Lucas Bush
AP U.S. History
Bugallo Period 2
Chapter 36 Outline
Chapter 36: American Zenith
1952-1963
1. Affluence and Its Anxieties
Societal Change
i.
Country went from being full with renters to full with homeowners
ii.
1 in every 4 homes standing in 1960 was built in the 50’s and 83% of
houses were in suburbia
Technological Advancement
iii.
Invention of transistor in 1948 sparked rapid development in electronics,
specifically computers
iv.
First computers assembled in 40’s encompassed entire rooms and had
hundreds of miles of cable wiring and thousands of cathode ray tubes
v.
Transistors and printed circuits on silicon wafers allowed for dramatic
miniaturization and innovation.
vi.
Computer power-house IBM (International Business Machines) was
standard bearer for “high-tech” company in new “information age”
vii.
Computers changed old industries and practices like billing and inventory
as well as opened doors into new areas such as high-speed printing and
telecommunications
Growth of Aerospace
viii.
Aerospace prospered in the 50’s due to government build up of Strategic
Air Command (SAC) and demand for passenger airlines
ix.
1957: Seattle-based Boeing unveiled the “707”. The first large passenger
jet. It drew much on the design of the B-52 bomber.
Workforce Changes
x.
1956: “white collar” jobs outnumber “blue collar” jobs for the first time
xi.
Signaled change from industrial economy to service based economy.
xii.
Organized labor fell just as its capital industries fell; Union membership
reached peak of 35% in 1954 then slowly fell
xiii.
Increase in white-collar employment opened door for women in workforce
xiv.
After war many women returned “Cult of Domesticity” roles to be
homemakers and caretakers
xv.
1950’s television shows displayed ideal suburban home; working husband
with stay-home wife to care for 2 children. Ironically this was how much
of middle America lived
xvi.
40 million jobs were created between 1950 and 1980 and 30 million were
in the service sector.
xvii.
Women were the primary employees for these jobs, creating women
dominated occupations.
xviii.
New-found “workforce equality” raised many questions about family life
and gender roles
2. Consumer Culture in the Fifties
Consumerism
i.
1949: Diner’s Club introduces first plastic credit card
ii.
1948: First “fast-food” chain, McDonald's, opens in San Bernardino
iii.
1955: Disneyland opens its gates for first time
iv.
Rapid rise in televisions ownership, 7 million sets sold in 1951 to a near
nationwide viewership, allowed development of consumerism
v.
While movie theater attendance sank, advertisers spent $10 billion on
television ads
vi.
Politicians, companies, and even religious figures capitalized on massive
viewership
Music and Entertainment
vii.
Movement westward of several East Coast sports teams marked shift in
population
viii.
Elvis Presley, a white singer from Mississippi, mixed black rhythm and
blues with white bluegrass and country to create “rock ‘n’ roll”; gapped
musical divide between white and black music
ix.
Rock ‘n’ Roll reached across the world, inspiring many but repulsed
traditionalist
3. Advent of Eisenhower
The Presidential Election of 1952
i.
Democratic nominees were plagued by problems with the military did like
in Korea, Truman’s battle with MacArthur, and war-bred inflation
ii.
The Republicans chose General Dwight Eisenhower and his running mate
Richard M. Nixon gained popularity for being a notorious communist
hunter
iii.
Throughout the campaign Eisenhower and remained bipartisan wall letting
Nixon do the bare-knuckled political combat
iv.
Although Nixon came under scrutiny for a alleged acceptance of the
illegal donations, Nixon saved his spot on the ticket by giving the
shameless Checkers Speech, wherein he claimed his only campaign gift
was his dog
v.
Nixon's use of television to directly address the public open the door for
"selling the president like toothpaste”
vi.
With a last-minute pledge to end the war in Korea, Eisenhower won the
presidential election of 1952 with a total of 442 electoral votes 89 for his
opponent
vii.
True to his campaign promise, Eisenhower ended the Korean War seven
months after his election. This ended the war that lasted three years and
left more than 30,000 Americans dead.
viii.
True to his campaign promise, Eisenhower ended the Korean War seven
months after his election. This ended the war that lasted three years and
left more than 30,000 Americans dead
ix.
Eisenhower’s grandfatherly persona and his ability to stay above the
political fray gave him immense popularity with the country, although
some criticized him for not using this popularity for good ventures such a
civil rights
4. Desegregating American Society
i.
Of the 15 million African-Americans in United States in 1950, two thirds
still made their homes in the south. They lived under the harsh legal rules
of Jim Crow that governed all aspects of their lives
ii.
African-Americans dealt with the wild in strict laws of segregation where
in they were compelled to use separate schools, theaters, toilets, drinking,
fountains, restaurants, and seats. When it came to voting only about 20%
of African-Americans were registered and fewer than 5% in the deep
South
iii.
Apart from segregation, African-Americans dealt with lynchings and
murders. In 1946 six black war veterans were murdered trying to claim
their rights, in 1955 a black 14-year-old was lynched for allegedly looking
at a white woman
iv.
Much like McCarthyism, segregation tarnish the American image. Many
African-American entertainers traveled widely in Europe and Latin
America informing their audiences of the harsh treatment of blacks in
America
v.
International pressure coupled with grassroots in legal activism let you
some racial progress in the north following World War II. In many
northern states African-Americans one equal rights to public
accommodations like restaurants, hotels, theaters, and beaches.
vi.
1947: Jackie Robinson breaks the baseball color barrier when he signs
with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
vii.
1950: The NAACP pushed the Supreme Court to rule that separate
occupational schools for blacks did not need to test the quality
viii.
Despite progress in the North, African-Americans in the South saw little
progress
ix.
In December 1955, Rosa Parks sat on a bus in me coming out banner and
refused to move from the city she took in the whites only section. This
violated her city’s Jim Crow law and sparked a year-long boycott of city
bus transportation by African-Americans throughout the South
x.
This bus boycott put into the spotlight a young pastor named Martin
Luther King Jr. He believed in peaceful, nonviolent protest much like
Mohandas Gandhi of India.
5. Seeds of the Civil Rights Revolution
i.
In 1954, the Chief Justice Earl Warren lead Supreme Court ruled
unanimously in Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that
segregation in public schools was called inherently unequal" and
unconstitutional
ii.
While border states made reasonable efforts to comply with this ruling,
Deep South states organized "massive resistance" against this
desegregation
iii.
Several southern states diverted public funds to create private schools with
the integration order was much harder to enforce. Despite this, Eisenhower
remained reluctant to take any action
iv.
It was not until Governor of Arkansas Orval Faubus mobilized the
National Guard to prevent nine black students from entering Central High
School that Eisenhower took action. He sent to escort children to their
classes
v.
Despite this action, Eisenhower continued to remain non-partisan on the
civil rights matter forcing African-Americans to take the civil rights
movement into their own hands. Martin Luther king Junior mobilized the
immense power of black churches on the behalf of black rights to win civil
rights
vi.
While some protests were immaculately planned, others were
spontaneous. On February 1, 1960, 4 black college freshman from
Greensboro North Carolina sat at a whites-only lunch counter and refused
to move despite not being served. This protest continued for several days
until the number of protesters grew to a thousand
6. Eisenhower Republicanism at Home
i.
Eisenhower sought to protect the government from the expansion of
government programs and what he called creeping socialism
ii.
In Operation Wetback, Eisenhower tried to tackle the issue of illegal
Mexican immigration that he thought was hurting the Bracero program.
As many as 1 million Mexicans were apprehended and return to Mexico in
1954 alone
iii.
Eisenhower also trying to terminate native American tribes as legal
entities to return to assimilation goals of the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887
iv.
Eisenhower also back the federal highway act of 1956 which authorized a
$27 billion plan to build 42,000 miles of highway across the country. He
believe that such roads were important to national fence because they
allowed US troops to move anywhere in the country in the event of a
Soviet invasion
7. A “New Look” in Foreign Policy
i.
1952 Republican party platform condemned containment of communism.
While the incoming secretary of state promised to roll back the Iron
Curtain, the current administration continued to balance the national
budget and cut back on military spending.
ii.
The compromise of the “policy of boldness” promised a continued cutback
on army and naval spending while building up SAC and the nuclear
arsenal. This was meant to scare the Soviets and the Chinese to avoid
conflict while keeping the spending to a minimum.
iii.
This “new look” at foreign policy ended when the Soviet premier rejected
Eisenhower’s calls for an open skies mutual inspection program for both
the USSR and the US
iv.
1956: The Hungarian Uprising occurs but the US does not intervene,
ultimately allowing the Soviets to quickly crush the quarrel. This showed
the weakness of the US nuclear arsenal, as it was too “big” to use for such
a small situation.
8. The Vietnam Nightmare
i.
Throughout Southeast Asia, countries such as Vietnam fought to
overthrow the French colonial rule
ii.
Since as early as 1919, Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh tried to appeal for
US intervention. Later. FDR inspired other Asian nationalists to fight for
self-determination
iii.
While the US became more and more anticommunist, many anti-colonial
Asian leaders became increasingly communistic. By 1954 the US had
covered about 80% of the costs of a “bottomless” French colonial war.
iv.
Despite providing massive amounts of aid, French forces were being
pushed back by Ho Chi Minh’s guerrilla forces. In 1954 an important
French garrison became trapped in a fort. While some called for the
intervention of the US bombers, Eisenhower held back.
v.
The Vietnamese ultimately won and a Vietnam-wide election was called
for but the US now supported a secondary pro-Western government and
continued to fund an anti-communist was in Vietnam
9. Cold War Crisis in the Middle East
i.
In response to a Kremlin-influenced Iranian government that resisted the
power of Western companies in control of petroleum in the region, the
CIA engineered a coup in 1953 that put a young shah into power as a
dictator
ii.
Although it secured Iranian oil for the West for a short period of time, 2
decades later, Iranians overthrew the “American” shah
Suez Crisis
iii.
Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser sought funds from Western
nations to dam the upper Nile, but after talking with the Soviets, the US
dramatically withdrew their offer
iv.
To save face, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, owned predominantly
by the British and French.
v.
In response, Britain and France staged an assault on Egypt in October of
1956. Assuming the US would supply them with oil, when Eisenhower
furiously ignored them they were forced to withdraw their troops
vi.
This marked the last time the US could utilize its oil power. Between 1940
and 1948 the US had moved from producing ⅔ of the world’s oil to
becoming a net importer.
vii.
1960: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, and Venezuela formed to
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
10. Round Two for Ike
1956 Election
i.
Eisenhower again faced opponent Adlai Stevenson and won 457-73
electorally
ii.
Eisenhower failed to win the party a majority in either house of Congress,
the first time in over a century.
Start of the Space Race
iii.
October 4, 1957: Soviets launch the 184-pound Sputnik into orbit around
Earth. A month later they successfully send a living organism, a dog, into
space aboard Sputnik II
iv.
The fear produced forced Eisenhower to establish the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and funnel billions into
missile development.
v.
1958: US successfully launches its first satellites into space
11. The Continuing Cold War
i.
!958: Soviets demand the removal of Western forces from Berlin and a
face-to face meeting with Eisenhower
ii.
1959: Eisenhower invites premier Khrushchev to his presidential retreat
for a meeting. The follow-up conference falls apart as an American U-2
spy plane is shot down in Russia the night before it’s due to begin.
iii.
Meanwhile the CIA continued to promote Latin-American bloody
dictators who claimed to be “fighting communism”, reigniting anti-US
feelings in the region
12. Kennedy Challenges Nixon for the Presidency
Election of 1960
i.
The Republicans chose Vice-President Richard Nixon, noting his
increased portrayal of maturity and experience
ii.
The Democrats chose young millionaire senator John F. Kennedy of
Massachusetts, who overcame the fears of his Catholicism to gain the
nomination
iii.
His nomination re-sparked fears that the US would come under the rule of
the Pope. Although it likely pushed many Southerners from the polls, the
North came out largely to support Kennedy
iv.
Television again played a large roll. In the 4 televised debates, many
viewers were attracted to Kennedy’s youth and vitality over Nixon’s age
and pallid appearance
v.
Kennedy, winning the large industrial cities from his support base of
workers, Catholics, and African-Americans, won with 303 electoral votes
13. A Cultural Renaissance
Art
i.
Following WWII, New York City became the artistic capital of the world
ii.
Largely lacking tradition, the American environment became a breeding
ground for the experimental modern art era
iii.
Jackson Pollock pioneered “abstract expressionism” in the 40’s and 50’s,
dripping paint onto massive canvases in the floor of his apartment.
Jackson and others threw out realistic representation and made the viewer
an active participant in the art
iv.
Andy Warhol canonized mundane consumer items while Roy Lictenstein
blew up and parodied comic strips, driving much of “pop” (short for
popular” art
Architecture
v.
While copy-paste suburban homes bloomed across the country,
ultra-modern skyscrapers filled the skies in urban centers. These towers
were basically metal wrapped in glass
vi.
Frank Lloyd Wright produced original designs including the round-walled
Guggenheim Museum in New York
vii.
Louis Kahn utilized simple geometric shapes and basic materials to create
simple, beautiful buildings
Literature
viii.
Postwar America succeeded most in literature. Brutal realism filled the
earliest novels about soldiers lives, but after some years, fantastic and
sometimes psychedelic prose fell into the limelight
ix.
The spoils of war influenced many writers to play with psychological and
Freudian concepts to analyze the consumerist, sometimes ostentatious
society of the day
x.
Some of these counterculture writers were referred to as “Beat” writers.
They sought self-expressionism in the conformist country
xi.
Other writers tackled the dilemmas and postwar realities in America
xii.
Poets of the time became increasingly despairing, adopting a short,
confessional style of writing wherein they often revealed personal
experiences with various taboos such as sex and drugs
xiii.
Playwrights also acutely analyzed culture, writing blistering dramas and
powerful critiques about social norms
14. New Cultural Voices
i.
Black authors capitalized upon the previous achievements of the Harlem
Renaissance, writing novels that directly paralleled African-American life,
winning praise and awards.
ii.
The South began distancing themselves from the “lost cause” literature
that romanticized the antebellum South. The Southern Renaissance
brought appreciation and critique to the region’s history of racism,
historical burdens, and conservatism
15. Kennedy’s “New Frontier” Spirit
i.
As the youngest president ever elected, JFK assembled a cabinet that
portrayed an aura of confidence and sophistication
ii.
JFK’s depiction of America’s potential greatness inspired many. His
creation of the Peace Corps brought a “warm heart to the Cold War” (p
875)
iii.
Despite his soaring rhetoric, Kennedy’s new frontier slowed as he faced a
fragile majority in Congress. He faced opposition to key medical and
education bills as well as a bill slashing income and corporate tax rates in
an attempt to boost the economy
iv.
Some were wary of his connections to big businesses, but Kennedy held
firm against steel bosses and labor leaders when he got them to sign a
non-inflationary wage agreement
v.
Early into his term, Kennedy promoted a multi-billion dollar project that
sought to put the first man on the moon and return him safely. This was
secretly a ploy to restore American prestige following the success of the
Soviet Sputnik program
vi.
1969: After $24 billion dollars, Americans watched on their televisions as
Neil Armstrong became the first man to ever step foot on the moon.
Picture from NASA.
16. Foreign Flare-ups and “Flexible Response”
i.
August 1961: East Germany begins construction of the “Berlin Wall” in
an attempt to stop the population from East to West Germany
ii.
Kennedy meanwhile turned his attention to a prosperous Western Europe
which flourished after the Marshall Plan
iii.
The European Economic Community (EEC) paved the way for the
European Union and allowed tariff cuts of up to 50% to promote trade.
This as well as many other tariff negotiations inaugurated a new period of
international commerce. Globalization was the phrase used to describe it
iv.
European decolonization of the world opened the doorway for easy
escalations of simple conflicts between the United States and the USSR.
This brought about “flexible response”, an array of military answers to a
plethora to situations. However this ideology could also quickly move
from diplomatic talks to intervention and could also escalate the use of
force
v.
In Vietnam, anti-establishment agitators threatened to overthrow the
pro-American Ngo Dinh Diem government. Kennedy ordered more troops
to enter South Vietnam to keep the peace
vi.
The Kennedy administration eventually promoted a successful coup, but it
contributed to the end goal that the original policy was meant to avoid.
17. Cuban Confrontations
i.
1961: Kennedy promotes the Alliance for Progress, intended to be the
Marshall Plan of Latin America, but it hailed little in concrete result
ii.
Kennedy also inherited an Eisenhower scheme to invade Cuba using
anti-communist Cubans to overthrow Castro
iii.
On April 17, 1961, 12,000 exiles landed at Cuba’s Bay of Pigs. The Bay
of Pigs invasion ultimately failed when Kennedy remained hands off on
the matter
iv.
Several attempts to assassinate and overthrow Castro eventually pushed
him further into the embrace of the Soviets
v.
October 1962: Aerial photographs show the Soviets are rapidly and
secretly installing numerous nuclear-tipped missiles in Cuba. This began a
game of “nuclear chicken” between Kennedy and Khrushchev
A political cartoon portraying the standoff
vi.
Kennedy declined bombing the installations and instead, on October 22nd,
1962, ordered a naval quarantine of Cuba and demanded removal of all
missiles from Cuba. He also informed Khrushchev that any attack on the
US from Cuba would result in immediate nuclear retaliation upon the
Soviet heartland.
vii.
After a tense week, Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles as long as
the US ended the quarantine and did not invade Cuba. In 1991 it was
revealed that the Soviets already had nuclear weapons on Cuba with
orders to launch if they were attacked
viii.
The US also quietly removed several missiles from Turkey that were
aimed at the Soviets
ix.
Khrushchev was ousted from power in the USSR while Kennedy called
for a nuclear test-ban treaty. This was agreed to in 1963
x.
Also in 1963, a Moscow-Washington “hot line” was installed, allowing for
immediate communication between the world powers
xi.
In a speech in 1963, Kennedy called upon the American people to stop
looking at the Soviets as fanatics. He was trying to lay the foundation of
realistic coexistence between the two superpowers
18. The Struggle for Civil Rights
i.
Despite campaigning with strong appeal to black voters, Kennedy treaded
lightly on the issue of civil rights
ii.
Kennedy needed the support of Southern legislators to pass several of his
bills. He saw many of these bills as eventually benefiting African
Americans as much as a civil rights bill
iii.
Freedom Riders rode interstate busses in an attempt to win desegregation
in facilities serving interstate bus passengers. In May 1961, a white mob
torched one such bus and a representative of Attorney General Robert
Kennedy was beaten unconscious on a separate occasion.
iv.
Despite wariness, the Kennedy administration ultimately cooperated with
civil rights movement and MLK, overcoming fears of his supposed
communist ties
v.
In October of 1962, JFK was forced to send 400 federal marshals and
3,000 troops to escort a single African American, James Meredith, in his
first class, ironically Colonial American History
vi.
In spring of 1963, MLK started a campaign to end racial discrimination in
Birmingham Alabama, the most segregated large city in America. His
protests were met with police, attack dogs, cattle prods, and high-pressure
hoses.
vii.
Kennedy called the civil rights movement a moral issue and also called for
new civil rights legislation
viii.
August 1963: MLK led more than 200,000 demonstrators on the March on
Washington
19. The Killing of Kennedy
i.
November 22nd. 1963: President Kennedy was shot in the head in an open
limousine while driving through downtown Dallas. Vice President Lyndon
B. Johnson was sworn in on a flight immediately afterwards