Download Chapter 28: America in the 1950s pg. 812

Chapter 28: America in the 1950s
pg. 812
• WHY IT MATTERS: The
election of Dwight
Eisenhower to the
presidency ushered in one
of the most prosperous
periods in American history.
Economic growth resulted
in increased employment
and higher wages
throughout the 1950s.
• The Impact Today: The
prosperity of the 1950s
raised questions that
remain important in
American society.
Section 1: Eisenhower in the White House
• Main Idea: President
Eisenhower promoted
policies to compete
with the Soviet Union
for military and space
leadership.
• Key Terms:
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Moderate
Surplus
Arms Race
Domino Theory
Summit
Peaceful Coexistence
I.
Republican Revival
pgs. 814-815
• A. Due to widespread dissatisfaction with the
Truman presidency, Republicans saw their best
opportunity in several decades to capture the White
House.
• B. In 1952 republican candidate Dwight D.
Eisenhower ran against Democratic candidate Adlai
E. Stevenson. Eisenhower was a popular World War II
hero, and people trusted him.
• C. The Republicans won the presidential election by a
landslide, and a Republican-controlled Congress was
also elected.
II. Domestic Policy
pgs. 815-816
• A. Eisenhower followed a middle-of-the-road
domestic policy. Conservative financially, he avoided
starting any ambitious new government programs.
He also avoided angering people by refusing to get
rid of popular old program. Eisenhower’s policies
limited the government and encouraged private
business. He abolished the wage and price controls
instituted by the Truman administration. He made
cuts in government spending and also transferred
some financial authority from the federal
government to the states.
II. Domestic Policy
pgs. 815-816
(Cont.)
• B. The federal government built 40,000 miles of
interstate highways as the result of the passage of
the Federal Highway Act in 1956. Although the roads
were built to improve military mobility in case of an
attack, the building of the interstate highway system
also spurred growth in the automobile and oil
industries.
• C. In 1959 the nation expanded when Alaska and
Hawaii became states.
II. Domestic Policy
pgs. 815-816
(Cont.)
• D. During his term in office, Eisenhower supported
expanding eligibility for Social Security and
Unemployment benefits. He also supported a raise in the
minimum wage.
• E. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
was created during the Eisenhower administration. Oveta
Culp Hobby chosen as its secretary. She was the second
woman to hold cabinet-level post.
• F. Eisenhower’s first term was very successful, and he
was reelected in 1956 (over Adlai Stevenson again) by an
even larger margin in 1952.
III. Eisenhower and the Cold War pgs. 816818
• A. The Cold War drove foreign policy during the
Eisenhower administration. The United States
opposed the threat of communism in the World, but
looked for ways to keep American-Soviet tensions
from erupting into open warfare.
• B. The architect of United States foreign policy
during the Eisenhower administration was Secretary
of State John Foster Dulles.
III. Eisenhower and the Cold War
pgs. 816-818 (cont.)
– 1. Eisenhower and Dulles broke with the policy of
containment of the Truman administration. They
promised massive retaliation-an instant nuclear
attack-should the Soviet Union attack any other
nation. Dulles believed that the United States had to
push the Soviet Union to the brink of war before the
Soviets would agree to be reasonable. Critics called
this policy “brinkmanship.”
– 2. The more cautious Eisenhower, however, avoided
pressuring the Soviets into war with the United States.
III. Eisenhower and the Cold War
pgs. 816-818 (cont.)
• C. The Eisenhower administration preferred to rely on
nuclear weapons for defense. The president and his
advisors believed that this would allow the United States
to reduce its reliance on conventional. Or non-nuclear,
weapons.
• D. The reliance on nuclear weapons was supposed to
result in a decrease in military spending. However, the
Eisenhower administration’s policy of massive retaliationand the attempts of the Soviet Union to counter itcreated an arms race that actually increased military
spending.
III. Eisenhower and the Cold War pgs. 816818 (cont.)
• E. Both nuclear superpowers built hydrogen bombs. They
developed intermediate-range ballistic missiles that could
reach targets 1,500 miles away. The next development, the
intercontinental ballistic missile, had a range of several
thousand miles. Soon, both the United States and the Soviet
Union had weapons capable of destroying each other many
times over.
• F. As the arms race continued and the danger of nuclear was
increased, Americans began to prepare for nuclear attack. The
Federal Civil Defense Administration educated the public
about what to do in case a nuclear attack occurred. Some
families built shelters in their basements, and schools held airraid drills.
III. Eisenhower and the Cold War pgs. 816818 (cont.)
• G. The successful Soviet launch of the first satellite,
Sputnik, in 1957 and the failure of America’s first
satellite, Vanguard, embarrassed the United States
and resulted in the creation of an American Space
program.
– 1. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) was created to put American Space research and
exploration on track.
– 2. The United States launched its first successful satellite,
Explorer, in January 1958. This marked the beginning of
the space race with the Soviet Union.
Sputnik
III. Eisenhower and the Cold War
pgs. 816-818 (cont.)
• H. Project Mercury was the nation’s first
program to put an astronaut in space. The
government increasingly supported space
research and exploration, and provided
increased funding for the teaching of science
and technology in schools. The United States
soon began to pull ahead in the space race.
IV. Foreign Policy Changes
pgs. 818-820
• A. With the constant threat of nuclear conflicts escalating
into a huge crisis that would drag both countries into
war. There were several crisis in the 1950s that
threatened to involve both the United States and the
Soviet Union, possibly resulting in war between the two
nuclear powers.
– 1. Egypt took over the Suez Canal in 1956. Britain,
France, and Israel responded by attacking Egypt to
overthrow the Egyptian gov’t and protect oil
shipments that traveled through the canal to Western
Europe. The Soviets threatened rocket attacks on
British and French cities. Under pressure, the 3
nations pulled out of Egypt.
Suez Canal
IV. Foreign Policy Changes cont.
– 2. In early November of 1956, Soviet tanks and troops
poured into Hungary to crush a revolt. Hungarian rebels
appealed to the United States for help. President
Eisenhower condemned the crackdown, but did not
confront the Soviets directly by intervening.
– 3. In the early 1950s, France was involved in fierce fighting
against Nationalists/Communists rebels (the Vietminh) in
its formers colony of Vietnam. By March 1954, the French
were facing defeat. France asked the United States to send
troops, but Eisenhower refused. With fresh memories of
the Korean War, he did not want to become involved in
Southeast Asia. Without American help, the French were
forced to surrender that May.
IV. Foreign Policy Changes cont.
– 4. An agreement known as the Geneva Accords ended the
war. It temporarily divided Vietnam into a northern part
controlled by the Vietminh and a southern part controlled
by another group of Vietnamese more friendly to the
French. The accords provided for withdrawal of French
troops and free elections in 1956 in a reunited Vietnam.
B. Eisenhower believed in the domino theory: if one nation
in Southeast Asia fell to the Communists, the others would
follow. To keep Vietnam from becoming the first domino,
the United States sided with the anti-Communist gov’t of
South Vietnam, although the leaders of South Vietnam had
little popular support.
IV. Foreign Policy Changes cont.
• C. The United States hoped to create support
against Communist aggression in Southeast
Asia by helping to create the Southeast Asia
Treaty Organization (SEATO) in 1954. The
nations of SEATO (the U.S., Great Britain,
France, New Zealand, Australia, the
Philippines, Pakistan and Thailand) pledged
joint actions against any aggressor.
IV. Foreign Policy Changes cont.
• D. The Eisenhower administration also faced challenges in
Latin America.
– 1. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) helped to
overthrow the gov’t of Guatemala in 1954 because the
United States feared Guatemala was leaning toward
communism. This action created resentment among other
nations in Latin America.
– 2. Relations also became strained between the U.S. and
Cuba. Fidel Castro came to power in 1959 after the
overthrow of dictator Fulgencio Batista. The United States
supported Castro initially, but then turned against him
when he took over foreign-owned property. Cuba became
a dictatorship and turned to the Soviet Union for
assistance. During the last days of his presidency in early
1961, Eisenhower cut diplomatic ties with Cuba.
Fidel Castro
IV. Foreign Policy Changes cont.
• E. Though the Cold War continued, by the mid-1950s
American and Soviet leaders were interested in easing
tensions. After a summit meeting in Geneva in July 1955 that
included American and Soviet leaders, a friendlier
atmosphere between the two nations prevailed-at least for a
time. After the summit, a policy of peaceful coexistence began
to emerge. This meant that although the two superpowers
would continue to compete, they would avoid war.
Eisenhower and the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, agreed
to visit each other’s countries and attend another summit in
Paris 1960.
IV. Foreign Policy Changes cont.
• F. A spy mission spoiled any chance of closer ties
between the U.S. and the Soviet Union during the
early 1960s. In May 1960, the Soviet Union shot
down an American U-2 spy plane over its territory.
The downing of the plane occurred just before the
1960 American-Soviet summit in Paris. Although the
summit went on as planned, the spirit of the meeting
had soured. Khrushchev denounced the American
spy mission as an invasion of Soviet airspace. The
summit broke up after just one day. This marked an
end to the brief “thaw” in the Cold War.
IV. Foreign Policy Changes cont.
• G. In his Farewell Address to the nation in
January 1961, Eisenhower expressed his fear
of the growing influence of the “militaryindustrial complex.” He said that this alliance
of military and business leaders was
conspiring to persuade the United States to
build bigger and more expensive weapons,
which would only heat up the arms race and
bring the world closer to war.