The Eisenhower Years, 1952-1960

1945 - 1980 The Eisenhower Years, 1952-1960 Eisenhower Takes Command - - Mixed view of the 1950’s: “happy days” involved civil rights protests and the cold war as well The Election of 1952 - At end of Truman's presidency US looking for relief from Korean War and end to political scandals aka “the mess in Washington” - Republican primary between Senator Robert Taft of OH and war hero Eisenhower - Eisenhower aka “Ike” went on to win the Republican nomination - Conservative supporters of Taft balanced ticket by persuading Eisenhower to choose Richard Nixon for his running mate - Nixon had attacked Communists in the Alger Hiss case - Democrats picked IL Governor Adlai Stevenson - Campaign Highlights - Eisenhower was a non politician and had a spotless reputation for integrity - Almost spoiled by reports that Nixon had used campaign funds for personal use - Nixon won the support of millions of viewers in his Checkers speech on television - w/ fam he emotionally vower never to return the gift of beloved dog Checkers - Eisenhower’s pledge during last days of campaign to go to Korea and end the war separated Repubs and Democrats - Eisenhower-Nixon ticket won over 55% of popular vote and electoral college of 442 to Stevenson’s 89 Domestic Policies - Eisenhower leadership emphasized the delegation of authority - Gave administration a businesslike tone w/ corporate executives - Secr. of Defense was Charles Wilson former head of General MOtors - Eisenhower criticized by press for golfing and fishing too much and leaving big decisions to others; not really the case - Modern Republicanism - Eisenhower was fiscal conservative w/ first priority to balance the budget from years of deficit spending - Came closer to curbing federal spending than his successors - Moderate on domestic issues - Accepted most of New Deal programs and even extended some - Social Security extended to 10 million more citizens, minimum wage raised, and additional public housing was built - 1953: Eisenhower consolidated welfare programs by creating Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) under Oveta Culp Hobby (first woman in Repub cabinet) - Soil-bank program as means of reducing farm production and increasing farm income - Eisenhower opposed ideas of federal health care insurance and federal aid to education - Eisenhower’s balanced and moderate approach called both “modern Republicanism” and “the bland leading the bland” - Interstate Highway System - Passage of 1956 Highway Act authorizing construction of 42,000 miles of interstate highways linking all of nation’s major cities - - US Hwy system became model for rest of the world - Justification for new taxes on fuel, tires, and vehicles was to improve national defense - Immense public works project created jobs, promoted the trucking industry, accelerated growth of suburbs, and contributed to a more homogeneous national culture - New emphasis on cars, trucks, and highways hurt RR’s and environment - Little attention for public transportation which essential for old and poor - Prosperity - Domestic legislation modest for Eisenhower - Steady growth rate in country w/ inflation rate of 1.5% - Federal Budget has small surplus only 3 times in 8 years, deficits fell in relation to national wealth - Eisenhower's economic policies ranked most successful of any modern pres - 1945-1960: per-capita disposable income more than tripled - mid -1950’s: average Am family had twice the real income of fam during 1920’s boom - Postwar economy gave Americans highest standard of living in the world The Election of 1956 - Eisenhower suffers heart attack in 1955 and had major surgery in 1956 - Democrats questioned Ike’s health - (R) Eisenhower-Nixon ticket beat (D) Adlai Stevenson by even greater margin - Democrats regained control of both houses of congress Eisenhower and the Cold War - - Dulles’ Diplomacy - Secr. of State John Foster Dulles helped shape foreign policy w/ less passive ideas - “New look” of US foreign policy challenged Soviet Union and People’s Republic of China - Talked of “liberating captive nations” of Eastern Europe and for Taiwan to go against “Red” (communist) China - Dulles declared that if the US pushed Communist powers to brink of war they would back down bc of US nuclear superiority - Hard line aka “brinkmanship” - Eisenhower prevented Dulles from carrying ideas to an extreme - Massive Retaliation - Dulles advocated for greater reliance on nuclear weapons & air power over army & navy - In theory, would save money, help balance federal budget, and increase pressure on potential enemies - 1953: US developed Hydrogen bomb - Within a year, SU caught up with Hydrogen bomb of their own - Policy of massive retaliation seemed more like for mutual extinction - Nuclear weapons deterred large war but didn’t prevent small wars in SE Asia, Africa, and Middle East → Eisenhower refused to use even small nuclear weapons in these conflicts Unrest in the Third World - Decolonization 1947-1962 w/ colonies in Asia and Africa gaining independence from Britain, France and Netherlands one of biggest developments of postwar era - Asia: India and Pakistan new nations in 1947; Dutch East Indies became independent Indonesia in 1957 - Africa: Ghana off British rule by 1957 - New Third World countries often lacked stable political and economic institutions - Pawns of Cold War b/c needed foreign aid from US or SU - Covert Action - - - Asia - - - - Undercover intervention in internal politics of other nations less objectionable than using troops and less expensive 1953: CIA helped overthrow gov in Iran that tried to nationalize foreign oil companies - Allowed for return of Reza Pahlavi as shah of Iran - Provided the West w/ favorable oil prices and bought many US arms Guatemala 1954: CIA overthrow leftist gov that threatened US business interests - US opposition to communism seemed to make US to support corrupt/ruthless dictators esp in Latin America CIA planned assassinations of national leaders such as Fidel Castro of Cuba CIA operations fueled anti-American feelings esp in Latin America CIA caused long-term damage on US relations w/ Iran During Ike’s first term, some of most serious Cold War challenges in E and SE Asia Korean Armistice - Eisenhower visited UN forces in Korea to keep election promise (no quick fix possible) - Diplomacy, threat of nuclear war, and sudden death of Joseph Stalin March 1953 moved China and North Korea to agree to armistice and exchange of prisoners in July 1953 - Fighting stopped and most US troops withdrawn - No peace treaty even concluded between North and South Korea; 38th parallel Fall of Indochina - French tried to retake Indochina after losing it to Japanese invaders in WWII - Native Vietnamese and Cambodians resisted bc wanted independence - French imperialism → increased support for nationalist & communist leader Ho Chi Minh - By 1950: anti colonial war in Indochina part of Cold War between communist and non - Truman’s gov gave US military aid to French, while China and SU aided Viet Minh guerrillas led by Ho Chi Minh - 1954: large French army at Dien Bien Phu trapped and forced to surrender - After disastrous defeat French tried to convince Eisenhower to send US troops but he refused - Geneva Conference of 1954, France agreed to give up Indochina - Divided into independent nations Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam Division of Vietnam - Vietnam temp. Divided at 17th parallel until general election to be held - New nation remained divided as two hostile gov took power on sides of line - North Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh est. Communist dictatorship - South Vietnam: gov under Ngo Dinh Diem w/ support from anticommunist, Catholic, and urban Vietnamese (some fled from N) - General election to unite Vietnam never held b/c S feared communism would win - 1955-1961: US gave >$1 billion in economic and military aid to help S Vietnam build stable, anti communist state - Eisenhower’s Domino Theory: if S Vietnam fell under Communist control, other nations in SE Asia would also fall, until Australia and New Zealand were in danger SEATO (SE Asia Treaty Organization) - Dulles put together regional defense pact SEATO to prevent S Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from falling to Communism - Agreed to defend one another if attack in region - Signed 1954 by US, Great Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand, and Pakistan - - The Middle East - US tried to balance friendly ties w/ oil-rich Arab states while supporting new state of Israel - Israel created in 1948 under UN after civil war in Palestine left divide between Israelis and Palestinians - Egypt fought to prevent the Jewish state from being formed (unsuccessful) - Suez Crisis - Arab nationalist Gen. Gamal Nasser rep Egypt in asking US for funds to build Aswan Dam project on the Nile River - US refused b/c Egypt threatened Israel’s security - Nassar got Su to provide limited funding for project - Nasser caused international crisis July 1956 by seizing and nationalizing British/French owned Suez Canal that passed through Egyptian teritory - Loss of canal threatened W Europe supply line to Middle Eastern oil - Britain, France, and Israel carried out surprise attack vs. Egypt and retook canal - Ike furious ab attack by Brit and French so sponsored UN resolution condemning invasion of Egypt; invading forces soon withdrew - Eisenhower Doctrine - Growing soviet influence in Egypt and Syria - Eisenhower Doctrine: US in 1957 pledged economic and military aid to any Middle Eastern country threatened by communism - Ike first applied doctrine in 1958 by sending 14,000 marines to Lebanon to prevent a civil war between Christians and Muslims - OPEC and Oil - 1960: Arab nations Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Iran joined Venezuela to form OPEC - Oil critical foreign policy issue - W dependence on Middle East oil, Arab nationalism, and conflict btwn Israelis and Palestinian refugees trouble US later U.S.-Soviet Relations - Fluctuations during Eisenhower pres of relative calm and extreme tension - Spirit of Geneva - After Stalin death 1953, Ike called for slowdown in arms race and presented IN an atoms for peace plan - Soviet signs of wanting to reduce Cold War tensions - Withdrew troops from Australia and est. peaceful relations w/ Greece & Turkey - By 1955, desire for improved relations from both sides led to meeting in Geneva, Switzerland between US and new Soviet premier Nikolai Bulganin - Ike proposed “open skies” policy over each other’s territory (open to aerial photography by opposing nation) in order to eliminate chance of surprise nuclear attack - Soviets rejected proposal - “Spirit of Geneva” produced first thaw in Cold War - Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev early 1956 denounced crimes of Stalin and supported “peaceful coexistence” with the West - Hungarian Revolt - Relaxation in Cold War led workers in E Germany and Poland to demand reforms of Communist gov - Oct 1956: popular uprising in Hungary succeeded in overthrowing gov by Moscow - New liberal leaders wanted to pull Hungary out of Warsaw Pact - Khrushchev sent in Soviet tanks to crush the freedom fighters and restore control over Hungary - - - US took no action in crisis; Ike feared that sending in troops to aid Hungarians would start major war in Europe - By letting SU tanks into Hungary, US gave de facto recognition to the SU sphere of influence in Eastern Europe and ended Dulle’s talk of “liberating” the region - Soviet suppression of Hungarian revolt ended first thaw of Cold War - Sputnik Shock - 1957: SU shocked US by launching Sputnik I and Sputnik II into orbit around earth - Technological leadership of US into question; AS duplicate rockets failed repeatedly - US schools target for criticism of math and science instruction and failure to produce more scientists and engineers - 1958: Congress authorized National Defense and Education Act (NDEA) which authorized giving hundreds of millions in federal money to schools for math, science, and foreign language education - 1958: congress also created NASA to direct US efforts to build missiles & explore space - Billions appropriated to compete with Russians in space race - Fears of nuclear war intensified by Sputnik b/c missiles that launched satellites could also deliver warheads anywhere in the world in minutes w/out defense - Second Berlin Crisis - After pride w/ Sputnik SU leader Khrushchev pushed Berlin issue in 1958 giving the West 6 months to pull troops out of West Berlin before turning city over to E Germans - US refused and Eisenhower invited Khrushchev to visit US in 1959 to defuse crisis - At retreat of Camp David MD, two agreed to put off crisis and scheduled conference in Paris in 1960 - U-2 Incident - Two weeks before planned meeting, Russians shot down high-altitude US spy plane (the U-2) over the SU - Incident exposed a secret US tactic for gaining info - After denied open-skies program, US conducted regular spy flights to find out ab missile program - Eisenhower took responsibility for flights after exposed by U-2 incident but honesty was a diplomatic mistake - Khrushchev denounced US and walked out of Paris summit; ended thaw in Cold War Communism in Cuba - Lost Cuba to communism when Fidel Castro overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista 1959 - Castro nationalized american-owned businesses and properties in Cuba - Castro turned to Soviets for support; proved worse than his ruthless predecessor - CIA tried to train anti communist Cuban exiles to retake island; FDR presidency began Eisenhower’s Legacy - Credited for checking Communist aggression & keeping peace w/out loss of US lives in combat - Started long process of diffusing Cold War and tensions w/ Soviet Union - 1958: initiated the first arms limitations by voluntarily suspending above-ground testing of nukes - “Military-Industrial Complex” - Farewell address, Ike spoke out against negative impact of Cold War on US society - US in danger of turning into a military, or imperial state? The Civil Rights Movement - Origins of the Movement - Jackie Robinson broke color line in 1947 as first Af Am to play on a major league team since the 1880s after hired by Brooklyn Dodgers - Truman integrated armed forces in 1948 and introduced civil rights legislation in Congress First well-publicized indications of changing race relations after WWII 1950’s: Af Ams segregated, kept from voting by poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and intimidation; social segregation left them poorly education w/ economic discrimination kept them in a state of poverty - Changing Demographics - In North, Af Ams who joined Democrats during New Deal had growing influence in party politics in 1950’s - Changing Attitudes in the Cold War - Cold War played indirect role in changing gov policies and social attitudes - Against global background, racial segregation and discrimination stood out as wrongs that needed to be corrected Desegregating the Schools - NAACP tried to overturn 1896 decision of Plessy v. Ferguson -- “Separate but equal” - Brown Decision (Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)) - Argued that segregation of black children in public schools unconstitutional b/c violated the 14th Amendment guarantee of “equal protection of the laws” - Warren ruled that”separate facilities are inherently unequal” and unconstitutional; and school segregation should end with “all deliberate speed” - Resistance in the South - 101 members of Congress signed the “Southern Manifesto” condemning the SC for a “clear abuse of judicial power” - States fought by closing public schools temporarily and setting up private schools - KKK came back and violence against blacks increased - Arkansas 1956: Governor Orval Faubus used state’s National Guard to prevent 9 Af Am students from entering Little Rock Central High School (ordered by fed court) - Eisenhower ordered troops to stand guard in Little Rock to protect black students - In 1964, less than 2% of blacks in South attended integrated schools Montgomery Bus Boycott - 1955: Montgomery Alabama bus had more white passengers and Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to one of them - Arrested for violating the segregation laws sparked massive Af Am protest in form of boycott of city buses - MLK Jr. (minister of Baptist church where boycott started) emerged as inspiration leader of a nonviolent movement to end segregation Federal Laws - Two civil rights laws in 1957 and 1960 provided for a permanent Civil Rights Commission and giving the Justice Dept. new powers to protect the voting rights of blacks - Southern official still used arsenal of tactics to discourage Af Am voting Nonviolent Protests - 1957: MLK Jr. formed Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) which organized ministers and churches in South to back the civil rights struggle - Feb. 1960: college students in Greensboro, NC started sit-in movement after refused service at segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter - To call attention to unjust segregated facilities, sat in segregated restricted areas - Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) formed later to keep movement organized - 1960’s: sit in used to integrate restaurants, hotels, buildings, libraries, pools, and transportation - Turning point in civil rights movement marked by boycotts, sit-ins, court rulings, y gov responses - Slow progress; 1960’s impatience manifested into violence in streets Immigration Issues in the Postwar Years - - - - - - - Congress dropped bans on Chinese and other Asian immigrants and eliminated “race” as a barrier to naturalization; quota system remained in place until 1965 Puerto Ricans could enter US w/out restrictions Mexicans choice of working under contract in the braceros program, entering as a regulated legal immigrant, or crossing the border as “illegals” Early 1950’s: US officials launched Operation Wetback which forced approx. 3.8 million people to return to Mexico (response to complaints from native-born workers and Mexico) Mexican migrants remaining in US faced discrimination and exploitation by commercial farmers Popular Cultures in the Fifties - - Consumer-driven mass economy hallmarked by consensus and conformity Consumer Culture and Conformity - Growing homogeneity of Am culture from TV, ads, and middle-class movement to suburbs - Television - By late 1940’s TV center of family life in millions of Am homes - 1961: 55 million TV sets; one for every 3.3 Americans - Programs in fifties dominated by three national networks; bland menu of situation comedies, westerns, quiz shows, and professional sports - FCC chairman Newton Minow criticized TV as “vast wasteland” and worried ab impact on children of steady dose of >5 hours of viewing - Culture portrayed on TV provided common content for common white language - Advertising - Aggressive ads by name brands promoted common material wants and intro of suburban shopping centers and plastic credit card in 1950’s way of satisfying them - “Mom and pop” stores to franchise operations - Fast food restaurants popped up along roadside - Paperbacks and Records - Paperback books (innovation of 1950’s) selling almost 1 million copies per day by 1960 - Popular music revolutionized by mass marketing of inexpensive, long playing (LP) record albums and stacks of 45 rpm records - Rock-and-roll music popularized by Elvis Presley - Corporate America - For first time in history, more Am workers held white-collar jobs than blue-collar jobs - Large corporations promote teamwork and conformity, including dress code for male workers (dark business suit, white shirt, and conservative tie) - Social scientist WIlliam Whyte documented loss of individuality in book The Organization Man (1956) - Big unions more powerful after merger of AF of L and CIO in 1955 - Unions more conservative as blue-collar workers enjoyed middle-class incomes - Conformity small price to pay for new affluence of a home in suburbs, new car every 2-3 years, good schools, and maybe vacation to new Disneyland (1955) in CA - Religion - Organized religions expanded much after WWII w/ building of thousands of new churches and synagogues - Will Herberg book Protestant, Catholic, Jew (1955) commented on new religious tolerance of the times and the lack of interest in doctrine as religious membership source of individual identity and socialization Women’s Roles - Baby boom and running home in suburbs made homemaking full time job for millions of women - Traditional view of caring for home and children reaffirmed in mass media and in best-selling - self-help book Baby and Child Care (1946) by Dr. Benjamin Spock - Evidence of dissatisfaction growing esp. w/ well-educated women of middle class - More married women entered workforce (esp when close to middle age) - Male employers in 1950’s saw women primarily as wives and mothers; lower wages Social Critics - The Lonely Crowd (1958); Harvard sociologist David Riesman criticized replacement of “innerdirected” individuals in society with “other-directed” conformists - In The Affluent Society (1958) economist John Kenneth Galbraith wrote ab failure of wealthy Americans to address the need for increased social spending for the common good - Sociologist C. Wright Miss portrayed dehumanizing corporate worlds in White Collar (1951) and threats to freedom in The Power Elite (1958) - Novels - Popular novels of 1950’s about individual’s struggle against conformity - J. D. Salinger provided classical commentary on “phoniness” from troubled teenager perspective w/ The Catcher in the Rye (1951) - Joseph Heller stupidity of military and war in Catch-22 (1961) - “Beatniks” - Groups of rebellious writers and intellectuals made up Beat Generator of 1950’s - Led by Jack Kerouac (On the Road, 1957) and poet Allen Ginsberg (“Howl,” 1956) - Advocated spontaneity, use of drugs, and rebellion against societal standards - Beatniks models for youth rebellion of the 1960’s Historical Perspectives: A Silent Generation?