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Eisenhowers Modern Republicanism 1952: Frustration w/Korea & Red Scare led to GOP POTUS takeover WW2 hero Eisenhower elected easily VP Nixon anti-communism & corruption Ike vowed to go to Korea & personally end the war DDE did go to Korea, overturned UN battle plan, & threatened China w/nuclear war to get armistice signed in 1953

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Eisenhowers Modern Republicanism govt spending & balanced budget Continued many New Deal programs Affluent postwar good life dependent upon a strong Cold War foreign policy Im conservative when it comes to money and liberal when it comes to human beings

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Eisenhowers Modern Republicanism In 8 yrs as POTUS, DDE had modest domestic record: Social security & minimum wage increased Federal Housing Admin helped finance building & purchasing of suburban homes Created Dept of Health, Education, & Welfare US economy avoided spiraling inflation & brought prosperity to more Americans

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Eisenhowers Modern Republicanism Interstate Highway System Interstate Highway System: Hwy Act (1956) created 41,000 miles to connect major U.S. cities Helped promote national defense, interstate trade, & vacation travel

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The Republicans in Power Re: McCarthyism Ike provided just enough rope to hang himself in 1954 Televised Army hearings: US saw McCarthys style & fact-less attacks Sen censured McCarthy & his communist attacks quickly died I am not going to get into a [peeing] contest with a skunk Have you no decency, Mr. McCarthy?

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Postwar American Society

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An Affluent Society Postwar boom caused by Desire for consumer goods (suppressed in 1930s & 40s) Cold War gov spending Baby boom & movement to the suburbs Affluence led to shift from individualism to conformity The Marshall Plan The Korean War Cars with automatic transmissions Filter cigarettes TVs Refrigerators Hi-fi record players Economy grew from crippling depression to highest standard of living in world history in just 1 generation

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TV in the 1950s $64,000 Question 21 Questions Bonanza The Untouchables I Love Lucy 1950s TV networks I Love Lucy The Milton Berle Show TV replaced radio & magazines as the primary conveyer of American consumer culture

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Birthrate, 1940-1970 The late 1940s & 1950s experienced the baby boom

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Life in the Suburbs Highways / rapid growth of suburbs: Cookie-cutter American life McDonalds Cars, grocery stores, malls Nuclear family, not extended family White flight to suburbs left behind largely black urban cores

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A Suburban Case Study: Levittown, New York Begin in 1947 with 4,000 rental homes to veterans Grew to 17,000 sold homes in 1951

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Southdale Shopping Center, Minnesota the 1 st enclosed, air-conditioned shopping mall

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Areas of Greatest Growth Affluence & rapid growth of suburbs also led to: Increased church membership Public school enrollment College as a legitimate goal for middle class

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New Students Taking Advantage of the G.I. Bill Juvenile Delinquency Movies of the 1950s

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The Music of the 1950s Music of early 50s dominated by doo-wop Rock n roll quickly struck a chord with young listeners: Black artists: Ray Charles, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, & Little Richard White artists: Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Buddy Holly, & Elvis Presley

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Critics of the Consumer Society Some criticized US culture: William Whytes Organization Man & David Riesmans Lonely Crowd criticized US conformity Beatniks Jack Kerouac & the Beats (Beatniks) emerged as new counter-culture by refusing to conform to 1950s culture Led to 60s counter-culture

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Find images Beat Artists (Beatniks) City Lights in San Francisco was a hotbed for Beat artists

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Mar Abstract Expressionism Jackson PollockMark Rothko

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Eisenhower Wages the Cold War

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Eisenhower & the Cold War Unusually well-prepared to be a Cold War president Foreign policy goals were to: Strong stand against Communism Threaten massive retaliation w/nukes Covert CIA operations Reduce defense spending / relax Cold War tensions Pragmatic & well organized WW2 military experience in Europe & Asia Chose hard-liner John Foster Dulles to be Sec of State Excellent diplomat & politician

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Massive Retaliation Ike wanted more bang for the buck: Nuclear weapons cheaper than conventional armed forces Massive retaliation strategy made using nuclear weapons unlikely Massive retaliation offered no intermediate course of action if diplomacy failed Massive retaliation civilian targets rather than military ones Brinksmanship using threats of nuclear war as diplomatic strategy

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Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)

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What are the stakes of war? Massive Retaliation? Mutual Assured Destruction?

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Massive Retaliation 1954: DDE used hardline approach to stop Chinese expansion in Asia: Attempts to take over islands near Taiwan led DDE to threaten nuclear war if China didnt stop DDE hoped pressure would drive a wedge between USSR & China China didnt know if he was bluffing so they backed off and refusal of USSR to aid China helped create a rift by end of the 1950s

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Suez War Suez Canal (Egypt) built by UK & France open to entire world Egypt wanted to build Aswan Dam along the canal Needed financial aid to build it

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Suez War Egypt asked US for help in building dam, also asked USSR US pulled their offer when they discovered Egypt talked to USSR

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Suez War Egypt offended said no other country could use the canal UK/France/Israel nearly fought with Egypt, US led negotiations

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Suez War DDE didnt want USSR to attack so he threatened nuclear war MASSIVE RETALIATION If those fellows start something, we may have to hit emif necessary, with everything in the bucket

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Eisenhower Doctrine Suez Crisis revealed vulnerability of Middle East to Communism DDE responded: Eisenhower Doctrine 1957: Eisenhower Doctrine US armed forces will protect Middle East from Communist aggression 1957: DDE sent military to Lebanon to halt Communism & install pro- Western gov Like Monroe Doctrine (and Roosevelt Corollary) in Latin America, US emerged as police power in a new part of the world

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Covert Actions DDEs administration used covert CIA acts to expand US control: 1953: CIA overthrew Mohammed Mossadegh (Iran) for US-friendly shah 1954: CIA overthrew leftist regime in Guatemala 1959: CIA took a hard line against new Cuban dictator Fidel Castro These interventions led to anti-US hostilities in Middle East & Latin America

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The Effects of Sputnik Space race intensified Cold War 1957: launch of Sputnik Fears that USSR was leading race to create ICBMs US sped up plans to build ICBMs & IRBM submarines Nikolai Khrushchev after Sputnik: We will bury you. Your grandchildren will live under Communism.

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The Effects of Sputnik Sputnik led to fears that US was: Growing soft Losing competitive edge Losing work ethic Gov responded with: National Aeronautics & Space Administration 1958: National Aeronautics & Space Administration National Defense Education Act National Defense Education Act promote STEM education

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Sputnik in 1957 The Original SevenMercury Astronauts Alan Shepard was the 1 st American in space

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Waging Peace DDE tried to end nuclear arms race as both sides tested h-bombs & ICBMs 1953: DDE called for disarmament & presented Atoms for Peace plan to the UN 1955: Khrushchev rejected DDEs open skies plan for disarmament

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Military-Industrial Complex Military-Industrial Complex In his farewell address (1961), DDE warned against Military-Industrial Complex: Massive military spending that dominates domestic & foreign politics

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Conclusions By 1960, the US more optimistic than 1950 US no longer afraid of return of another Great Depression Anxiety over the Cold War continued but not as severe Butvalues & race relations were areas of concern