Truman’s Domestic Policies
(1945-1953)
Ch. 36
KEY CONCEPTS
•
The presidential administrations in the postwar decades expanded the size and scope of
government.
•
Some administrations addressed the demands of labor, whereas others had an adversarial
relationship.
•
The second red scare (McCarthyism) affected the United States domestically as the public was
led to believe that there were communists seeking to undermine American institutions. The
civil rights movements helped black Americans, but they were still relegated to a secondclass status economically, politically, and socially.
Truman Addresses Domestic Issues
• Fair Deal
–
Demobilization, Housing Act, Social Security Act
• Taft-Hartley Act (1947)
“The Buck Stops Here”
National Security and Civil Rights
• reorganization of
Armed Forces
–
NSA and CIA
• civil right’s battle
–
–
Committee of Civil Rights
Executive Order 9980 and 9981
• Election of 1948
– Dixiecrats
– “do-nothing” Congress
• 22nd Amendment
Anticommunist Fears Spread
• Anti-Communist fears
– Smith Act (1940)
– Loyalty Review Board
(1947)
– McCarran (Internal
Security) Act (1950)
• Dennis v. United States
Communist Fears Ignite
• House Un-American
Activities Committee
(HUAC) (1951)
• Ethel and Julius
Rosenberg
– result
• Alger Hiss
–
Richard Nixon
Witch Hunt
• Joseph McCarthy
– “McCarthyism”
– “witch hunt” comes to
an end
• downfall
Video – Truman Presidents (11min
Left-Side
“Who Was to Blame for the Cold War”
• page 880 – Varying Viewpoints
• Task – complete the following:
1. Identify - the arguments for each of the
following: “orthodox”, revisionist, radical
revisionists, and “postrevisionists”
2. Take-A-Stand – Based on the varying
arguments, who was to blame for the
Cold War?