HIST 1302
TOPIC: Presidents and Popular Culture
PRESIDENTS
1945-1981
Harry S. Truman (Democrat)—1945-1953)
“The Fair Deal”
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United Nations Established
State of Israel Recognized
Champion of Equal Rights for all Americans
Advocated National Health Insurance
Opposed Taft-Hartley Act
Expanded Social Security, Federal Aid for
Education, and raised the minimum wage
Eisenhower’s “Modern Republicanism”
7 min. 42 sec.
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No commitment to social or economic reform
Balanced federal budget
Reduced military spending
Supported National Highway System
Kept federal activities to a minimum
Encouraged resistance to Communism in
Southeast Asia
John F. Kennedy (Democrat)—1961-1963)
“The New Frontier”
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Created the Peace Corps
Set the goal of reaching the Moon by end of 1960s
Supported equal rights for all Americans
Provided support for defense of South Vietnam
Opposed Castro regime in Cuba
Successfully defused Cuban Missile Crisis
Supported American presence in Berlin
Lyndon B. Johnson (Democrat)—1963-1969
“The Great Society”
• Championed equal rights for all Americans (3 Civil Rights bills)
• Declared “War on Poverty” (Equal Opportunities Act)
• Championed health insurance for elderly and poor (Medicare and
Medicaid)
• Championed consumer and environmental laws
• Encouraged exploration of space
• Committed combat troops to the War in Vietnam
Richard M. Nixon (Republican—1969-1974)
• Encouraged “détente” between U.S. and China and Soviet
Union
• Sought “Peace with Honor” in Vietnam
• Ended war in Vietnam at beginning of second term
• Tried to cover up Watergate burglary
• Resigned in 1974 to avoid impeachment
Gerald R. Ford (Republican—1974-1977)
• Pardoned Nixon
• In office during reunification of Vietnam under a
Communist government
• Vetoed increase in veterans’ benefits
• Unable to bring inflation and recession under control
• Only President never elected to office
Jimmy Carter (Democrat—1977-1981)
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Championed environmental laws
Mediated peace between Israel and Egypt
Normalized relations with China
Arranged future transfer of Panama Canal
Successfully negotiated release of Iran hostages
Life in Postwar America
Boom Times & the Rise of the Middle Class
Following World War II, America’s economy boomed and the
middle class dramatically increased in size.
The G.I. Bill
• Signed into law by FDR in 1944
• Enabled millions of veterans to go to
college
• Provided veterans with no-down
payment home loans; stimulated
postwar housing boom.
• Provided veterans with
unemployment insurance for up to 1
year from date of discharge
5 min. 28 sec.
The G.I. Bill stimulated the
postwar building boom.
Developer Bill Levitt pioneered the assembly-line method of building
inexpensive suburban houses in Levittown, Long Island, NY.
By the end of the 1950s, 25% of all Americans lived in Levittstyle suburban housing developments all over the country.
In 1950 there were 39 million cars on the road. By 1960
there were 74 million and 80% of American families had at
least one car. The rest had two or more.
In 1956, Congress passed the Interstate Highway Act,
creating our modern interstate highway system.
3 min. 19 sec.
Between 1946 and
1952, 25 million “baby
boomers” were born.
This postwar “Baby
Boom” also stimulated
the economy.
The 1950s also saw a demand for
new electrical appliances.
7 min. 15 sec.
Suburban American women
were expected to follow the
traditional roles of housewife
and mother, and most did.
I Love Lucy
By the mid-1950s 75% of American
households had a TV!
The Honeymooners
Superman
Leave It To Beaver
Father Knows Better
2 min. 20 sec.
Rock n’ Roll is Here to Stay
1955: “Rock n’ Roll” music becomes a
national sensation.
Bill Haley and the Comets
2 min. 09 sec.
Because many Rock n’ Roll artists
were black, Southern white
parents suspected an NAACP plot
to bring about racial integration!
In truth, Rock n’ Roll did
break down racial barriers.
Chuck Berry
1956: A young singer named Elvis
Presley takes the country by storm!
4 min. 17 sec.
Rebellious Youth
Music
Lifestyles
Fashions
Hairstyles
The War in Vietnam
The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
Starting in 1964, a “British
Invasion” of long-haired rock
musicians swept the U.S.
The Animals
The Yardbirds
“Beatlemania” and the “British Invasion”
In 1967, the Hippie
Movement, centered in
San Francisco and New
York, called for young
people to “turn on, tune
in, and drop out.”
The older generation reacted negatively to long
hair, particularly on young men.
In 1968, a Broadway musical celebrated long-haired youth.
From the beginning,
young people protested
the war in Vietnam.
8 min. 38 sec.
In August 1969 nearly a half million young people
attended the Woodstock festival in New York state.
The Altamont Festival, held in California in Dec. 1969,
featuring the Rolling Stones, was far less peaceful.
Women’s Lib and Other
Movements
In 1966, Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine
Mystique, founded the National Organization for
Women (NOW) to demand equal rights for women.
Gloria Steinem, journalist and founder of Ms. Magazine, was
another leader of the Women’s Liberation Movement, which
demanded equal pay and equal opportunities for women in the
workplace as well as abortion rights. Steinem also championed
the unsuccessful Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
In 1973, in Roe vs. Wade—a case that originated in Dallas, Texas—the
U.S. Supreme Court handed down a still-controversial 7-2 decision that
permits women to have an abortion provided the fetus is not “viable”
(able to survive outside the mother’s womb).
Beginning in the late 1960s, Gay Men and Lesbians also began to
agitate for an end to discrimination based on their sexual orientation,
which they asserted was an inborn trait, not a conscious choice.
Borrowing tactics from the Black Civil Rights Movement, MexicanAmericans and Native Americans also agitated for equal treatment
under the law, as well as compensation for past injustices.