America During the Cold War

A changing people, nation and time

A Changing Society

Inflation • During WWII, consumer goods had

been in short supply, but when the war ended Americans now had the finances to make large purchases again

• Since the demand was high and the supply was low, the result was soaring inflation

• As the price of goods increases, workers demanded higher salaries, when business refused large scale strikes occurred in America again

• Congress now tired of “The New Deal” created the Taft-Hartley Act which officially ended all of FDR’s programs, Truman vetoed the bill but Congress passed it anyone

A Changing SocietyThe Election of 1948

• By 1948, most Americans disapproved of how Truman was handling the potential war with Stalin, his desire to grant civil rights to African Americans and changes within the Progressive Party which had many democrats fighting with each other, his chances of re-election were slim

• Truman faced NY governor Thomas Dewey in the election and won, most newspapers were so sure that Truman would be crushed they had already run the next day’s papers with the headline “Dewey Defeats Truman”

• Truman was able to push through minimum wage increases, flood control and low income housing, but was not able to enact education, racial tension or health care reform

The Election of 1952• In 1952, WWII’s Allied commander

Dwight D. Eisenhower ran for POTUS and won

• He was very different than Truman and FDR and believed that the federal government should play a small role in American’s lives, he cut gov spending while increasing social security benefits

• Over his 2 terms he kept a middle of the road stance on most issues

• Largest accomplishment as president is the creation of America’s interstate highway system

A Changing Society

The Baby Boomers• In the postwar years, many

Americans began to get married earlier and raise large families , this increased birthrate became known as the baby boom

• New medicines and vaccines were also keeping Americans alive a lot longer

• There were a lot of kids growing up in the 1950’s and they enjoyed themselves in ways never existed before, Rock and Roll, TV, soda shops and baseball

A Changing SocietyEscaping the City & Standards of Living• Post WWII Americans bought cars

like never before, this allowed families to take vacations, live in the new suburbs and work further from home

• The GI Bill gave money to veterans to spend on business, homes and schooling, for the 1st time a record number of Americans attended college

• As jobs and homes moved to the suburbs, cities began to lose massive amounts of tax revenue, cities became home to poorer and less educated people, cities could not longer raise the money needed to fix broken down roads and apts.

A Changing SocietyThe Television• Considered the invention with the most

impact on American life during the 1950’s

• TV brought the news and entertainment in to ¾ of all American households

• A negative side effect was that by 1956, the average American spent as much time watching TV as they did working.

• TV also led to other inventions like the frozen dinner so families could cook/eat while they watched TV

• The most popular TV shows of the 1950’s were “I Love Lucy” and “The Ed Sullivan Show”

A Changing SocietyRock and Roll

• TV also helped to give birth to a new form of music called Rock and Roll.

• Rock and Roll combined rhythm and blues with country

• The most popular Rock and Roll artists of the era were: Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Chuck Berry and Bill Haley & the Comets