topic one 1945 - 80 Flashcards
2nd red scare (1947-57)
following WW2 USSR joined Allies having first fought in war against Allies
Eastern Europe countries occupied by Soviet Union during war emerged with Soviet governments
increasing fears of communist takeovers in other countries (context of cold war and Korean war)
2nd red scare (1947-57) - climate of fear
USSR found to be spying on USA - especially keen on getting atomic weapon secrets
2nd Red scare - The Rosenbergs (1953)
Convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage by passing atomic information onto the soviets and executed via electric chair
found although guilty - wasnt guilty of spreading atomic information like he was founded
2nd Red scare - HUAC and Hollywood 10 (1947)
House of un-American activities commission set up in 1938 focusing on uncovering communism within government
Hollywood 10 - HUAC began investigation into Hollywood towards threats of communism
10 Hollywood employees thought to be communist and refused to answer any questions (found guilty of contempt to congress)
anyone thought to have communist ideals were blacklisted from Hollywood
2nd Red scare (1947-57) - Joseph McCarthy and McCarthyism
between 1950-54 senator McCarthy headed 2nd red scare
McCarthyism - fear of internal subversion
1950 announced had names of 250 known communists working under state departments (changed number to 57 then 81)
despite suspicious nature - gained support from catholics (extremely influential)
set up tydings committee and led investigations (witch hunts) into suspect communists using the media (radio and TV) to spread his ideals
violence often broke out due to his encouragement to find communists at home and work
Until investigation the army in 1953 remained powerful
televised interviews (with some 20 million people watching) found his treatment of interviewees to be so unreasonable he lost support
so much so that senate passed a vote to censure him - allowing red scare to die down
Anti - communism (FBI)
FBI (J Edgar Hoover) given powers to investigate people and bring them in to questioning on very little evidence
tapped phones, opened letters, and bugged offices and homes - movement towards repressive communist regime
people fearful of expressing opinion and ideology - libaries got rid of books by Karl Marx in fear of being seen as having communist sympathies
anti-communism shared between Republicans and Democrats - various groups set up from 1950 to press government to take a hard line in relation to communism
Liberalism - 60s
Red scare and increasing violence towards black people (especially in south)
under president Kennedy new liberalism took off
campaigned under word ‘liberal’ - being forward-thinking, flexible, and concerned about populations’ welfare (both republican and democrats agreed)
usually educated middle class supporting equality, civil rights, and social welfare
believed in gov intervention
introduced positive discrimination (preferred treatment of groups previously discriminated against in areas such as housing and employment) for ‘5 minorities’ including black people and women
all support for liberalism increased in 60s
1968 - Democratic National Convention divided about Vietnam war leading to anti-war protests outside hall (police violent tear gas, batons)
civil rights act, voting reform act could never be passed without liberal minded congress
Counter culture
oppose system
assassination of JFK and civil rights movement fuelled counterculture
gained speed in 1960s especially within gay, women and young
Napalm bomb increased support for counterculture - through media (people gained knowledge they never previously had)
anti-war culture and anger towards seeing friends taken to war due to draft (taking higher percentage of African Americans)
Hippie’s values - sexual freedom, drugs, wanting peace
Woodstock festival 1960s had around 500,000 people turn up - summing up everything opponents of the movement feared
radical students’ groups - main aim of protesting against the war in Vietnam and creating an equal America
Kent state shooting (1970) - 4 students shot by National Guards due to protests in Vietnam war
counter culture quickly lost momentum - young supporters grown older, less rebellious
impeachment of Nixon (watergate)
1970s religious rights movement called for return to traditional family values and move away from liberalism
Older Americans bewildered by problems created counter culture (violence)
Cold war timeline (Feb 1945 - Yalta conference)
Churchil, Roosevelt, Stalin (grand alliance) discuss winning war and post-war government in Europe
Soviets controlled most of Europe - Roosevelt and Stalin agreed on free elections in soviet led countries and UN (relations looked optimistic)
Cold war timeline (April 1945 - Truman)
Roosevelt replaced by Truman
Truman new to diplomatic discussion, more difficult to get way with Stalin - wanted to look strong so postponed till after bomb testing
Winston also replaced with labour leader Attlee
cold war timeline (July 1945 - Potsdam conference)
Germany split into 4 zones - Truman objected soviet control over liberated countries and wanted less communism in Poland (one true enemy Hitler no longer there)
Cold war timeline (August 1945 - atomic bombs dropped on Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki)
estimated 120,000 deaths - made Truman more confident and western countries more secure under USA protection
increased cold war tensions as soviets believed Truman was attempting to show America as a world superpower
Cold war timeline (1946 - Iron curtain speech)
Churchill still had large influence - thought soviet control was threat to freedom and world peace
added tension as Stalin belived these views mirrored US views
Cold war (1947 - Truman doctrine)
wanted to give aid to Greece and Turkey ($400 million and military)
had to stop spread of communism and aid democracy - in doing so abandoned isolationism
British could no longer afford aid to Greece
Cold war timeline (1947 - Marshall aid)
provided economic aid to war torn countries to stop communism
1948-52 - $12.7 billion aid
had not suffered damage from war so could afford to give economic aid
satellite states
Truman created satellie states (buffer states)
for soviet union attempt to stop spread of communism
idea of domino theory brought in by Eisenhower
Cold war timeline (1949 - China becomes communist)
American’s main ally in Asia
Eisenhower’s domino theory - fear of other countries in Asia also becoming communist
north Vietnam and Korea
cold war - nuclear defence
US government had to be seen as preparing for nuclear attack once clear USSR had nuclear capability
1956 interstate act - road networks designed for nuclear attack
organised what to do in case of an evacuation - schools had regular ‘duck and cover’ exercises in case of nuclear attack
1951 Federal defence Administration (FDA) - posted leaflets and build shelter attempting to prepare America for possibility of nuclear war
Cold war - arms race
1947-48 - US holding of atomic bombs rose from 13 to 50
USSR also began making more weapons to match
Cold war - Armed services
Creation of large permanent military force affected domestic economy - provided jobs and major customer to business (e.g., food and fabric)
divide created between republicans and democrats (harks and doves)
hawks - using military for foreign affairs
doves - using peaceful methods in foreign affairs
cold war - space race
country that ‘controlled’ space more likely to win war
Eisenhower set up NASA
USSR had first spacecraft (1957) - Sputnik1
US and USSR spied using satellites
1969 - US man on moon ($25 billion)
Eisenhower minimised issue in media
impact of cold war on presidency
power of presidency to go to war and make treaties without congress increased though USA’s involvement with UN and NATO - as a world superpower, they were only ones to stand up against USSR
1947 National security act - reorganised US military forces, increasing and later meant that the president could move forces without permission of congress
nuclear war could staart at any moment - president had power to react without warning not having to wait to go through congress
impact of Korean war on domestic policy
1950 - North Korea invaded south Korea with aid for USSR
Truman concerned to keep it a ‘limited war’ by keeping north Koreans in north Korea (context of red scare, wanted to end hysteria and calls to go into a full war)
presidential action shifted away from domestic policy towards international policy - domestic policy creation fell back towards congress
Republicans began becoming stronger opposition to Democratic policy and Truman (lost republicans support in congress)
Defence spending hit a peak during Korean war at 14% of US GNP
Impact of Korean war on presidency
Truman rushed troops to prevent communist growth (only as police action)
Realised he went too far following Chinese invasion that surrounded UN troops
truce occurred in 1953 (400,000 Americans died)
Media increased distrust between public and president as Truman held back with media allowing people to speculate
Began television briefings - was already too late to gain back support
other presidents followed Truman in not getting congressional approval (e.g., Obama)
General MacArthur Korean war
clashed with Truman about the main aim of the war
suggested pushing further into North Korean territory, suggesting to bomb parts of China and North Korea, to liberate North Korea from communism
this would only escalate the war further
Truman - main aim of the war was only to prevent the spread of communism, not save countries that had already been consumed
Impact of Vietnam war on domestic policy
Spending on war was said to have contributed on the rising inflation in the period
also creating loss of credibility for the presidency and government (as they introduced unpopular policies and the war escalated out of control)
Vietnam - the draft
Johnson - without going through congress
one of most unpopular policies
1969 - lottery held to select men aged 18-26 to fight in Vietnam
these men were sent draft cards and told to report for duty on the date shown
radio film and TV coverage
WASPS used system to get sons excluded from serving
higher proportion of African Americans chosen to serve through draft
became symbolic to burn draft cards in anti-war protests (could be fined up to $10,000 or 5 years in prison)
draft dodging common
Who protested war
all protested against war no matter social class, ethnicity, age etc
Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) 1967 - in New York when 6 veterns marched in protest (soon had membership of over 30,000)
campaigned to show horrors of the impacts of war - no one understood PTSD and so were told by military to get on with lives
Vietnam - role of media
Intense coverage (e.g., Napalm bombing photo)
reporters reported shocking stories from up close to war
Mai Lai massacre (massacre of entire innocent village) - soldiers going into war high on drugs, rewarding soldiers with beer for completing mission with high kill count
not an honourable war
1968 - reporter Walter Cronkite returned from Vietnam following tet offensive and reported scathing criticisms about how the war was being ran
Cronkite highly influential and respected TV presenter - programme increased public reaction to the war
Johnson reported to have said war lost him support of ‘middle America’
Vietnam - impact on presidency
cast shadow over 4 presidencies and drove successive presidents into unpopular domestic policies
people saw importance of presidency in foreign affairs as them being in control of the issues within the war more than domestic policy
e.g., protests against war in 1968 accompanied by chant ‘Hey! Hey! LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?’ - putting blame on presidents shoulders
1967 - 75% of Americans opposed anti-war demonstrations
became increasingly difficult to leave war without putting south Vietnamese population in danger
Once leaving war - American people humiliated from fighting in ‘dirty’ war, lost it and left it in such a state
people became more critical in the role of president in any future war
confidence in America - trust in government
1960 - 70% Americans said they trusted government most of the time
1974 - less than 40%
Decline in confidence - media
wider access to media - as well as this media had changed their views of their relationship with the president and government
Roosevelt - used media to explain policies
Korean and Vietnam war - criticism grew within media
from 1968 - media saw it as their job to uncover government deception
stories focused on how government only told part of the story
Decline in confidence - Scandal
Confidence shaken when shown evidence that they couldn’t trust government
Watergate scandal (1972-74) showed white house and President Nixon were guilty of surveillance, burglary of political opponents
tapes of Nixon showed that he was happy to lie to the American people (government showed in bad light)
media uncovered the crime and cover-up
Decline in confidence - Mishandling events
government could not escape responsibility for the conduct of the Vietnam war
Following Roosevelt, presidents became more involved in decision making and therefore also couldnt escape responsibility
as media grew, mishandled events became public knowledge
Decline in confidence - White house administration
Roosevelt enlarged white house staff and created Bureaus that reported to the president (not congress)
staff began being able to get away with acting on the president’s name without consultation (due to growing numbers of staff) - bribes and deals made (corruption)
Due to costs rising - more donations needed usually from big businesses (expecting to have influence on candidates if they became president)
Decline in confidence - social factors
problems and how they were handled at local and state level
violent police reaction in south and the violence that spread across the whole of the country (riots in cities nationwide especially following MLK assassination)
police and national guard became increasingly violent
kent state shooting 1970 - national guard killed 4 students
between 1968-80 mainly MC began to believe that government were doing too much for the poor and not enough for them (disillusionment from liberal thinking)
1965 voting act led to many democrats voting republican and civil rights protesters turned increasingly violent as they still faced discrimination
Decline in confidence - the presidents
Johnson put US troops in Vietnam without congress’ approval whilst also communiting poorly with public and media
Nixon - forced public personality with little of population warming to him
mismanagement of Watergate scandal shocked people as well as later corruption in administration that was revealed
Ford - never forgiven when he pardoned Nixon rather than taking him to trial
Carter - one of the least politically experienced presidents - won as he was a moral man (main campaign was that he wouldnt lie to people)
couldnt manage congress and presidency full of poor decisions and lack of flexibility
