Eisenhower Domestic Flashcards
Eisenhowers dynamic conservatism
Definition: Eisenhower’s approach to governance, balancing fiscal conservatism with some progressive social policies.
• Quote: “Conservative when it comes to money, liberal when it comes to human beings.”
• Key Focus: Reducing government spending, maintaining social welfare, and supporting infrastructure growth.
Economic policy
Balanced Budget: Eisenhower aimed for fiscal responsibility, balancing the budget in 1956, 1957, and 1960.
• Inflation and Growth: Inflation stayed low at around 2%, and GDP grew steadily.
• Unemployment: Averaged 4.5%, remaining relatively low throughout his presidency.
Federal highway act
1956
Definition: Eisenhower’s $25 billion plan to construct 41,000 miles of interstate highways over 10 years.
• Purpose: Improve national defense, boost economic development, and reduce traffic congestion.
• Impact: Largest public works project in U.S. history, creating jobs and stimulating the car industry.
Social security expansion
Key Change: Eisenhower expanded Social Security coverage to 10 million more Americans.
• Increase in Benefits: Raised benefits for recipients by 77%.
Minimum wage increase
1955
Change: Raised from 75 cents to $1 per hour.
• Impact: Benefitted millions of low-income workers, though some Republicans opposed it.
Education policy and the national defence education act 1958
Context: The launch of Sputnik (1957) by the Soviet Union raised fears about U.S. scientific and technological competitiveness.
• Act Provisions: Provided $1 billion in federal funding for science, math, and foreign language education.
• Impact: Strengthened the U.S. education system and fueled the Space Race.
The modernism republicanism approach
Definition: Eisenhower sought to limit federal government expansion while keeping key elements of the New Deal intact.
• Key Policies:
• Continued federal housing programs.
• Opposed massive government intervention in healthcare.
• Rejected proposals for universal health insurance.
Civil rights brown v board of education 1954
Supreme Court Ruling: Declared racial segregation in schools unconstitutional.
• Eisenhower’s Reaction: Publicly neutral, but privately skeptical about federal enforcement.
• Impact: Set the legal precedent for desegregation but faced strong resistance, particularly in the South.
Little Rock crises
1957
Event: Governor Orval Faubus used the National Guard to prevent nine Black students (“Little Rock Nine”) from entering Little Rock Central High School.
• Eisenhower’s Response: Deployed 1,000 federal troops (101st Airborne Division) to enforce desegregation.
• Impact: First time since Reconstruction that federal troops were used to enforce civil rights.
Civil rights act of 1057
Definition: The first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.
• Key Provisions:
• Established the Civil Rights Division in the Justice Department.
• Gave federal prosecutors power to intervene in cases of voter suppression.
• Weakness: Had limited impact due to weak enforcement mechanisms.
Civil rights act of 1960
Purpose: Strengthened voting rights protections.
• Key Provisions: Allowed federal judges to appoint referees to ensure Black citizens were allowed to vote.
• Impact: Laid the groundwork for stronger civil rights laws in the 1960s.
Growth of suburbia
Post-War Boom: Rise in suburban living due to the availability of cheap housing and GI Bill benefits.
• Levittown: Mass-produced housing developments that symbolized the era.
• Impact: Suburban population grew by 47% in the 1950s.
The baby boom and consumerism
Birth Rate: Between 1946-1964, 76 million babies were born in the U.S.
• Economic Impact: Increased demand for housing, schools, and consumer goods.
• Rise of Consumer Culture: Growth of fast food (McDonald’s), credit cards, and television.
McCarthyism and Eisenhowers response
Context: Senator Joseph McCarthy led anti-communist witch hunts, accusing government officials of communist ties.
• Eisenhower’s Stance: Avoided direct confrontation but helped undermine McCarthy by refusing to publicly support him.
• Downfall of McCarthy: In 1954, McCarthy’s influence collapsed after the Army-McCarthy hearings, where he was exposed as reckless and lost public trust.
Opposition to Eisenhowers domestic policies
Conservative Republicans: Criticized him for not rolling back New Deal programs.
• Democrats: Argued he did not do enough to address poverty, healthcare, and civil rights.
• Historians’ Debate: Some view him as too passive on civil rights, while others credit him for maintaining stability.
Eisenhowers background and presidency
- Eisenhower’s Background
• Supreme Commander of Allied forces in Europe during WWII.
• Both Democrats & Republicans wanted him to run; chose Republican Party. - “Dynamic Conservatism”
• Definition: Fiscal conservatism with some social liberalism.
• Quote: “Conservative when it comes to money, liberal when it comes to human beings.”
• Business Ties: Three cabinet members were executives at General Motors; several were Wall Street lawyers.
• Opposed “Creeping Socialism”:
• Tried to reduce federal intervention but faced challenges.
• Agriculture Secretary Ezra Benson wanted to cut farm subsidies, but overproduction forced increases.
• More interventionist than Coolidge: Not fully laissez-faire.
Economic growth
GDP Growth: $355 billion (1950) → $488 billion (1960).
• Real Wages: Workers in the 1950s earned twice as much as those in the 1920s.
• Per Capita Income: $1,720 (1940) → $2,699 (1960).
• Investment in Industry: $10 billion a year.
• Consumer Boom: Growth in TV ownership, cars, and household goods.
Tax cuts and budget
Cut taxes by $7 billion.
• Faced criticism for defense spending cuts, seen as making the U.S. vulnerable.
• Military-Industrial Complex pushed spending higher than Eisenhower wanted.
Attacks on the new deal
Abolished the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (a key New Deal agency).
• Tried to abolish the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) but failed due to Southern opposition.
• Subsidies cut from $185 million → $12 million (1960).
• Sold atomic power plants to private industry.
• Vetoed a bill for a hydroelectric project in Hell’s Canyon.
• Submerged Lands Act (1953): Gave drilling rights to individual states instead of federal control.
Federal spending and agriculture
Federal spending rose 11% (1953–61) despite Eisenhower’s wishes.
• Agricultural Subsidies:
• Rose from $1 billion → $5.1 billion (1960) due to overproduction.
• Soil Bank (1956): Paid $750 million to farmers to leave land unused.
• Farmers exploited the system by using their worst land.
Energy and infrastructure
Policy of exploiting oil in the Gulf of Mexico to increase federal revenue.
• Atomic Energy Act: Encouraged peaceful use of nuclear power.
Historian views
Ewan Morgan: Eisenhower’s focus on inflation control was a major achievement, but he failed to address poverty
First recession
1953-4
Korean War ended → military spending cuts.
• Unemployment: 3.7 million.
• Mild recession but hurt Republicans in 1954 midterm elections.
Second recession
1957-58
More severe:
• Unemployment rose: 4.3% → 7.4%.
• Production fell 14%.
• Eisenhower remained focused on inflation, despite public concern about jobs.
• Helped Democrats & JFK in 1960 election.
• $20 billion deficit remained.
