© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. U*S* A NARRATIVE HISTORY, FIRST EDITION Chapter 28: The Suburban Era ( )

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Preview “The culture of the automobile in many ways defined America at midcentury. Superhighways encouraged newly prosperous Americans to move into suburban homes boasting green lawns and new televisions. The middle-class consensus of an American dream revolved around single-family homes, religious observance of some sort, and women who cared for the family at home.” “The culture of the automobile in many ways defined America at midcentury. Superhighways encouraged newly prosperous Americans to move into suburban homes boasting green lawns and new televisions. The middle-class consensus of an American dream revolved around single-family homes, religious observance of some sort, and women who cared for the family at home.” 2

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. The Highlights The Rise of the Suburbs The Rise of the Suburbs The Culture of Suburbia The Culture of Suburbia The Politics of Calm The Politics of Calm Cracks in the Consensus Cracks in the Consensus Nationalism in an Age of Superpowers Nationalism in an Age of Superpowers The Cold War along a New Frontier The Cold War along a New Frontier 3

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. The Rise of the Suburbs A Boom in Babies and in Housing A Boom in Babies and in Housing –Boom occurred worldwide –Levittown, U.S.A. Cities and Suburbs Transformed Cities and Suburbs Transformed –Automobile became more indispensable with growth of suburbs –Interstate Highway Act of 1956 –Decline of American cities –Minorities and suburbs 4

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. 5 United States Birthrate

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. The Culture of Suburbia American Civil Religion American Civil Religion –Religious divisions –Billy Graham –The Howdy Doody Show “Homemaking” Women in the Workaday World “Homemaking” Women in the Workaday World –Working women –Media images of women 6

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. A Revolution in Sexuality? A Revolution in Sexuality? –“Companionate marriage” –The Kinsey Report The Flickering Gray Screen The Flickering Gray Screen –Television and politics –By 1959 live television was a thing of the past “Among both women and men, the suburbs encouraged change in sexual attitudes, especially among the middle classes who lived there.” 7

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. The Politics of Calm Eisenhower’s Modern Republicanism Eisenhower’s Modern Republicanism –Eisenhower resisted conservative demands to dismantle New Deal programs –Farm policy –Eisenhower reelected in 1956 The Conglomerate World The Conglomerate World –Wages for average worker rose over 35 percent between –Diversification became a new expansion strategy 8

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Cracks in the Consensus Critics of Mass Culture Critics of Mass Culture –Many intellectuals worried openly about the homogenized lifestyle –David Riesman’s The Lonely Crowd –William Whyte’s The Organization Man The Rebellion of Young America The Rebellion of Young America –Juvenile delinquency –The rise of rock and roll –The beat generation 9

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Nationalism in an Age of Superpowers To the Brink? To the Brink? –John Foster Dulles –The New Look in foreign policy Brinksmanship in Asia Brinksmanship in Asia –Taiwan and mainland China –Vietnamese victory at Dien Bien Phu (1954) 10

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. The Covert Side of the New Look The Covert Side of the New Look –Overthrowing Mossadeq –Operations against democracies Nationalism Unleashed Nationalism Unleashed –Nikita Khrushchev –The Eisenhower Doctrine –Castro’s revolution in Cuba 11

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. 12 “In pursuing their aggressive New Look in foreign policy, Dulles and Eisenhower sometimes authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to use covert operations against those they saw as sympathetic to Moscow.”

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. The Response to Sputnik The Response to Sputnik –American rockets were nicknamed “flopniks” and “kaputniks” –“Missile gap” Thaws and Freezes Thaws and Freezes –Berlin crisis –The U-2 incident 13

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. The Cold War Along a New Frontier The Election of 1960 The Election of 1960 –The Catholic issue –Nixon ran on his record as an experienced leader and staunch anti-Communist –Kennedy won by only 119,000 votes 14

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Election of

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. The Hard-Nosed Idealists of Camelot The Hard-Nosed Idealists of Camelot –Robert McNamara The (Somewhat) New Frontier at Home The (Somewhat) New Frontier at Home –Kennedy’s domestic legislative achievements were modest –Showdown with Big Steel 16

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Kennedy’s Cold War Cold War Frustrations Cold War Frustrations –Bay of Pigs invasion –Kennedy and Vietnam –Diem falls Confronting Khrushchev Confronting Khrushchev –The Berlin Wall –A flexible nuclear response 17

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. The Missiles of October The Missiles of October –A naval blockade –Nuclear test ban treaty –Kennedy: “We all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.” 18

© 2009 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. 19 “The nuclear anxieties of the 1950s, so much a part of the suburban era, yielded to different concerns in the 1960s. In large part, that change came about because the supposed consensus of the 1950s marked a profound lack of consensus concerning the state of equality in America. … The 1950s sparked a movement pursued by ordinary Americans who acted, despite the reluctance of their leaders, to bring about a civil rights revolution.”