1. Domestic Politics and Policy
Chapter 20, Section 3

2. The Peacetime Economy
Truman’s first priority was reconversion (moving the economy from wartime to peacetime)
People wanted the troops home and protested to Truman, “no boats, no votes”; he responded and got most of them by 1946
the government tried to find a way to ease the wartime controls on goods without a lot of inflation but people finally had money and wanted to buy consumer goods and when they did, prices increased by 25%; wages did not keep up and many people had little money

3. Strikes workers demanded better wages after the war
in 1946 nearly 4.6 million workers went on strike
President Truman supported the workers but feared the strikes would cause economic trouble
in 1946 a railroad strike disrupted the economy so Truman drafted all the workers into the military and ordered them to work; the Senate refused to back him because they thought he overreacted

4. The Taft-Hartley Act
The United Mine Workers defied a court order not to strike and a federal judge with Truman’s backing held them in contempt; their union was fined $3.5 million
the Taft-Hartley Act was passed in 1947 and it allowed the President to declare an 80 day cooling off period during which workers could not strike and had to return to work in industries that affected the national interest

5. Truman’s Fair Deal 21 point program that extended the New Deal
promoted full employment, a higher minimum wage, greater unemployment compensation, housing assistance and other programs
he also asked for national health insurance and legislation to control atomic energy
conservative Democrats joined with the majority party (Republicans) and blocked most of his ideas

6. Truman and Civil Rights
Truman believed in equality of opportunity for all human beings
he publicly supported Civil Rights
Congress would not address his concerns and so he appointed a biracial committee to look into race relations; Congress disagreed with their findings
in 1948 Truman banned discrimination in the hiring of federal employees

7. The Election of 1948 Truman ran as a Democrat
some Democrats split from the party and ran candidate Strom Thurmond on a segregationist platform; they called themselves the Dixiecrats
The Republican candidate was Thomas E. Dewey (governor of New York) from.....?
Dewey was favored to win and newspapers reported that he did....however, Truman won the election

8. Truman’s Second Term few successes, mostly related to the Fair Deal
He could have run again in 1952 but chose not to

9. 22nd Amendment
debate over presidential term limits became heated during Truman’s second term
traditionally after George Washington left office after his second term, no other president had served more than 2 terms, until FDR
Congress adopted the 22nd Amendment in 1951 and it stated: No person can serve more than 8 years in office If you fill in for another person and serve less than 2 years of their term, you can have two of your own; if you serve more than 2 years you cannot serve more than one more term

10. Eisenhower and the Republican Approach
Stevenson (Democrats) and Eisenhower (Republicans)
“Ike” was very different than Truman
Eisenhower called for a K1C2 formula for victory (Korea, Communism and Corruption)
He also promised to end the Korean War
His Vice Presidential candidate, Richard Nixon, focused on ending corruption in the government

11. The Checkers Speech
Nixon was accused of having a special fund set up for him by rich republican supporters and having special gifts given to him
many republicans wanted Eisenhower to dump the Californian Governor from the ticket
Nixon made a televised speech in which he gave a detailed account of his personal finances and denied having taken any gifts except for one...
Checkers=a black and white cocker spaniel given to his daughter by a supporter and that he refused to return because she loved him so much

12. Eisenhower Wins
People loved Nixon/Eisenhower after the “Checkers Speech” and they won the election
People liked his style and he won again in 1956

13. Modern Republicanism
conservative when it comes to money, liberal when it comes to human beings
Eisenhower wanted to slow the growth of federal government and limit the power of the president and the courts
His cuts in government spending caused the economy to slump and go into a mini recession
He did extend Social Security to 10 million Americans and increase minimum wage from 75 cents to 1 dollar an hour

14. Technology
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created in 1958 as a response to the launch of Sputnik (?) by the USSR
The National Defense Education Act was created to improve math and science classes in schools across the nation