America During the Cold War Years A. Domestic Issues Under Truman 1.

Servicemans Readjustment Actaka GI Bill of Rights Provided WWII veterans w/ money, jobs, & educational benefits 2. Fair Dealdomestic agenda that wanted: More social security benefits Increase in minimum wage National healthcare system 3. Taft-Hartley Act (1947)repealed FDRs Wagner Act Banned the closed shop ( a workplace in which no one could be hired w/o first being in a labor union) Would allow the president to require workers to return to work during a strike 4. Election of 1948 Fair Deal was popular w/ the public a. Candidates - Democrat: Truman - Republican: Thomas Dewey - Progressive: Henry Wallace - Democrat, then Dixiecrat/States Rights Party: Strom Thurman ~ Broke away b/c he didnt like Trumans desegregation policy b. ResultsTruman won! B. Domestic Issues Under Eisenhower (1953-61) 1. Election of 1952 a. Candidates - Republican: Eisenhower & VP Nixon - Democrat: Adlai Stevenson b. IssueNixon & Checkers speech c. ResultEisenhower won easily 2. Dynamic Conservatismhis domestic plan Liberal to the people & their needs Conservative w/ money 3. Interstate Highway Act of 1956often called Eisenhowers greatest domestic achievement of his presidency Aka Federal Aid Highway Act Reasons: - Military urgency - Get to the suburbs faster

- Largest public-works program in US history 4. NASA (1958) Soviets sent a satellite into spaceSputnik Eisenhower announced an emphasis on math & science, instead of history & English C. American Culture in the 1950s 1. Suburbiatowns located outside of large cities for economic issues Levittownssuburbs w/ similar housing patterns designed by the Levit brothers 2. Religion Under God was added to the Pledge of Allegiance In God We Trust was added to money 3. Conformity & Non-Conformity Conformityobeying societys norms & expectations - Cult of Domesticityreturned after WWII Non-Conformistsaka Beatniks & Beat Generation 4. MusicRock and roll was introduced! 1955: Billy Hayley and His Comets Rock Around the Clock Elvis Presley 5. LiteratureBeat Generation The Affluent Society by John K. Gailbraith: Americans are spending too much money on themselves and breathing filthy air The Lonely Crowd by David Reisman: opposed too much alienation and conformity in society 6. Consumerism Cars, TVs, and appliances Credit cards came into being Overproduction leading to a recession in 57 D. Domestic Issues Under Kennedy (1961-63) 1. 1960 Election Nixon-Kennedy: first televised debates! Kennedys youth, inexperience, Catholicism Kennedy barely won 1st election w/ all 50 states 2. New Frontier Medical insurance for the elderly Tax cuts for all Federal aid to education

Peace Corpspart of the Alliance for Progress for Latin America; sent volunteers there By the end of the 1960s, US will put a man on the moon 3. Significance of Assassination Kennedys New Frontier program would be passed under Lyndon Johnson, and was referred to as Great Society E. Domestic Issues Under Lyndon Johnson (1963-69) 1. The Great Societydomestic plan Everyone can achieve their goals 2. War on Poverty a. The Other America: Poverty in the US by Michael Harrington inspired Johnsons war on poverty b. Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) - Volunteers in service to America (VISTA)a peace corps in America - Job Corejob training program for young people in impoverished areas c. Housing and Urban Development (HUD)provided low-income housing - 1st director of HUDJohn C. Weaver, 1st Black head of a cabinet dept d. Medicarehealth insurance for the elderly e. Medicaidinsurance for the poor F. The Civil Rights Era 1954-68 1. Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka (1954-55) Warren, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and a Conservative Republican - Overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson : Separate but equal was inherently unequal. - Schools had to desegregate with all deliberate speed. 2. Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)lasted for a year Parks was arrested & fined $10 MLK began to lead the bus boycott Supreme Court ruled that Segregated busing was unconstitutional. 3. Little Rock Central High (1957) Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus would not let 9 black students enter Central High Eisenhower sent National Guard (101st Airborne) to Little Rock, b/c Supremacy Clause of the Constitution dictated that Federal law overrules state law 4. Sit-In Movement (1960)started in Greensboro, NC & spread throughout the South A non-violent protest movt against discrimination 5. Birminghamsome young people marched & encountered violence Kennedy pushed Congress to pass a Civil Rights Bill

6. March on Washington (August 1963)a march by white & black citizens for a civil rights bill 7. Civil Rights Act of 1964passed under Johnson Banned discrimination in public accommodations, jobs, & voting 8. Voting Rights Act of 1965 Seven states kept violating voting rights Selma, AL: a peaceful protest march for voting - Bloody Sunday: March to Montgomery in which Blacks were shot, beaten, and killed Put an end to most literacy tests Allowed for federal voting examiners to register voters 9. Black Power Movementa militant movement for civil rights Symbol was the fist Members: - Malcolm Xbelieved in black separatism & joined the Nation of Islam, later assassinated - Stokely Carmichaelpart of SNCC; coined the phrase Black Power - Believed violence should be used if Blacks did not achieve economic & civil rights Black Panthers Partymost militant - Founded by Bobby Sill & Huey Newton - Noted for clashes w/ police in Oakland, CA 10. End of Civil Rights MLK was assassinated in Memphis G. The New Left 1. Students for a Democratic Societyradical group of disenchanted students against the Vietnam War Port Huron Statement: called for a participatory democracy where individuals can make decisions for themselves - Never trust anyone over 30. 2. Berkeley Free Speech Movement Opposed to their administrations ban on free speech 3. Countercultureopposed conventional mainstream of American society; also known as hippies H. Feminist Movement 1. Feminisma political/economic/social movt for womens equality 2. Feminine Mystiqueby Betty Friedan Opposed to cult of domesticity\

3. NOWNational Organization of Women Wanted an equal rights amendment for women 4. Gloria Steinemstarted Ms. Magazine 5. Oppositionmainly by women Phyllis Schlafly supported cult of domesticity 6. Roe vs. Wade (1973) During the mothers first trimester, a woman must have the right to choose During the second & third trimesters, individual states can place limits on how and when abortions can be performed I. Politics of Late 20th Century 1. Richard Nixon Presidency a. Election of 1968 - Nixon, Republican - Hubert Humphrey, Democrat - George Wallace, American Independent Party: Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever! b. Silent Majority - Conservative, middle-class Americans who were opposed to the radicalism of the 60s but did not speak out about it c. Watergate Scandal - The Pentagon Papers (1971)written by Daniel Ellsburg: Past presidents had not told the truth about Vietnam War ~ Nixon was livid & started an enemies list - McGovern was the 72 Democratic candidate for President - CREEP (Committee to Re-Elect the President) was paid $80,000 to go to the Watergate complex to spy on the Democrats - John Dean, a lawyer for Nixon