Post on 11-Jan-2016
1945 and BeyondForeign and
Domestic1945-and Beyond-1
Post WWII
Harry Truman Took office in April 1945 on death of
FDR First President in 50 years: no
college education WWI Vet Rose through the Pendergast system
in Missouri Not well informed as VP Dropped the bomb on Hiroshima &
Nagasaki No second thoughts
Truman and the Fair Deal
Fired the New Dealers in the Cabinet
Truman thought them TOO CONSERVATIVE
The Fair Deal: wanted extended social welfare and CIVIL RIGHTS
Dixiecrats: Southern Democrats who opposed the Civil rights part of the Fair Deal
The Economy
After almost every American war: inflation and unemployment
First time in history the U.S. did NOT suffer a depression after war
No Post-war Depression Due to:
Farm income remained high…exports
Savings during war = buying power now
Big demand for peacetime consumer goods = stimulated the economy and the black market
Military expenditures remained high (Korea)
1942 Committee for Economic Development: economists and businessmen implemented practices to avoid economic slump
1946 Fair Employment Act
NOTE: Passed in the spirit of the New Deal
To promote maximum employment, production, purchasing
Gave the President a council of economic advisors who made recommendations
The GI Bill 1944
Gave veterans educational benefits Loans to GIs for establishing new
businesses
Inflation
Federal Revenue went from $5 Billion during the war to $46 Billion after (due to higher taxes on bigger incomes
BUT Federal Spending up too. National debt went from $50 Billion
to $270 Billion during the war
Inflation
4 times as much money in circulation in 1945 as in 1938
People tired of rationing. Pressure on Congress from labor
and business to end OPA’s price and wage controls
Truman wanted controls to continue through OPA
Economy
Congress ended OPA anyway Was vetoed and overridden OPA closed down June 1946 Prices up 25% in 3 weeks 1946 5,000 strikes (1/4 of all union
workers in U.S.)
Railroad Strikes
Truman threatened to draft them into the army so he could order them back to work (as Commander-in-Chief)
They went back to work
Coal Miners’ Strike
Truman took over mines and ran them through the Department of the Interior
The Norris-LaGuardia Act
Supreme Court ruled that the Norris-LaGuardia Anti-injunction Act DID NOT prevent the use of injunction in a strike in order to prevent a catastrophe
Amendment 22
Prevented a third term A posthumous slap in the face to
FDR Prevented a President from serving
more than 10 year total: Two full terms of his own + no more than 2 years of another President’s term
Did not apply to sitting President Truman believed the amendment
made all presidential 2nd terms lame duck terms
1946 Republicans took a majority in both houses
Major issue during congressional elections = labor disputes
Republican belief: Unions now too powerful
1947 Taft-Hartley Act: to restrain the power of labor unions
Congress lowered taxes Deadlocked with Truman on
everything else
Civil Rights
Truman fought the KKK
Truman continued the Fair Employment Practices Committee
Truman established a Fact-Finding Committee on Civil Rights
Civil Rights Commission Recommendations:
Relocated Japanese-Americans should be compensated
Immigration Quotas should be abolished
More equality for Blacks
Congress would not act on civil rights
So Truman used his commander-in-chief powers to integrate the armed forces
Alienated Southern Democrats. Will become Dixircrats in next election
Truman called for a 10-point Civil Rights Program to end religious and racial discrimination Again no action by Congress
Election of 1948
Polls all wrong. No democrat had ever won without
support of Southern Dems. Truman campaigned calling
Congress the Do-Nothing Congress Republicans Dewey 189 Democrats Truman 304 Dixiecrats Strom Thurmond 38 Progressives Harry Wallace 0
Election of 1948
Chicago Tribune put the paper to bed before all results were in…
What Happened?
Dewey thought that since Democrats split, he had the election nailed
Dewey began campaigning late and finished up early
Most Americans did not make up their minds until pretty close to the election
Proof a democrat could win without the support of the Solid South
Democrats gained control of Congress
But Dixiecrats still refused to move on Civil Rights
NOTE: Dixiecrats were conservative, states rights, Southern Democrats
Congress DID extend Social Welfare: $ for farm subsidies, slum clearance, minimum wage up
Truman’s Fair Deal
Was the basis for JFK’s New Frontiers Program
And LBJ’s Great Society Program (with his war on poverty and Civil Rights agenda)
Truman Scandals
Bribe taking by: Members of the RFC
Department of Justice IRS
Truman not involved BUT food for thought for Republicans in 1952
The Red Scare
Sell-out at Yalta: Stalin did not keep promises regarding free elections in Eastern Europe
Korean War 1950-53 China fell to communists 1949 (U.S.
had supported Chiang Kai-shek who was ousted by communist leader Mao Zedong. Nationalist China pushed off of the mainland to Taiwan)
1949 Russia had the bomb (could not have happened had they not stolen our secrets)
The Red Scare
Republicans used all above to discredit the Democrats
Republicans claimed that Dems were soft on communism
1947 Loyalty Review Board established to fire “bad Security Risks”
The Red Scare
J. Edgar Hoover (FBI) began to gather intelligence on “subversive” organizations
Supreme Court ruled that: Communists not protected by first amendment rights if their purpose was to overthrow the government
HUAC formed in House to investigate communist subversion
House Un-American Activities Committee
(HUAC) Whittaker Chambers claimed he was
a former communist agent Claimed he had passed sensitive info
to the commies in the 30’s Claimed that Alger Hiss (a former
high-ranking official in the State Department) had given him the secrets
His Proof? The Pumpkin Papers
The Pumpkin Papers
Microfilm of sensitive government documents were kept inside of a hallowed-out pumpkin on Chambers’ front porch
Was proof that he had them but no proof that Hiss was involved
Then Hiss sued Chambers for slander
Richard Nixon
A junior congressman from California was able to nail Hiss for perjury
Nixon will swear forever that Hiss WAS a spy for the communists
Hiss will always maintain his innocence…even from jail
The Red Scare
The McCarren Internal Security Act: required all communist organizations to register with the Federal Government
Vetoed by Truman Congress overrode his veto
The Rosenberg Case
HUAC interviewed a British scientist Klaus Fuchs who testified that he delivered secrets of the bomb to the Soviets and that the info he passed came from David Greenglass who had worked on the Manhattan Project
Greenglass said the mastermind behind the secret-passing was his brother-in-law, Rosenberg
Rosenberg and his wife maintained their innocence. Convicted 1951 & electrocuted 1953
Joe McCarthy
The Big Lie: Claimed to have proof that there were 205 card-carrying communists in the State Department
Had no proof…ever…even during congressional witch trials
BUT was popular (at first) with the American people…seemed to be our champion against commies
McCarthy and the Witch Trials
Remember…secrets HAD been stolen by commies, China fell, Russia had the bomb
Most congressmen knew McCarthy was low-life BUT because he was popular, they curried his favor
Trials…black listing, no proof, had to turn over others’ names to prove your innocence
McCarthy
Was finally discredited when his “trial” of the U.S. army was televised
Americans witnessed his bullying ways and were disenchanted
He was censored by congress and died by 1954
(Nixon was NOT a close associate of McCarthy’s though he did make a name for himself as a commie fighter)
Terms so Far 1945-Present
Dixiecrats Richard Nixon Fair Deal Loyalty Review
Board Fair Employment Act ChambersOPA HissTaft-Hartley Act Pumpkin PapersDo-Nothing Congress Joe McCarthy
Rosenbergs Witch TrialsHUAC Election 1948McCarren Internal Security Act