Transcript PPT - Libertyville High School

Eisenhower: 1953-1961
Libertyville HS
Election of 1952
• Truman decided not to run
• Dems nominated IL
governor, Adlai Stevenson
– Intellectual; orator
• GOP nominated Dwight D.
Eisenhower
– WWII general; very popular
– “Korea, Communism,
Corruption”
• Issues
– Korean War
– “Red Scare” (McCarthyism)
Results
Eisenhower:
Stevenson:
442 ECV / 34 million
89 ECV / 27 million
Red Scare of the 50s
• Reflected America’s concern
with int’l Communism
• Sen. Joe McCarthy (R-WI)
– 1950 “Wheeling Speech” (205
names, State Dept.)
– 1950 Tydings Committee: D
attempt to discredit McCarthy
– McCarthy campaigned for Rs
in 1952 elections: They all
won
Senate Hearings, 1953-54
• McCarthy pursued
communists throughout gov’t,
real or perceived
– Style: aggressive questioning,
rumor, innuendo
– VOA, US Info. Agency
• McCarthy went after the US
Army!
– Led to his downfall
– Browbeating WWII veterans
• McCarthy censured, 1954
Sen. Ralph Flanders, R-Maine
House Unamerican Activities
Committee (1934-1975)
• 1934-38: fought Nazi
propaganda in US
• 1938-44: German-Americans
and KKK activity
• 1945-75: investigate
“subversion of the
constitution”
House Unamerican Activities
Committee (1934-1975)
• Hollywood Blacklist
– If you refused to answer qs,
you couldn’t work for studios
– 300 directors, writers, actors
blacklisted
• HUAC lost prestige in postMcCarthy America and in
1960s
Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Born in Texas; West Point
graduate
• Deputy to MacArthur
during Bonus Army march
• WWII: became supreme
commander in Europe
– Diplomatic w/ allies
– Excellent administrator
• Kept his politics secret,
esp. after army retirement
• Never held political office
Eisenhower: “The Middle Way”
• Determined to reverse US
policy trend of great federal
involvement in states,
localities, & lives of citizens
• BUT not junking all programs
– Continued New Deal programs
like social security, NLRA, UI
– Created the Department of
Health, Education and Welfare
to manage welfare programs
• Emphasized a balanced
budget (‘56-57; next=Clinton)
1950s American Economy
• Post War fears unfounded
• Surge in industries
– Housing (new houses built)
– Automobiles (new autos built)
• New industries
– Aviation
– Electronics
• Cold War boosted economy,
too
– Federal defense spending
– Low tariffs = high trade
• Per capita GDP = #1 in
world; inflation 1%
Eisenhower: Foreign Affairs
• Personally visited Korea
to end war, 1953
• Hydrogen bomb
developed by US, USSR
led to Geneva meeting in
1955
– Ike: let’s exchange
blueprints of each other’s
military bases
– USSR: no response (but
relations improved)
Ike: Interstate Highway System
• Federal Aid Highway Act
of 1956
– Inspired by German
autobahns
– Military purpose
– Civilian purpose: economic
– Funded 90/10 by Feds, but
administered by states
– 46,876 miles = largest
highway system in world
and largest public works
project in history
Election of 1956
• GOP nominee: Ike
• Dem nominee: Adlai
Stevenson
• Campaign issues
– Ike’s health (heart condition)
– Stevenson supported by
liberal Dems (& southerners)
– and that’s it
– Ike’s slogan: I Like Ike!
• Korean war done, nation
prosperous: result never in
doubt
Results
Eisenhower: 457 ECV / 35.5 million
Stevenson:
73 ECV / 26 million
Ike: Foreign Affairs
• 1956: Year of turmoil
– Hungarian revolution:
encouraged by RFE,
Hungarians revolted against
USSR; US did not support
them & thousands died
– Suez crisis
• US, UK refused to support
Egypt for construction of dam
• Egypt nationalized the Suez
Canal
• Brits, French, Israelis capture
canal W/O US approval
Ike’s Response
• Forced a cease fire on all
parties
– Ike threatened to sell off
British bonds (destroy
British economy)
– Started oil embargo vs
Brits, France
– PM Eden forced out;
replaced by UN
peacekeepers (there until
1967)
Eisenhower Doctrine
• US became protector of
western interests in
Middle East
• Ike Doctrine: US would
be “prepared to use armed
force to counter
aggression from any
(communist) country” that
attacked Middle East
• Ex: 15k troops to
Lebanon, 1958
Ike’s Farewell Address
Warned against what is now known as
“the military-industrial complex”
Ike’s Legacy
•
•
•
•
Expanded containment policy
Robust US presence on international scene
Reigned in Federal spending
Helped create conditions for economic
expansion
• Continued desegregation and advancement
of civil rights