Postwar Years in America ( ) Chapter 20: Sections 1-3 Focus Question: If you had to spend 5 years deprived of modern convenience (technology, etc.) what would be the first thing you would buy after you no longer were limited? Why? How would you feel?

The Postwar Economy

Businesses Reorganize  GNP and Per Capita Income increase 60%  Major corporate expansion—new products  Conglomerate: corporation made up of three or more unrelated businesses  Franchise: business that contracts to offer certain goods and services from a parent company Ray Kroc (McDonalds)

Technology Transforms Life  Television Television 4 to 5 hours a day Commercials  The Computer Industry Transistor: circuit device that controls electrical signals  Nuclear Power Nuclear Fission  Advances in Medicine Jonas Salk ’ s polio vaccinepolio vaccine Antibiotics

Changes in the Work Force  Blue-collar jobs to white-collar jobs Easier physically  Blue-collar workers move to the middle class Wages and working conditions up  Unions unite

Moving to the Suburbs  GI Bill of Rights Servicemen ’ s Readjustment Act of 1944 Low-interest mortgages to WWII veterans Educational stipends for college  William J. Levitt built whole communities  The average American could afford to buy their own house

Cars and Highways  Move to suburbs calls for more dependence on cars  Automakers make new models each year  New businesses Gas Stations, etc.  1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act Money to build interstate system

The Growth of Consumer Credit  Gasoline companies begin offering credit cards to loyal customers  Consumer credit debt grows from $8 billion to $56 billion in 14 yrs  U.S. becomes an “ affluent society ”

The Mood of the 1950s Focus Question: What do you consider to be the “proper” role for men and women today? Do your views differ from those of your parents/grand-parents?

Reading Assignment Page The Mood of the 1950s Conformity Roles in Society Challenges to Conformity

Comfort and Security  Youth Culture “ Silent Generation ” Good economy = in school longer More free time Advertisement aims them  A Resurgence in Religion Response to “ godless communism ” “ In God we Trust ” on currency “ under god ” in Pledge of Allegiance

Men’s and Women’s Roles  Men: Go to school, get a job, and support family Earn money and make political, social, and economic decisions  Women: Supporting role to men Keep house, cooked meals, and raised the children

Challenges to Conformity  Women at Work Liked their jobs during WWII Not all left jobs after marriage Secretaries, teachers, nurses, and sales clerks Wanted to purchase the items of the “ good life ”

Challenges to Conformity  Youth Rebellion Rejected parents values, felt misunderstood Rebel Without a Cause Alan Freed: disc-jockey who started playing rock ‘ n roll (Moondog Rock ‘ n Roll) Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and the Comets, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley Beatniks: challenged traditional patterns of respectability

Domestic Politics and Policy

Truman’s Domestic Policies  The Peacetime Economy Reconversion from wartime to peacetime Workers go on strike for higher wages Taft-Hartley Act  Allowed President to declare 80-day cooling off period during which workers had to return to work, if in an industry that effected national interest.

Truman’s Domestic Policies  Truman ’ s Fair Deal Extended New Deal ’ s goals 21-point Program  Promoted a higher minimum wage, greater unemployment compensation, full employment, & housing assistance Approval rating drops Congress battered Truman

Truman’s Domestic Policies  Truman on Civil RightsCivil Rights Publicly supported civil rights Met w/ African American leaders to discuss their goals Appointed a Biracial Committee on Civil Rights Congress never took action on these issues Ended segregation in armed forces

The Election of 1948  Truman seeks 1st term Served FDR ’ s term  Henry Wallace Progressive Candidate  Thomas E. Dewey Republican Candidate  All polls pick Dewey to win Truman pulls the upset  After the win the 22nd Amendment is ratified President term limits

Eisenhower and the Republican Approach  Adlai Stevenson Democratic Nomination  Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican Nomination WWII Hero “ K1C2 ” Approach  Korea, Communism, Corruption Richard Nixon as running mate  Nixon hammered the topic of corruption

The Checkers Speech  Snag in popularity “ Secret Nixon Fund ”  Suggested to drop Nixon Eisenhower sticks w/ him  Allowed Nixon to “ Save Himself ” Televised speech Admitted to Accepting 1 gift  Political Disaster Turns into a Public Relations Bonanza Nixon saved himself and catapulted Ike to office

Modern Republicanism  “ Dynamic Conservatism ” Conservative when it comes to money, liberal when it comes to human beings  Favored Big Business  3 recessions under Ike  Meeting the Technology Challenge Created NASANASA National Defense Education Act: improve science and math in schools