Post WW II Domestic Policies Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson

1. Post WW II Domestic PoliciesTruman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson

2. Truman’s Domestic Policies • Domestically, Truman had two goals; • 1. Continue with Govt. Intervention / New Deal type policies: Govt. involvement in Soc, Ec. affairs; no return to Laissez Faire; didn’t want the end of the War to signal a retreat from principles of the Democratic party • 2. Introduce Civil Rights Reform: Wanted to continue and improve on what FDR had done with the FEPC

3. Fair Deal • Sent a set of proposals (27) to Congress for Economic and Social reforms which became known as his Fair Deal (Sept. 1945) • Included: • Expansion of Social Security and increasing benefits • Increase Minimum Wage from 40c to 60c an hour • Permanent FEPC • Govt. provided low cost housing, slum clearance • Fed. Govt. Public Works Projects • Long range environmental planning • Government promotion of scientific research / education • Subsidies for farmers

4. Federal aid to education • Government funded health insurance • Prepaid medical care • Funding for the St. Lawrence Seaway • Nationalization atomic energy • But the Fair Deal made little progress: Congress, even though under Democratic control, was reluctant to continue with or increase the high level of spending of WW II, and the high level of taxation

5. … • The newly elected Republican Congress of 1946 was even more opposed to high spending and high taxes, favoring an end to more of the remaining New Deal agencies, and restoration of Laissez Faire • Congress and the media was also upset with the the coal miners strike of 1946, organized by John Lewis / United Mine Workers (CIO joined with AFL in 1955 under George Meaney- AFL-CIO, ending 20 year feud) and the threatened railroad workers strikes in 1946: contributed further to disillusionment with reforms / opposition to heavy spending on social and economic programs

6. The Republican Party had campaigned on the slogan “Had Enough?” – of spending, strikes – promised another Harding-like “return to normalcy” • The Republican Congress (80th Congress) of 1946 introduced a host of Conservative measures, including; • Deregulation of economy • Tax Reduction for higher income groups with only a moderate decrease for the lower income groups

7. The Taft-Hartley Act in 1947, or the Labor Management Relations Act, which: • made the closed shop /union shops illegal, • empowered the President to issue an injunction, against strikes that endangered national health or safety- this would be a mandatory “cooling off” period of 80 days. • required union officials to take an oath declaring that they were not Communists • Made labor liable for damages resulting from jurisdictional disputes among themselves • Considered an anti-labor act; to withdraw the gains of the Wagner Act, Clayton Anti-Trust Act: condemned by union leaders as a “slave-labor law”

8. Truman vetoed the bill but Congress over-rode his veto and passed it • Congress did however pass an Employment Act in 1946 which allowed govt. spending on some projects that created jobs and added a Council of Economic Advisors, to be appointed by the president and responsible to him. • Regarded by some as a middle of the road Congress – was neither extremely conservative/reactionary or liberal. It did not try to overturn the Social Security, or the TVA, even agreeing to expand them

9. Civil Rights • Truman consulted African American leaders about their concerns on Civil Rights and sep up a bi-racial Committee on Civil Rights to also advise him • Told him that the main concerns were: • Lynching • Poll Tax • Discrimination in the job market • Segregation in the armed forces

10. Recommended that a Civil Rights Commission be set up and that the federal govt. intervene with legislation • But Congress refused to consider legislation and so Truman was forced to take action himself: • he issued an executive order integrating the armed forces • ordered end to discrimination in the hiring of government employees • pleaded with the Supreme Court to help end discrimination through its rulings on the 14th and 15th Amendments…. “judicial activism”

11. Election of 1948 • Truman was nominated by the Democrats for re-election. Ran in his own right for the first time- had been serving out the remaining three and a half years of FDR’s last term (no longer possible after this with the 22nd amendment). • Truman faced opposition from within his own party, from Dixiecrats (mostly from the South) to the Right and the Progressives to the Left

12. 1. Dixiecrats: a right wing faction of mostly Southern Democrats who vigorously opposed his Civil Rights policies- saw Civil Rights reform as harmful to the Southern way of life. • walked out of the Democratic party convention and formed their own party, the States Rights Democratic party and nominated their own presidential candidate Strom Thurmond, the then governor of South Carolina.

13. 2. Discontent also reigned on the far left of the party, which complained of his ineffective domestic policies- too conservative- and his anti-Soviet foreign policy. • Former vice-president Henry A. Wallace led his supporters out of the mainstream Democratic ranks to form a more liberal Progressive Party, which nominated him for the presidency.

14. The republican candidate Dewey was the favorite to win • It was felt that the Democrats would split their own vote • Truman was somewhat unpopular because of the strikes, inflation, and was still in the shadow of FDR

15. But he adopted a fighting strategy with his campaign slogan “Give them hell Harry” • Called an emergency session of Congress to ask it once more to pass some of his Fair Deal policies - they refused. Hoped he had exposed how conservative Congress was and that the country needed a liberal president. • Then he took the campaign to the people on a whistle stop tour– covered 20,000 miles by train –denounced the “do-nothing, good-for-nothing 80th Congress.”

16. Truman won the election; huge upset, not expected to win: 24m votes (49.5%) to Dewey’s 22m votes (45.1%) • Though the Chicago Daily Tribune had reported that he lost - hadn’t waited for the CA returns.

17. Democrats re-gained control of Congress: Truman sent his Fair Deal back hoping to have it passed • Dixiecrats joined with Republicans to oppose many of its proposals. • The items which passed included: • minimum wage was raised from 40c to 75c an hour: • Social Security was expanded to include 10m more people and payments were to be increased by 75% • flood control and irrigation projects initiated • a National Housing Act was passed; slum clearance and construct of 810,000 new houses for low income families • The G.I. Bill - $43b in aid to veterans for Ed, Housing, Business

18. But his Foreign Policy was causing dissention at home and his approval rating had fallen to 23% (China, Korea, firing McArthur) • Accused by some of being soft on Communism…HUAC / Loyalty Board / McCarthy hearings tried to find Communists in his admin.

19. As the election of 1952 approached, he decided not to run for reelection. • Democrats nominated the governor of Illinois, Adlai Stevenson to run against the Republican candidate, General Dwight D. Eisenhower

20. During the campaign, the Republicans accused the Democrats of “plunder at home and blunder abroad.” (strikes, inflation, China, Korea) • Eisenhower won the Presidency with 55% of the vote. The Republicans also narrowly captured Congress.

21. Eisenhower Administration • Domestically, often a hands off policy, working behind the scenes • Hoped to combine Laissez Faire with some government intervention: called his approach to the economy and society “dynamic conservatism” or Modern Republicanism: “conservative when it comes to money, and liberal when it comes to human beings.” • Concerned at first with balancing the budget

22. Conservative/Reactionary Measures of his administration • cut back on public works projects • encouraged private enterprise when possible, especially in the development of electric and nuclear power • disapproved of the socialistic nature of the TVA (“creeping socialism”), though he did not dissolve it, he cut its funding • lowered farm subsidies • removed the last limits on wage and price controls • opposed national health insurance

23. but he did not undo all of the New Deal measures; among his liberal measures were: • extension of Social Security to an additional 7m people, and of unemployment compensation to 4m more people • increase in the minimum wage from 75c to $1 • a new Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1953 • increased federally funded housing for low income families • approved of the building of the St. Lawrence Seaway, connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean through Canada • Federal Highway Act of 1956, which set aside $32b over 10 years to build 41,000 miles of interstate highways- this would eventually cost $80b.

24. Because he blended conservative with some liberal policies his administration is sometimes called a middle of the road administration. • 50s - A Decade of Tremendous Prosperity, like the 20s…See Notes on 50s…

25. Kennedy • Youngest President (43) and first Catholic: defeated Nixon by a very narrow margin • Impressed in the first TV Presidential Debate • Promised a program of domestic legislation / activism, more ambitious than any since the New Deal, a program he described as the New Frontier.

26. Unable to get much of his program passed: to many, he didn’t have a mandate / or clear endorsement from the American public, and though Democrats controlled both houses, the conservative Southerners were more likely to vote with the Republicans than with Kennedy (Civil Rights) • His proposals were held up in committee- education, medical reform, and never reached Congress. • He did not accomplish a great deal in terms of domestic legislation, but did contribute something else - idealism (revived liberal ideas).

27. His efforts to improve the economy were his most noteworthy successes • he initiated a series of tariff negotiations with foreign governments - “the Kennedy Round” – to reduce barriers to international trade, in an effort to stimulate American exports. • increased spending for the defense and for the space program which poured millions into the economy and increased employment. (flexible response) • Area Redevelopment Act channeled federal funds into needy areas • minimum wage was raised from $1 to $1.25 per hour • prevented increase in price of steel - aim was to keep inflation down

28. a major tax cut passed the house in 1962 but was not approved by the Senate until 1964. • Housing Act of 1961, offered $4.9b in federal grants to cities for the preservation of open spaces, the development of mass transit systems, and the subsidization of middle income housing – boosted economy • Civil Rights………later • Assassination November 1963, Dallas; Lee Harvey Oswald. Shot by Jack Ruby. Warren Commission concluded that Oswald had acted alone and not in a conspiracy of any kind. Critics maintained the investigations were hastily concluded (many conspiracy theories)

29. Johnson’s Great Society

30. Opposite to Kennedy in personality- coarse, crude, poor public speaker. But like Kennedy he believed in the active use of power, and he proved in the end more effective than Kennedy in translating his goals into reality • Between 1963 and 1966 he compiled the most impressive legislative record of any president since FDR. • He was aided by the tidal wave of emotion that followed the death of President Kennedy, which helped him win passage of many New Frontier proposals as a memorial to the slain leader

31. But he also constructed a remarkable reform program of his own, which became known as the “Great Society.” • He won approval for much of it through his skillful lobbying, his skill as a “coalition builder,” drawing together different groups. • Won Presidential election of 1964, defeating Barry Goldwater, took this as a mandate to introduce his own program.

32. Was determined as president to help the groups identified by Michael Harrington in his book The Other America: To eliminate the “pockets of poverty,”– to do so he announced that he would wage an “unconditional war on poverty.” (housing, Soc Sec., Health, Education, Minimum Wage)

33. Great Society Major Programs: 1964-1966

34. Overall Goals • Thematic; • Govt. responsibility / Commitment to continue • Civil Rights Reform • War on Poverty: Social Security, Health.. protect vulnerable… Minimum Wage, Education • Environment and Conservation • Immigration Reform • Consumer Protection

35. 1964 • Civil Rights Act: Banned discrimination in public accommodations, in federally assisted programs, and in employment, based on race, religion, national origin, or sex…(Title VII); gave federal government new power to enforce desegregation and prosecute voting rights violations (restored 14th Amend) • 24th Amendment: outlawed the Poll Tax • Economic Opportunity Act; Launched the ‘war on poverty,’ creating nationwide federal programs such as Head Start, the Job Corps, and VISTA, within the Office of Economic Opportunity • Wilderness Preservation Act; Protected 9.1 million acres of national forest land from commercial development

36. 1965 • Elementary and Secondary Education Act; huge federal aid package for education • Medical Care Act; Federally funded health care for the elderly (Medicare) and for welfare recipients (Medicaid) • Voting Rights Act; Banned Literacy Tests; voting registration placed under federal control. Success; By the 70s African American voter registration in the South increased substantially • Omnibus Housing Act; Provided funds to build and subsidize low-income housing

37. National endowment for the arts and for the humanities; Provided aid to individual artists and arts organizations • Water Quality Act; Required states to clean up interstate waters within their boundaries • Immigration Act; Ended discriminatory ethnic quotas • Higher Education Act; Provided student scholarships and loans

38. 1966 • Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act; Set standards for auto and tire manufacturing • Minimum wage law; Raised the rate from $1.25 to $1.40 an hour • Truth in Packaging Act; Established standards for accurate labeling of foods, drugs, cosmetics, and household items • Model cities Act • Funded the clearing of slums and building of new housing projects, recreational facilities and mass transit

39. Conclusion • The Great Society reforms represented a continuing commitment by the federal government to accept responsibility for the well being of its citizens, especially the poor and vulnerable (young and old)…..Wilson, FDR, Truman, Kennedy • Revival of Liberal Reforms - like FDR’s 100 days in the amount of reform legislation. • Made important contributions both to the welfare of the specific groups they were designed to help and to the well being of society and the economy as a whole.

40. Involves a dramatic increase in federal spending; return to planned deficits • The governments anti poverty efforts- and the economic growth of the period- saw the most substantial decrease in poverty in the US of any period in the nation’s history; in 1959, 22% of the American people lived below the official established poverty line; by 1969, only 12% remained below. • But unfortunately the War on Poverty was jeopardized by spending on the Vietnam War, and eventually compromised

41. New Deal vs. Great Society • Context: Background Circumstances: FDR dealing with catastrophe / depression / need for urgency…LBJ dealing with a more prosperous society, following 50s… • Both believed in gov. Responsibility / intervention • FDR more concerned with jobs, dole, reform of banks and stock market…..FERA, PWA, WPA, Truth in Securities, SEC, Glass Steagall, FDIC etc…innovations of Soc Sec, AAA, TVA….features of New Deal…….unemployed, youth, elderly, poor • LBJ concerned with these but also with; • Civil Rights: FDR backed off, not wanting to lose support of Dixiecrats for New Deal

42. Pockets of Poverty, not general, wide spread poverty, dealt specifically with inner cities, minorities • Immigration: FDR couldn’t worry about this during Depression • Environment and Conservation: New Deal / AAA contributed but again LBJ had the luxury of being able to deal with Water, Cities, Highways etc and many of these highways had been added in the 50s • Education; more committed; had more money to spend, and not dealing with a depression……

43. Warren Court Decisions on Key Issues of the 1960s (other than “Brown”) • Reapportionment, School Prayer, Rights of the Accused 1. Reapportionment • Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 1960; Outlawed racial gerrymandering in case involving the city limits of Tuskegee, Alabama

44. Baker v. Carr, 1962; Established federal authority to oversee that state voting districts ensure equal representation for all citizens; the ruling opened the door to Supreme Court involvement in what previously had been seen as a ‘political’ issue outside the court’s jurisdiction • Wesberry v. Sanders, 1964; Required that states redraw their voting districts for the U.S. Congress according to population; each district had to have roughly the same number of people, so every citizen’s vote carried the same weight, according to the ‘one person, one vote’ principle

45. Reynolds v. Sims, 1964; Applied the ‘one person, one vote’ standard to their state legislatures, requiring state elective districts to be reapportioned; the ruling also demanded the apportionment by population of both houses of a bicameral state legislature

46. 2. School Prayer • Engel v. Vitale, 1962; Ruled unconstitutional a non-denominational prayer drafted by the State of New York and read voluntarily in school classrooms; the decision banned prayer in public schools • Abington v. Schempp, 1963; Banned Bible reading and other religions exercises in public schools, saying this constituted the government establishment of religion

47. 3. Rights of the Accused • Gideon v. Wainwright, 1963; Established that people accused of a crime have the right to a lawyer, even if they cannot afford one • Escobedo v. Illinois, 1964; Ruled that one has the right to a lawyer from the time of arrest or when one becomes the subject of a criminal investigation • Miranda v. Arizona, 1966; Required that the accused be informed of their right to a lawyer and their right not to testify against themselves, at the time of arrest

48. Civil Rights 1940s, 1950s, 1960s • Background • Gains • Emancipation, 1863 • Civil War Amendments, 13, 14, 15 • Reconstruction: 10 years of change

49. But • Redemption – Democrats regained control of Southern legislatures • Sharecropping – freed slaves were no better off than before slavery ended • KKK – intimidation, prevented freed men from voting…..denied 14th Amendment rights • Literacy Test, Grandfather Clause, Poll Tax – deprived freed men of 15th Amendment rights

50. Jim Crowe Laws – segregation laws • Plessey v Ferguson (Separate but Equal Doctrine) – gives force of law to segregation • De Jure Segregation in South (by law) • Se Facto Segregation in North (in reality, in actuality, fact of life, customary segregation) (Race Riots, Segregation) • Segregation of Armed Forces • Lynching was commonplace • “Last to be Hired, first to be Fired” (especially during Great Depression)