The 1950s

Welcome!

These mini-lectures are an overview of your assigned readings—they should provide better understanding of what you are reading!

Just listen (if audio is provided, it plays automatically), then read the slide, and use the next arrowhead. If you are viewing this in PDF, use the down arrow at the top of the pdf.

Contents:

Baby BoomersTelevisionNew cultures and consumerismIke—at home & in foreign policyInterstate Highway ActSuez Crisis & Eisenhower DoctrineArms RaceBomb SheltersKennedy in Office & Cuban Missile CrisisConclusions.

A brief post test.

FIFTIES

• TVs

• INTERSTATES

• TAIL FINS

• ROCK ANDROLL

ALSO• LITTLE ROCK,

AK

• COLD WAR

• MID EAST CRISIS

• AND CASTRO IN CUBA

BABY BOOMERS

• MORE BIRTHS

• INCREASEDDEMAND

• YOUNGER BUYERS

ENTER….. TV

• KFAUVER HEARINGS

• 1952 CONVENTIONS

• SIT COMS

• MUSIC & VARIETY

Philo Farnsworth, 1934

21 Inches!!

Sex Appeal

COMEDY

HOWDY DOODY

Davy Crockett

• 1.5MIL NEW HOMES• 300% MORE FURNITURE• 400% MORE MOWERS

RECREATION

• MUSICAL INSTR.

• GIN CONSUMPTION

• OUTBOARD MOTORS

• BICYCLES…..

CHANGING ECONOMY

• 4,000 MERGERS—MAKING U.S. COMPNAIES BIGGER

• GNP UP 250%

• “ESCALATOR CLAUSES” AIDED WORKERS

• 1/3 WIVES WORKED

CARS

Thunderbird

SALES

IKE

PRESIDENT

• KEPT NEW DEAL

• INTERSTATES

• FAILED IN FARM POLICY

• ST. LAWRENCE

• ENERGY ACT

Interstate System

• Ike’s idea

• Graduated tax on gas

• $175 Million to start

• Then a major trust fund & 60-40 match

Highway Act of 1956

St Lawrence Seaway

H-BOMB 1952

FOREIGN POLICY

• CHANGES

–COMPETE OPENLY FOR ALLIES

–RHETORIC OF GOOD V. EVIL INCREASES

–BRINKMANSHIP—THREAT OF WAR

–MASSIVE RETALIATION CAPABILITIES

– SECRET WARS OF CIA

–NEW ARENAS—Middle East & Vietnam

FAILED SPIRIT OF GENEVA

• 1955—IKE MEETS NEW SOVIET LEADERS

• TALK OF PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE

• NO AGREEMENTS REACHED

• 1956--POLES RIOT—NO U.S. HELP

• 1957—HUNGARAIN RIOTS—NO U.S. HELP

BULGANIN/KHRUSCHEV

MIDDLE EASTPOLICY?

MIDDLE EAST BACKGROUND

• BRITISH/FRENCH INFLUENCE

• U.S. HAD LITTLE INTEREST

• OIL IMPORTANCE POST WWII

• U.S. RECOGNIZES NEW STATE OF ISRAEL—ANGERING MUSLIMS

IN IRAN, 1955

DEFENSE PACT WITH SHAH

IN EGYPT

GAMAL ABDEL NASSAR

SUEZ CANAL CONFLICT ‘56

• NASSAR CREATES ANTI-ISRAEL LEAGUE

• U.S. WITHDRAWS SUPPORT FOR ASWAN & NASSAR SIEZES CANAL

• ENGLAND & FRANCE TAKE CANAL

• IKE ANGRY WHEN U.S. LEFT OUT

• U.N. ACTION AGAINST ENGLAND AND FRANCE

EISENHOWER DOCTRINE

• FEARING MORE MIDDLE EAST TROUBLE--1957

• CONGRESS GIVES PRESIDENT SPECIAL POWER

• USE OF TROOPS FOR PRESERVATION OF PEACE IN THE “MIDDLE EASTERN” REGION

IKE’S PLAN

• LIBERATION

• OR MASSIVE RETALIATION

• AND DETERRANCE

NEW WORDS

• DOMINO THEORY

• BRINKMANSHIP

• SPUTNIK

• POLARIS

Sputnik

ARMS RACE

• MISSILES

• POLARIS SUB

• 1958--NASA

• DEPLOYED– EUROPE

– S. AMERICA

• Educational Changes

ASIA TOO...

• Geneva Accords divides Vietnam

• IKE organizes SEATO

• FORMOSA/TIAWAN

– Threats of US backed forces invading China

–NEAR WAR 1955

– IKE THREATENS NUCLEAR FORCE…CRISIS PASSED….

MALL

SHELTER

POLIO DEFEATED 1955

REBEL WITHOUT A

CAUSE

“ON BLUEBERRY

HILL”

Fabian, “Turn Me Loose”

Allen Ginsberg, “Howl”

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging

themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,

angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of

night,

THE NEW FRONTIER

JFK’s ELECTION

• SHREWD PLANNING

–RELIGION A PLUS

–CRITICIZED MISSILE GAP

–BROTHER ROBERT

• TV DEBATE

JFK

WORLD SUCCESS

• PEACE CORPS

–COOL AMERICAN IDEALS

–VS. SOVIET CRUDENESS

• 1961 ANOTHER BERLIN CRISIS

MANY FAILURES

• BAY OF PIGS APRIL ‘61

–CUBAN EXILES

–TRAINED BY CIA

–CASTRO POPULAR

–ORGANIZATION A JOKE

MISSILE CRISIS

• SOVIETS IN CUBA

• OCT. 1962--BLOCKADE

• SERIES OF CABLES

• STANDOFF

–MISSILES OUT...

Decade of 1950s

• Cold War escalates

• Threats of nuclear war made

• Prosperity at Home for many (TV’s & Cars)

• Youth oriented culture & economy

• Other troubling transitions

–Escalation in Vietnam

–Civil Rights debates grow

A Brief Post Test! Read the question, then click on the best answer to see feedback.1. The 1950s baby boom meant a growing population. True. False.2. TV viewers grew with the coverage of the 1952 Republican Convention. True. False.3. Most TV programs succeeded, but Howdy Doody was a bust. True. False.4. Due to alack of funds few new homes were built in the 1950s. True. False.5. There was a boom in recreational spending in the 1950s. True. False.6. The U.S. economy featured large corporations in the 1950s. True. False.7. Ike’s idea of an Interstate system was finally funded privately. True. False.8. The Geneva Spirit lead to talks with the Soviets, but no agreements. True. False.9. After World War II our dependence on mid east oil declined. True. False.10. The Eisenhower Doctrine focused on the Middle East. True. False.11. Russia’s launch of Sputnik had little impact in the U.S. True. False.12. JFK’s Peace Corps was a successful Cold War program. True. False.13. The Cuban Missile Crisis nearly resulted in atomic war. True. False.