Great Depression

• A consequence of wealth inequality• An unregulated stock market• A lack of consumer spending and

business investment• Causes unemployment, a contracting

economy, social instability• A loss of faith in traditional gov’tal

responses to economic crises

The New Deal (‘32-?)• FDR--restore faith in gov’t• Use gov’t spending as a stimulus (keynesianism) • Use gov’t power to remove inefficiencies in marketplace

and inequalities in society• Emphasize cooperation and traditional American values--

iconization of American workers• Develop coalition of workers (unions), women, minorities,

farmers to remain in power (New Deal coalition)• Use TVA, NRA, AAA, CCC, WPA in your answers• Essentially a progressive plan--“saved capitalism and

democracy” without radical change.

World War II• “Arsenal of Democracy” and Atlantic Charter--

a war for democracy and international security (4 Freedoms, Lend-Lease Act)

• Popular Front (center-left nations against fascism)

• Pan-American conferences keeps Latin America with Allies

• Quarantine actions against Japan• Pearl Harbor in ‘41 leads to US involvement

in Pacific and Atlantic

World War II -- military/Atlantic• US main role as supplier of materiel until ‘43• Supported British in N. Africa -- attack Nazi oil

supplies• Used Italian campaign to try and relieve

Russia until ‘44’s Normandy invasion• With Stalin, main goal to keep as ally in

Pacific War, and for establishing UN• Germany surrenders in ‘45 to joint East/West

assault on Berlin

World War II--domestic

World War II -- military/Pacific• US lost Asian territories/possessions in 1941

(Phillippines, etc)• ‘42--Battle of Midway destroys Japanese navy• Savagery of Guadalcanal leads to Island Hopping

strategy• By ‘45, US troops take Okinawa and prepare for

invasion of Japan• Truman uses A-bomb instead--beginning Cold War with

USSR• Heavy reconstruction of Japan to be an industrial

capitalist, parliamentarian, somewhat democrat ally

World War II--Domestic• Fed gov’t organizes economy for mass prod.• OSS organized to control info• South and West benefit most from procurement• Women and minorities gain jobs• Bonds, canning drives, rations• Blacks use rhetoric of democracy to demand rights• Nat’l War Labor Board creates new gains for unions• Japanese-American camps• Key: FDR the MOST progressive prez - growth in gov’t,

organization for efficiency, creation of nat’l community, rhetoric of democracy -- but also (racial) exclusion, and growth of corporations

World War II--Diplomacy• FDR labeled struggle a war for democracy against

fascism, and a war to end war, ergo:• UN charter--rehash of League of Nations, but with

teeth• Nuremberg Trials• Anti-imperialist rhetoric (angered Churchill)• Need to maintain alliance with Stalin for UN and

Pacific campaign, ergo:• Yalta,’45: FDR acknowledges USSR sovereignty in

Eastern Europe in exchange for the above• FDR dies after Yalta

Unit 16/17--prez leadership• Growth of Gov’t remains in all ways• OSS becomes CIA, no gov’t oversight• Dept of Defense an executive body, ditto• Congress surrenders war powers (Korea, Vietnam, Iraq)• Military procurements rise due to NSC-68• New Deal programs remain until 1970s, politics since an effort to

roll them back• Domestic policies/judicial acts a matter of expanding civil rights

until 1970s, then, ditto• Exec/Legislative programs dedicated to internal economic

development until 1970s, afterwards, flow of international capital.

Origins of Cold War• A Bomb splits alliance• Germany split into zones, which develop differently, no

real desire to reunite them• Korea split into zones, each side chooses reps which

develop zones differently• Atomic knowledge monopolized, leading Stalin to own

program for development• “Loss” of China (‘49) strengthens conviction USSR

desires to spread ideology• Containment doctrine formalized, along with growth of

executive branch as “rapid-response” team (CIA, Dept of Defense, etc)

The Cold War - Truman• Containment a matter of restricting USSR expansion in

strategic places and aiding allies (see: Marshall Plan, Berlin Airlift)

• Truman Doctrine changes containment strategy into universal policy -- gaining Congressional/public support for Cold War

• Domestic politics--using anti-communism and fears of Soviet infiltration as a wedge to gain White House, Congress

• Presidents forced into hard-line rhetoric and public action to defend domestic flank

• NATO, nuclear build-up (NSC-68) and Korea seen in this light• Yet, Prez forced into democratization at home--desegregating

armed forces--for PR purposes

Cold War--Eisenhower, etc• Stalemate of Korea -> three policies:1. “Rollback” for public consumption, but done in American spheres

(Latin America, Middle East) while USSR rules its sphere (Eastern Europe)

2. CIA ops--limited military intervention and plausible deniability (Guatemala in ‘54, Iran in ‘53, South Vietnam in ‘54-’56, Cuba in ‘60

3. NSC-68 calls for more massive rearmament --> nuclear buildup, and spy technology to gauge Soviet response (hence the infamous U2 incident)

At home--worship of consumption & family values as front in Cold War (GI Bill, housing subsidies, freeway construction), math/science education rises due to Sputnik

Cold War--Kennedy• Kennedy, more hard-line than you (missile-gap speech)• Attempts rollback in Cuba (Bay of Pigs, ‘61,) fails• Berlin Wall built (‘61)• Tried for redemption in Missile Crisis (‘62) and Vietnam

(‘61-’63--support for Southern regime under Diem against Ho Chi Minh’s Northern regime (Vietminh) and Southern Communists (NLF/Vietcong)

• Space race begins -- race to the moon• Maintains democratic rhetoric at home--women’s rights,

promotion of Civil Rights, increasing minimum wage, lowering taxes to spur econ growth

Cold War, Johnson/Domestic• Greatest increase of New Deal programs and

Civil Rights in US history• See: Great Society (OEO, CAP, etc) & Civil

Rights (Civil Rights Act on ‘64 & Voting Rights Act in ‘65)

• Also lowers taxes in attempt to stimulate business

• See also a growth in judicial definition of civil rights (Miranda, Roe v Wade, etc)

• Covers flank by hard-line action in Vietnam

Cold War, Johnson/Foreign• Needed to support South Vietnam gov’t against

Northern incursions (Vietminh) and Southern uprising (Vietcong)

• Needed Congressional support for troop commitments

• Gulf of Tonkin incidents of Aug 2 & 4, 1964• Johnson then sent a resolution before

Congress on Aug 5 asking for a “blank check” on war-making powers

• Congress agreed the next day to pass it, by a vote of 98-2.

The tactics of battle:American military action sold as support for South Vietnam’s

regime

Winning the “hearts and minds” of the people

Removing the Vietcong--”search and destroy” missions

Protecting American “assets”

Preventing Vietminh support for the Vietcong

Destroy N Vietnam’s morale--usually through bombing (of cities and “Ho Chi Minh Trail”) called “Rolling Thunder” and mining of harbors.

Main goal: Avoid public perception of a major, long-term commitment while simultaneously scaring N Vietnam’s leadership into giving in to US demands

Hence, the one-year tours of duty coinciding with massive troop deployments and usage of heavy firepower

Vietnam--domestic response• Low-level protests of draft & free-speech movement in early

to mid ‘60s• Grows in size by 1967-68 due to “credibility gap” over

inconclusiveness of military action• 1968 Tet Offensive leads to LBJ’s abdication• Failure of anti-war plank in Democratic Party leads to

Chicago riots in Nat. Conv. (‘68)• Nixon elected amid promises to end war and restore civil

obedience• Also to roll back Great Society programs, which were seen

as tax burden at a time of rising military commitments, and as kowtowing to black radicals

Nixon/Ford & the Cold War• Realpolitik--(a Kissinger specialty)

– Disengagement in Vietnam (Vietnamization and bombing Laos/invading Cambodia)

– S Vietnam falls in 1975– Rapprochement with China (Ping-Pong Diplomacy)– Entente with Soviet Union (SALT)– Play USSR and China against each other– Foray into Arab-Israeli politics (Shuttle Diplomacy);

support for Shah and SAVAK– Conspiracy against Latin America--the overthrow

of Allende in ‘73; support for Somoza in Nicaragua– Conspiracy with Asia/Africa--support for Apartheid,

Marcos in Philippines

Nixon/Ford--domestic policy• Key: Watergate:• Break-in at Dem headqrters to “stop leaks” and

find out “what democrats know”• Trail from burglars uncovers secret ops and

slush fund • Nixon slated for impeachment over obstruction

of justice, resigns first• Pardoned by Ford• Begins lean years of the ‘70s, and paves way

for Reagan’s “Morning in America”

Economic trends/new conservatism• Guns and butter spending, outsourcing, and high oil prices

create stagflation (inflation and high unemployment)• Migration of wealth to southwest from rust belt

(Republican from Democrat)• Politics about local communities (environmentalism, anti-

tax crusades) & small gov’t initiatives (end of Great Society programs)

• Backlash/culture war against 1960s: religious evangelism--anti-ERA crusade, Right to Life, Moral Majority

• Reagan--the candidate of small-town values and small gov’t (1980)

Reagan--Domestic policies• Supply-side/Reaganomics--cut taxes and gov’t programs

to stimulate growth (Economic Recovery Tax Act/Omnibus

Reconciliation Act)• Regulatory agencies headed by industry chiefs• Labor shrank (FAA strike)• Wars on drugs, pornography• Rise in military spending, ending with SDI• Fiscal crisis over size of debt --> high interest rates/value

of dollar --> cont’d loss of manufacturing base• SEC scandals• Crime, homelessness, AIDS rise

Reagan--foreign policy• Went from hard-line cold warrior to detente-ist. Ends up seeking

nuclear stockpile reduction with Gorbachev in 2nd term.• Cold warrior elsewhere:• Central America--Nicaragua/El Salvador receive funds for war

against Left– Boland Amendment (1984)--Prez can’t athorize money for Nicaragua

w/o Congress’ approval

• Sponsorship of Iraq-Iran War• Subsequent Iran-Contra scandal breaks administration in 1986--

Reagan a lame-duck afterwards.– Selling of arms to Iran, and using funds as support of right-wing death

squads in Iran--gets around Congressional approval

End of the Cold War

• Overspending, overstretch (Afghanistan), perestroika, and loss of will to enforce will in Eastern Europe (Solidarity in Poland) lead to dissolution of USSR in ‘89

• “New World Order” by Bush I leads to redefinition of US power as humanitarian action or police action:– Panama (‘89)– Gulf War (‘91)– Somalia (‘92)– And Clinton’s use of force in the Balkans

US and Middle East• Long-standing policy of ensuring American access to oil

(Eisenhower Doctrine, Carter Doctrine)• Two policies: remove foreign presence (Suez Crisis, containment

of USSR influence from 1947-1973 -- see Arab-Israeli War of ‘73)• Support friendly regimes (protection for Shah, 1953-1979, Gulf

War of ‘91, arms sales to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, etc) and importance of Israel as regional bulwark since 1967, while weakening the unfriendly (Gulf War, Iran-Iraq War)

• Blowback since has been radical Islamic terrorism against US presence in Holy Land, tied to Palestinian occupation, beginning with hostage crisis in 1979, continuing through Beirut bombing in 1983, and on…

Civil Rights, phase one• Importance of WWII Progressivism and Cold War

Rhetoric• Importance of NAACP legal strategy• 1945-1956--for blacks, increasing gov’tal support for

ending legal segregation– 1941: Fair Employment Act– 1948: Executive Order 9981– 1954: Brown v Board of Education

Public backlash in Little Rock and Brown II decision (“all deliberate speed”) reveal limitations of civil equality by legislation

Civil Rights, phase two• Direct Action--cause a crisis in the white community

leading to legal enforcement of desegregation--blacks act themselves– Birmingham bus boycott, 56-57 (SCLC)– SNCC/CORE sit-ins/Freedom Rides 1960-61– Marches/boycotts throughout South in 1963 (Birmingham

Letter, March on Washington)– Leads to Civil Rights Act (1964) to outlaw public discrimination– Freedom Summer of 1964 designed to enroll blacks as voters,

but also to enforce fed regulation of voting rights – Violence/murders leads to Voting Rights Act of 1965 promising

fed enforcement of voting rights

Civil Rights, Phase 3• New turn caused by poverty and white violence; new

movements occur in North (site of economic segregation)--demands for anti-poverty programs

• Malcolm X-separation & self-reliance• Black Power--black self-worth, study white racism, black

culture• Black Panthers--self-defense• Summer riots in major industrial cities in mid-60s• Speak to incompleteness of Great Society programs• Black radicalism less effective for white rapprochement,

lead to conservative backlash and white power politics

Civil rights• Black Power a model for other minorities (asians,

hispanics, gays, women, Indians, even prisoners)• Rise in pride movements, studies programs, fiction

circles, even Panther-based movements, and union movements based on equal wages--usually aimed at end to public/private discrimination

• Usually derided as “identity politics”• American Indian Movement (AIM) most militant,

seizing Alcatraz in 1969, and holding out in Pine Ridge Rez (1973)

Civil Rights--Nat’l Politics• Executive support highest during LBJ’s presidency-has

tended to decrease in support since Reagan• Judicial branch--expanded definition of and fed support

for civil rights until early 1970s (Roe v Wade usually seen as watershed)

• Since then, a retrenchment in constitutional authority for enforcement of racial equality (end of affirmative action, etc.)

• Legislatively, Southern and Western states reflecting new conservatism have tended to block civil rights programs and to pass by initiative legislation to end state programs (combo of white backlash and small gov initiatives)