Chapter 19-Section 1-Postwar America

Readjustment and Recovery By 1946 nearly ten million veterans who had returned home were in need of a job The G.I. Bill -(1944) Encouraged vets. to get an education Paid them a years worth of unemployment while they looked for a job Low interest loans to be used for housing

Readjustment and Recovery Housing Crisis- Veterans came home and with money to spend through their G.I. Bill The main problem was there was not enough homes for all of these new families Levitt and Kaiser solved this problem by making Houses using assembly line ideas (Cookie Cutter Houses) Suburbs began to fill up 1st American suburb was built Levittown in Long Island NY

Readjustment and Recovery Family- Divorce rate in the 1950’s reached about 14% Some claimed stress after war Women tasted independence, did not want to give it up Other issues effecting Post War America We shifted to a peacetime economy which meant that we canceled a majority of the war contracts to helped the economy boom during the war This led to many people laid off and unemployment up Prices skyrocketed (in some areas up to 25%) but not wages

Recovery Not as bad as could be People that had been saving money and had gone without and now are ready to spend! Cold war spurned growth Aid to other countries encouraged an increase factories

Social Unrest Problems at Home- Strikes-A combination of higher prices and low wages led to workers striking Truman initially supported unions but not to the point where he would allow chaos He responded to the strikes by threatening to draft striking workers Many unions begin to cave encouraging their workers to return to their jobs This stance will cause Truman problems later in his Presidency because many workers felt he took the side of big business and failed to support them

Social Unrest Truman supports Civil Rights reform 1946 President’s Commission on Civil Rights 1948 Executive Order to integrate Armed Forces Tried to end discrimination in gov. jobs Supreme Court also said they could not segregate neighborhoods

Social Unrest 1948 Election- Republicans-Thomas Dewey Democrats-Harry S. Truman South Democrats called Dixiecrats were not happy with the nomination of Dewey so they nominated Strom Thurmond as an independent candidate In response to these nominations the Liberal Progressive party formed nominating George Wallace Truman ultimately wins the election but is faced with the challenge of calming the American fear of Communism and restoring our economy

Social Unrest The Fair Deal- Despite these challenges- It’s basically an extension of the New Deal It offers compulsory health insurance to those in need Offers financial aid to farmers But both ideas defeated by Congress Despite these challenges- Minimum wage up Social security for more people Flood control and irrigation Low income housing

Republicans Take the Middle Road During his time in office Truman’s approval rating continues to drop The fear of Communism and McCarthyism caused problems 1952 Election- Truman decides not run again Democrats-Adali Stevenson Republicans-Dwight D. Eisenhower

Republicans Take the Middle Road Pushed conservatism and anti communism Many Americans prefer Ike due to his status as a war hero and the fact that he was very different from Truman Slogan “We Like Ike” His V.P. Nixon in trouble for illegal slush fund Checkers Speech: TV helped saved Nixon

Republicans Take the Middle Road Ike was different from both Nixon Truman Dynamic Conservatism- Eisenhower’s conservative policy towards money that partnered with his liberal approach to the needs of the American people Tried to stay middle of the road in the area of race relations, but the push civil rights was not going to let him On September 9, 1957, he signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1957 During his time in office Eisenhower also pushed for a balanced budget, higher minimum wages and created the interstate highway system