Post War America

1. Post War America Mr. Ermer U.S. History Honors Miami Beach Senior High

2. The Post War Economy • Atomic bomb ends World War II months before expected • Many people expected war’s end to bring a return to the Depression economy • Many wartime contracts cancelled after Japan’s surrender, but consumer spending rises • Consumer goods unavailable during war, now people who saved wages ready to buy • Consumer demand drives up inflation, prices rise 14-15% annually in postwar years • Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (G.I. Bill) • Provided economic and educational assistance to returning WWII veterans • Helps reinvigorate the economy, pushes many women and minorities from wartime jobs • 1946: Truman vetoes extension of Office of Price Administration, concerned over amendments added on by Congress • Inflation soars to 25%, Truman signs a very similar OPA Bill into law • Labor unrest contributes to slow economy, Truman acts as “broker” in disputes • Truman forces striking workers back to work while also pushing for union demands

3. 1945-1952: The Truman Years • 1945: Truman proposes “Fair Deal” social reform program to Congress • Expansion of Social Security, raise minimum wage from 40 to 65 cents/hr, federal spending and investments toward full employment, Fair Employment Practices Act, public housing and slum clearance, long-range environmental and infrastructure planning, government support of research, funding the St. Lawrence Seaway, nationalization of atomic energy, universal health insurance • Fair Deal ideas rejected by the majority Republican Congress • Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (Taft-Hartley Act) • Forbids creation of “closed shops” and allows states to pass “right to work” laws • Vetoed by Truman, but the veto is overridden by Congress the same day • Election of 1948 • Southern Democrats (Dixiecrats) split with Truman over Civil Rights, support Thurmond • Progressives split to support Wallace over Truman’s “weakness” and rift with Soviets • Truman beats Dewey and Thurman in improbable, come-from-behind victory • Congress supports many Fair Deal initiatives after the election, stymies others • Truman pushes more civil rights issues through executive orders and courts

4. 1948: Truman Reelected

5. The Korean War (1950-1953) • USA & USSR occupy Korea during WWII to expel Japanese • After war, US controlled the South, USSR controlled the North • Each superpower establishes a friendly government in their half of Korea • Soviets leave North Korean in 1949 with a strong, Soviet supplied army • USA leaves South Korea with a weak, anti-communist dictatorship of Syngman Rhee • Rhee uses his small army to suppress South Korean dissidents • 1950: North Korea invades South Korea with Soviet support • Soviet Union boycotting the UN Security Council over Chinese recognition • US gets United Nations support for South Korea, Soviets not there to veto • US, under Gen. MacArthur, enters South Korea for its “liberation” • US invades at Inchon, pushing North Koreans back across 38th Parallel • MacArthur pursues communists into North Korea, China intervenes • MacArthur wants to attack China, Truman does not • MacArthur expresses his displeasure with Truman in the media, Truman fires him • Negotiations to end the war begin in 1951, ceasefire called in 1953

7. Limited Mobilization • Truman responds to railroad and steel mill strikes by ordering the army to take control until strikes end • Unions ultimately get many of their demands • Office of Defense Mobilization regulates prices, inflation, wages • Korean War boosts economy by creating new government spending • Stalemate in the war convinces Americans that something was wrong • Many suspect Communist subversion/spying

8. The New Red Scare & McCarthyism • House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) • Targets Hollywood writers and producers as potential communists • “Hollywood Ten” refuse to testify and are jailed • Whittaker Chambers accuses Alger Hiss of spying for Soviets • Hiss was a State Dept. diplomat under Truman, liberal democrat • Rep. Richard M. Nixon pursues case, Hiss convicted of perjury • Truman creates federal employee loyalty program, many fired • Rosenbergs convicted of spying for the Soviets • All of these cases, and the vast media coverage, creates anti-communist hysteria, paranoia of communist subversion • Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin takes advantage of hysteria to rise • 1950: McCarthy declares to know identity of 205 communists in State Dept. • McCarthy calls many government workers to testify, never produces evidence • McCarthy eventually runs afoul of other senators, Senate passes vote of censure • “Have you no sense of decency?”~army lawyer J. Welch to Sen. McCarthy

10. Election of 1952 • Democrats nominate Gov. Adlai Stevenson of Illinois • Republicans accuse him of weakness toward communist threat • Republicans nominate Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower • Hero of WWII, Commander of NATO, president of Columbia Univ. • Appealed to the electorate with geniality, military record • Nominates Sen. Richard M. Nixon as running mate • Appealed to the anti-communist hysteria of the time, attacked democrats as soft • Eisenhower wins election in a landslide, ending two decades of Democratic government • Ends much of the unrest of the early Cold War