kennedy’s Catholicism was an issue for some.
Nixon scored points in 1959 with his “kitchen debate” with Khrushchev, in which Nixon extolled the virtues of American consumerism over Soviet economic planning
Kennedy won with a comfortable electoral margin. Democrats took both houses
abstract expressionism
Jackson Pollock pioneered abstract expressionism in the 1940s and 50s
“pop” art
“Pop” artists arose like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein (who parodied old-fashioned comic strips
International style
A new modernist or “International Style” resulted in massive corporate high-rises
Liberalism
Liberalism in the 1960s was characterized by the belief that increased federal power can achieve social goals
Examples: the civil rights movement, fight for gender and sexual equality, social and economic equality for minorities, the “war on poverty (Pres. L.B. Johnson’s Great Society)
Liberalism was ultimately attacked by conservatives for doing too much (a major backlash starting with Reagan’s presidency) and from the far left (SDS, Black Panthers) for not doing enough
JFK’s “New Frontier” program
American need to make sacrifices to achieve their potential greatness both domestically and in foreign affairs.
His famous quote was: “Ask not what your country can do you you- ask want you can do for your country”
The New Frontier program (medical assistance for the elderly, federal aid to education) was stalled in Congress
Equal Pay Act (1963) aimed to provide equal pay for women. It has been weakened over time through loopholes and court rulings
JFK cut taxes and promoted economic stimulus by proposing a multibullion-dollar project to land on the moon. Final cost to get a man on the moon (1969) was 25 million dollars.
The Berlin Wall
At the Vienna Conference (June 1961), Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev threatened to cut off Western access to Berlin. The Soviets began to construct the Berlin Wall in August 1961. This was to keep defectors from leaving East Germany
The wall was 69.5 miles long and almost 11 feet tall
“flexible response” in Vietnam
Kennedy adopted the policy of “flexible response” developing an array of military options that would be matched to the gravity of the situation. More than 15k men were serving in Vietnam by this point as “military advisors”. Kennedy was particularly fond of the Green Berets
The Alliance for Progress
THE ALLIANCE FOR PROGRESS: THE PLAN
JFK’s plan was supposed to be similar to the “Marshall Plan” for Latin America”
The main idea was to give 20 billion dollars to Latin American counties to establish democratic govs and work toward equitable income distribution and land reform. It was about 10 dollars a person.
THE ALLIANCE FOR PROGRESS: FAILURE
Latin America’s social problems proved too deep to be solved w handouts. Countries were unwilling to implement reforms, especially land reform
Many Latin Am. countries w constitutional govs became dictatorships
Pres Nixon was particularly averse to the plan, so funding dried up
Fidel Castro
Fulgencio Batista was Pres of Cuba from (1940-44) and dictator from (1952-59) with his power taken away bc of a coup. The US still supported bc at least he wasn’t communist
When Fidel Castro ousted Batista and took over Cuba in the Revolution of 1959, he started confiscating US-owned property in Cuba and allied himself with the USSR. The US retaliated by cutting off sugar imports from Cuba and stopped supporting Cuba.
Ike called him a “madman”
Nearly 1 million Cubans fled to the US
Khrushchev proclaimed the Monroe Doctrine dead and stated that the Soviets would step in to protect Castro
Bay of Pigs fiasco
Kennedy inherited an Eisenhower-era CIA scheme to invade Cuba w anticommunist Cuban exiles, trigger a popular uprising, and overthrow Fidel Castro
On April 17, 1961, about 1,200 exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs, where they were quickly surrounded by the Cuban forces.
The invaders were ransomed after 2 years from 62 million dollars in pharmaceutical drugs and other supplies
Castro survived many attempts on his life (part of “Operation Mongoose” the general plan of covert action against Cuba, which had the effect of driving him closer to the Soviets.
Estimates vary on the number, but some failed plots included exploding cigars and poisoned milkshakes
Cuban Missile Crisis
In Oct 1962, photos of Cuba taken by U-2 spy planes revelaed that the Soviets were secretly installing nuclear-tipped missiles in Cuba
A U-2 spy plane was shot down, the Joint Chiefs called for immediate reaction: War! (air force general Curtis LeMay)
The SAC was ready to bomb the USSR at a moments notice
Kennedy was the only man in the room who wanted to end things peacefully- he gambled that Khrushchev wouldnt want nuclear war
Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine of Cuba and demanded immediate removal of the missiles
In 1991, it was revealed the the nuclear weapons were operational at the time of the crisis. There were both longer range and shorter-range racial missiles that could take out Gauantanamo Bay and/or an invasion
(this was a stressful 13 days of trying to figure out what to do)
Khrushchev finally agreed to pull the missiles out of Cuba if the US would never invade Cuba and remove missiles from Turkey that are aimed at the USSR
This Crisis turned JFK’s presidency around
FALLOUT FROM THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
A Moscow-Washington DC “hot line; was established in Aug 1963. This dedicated teletype machine (later landline phone) was used for instant communication
Khrushchev was disgraced and forced out of power. Military explansion by Soviet “hardliners” (Brezhnev) commenced
The origin of the détente policy stemps from Kennedy’s idea of peaceful coexistenece w the Soviets
JFK assassination
According to the official Warren Commission report, Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dalles on Nov 22, 1963
Oswald was assassinated in front of TV camera by Jack Ruby
Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as President on a waiting airplane, with Jackie Kennedy at his side
LBJ kept most of Kennedy’s team in place
