Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

The American Dream > Truman and post-war reconstruction > Flashcards

Truman and post-war reconstruction Flashcards

1
Q

What issues did Truman need to consider in the transition to a peacetime economy?

A
  • Education
  • Employment
  • What do to with the factories from the war effort
  • Housing
  • Federal Spending
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What was the issue with employment?

A

12 million men were returning home all looking for jobs but there were not enough jobs available. The USA also wanted to maintain a strong army because of the Cold War

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

How did Truman try to help the issue of employment?

A

He tried to introduce a slow de-mobilisation of the army but there were protests and over 10 million soldiers came home within 2 years

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What was the issue to do with inflation?

A

Many people had high demand of luxury items but the factories hadnt had time to change from war production. 25% inflation in 1945-6 and made worse my Congress’s $6bn tax cut

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

How did Truman handle the problem of inflation?

A

He continues the Office of Price Administration (OPA) but after Congress watered it down it was useless. By 1946 the economy was stabilising anyway
He also created a Council of Economic Advisors

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

How did Veterans receive compensation?

A

$20bn spent over 10 years to help 7.8 million veterans. Allowed to have 52 weeks of unemployment relief, loans for education, hosing

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

How many people were in trade unions?

A

15 million

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Why was Truman caught in a vice with labour unrest?

A

He didnt want to increase wages and further inflation but also didnt want to be undemocratic and create public hostility

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

How many coal miners striked in 1946?

A

over 400,000

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

How did Truman make the labour unrest worse?

A

He made bad choices and even asked congress if he could have emergency powers and involve the army. He also then lost steel mills in court which was en embarrassing defeat for him

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

When was the New deal introduced?

A

1933 - When Roosevelt came to power

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What groups and people could influence Truman’s actions?

A
  • CONGRESS
  • Public
  • Labour groups / unions
  • Supreme Court
  • Pressure from voters
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

How was the Taft-Hartley Act passed even though truman vetoed it?

A

They were able to get two-thirds of votes in both the Senate and the House of Representatives which gave them power to overrule the veto

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What happened in the 1946 midterms?

A

Truman lost congress. It turned republican for the first time in years

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What were the problems for Truman if Congress was Republican?

A

They wont support New Deal legislation and Truman would struggle to get anything through Congress

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What evidence is there that Truman had a poor relationship with congress?

A
  • Truman vetoed 250 bills from Congress
  • Congress overruled 12 presidential vetoes (huge clash between executive and legislative branches of government)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What was the name of Truman,s aide who was at the centre of allegations?

A

Harry Vaughn

18
Q

How did Truman respond to accusation against vaughn?

A

He stood by Vaughn throughout the accusation, shoowing loyalty but it also looked like he condoned Vaughn’s activities

19
Q

What shows that FDR’s New Deal was successful?

A

He won a landslide victory in 1936 and introduced a “Second New Deal” which went further and introduced the first social security measures in the USA

20
Q

What context was FDR’s New Deal brought in?

A

13 million unemployed
He was given emergency powers to pass sweeping legislation to help the US recover

21
Q

What position did Truman hold before he became Roosevelt’s Vice President?

A

Senator

22
Q

What name was given to Truman’s domestic policy?

A

Fair Deal

23
Q

Why might Truman have been more confident about achieving his goals of pushing forward with the Fair Deal after the 1948 elections?

A

He had been clear on where he stood and still got voted in by the public. He now had a mandate to carry out his aims and the Democrats regained a majority in Congress

24
Q

Name at least 2 successes of the Fair Deal.

A
  • Public housing project (funding slum clearance and low rent housing)
  • Increased social security levels
  • Raise in Minimum wage
25
Q

Name 3 failures of the Fair Deal.

A
  • Taft Hartley Act veto failed
  • National health Insurance didnt pass congress
  • Federal aid to education didnt pass congress
26
Q

What started the Red Scare?

A

Senator Joseph McCarthy’s speech to a Womens Republican Club in Wheeling, West Virginia in February 1950 when he says he has a list of 205 employees in the State Department who are communists

27
Q

Why is it likely McCarthy was lying about his list?

A

He was a known bully and liar and he never showed the list

28
Q

Why did the Red Scare take hold so easily?

A
  • Cold War (USSR now have atomic weapon, Korean war going badly
  • Spies were becoming more frequent
  • New Deal - possibly spread by big business to reverse the whole welfare state by linking liberalism to communism
29
Q

What actually was McCarthyism

A
  • A period of intense fear of communist infiltration in the USA
  • Called a Red Scare, it was the second one as there was one in the aftermath of WW1
30
Q

What had happened in the first Red Scare which made another seem so frightening?

A

Palmer raids - raids carried out on communist-affiliated organisations

31
Q

How might have Truman added to the Red Scare?

A
  • The Loyalty Order he signed in 1947 allowed the FBI to run checks on suspected communists
  • He often painted a black and white image of communism which made many people fear it more
32
Q

What organisation carried out investigations into Hollywood actors and directors suspected of communist affiliation?

A

HUAC

33
Q

What does HUAC stand for?

A

House of Un-american Activities Committee

34
Q

How did HUAC add to the Red Scare?

A

They would hold hearings and investiagted many industries to try and root out communism (eg entertainment industry). People would be scrutinised and grilled to see if they had any involvement with communism

35
Q

Name two celebrities that got caught up in the red scare?

A

Marilyn Monroe because of her husband Arthur Miller
Charlie Chaplin

36
Q

How did Joseph McCarthy add to the Red Scare?

A
  • 1950 speech about 205 State Dep employees
  • 1952 he headed Congressional committees that investigated communism in the US
37
Q

How did J Edgar Hoover and the FBI add to the Red Scare?

A

He would leak information to Congress, to HUAC. The FBI was involved with wire tapping, Mail interception and bugging. Anyone could be found guilty by the FBI because of how intently they are being watched

38
Q

What proves that Joseph McCarthy had become so influential even the President feared him?

A

Eisenhower and McCarty toured Wisconsin and prior to this, McCarthy criticized Marshall, who had a paragraph of praise in his speech but he dropped it out of fear of going against McCarthy

39
Q

How did McCarthyism end?

A

In autumn 1953 McCarthy’s committee began investigations into the US army
It ended up being a court case between the army and McCarthy in 1954 which was televised and people could actually see his bullying actions which portrayed him in a way newspapers couldnt

40
Q

What impacts did McCarthyism have?

A
  • Hundreds of people lost their jobs (300 teachers in NYC alone)
  • State Dep lost hundreds of employees, many experts in Asia which meant there were gaps when dealing with Vietnam
  • Firms were blacklisted and business would stop
41
Q

Who was Alger Hiss?

A

A US government official, who was accused of spying in the 1930s and was under an investigation from HUAC

42
Q

Who was Karl Fuchs?

A

A British atmoic scientist who worked on the Los Alamos project and admitted to passing secrets to Soviets in 1950

The American Dream (17 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions