1. The 1950s

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

3. 1952 Election Democratic National Convention
Nominated Adlai E. Stevenson
Gov. IL
Republican National Convention
Nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower
WWII hero
VP: Richard Nixon

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

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

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

7. Interstate Highway Act 1956
Cost: $114 billion over 35 years
42,000 mi of highways

8. Interstate Highway Act 1956
Cost: $114 billion over 35 years
42,000 mi of highways

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

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

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

13. So, how did we get to this point?

14. 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

15. 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

16. Arms Race
1949 – USSR exploded an A-Bomb

17. 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  

19. Arms Race
1953 – USSR tested their first H-bomb

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

28. 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)

29. Duck and Cover

30. The Tsar Bomb
Link
Link

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

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

34. Postwar Economic Anxieties
Would the Great Depression Return?

35. 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

36. Post War Boom
Economic Stimulus
Babyboom
Sunbelt
Economic Boom

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

38. 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

39. Interstate Highway Act 1956
Cost: $114 billion over 35 years
42,000 mi of highways

40. 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?

41. Post War Boom
Economic Stimulus
Babyboom
Sunbelt
Economic Boom

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

44. 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

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

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

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

50. The Economic Boom What Started Economic Prosperity? Farmers 1930 25%%
1990s <2%

51. Post War Boom
Economic Stimulus
Babyboom
Sunbelt
Economic Boom

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

53. 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

54. Post War Boom
Economic Stimulus
Babyboom
Sunbelt
Economic Boom

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

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

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