Transcript Chapter 22 & 23

Chapter 22 & 23
G. I. Bill
Taft-Hartley Act
The Taft Hartley Act was passed to try to
limit the power of labor unions.
This act instituted the idea of the Open Shop
which meant that a worker did not have to
join the union to work at a company.
States with heavy union activity used a
Closed Shop, which meant that the worker
had to join the union to work at an
establishment.
Truman and the Steel Strike
The 1952 steel strike was by the United
Steelworkers of America against U.S. Steel
The strike was scheduled to begin on April 9,
1952, but President Truman nationalized the
steel industry hours before the workers walked
out.
The steel companies sued to regain control of their
facilities.
the Supreme Court ruled in Youngstown Sheet &
Tube Co. v. Sawyer, that the president lacked
the authority to seize the steel mills.
The Fair Deal
The Fair Deal was the name of Truman’s
legislative agenda.
Included in the program was a raise of the
minimum wage, a national housing, an
expansion of Social Security and a Civil
Rights Bill
Congress passed all of the agenda except
the Civil Rights bill.
The Election of 1948
Sometimes referred to as the Miracle of 1948
It was taken for granted that Truman would be
defeated in the wake of desegregating the Army.
He was opposed by Thomas Dewey representing
the Republicans and by Strom Thurmond
representing the Dixiecrats.
The Dixiecrats were a pro-segregation, states
rights party that formed in opposition to
integration.
Truman won the election in one of the greatest
upsets in electoral history.
The Checkers Speech
The Checkers Speech is one of
the most famous political
stunts ever pulled.
Nixon was the vice presidential
candidate in 1952 and it was
found that he was using
unreported payments from
businessmen to maintain his
lifestyle.
Nixon went on national television
and convinced the American
people to support him in one of
the most maudlin speeches
ever written.
Election of 1952
The election of 1952 was a
referendum on the Cold War.
People were tired of reform by the
Democrats and wanted a return to
a more conservative president.
They chose Dwight D. Eisenhower.
His politics were a mystery, he was
courted by both the Republicans
and Democrats
He described his politics as “dynamic
conservatism”
What this meant was that he would
follow a more conservative
agenda, but would not simply do
nothing like the last Republican
president, Hoover, had done.
Interstate Highway Act of 1956
Multinational Corporations
The Organization Man
• The Organization Man was a bestselling book
by William H. Whyte
• It is considered one of the most influential books
on management ever written.
• A central idea of the book is that average
Americans believed in a collectivist ethic rather
than to rugged individualism.
• He observed that this system led to risk-averse
executives who faced no consequences and
could expect jobs for life as long as they made
no egregious missteps.
The Beats
The Beat Generation
• The Beat Generation was a group of American post-World War II
writers who came to prominence in the 1950s.
• Central elements of "Beat" culture included experimentation with
drugs, alternative forms of sexuality, an interest in Eastern religion, a
rejection of materialism, and the idealizing of exuberant means of
expression
• Allen Ginsberg's Howl
• William S. Burroughs's Naked Lunch
• Jack Kerouac's On the Road
• Both Howl and Naked Lunch were the focus of obscenity trials that
ultimately helped to liberalize publishing in the United States.
• The Beat Generation developed a reputation as new bohemian
hedonists, who celebrated non-conformity and spontaneous
creativity.
Transistors
The Other America
by Michael Harrington
Suburbia