Test 3 Monday March 26 2012 Harry S Truman and post war America Harry S Truman 7 year president 3 major things during his presidency First step by government towards civil rights Turn in American politics Economy booms Born in 1884 in Missouri officer in National Guard artillery in France in WW1 lawyer judge and then senator Roosevelt chose Truman as a running mate because he had backbone and could connect easily w the people April 1945 Roosevelt died of a brain hemorrhage G I Bill Passed in 1944 Up the Truman to make sure it was implemented Set 20 million aside for men and women coming back from WW2 Could go to college for 4 years and there would be jobs available when they were done Provided low interest loans for houses and college for vets Unemployment insurance for 52 weeks Women in the Work Force Housing market shut down during the war because construction had ended jump started construction industries Women s primary roles were to stay home and take care of the child Women pushed out into the workplace when their husbands came back from the war books published on this topic that reflected beliefs Common Sense of Baby and Child Care Dr Benjamin Spock Modern Women The Lost Sex Maryina Farnham and Ferdinand Lundberg Common Sense Dr Bejamin Spock women had to be the primary caregivers a women success in life was based on how successful you raised your children Lost Sex Farnham Lundberg if a women did not have children she would become emotionally disturbed Having a career was a masculine endeavor American economy geared towards household items 20 Million fridges purchased between 1946 1950 21 million new cars sold 1946 1950 almost every family had a car Americans discovered credit began buying their homes on interest William Levitt Returned to his family s construction company in NYC after WW2 but had seen the Navy s assembly line techniques in house building used these to build the 1st suburbs Suburbs 140 000 houses were built by William Levian on Long Island and outside of Philly all 2 bedroom 1 bath and cost 7 000 Levittown 1946 Midterm election Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1932 14 years Taft Hartley Act 1947 Banned the close shop that is the hiring of Union member only Permitted employers to sue unions for broken contracts or damages inflicted during strikes Forced unions to abide by a sixty day cooling off period before striking Required unions to make public their financial statements Forbade union leaders to swear they were not communists Truman vetoed the act but the Republicans overturned the veto During WW2 African Americans were vital to the war effort began fighting for there freedom after Double V campaign Victory not only over Japan and Germany but and also over discrimination in the U S 1947 Civil rights movement boosted by Brooklyn Dodgers player Jackie Robinson Jackie Robinson and Truman s decision Jackie Robinson 1st African American to play major league baseball Endured death threats etc but was named Rookie of the Year in baseball First AA player to play baseball Helped pave the way for other AA s Hubert Humphrey Mayor of Minneapolis said Dem party should have a civil rights platforms 1948 Election of 1948 Thomas Dewey Republican Party could not connect with people and had no personality republican party decided they didn t need to campaign Truman travels 31 000 miles gave 357 speeches around the country on a train trip Give em Hell Harry Dewey had a commanding lead in NE but once the West coast voted Truman won by a small margin 1948 election South would not vote Democratic again until 1992 because of civil rights Georgia 1976 Jimmy Carter Dixie crats There main thing was to stop civil rights Wednesday March 28th 2012 The Cold War 1945 1956 Truman really wanted to pursue civil rights in his 2nd term but foreign affairs got in the way Hitler bound Russia Britain and the U S together One the war ends so does the alliance Russia wanted to set up a line of buffer states between itself and the west to prevent Russia from being invaded again Russia began an arms race to develop new and better atomic weapons 1946 Churchill came to the U S Iron curtain speech Europe 1945 Jockeying for a position in europe No battles during this time period cold war means no fighting but still people dying Early Cold War Containment George F Kennan 8 000 World Telegram Soviets neurotic on being invaded Soviets would never soften their hard line stance Blocking strategy needed US was afraid of Communism from Russia Containment stop soviet expansion wherever it happens contain it in Russia 1949 China fell to communism Communism all over Europe and now on a large portion of Asia too The Truman Doctrine 1947 The domino theory communism would take over country after country in Europe U S Gave 400 Millions to Greece and Turkey to prevent them from falling to communism Greece only staying afloat because British were giving the Greek gov t money Britain was broke but they feared the Domino theory Would do this over the next 50 years to aid the countries The Truman Doctrine money was used mainly for political purposes Truman uses TV to tell people the US needed to support Greece Turkey Marshall Plan 1947 A 5 year plan which 13 billion dollars was pumped into Europe and Japan Good in the short term but in the long term it creates a trading imbalance that hurt America Used to build industrial structures so companies wouldn t turn to communism Berlin Airlift 1948 1st Conflict of the Cold War Russia cut off there supplies wanted to starve Britain France the English out of Berlin Truman stubbornness wouldn t let him give up on it he needed planes to transplant 2 3 million tons of supplies to Berlin When Russians seen this they backed down A Brain Drain When we started taking Germany citizens back to the US Most of them were scientists and etc 1949 Dean Acheson and NSC 68 U S Wouldn t negotiate with Soviets Would strengthen traditional military power Tanks large army waiting for the Russians Develop Hydrogen Bombs Many times more power than an atomic bomb Give aid to friendly nations Subvert Communist expansion by espionage NSC68 first used in 1960 it was implemented Korea 1950 1953 North Korea Influenced by Russia South Korea Influenced by US 1950 North Korea attacked South Korea Commander in Douglas Mc Arthur December 1950 the Americans were on the border of North Korea and China US gave the French weapons so they could help fight the
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