The 1950s

The 1950s Eisenhowers The Arms Race Post War American Life Election Domestic Policy The Arms Race Post War American Life

1952 Election Democratic National Convention Nominated Adlai E. Stevenson Gov. IL Republican National Convention Nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower WWII hero VP: Richard Nixon

Results of the Election of 1952 Eisenhower won 34 million-27.3 million 442-89

The 1950s Eisenhowers The Arms Race Post War American Life Election Domestic Policy The Arms Race Post War American Life

Dynamic Conservatism Fiscally Conservative Goal: Balance the Federal Budget and Guarding Against “Creeping Socialism” Interstate Highway Act 1956

Interstate Highway Act 1956 Cost: $114 billion over 35 years 42,000 mi of highways 1957-69

Interstate Highway Act 1956 Cost: $114 billion over 35 years 42,000 mi of highways 1957-69

The 1950s Eisenhowers The Arms Race Post War American Life Election Domestic Policy The Arms Race Post War American Life

Sputnik 10/4/1957 Sputnik was launched in by the Soviet Union. First manmade object put in orbit.

U.S. Response Vanguard TV3 was the first attempt by U.S. to launch a satellite December 6, 1957 at Cape Canaveral

So, how did we get to this point?

Arms Race – America Begins To Rearm National Security Act Department of Defense – Housed in the Pentagon Headed by the Secretary of Defense Coordinate the army, navy, and air force

Arms Race – America Begins To Rearm National Security Act Department of Defense – Housed in the Pentagon Headed by the Secretary of Defense Coordinate the army, navy, and air force Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) – Gather facts on foreign countries

Arms Race 1949 – USSR exploded an A-Bomb

Hydrogen Bomb Truman ordered the development of the “H-bomb” (hydrogen bomb) A-Bomb – Fission Bomb H-Bomb – Fusion Bomb 1952 – The U.S. tested its first H-bomb at Bikini Atoll  

Arms Race 1953 – USSR tested their first H-bomb

Delivery - SAC Secretary of State John Foster Dulles Advocated “massive retaliation” – included use of nuclear weapons Strategic Air Command (SAC) Fleet of superbombers

Delivery Bombers were in the air 24/7 B-52 Bomber U-2 spied on USSR

Delivery Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) Soviets made the first R-7 put Sputnik in space

Delivery The U.S. eventually perfected their own design Atlas

Delivery The U.S. eventually perfected their own design Atlas Titan

Delivery The U.S. eventually perfected their own design Atlas Titan Polaris

Delivery The U.S. eventually perfected their own design Atlas Titan Polaris Minuteman

Mutually Assured Destruction With both countries now having the atomic bomb and the means to delivery the bomb we entered an era of mutually assured destruction (MAD)

Duck and Cover

The Tsar Bomb Link Link

Check Up! Debate the following prompt: MAD created greater security for the United States.

The 1950s Eisenhowers The Arms Race Post War American Life Election Domestic Policy The Arms Race Post War American Life

Postwar Economic Anxieties Would the Great Depression Return?

Postwar Economic Anxieties Would the Great Depression Return? Some predicted that it would return: GDP slumped Deflation – Prices dropped 33% 4.6 million went out on strike in 1946

Post War Boom Economic Stimulus Babyboom Sunbelt Economic Boom

Government Economic Stimulus Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (GI Bill) Pay for GIs to go to college 8 million cost $14.5 billion

Government Economic Stimulus Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (GI Bill) Pay for GIs to go to college 8 million cost $14.5 billion Veterans Administration (VA) loaned $16 billion to buy homes, farms, and small businesses

Interstate Highway Act 1956 Cost: $114 billion over 35 years 42,000 mi of highways 1957-69

Check Up! How did the G.I. Bill help the economy in the long run, and help stop a recession from occuring in the short run?

Post War Boom Economic Stimulus Babyboom Sunbelt Economic Boom

The Economic Boom Economy 1950s and 1960s Income Increased America had 40% of the world’s wealth (6% of pop.)

The Economic Boom Results of the Economic Boom of the 1950s and 1960s Income Increased America had 40% of the world’s wealth (6% of pop.) Funded the civil rights movement Surplus paid for Medicare and welfare programs

The Economic Boom What Started Economic Prosperity? WWII G.I. Highway Act Military Industrial Complex: Aerospace Electronics Research and development

The Economic Boom What Started Economic Prosperity? Cheap energy – Electricity increased 6x U.S. doubled oil consumption 1945-1970

The Economic Boom What Started Economic Prosperity? Education Enrollment 1940: 36% 1970: 90% Education = Productivity

The Economic Boom What Started Economic Prosperity? Farmers 1930 25% 1945 15% 1990s <2%

Post War Boom Economic Stimulus Babyboom Sunbelt Economic Boom

Baby Boom Birthrate increased until 1957 50 million babies born by the end of the 1950s

Baby Boom What impact is the baby boom going to have on the United States in each of the following decades? 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030

Post War Boom Economic Stimulus Babyboom Sunbelt Economic Boom

The Sunbelt Growth of the Sunbelt Sunbelt - Florida through California Pop. growth rate double that of the old industrial zones of the NE

The Sunbelt California 1963, CA most populous State Pop. 35 million people 1 out of 8 Americans

Check Up! Respond to the following prompt in the form of a thesis: How did American society changing following WWII?