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The Cold War and the 1950s: The Affluent Society The Cold War and the spread of Communism in Eastern Europe, China, and Korea in the late 1940s and early 1950s prompted the United States to dramatically increase its defense spending. As more and more companies came to rely on defense contracts, the power of the military-industrial complex grew. One domestic result of this was a wave of prosperity and the growth of the middle class in the United States. This lecture examines America's foreign policy in the 1950s and the effect of that policy on the American people. Some questions to keep in mind: 1 How did American leaders respond to the perceived threat of Communist aggression during the 1950s? 2 How did Americans define "The American Dream" during the 1950s? 3 Describe the impact of the "Military-Industrial Complex" on the American economy. 4 Compare the migration patterns (i.e., where did people live?) of Americans during the 1950s to those of the 1940s. 5 How did Americans view the role of the capitalist economy in world affairs? Foreign Affairs President Truman and "Mr. X" The Truman Doctrine, put forth by President Harry Truman when he addressed Congress on March 12, 1947, essentially stated: "The United States will defend free people and their free institutions at any place at any point in the world where outside communist aggression threatens that nation's internal stability." In keeping with the Truman Doctrine, the United States followed a policy of "containment" when dealing with the spread of Communist regimes. At about the same time Truman was announcing the Truman Doctrine, George Kennan published an article under the pseudonym "Mr. X" in the Foreign Affairs Quarterly. Kennan made the following three points: 1 The history of Russia has been one of hostile neighbors and a constant fear of attack; it's inevitable that Russia will try to take over its neighbor states to provide a buffer zone. 2 The U.S. has a duty to confront Soviet aggression with "unalterable counterforce." 3 The U.S. must maintain a policy of long-term containment of Soviet aggression. Critics of this policy pointed out that it is often difficult to determine when "containment" is required. When is revolution the self-determination of a free people and when is it Communist aggression, orchestrated by the Kremlin? The policy of containment required the U.S. to take a defensive posture. The U.S. had to wait for the Soviets to take the initiative, and then react to that initiative. In addition, this policy gave the President greater power. The need to respond quickly to foreign crises did not allow the President the luxury of waiting for Congress to approve military action. Recall that after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, President Roosevelt appeared before Congress to request a declaration of war. Since the Truman Doctrine, many U.S. military actions, including those in Korea, Vietnam, and Somalia, have been undertaken by presidential order. The Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift The United States was now actively committed to opposing the spread of Soviet-style Communism. The first plan that put this policy to use on a large scale was the Economic Recovery Plan of 1947, known popularly as the Marshall Plan. In a commencement speech at Harvard University on June 5, 1947, George C. Marshall, former general and now Truman's secretary of state, proposed that American economic aid be used to rebuild the war-torn nations of Europe. His objective was to "restore the confidence of the European people in the economic future of their own countries and of Europe as a whole." Marshall defended this point, saying that the American economy depended on open markets. Thus, rebuilding the economies of Europe would guarantee American prosperity by providing an outlet for surplus goods. Marshall also believed that economic stability in Europe would translate into political stability, that Communism would have no appeal to the well-fed and well-employed. Between 1948-1951 $13 billion in aid was sent to Western European nations. West Germany benefitted greatly from the plan. Between 1947-1951, a period referred to as the "German miracle," its economic output increased 312%. However, when Communism in the U.S.S.R. did not show signs of weakening, military aid replaced economic aid. America's drift toward military power in fighting Communism can be seen in the 1948 blockade of Berlin. After the end of World War II, the city of Berlin, like the country of Germany as a whole, was divided into a Soviet- controlled zone and those controlled by Great Britain, France, and the U.S. In response to American involvement in Western Europe, the Soviet Union cut off western links to Berlin, which was located in the East, inside the Soviet-occupied zone. President Truman ordered a massive, year-long airlift of medical supplies, food and clothing for West Berliners. Eventually, the Soviets lifted the blockade. Consequently, in 1948-49, the Soviet Union sponsored Communist revolutions in Eastern-bloc countries such as Czechoslovakia, Rumania, and Hungary. In April 1949, twelve nations of Western Europe and North America signed the North Atlantic Treaty, creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The prime goal of NATO was to coordinate the defense of Western Europe. An attack on any one of the member nations was equal to an attack on all, with each nation obliged to provide military support. Primary support, both militarily and monetarily, came from the United States. The Chinese Civil War Besides Europe, events in other parts of the globe also seemed to point to the spread of Communism. In China, the ongoing civil war between the Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-Shek and the Communists, led by Mao Tse-tung (also spelled "Zedong") was brought to conclusion in 1949, when Chiang Kai-shek and some of his army took refuge on the island of Formosa (Taiwan). The Nationalists on Taiwan established the Republic of China. Meanwhile, Chairman Mao proclaimed mainland China the People's Republic of China. The United States recognized Chiang's Nationalist government as the rightful and official China, a policy maintained until 1979, when the U.S. established relations with the People's Republic of China. Secret Security All of these events called for a full review of American foreign policy. The National Security Council was first created in 1947. In 1950, it drew up a policy statement: NSC-68. NSC-68 would remain a secret document for twenty years, but it dictated American foreign policy for decades. This policy statement viewed conflict between East and West as inevitable, but in the gravest of terms: any such conflict threatened not just the United States, but also all of civilization. The paper advocated an increase in defense spending from 5% of the federal budget to 20%, as well as an increase in American aid to foreign nations. Domestic Affairs America's foreign policies of the Cold War had an enormous impact domestically, influencing the Red Scare and McCarthyism. But this era was marked by other things on the home front. Features of the 1950s included: The Cold War Rising income and affluence Older Americans were weary of the years of depression and war. Younger Americans were apolitical. The 1950s are often represented by symbols: the "American Dream" meant a home in the suburbs, job security in a large corporation, and a new car every few years. Other symbols marked cultural success: Muzak, Marilyn Monroe, and television. Americans of both generations were eager to pursue the politics of tranquility, best represented by the President, Dwight D. Eisenhower. "Swords into Frisbees:" The Military-Industrial Complex In large part, the "American Dream" was supported by the rapidly-expanding military-industrial complex. Defense spending was increased as a means of standing up to Communism after the "fall" of China and the Korean War. Companies that had never been involved in the military came to see the Department of Defense as their best customer. By the mid-1950s, there were over 40,000 defense contractors working for the government. By the 1960s. more than half of all government expenditures would go to the military. By the 1970s, the Department of Defense had more economic assets than the 75 largest corporations in America. With so many people depending directly on companies supported by the Department of Defense, a number of social critics charged that the U.S. was geared up to be a permanent wartime economy. Indeed, when an economic recession struck in 1956-57, President Eisenhower responded by allocating more money to defense, not by supporting public works projects as Roosevelt had done. At the end of his term, Eisenhower himself warned that the growing relationship between defense contractors and the federal government actually posed a threat. In this 1961 farewell address, he coined the term "militaryindustrial complex." However, the warnings of the outgoing President were lost on many. After all, why worry when the economy was going full blast? Americans made up only 6% of the world population, yet produced and consumed 1/3 of the world's goods and services. During the decade of the 1950s, America's Gross National Product (GNP) increased 51%. This growth was caused in part by defense spending, but also because of a much larger home market for consumer goods. GIs returning from World War II and then Korea were eager to spend money and have children. During the decade of the 1950s, 29 million new Americans were born. The birth rate of the U.S. was comparable to that of a country like India. To meet the consumer demands of this increasing population, American industry expanded at an amazing pace, turning out new cars, clothing, frisbees, and a host of other consumer items. Meeting the Demand Nothing did more to increase productivity than "automation" -- the use of self-regulating electronic mechanisms to run complex industrial operations. Automation made its greatest long-term impact with the introduction of the computer. Many blue-collar workers feared they would lose their jobs to machinery, to robots, and they were right to be frightened. Whitecollar professionals, on the other hand, stood to gain from automation. Job growth was chiefly for college graduates, not for blue-collar workers, even skilled labor. Much of the new technology owed its rise to "R&D" -research and development departments. They existed not only within big corporations like IBM, but increasingly at universities. The connections of modern research universities like the University of Wisconsin to the military-industrial complex would make campuses a strategic place of protest in the 1960s. Growth of the Middle Class During the 1950s, the real weekly earnings of factory workers increased 50%. The traditional "pyramid" of income distribution began to look more like a "diamond" with the burgeoning middle class. Based on a purely economic definition, if an annual income of $10,000 is considered middle-class, then in the 1940s, 9% of families fit that definition. By 1960, more than 30% of the population was middle class. The growth of the middle class could be seen in things like education and housing. The year 1960 marked the first time in U.S. history that a majority of highschool aged people actually graduated from high school. Aided by the GI Bill, college enrollments also increased. Owning one's own home also became a reality, as the availability of housing increased and veterans could secure low-interest mortgages. By 1960, 25% of all housing available had been built in the prior decade. The "Kitchen Debate" The American consumer economy became the focus of the so-called "Kitchen Debate" between Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. In 1959, an international exhibition was held in Moscow. The U.S. delegation, led by Nixon, displayed a modern, fully-stocked American kitchen in order to demonstrate America's success in providing its people with consumer goods. At this exhibition, Nixon and Khrushchev got into a debate, with each side swearing that his form of government would outlast the other's. Overall, this economy could be defined as "ephemeral, " meaning brief, fleeting, transitory. In the past, Americans had longed for long-lasting things like houses and cars. Now, there seemed to be an obsession with collecting stuff. This is best demonstrated in the growing youth culture, although older people also began to emulate their teen-aged sons and daughters, trying out jeans, hula hoops, and surfboards. For the first time, teenagers became major consumers. They supported the popular music industry, especially the new "rock and roll." New industries were geared essentially at youth, and not without reason. By 1960, America's teenagers spent $22 billion a year on consumer items. To put this in perspective, $22 billion a year was twice the gross national product of Austria. The Televised Society The biggest consumer revolution was the growth of the television industry. The technology for television had existed since the late 1920s, but TVs weren't mass produced until after World War II. In 1946, there were 17,000 television sets in the nation, mostly in the East. By 1949, 250,000 sets were purchased every month. By 1953, two-thirds of American homes had at least one TV. This new industry had a great influence on how political campaigns were run. The presidential election of 1952 was the first time that a candidate for president made use of television advertising. Eisenhower used 15- and 30-second spots produced by BBD&O. You'll recall that Bruce Barton, a founder of this firm, had earlier sold Jesus in his book The Man Nobody Knows. By the 1960 presidential campaign, television had become so central to people's lives, that many would blame Nixon's loss to John F. Kennedy on his poor appearance in the televised presidential debates. JFK looked cool, collected, presidential. Nixon, according to one observer, resembled a "sinister chipmunk." The growing impact of television and the rise of youth culture would lead many critics to charge that America was becoming "homogenized"--a conformist society. They saw this homogenization in the growth of nondenominational churches. Even while "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance and "In God We Trust" was put on currency, real spirituality seemed to be disappearing from American society. By 1960, about 30.5% of Americans, or 55 million out of 180 million, lived in suburbs. Stereotypical images of suburbia supported the view that America was becoming homogenized: Levittown, housewives, corporate slaves, backyard barbecues. If all this were true, than there was no more perfect politician for this time than President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He came to practice "the politics of tranquility" -- a new style that was quite different from the social activism of Roosevelt and Truman. This decade of tranquility would be succeeded by the presidency of John F. Kennedy, ushering in a decade of confrontation. Bibliography Stanley K. Schultz, Professor of History – University of Wisconsin