A look into the Political and Societal Changes in America The Post-War Era 1945-1959 A look into the Political and Societal Changes in America

GI Bill of Rights- Legislation providing aide to returning vets GI Bill of Rights- Legislation providing aide to returning vets. It assisted them in gaining tuition for school, a year’s worth of unemployment, and federally guaranteed loans. Suburbs- Small residential communities surrounding cities Dixiecrats- Southern Democrats against Civil Rights Fair Deal- Truman’s extension of FDR’s New Deal Academic Language

Students will be able to evaluate the impact of the political shifts in policy and party control in relation to social happenings during the Post-War Era Objective

How does President Harry S How does President Harry S. Truman compare to other American President’s when is comes to social advocacy? How does the American public respond? Essential Question

Many soldiers returned home to families they barely knew Many returning vets had either married, or had been dating, when they left for war They now looked to find a new life for themselves back in the US Life After War

Readjustment and Recovery After the war, over 10 million people left the armed forces and headed home It was not just the vets who needed to readjust to the war being over Businesses and society had to adapt too In 1944 Congress Passes the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (Or the GI Bill) Readjustment and Recovery

The Veteran Student

Also known as the GI Bill of Rights, the GI Bill is set up to assist veterans get aid when returning to civilian life Was passed in 1944, gave opportunities for military personnel to go to school, buy homes, and gain financial security while looking for work. By 1956, 2.2 million veterans had used the bill for education In that same time, 5.6 million had used funding from the bill for other professional training. What is the GI Bill?

When the soldiers returned they found that there were not enough houses! What we see is the development of rapidly growing communities called, suburbs Take a min and answer these questions with a partner: Do you live in a suburb? If so, of which city? How have suburbs changed over time? What would we call early suburbs now? The Repercussions

To help facilitate the rapid expansion of families and their needs, entrepreneur and developer William Levitt, created an assembly line way to create the homes that were in such high demand. Levittown: Develeoped by William Levitt in four major locations They could produce 150 house s per week They made a total of 17,447 houses Their first house cost $60 a month and had two bedrooms one bathroom and was 6,000 square ft house. Levittowns

Economic Crash The US Economy boomed due to war time needs After Japan surrenders, the United States laid off more than a million defense workers and cancelled over 35 million dollars worth of defense contracts Height of post-war unemployment reached 3 million Due to inflation and low wages, Congress had to intervene and set wage and price standards Economic Crash

Truman takes responsibility for the economic issues and follows the footsteps of his predecessor, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt He faced the threat of nation-wide strikes (Threatened to draft the strikers into the military and make them work) Due to his aggressive nature, the widely Republican Congress passed the Hartley Act (even over Truman’s Veto) to over turn much of the New Deal “The Buck Stops Here”

Truman and Civil Rights Truman widely supported the Civil Rights movement, which gained him many political rivals Truman worked to try and pass an antilynching law, stop to poll taxing, and a permanent Civil Rights Commission Congress will block his efforts “I am asking for equality of opportunity for all human beings… and if that ends up in my failure to be reelected, that failure will be in good cause.” -Harry S Truman Truman and Civil Rights

1948 Presidential Election Southern Democrats, Dixiecrats, wanted to deny the Presidential nomination to Truman by putting in S.C. Govenour J. Strom Thurmond The far left wanted to put up Henry Wallace as a Progressive candidate. Truman ends up gaining his party’s nomination and goes up against the Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey and J. Strom Thurmond. Almost every poll showed Dewey as an easy victor… 1948 Presidential Election

After his reelection, Truman pushed tried to push through his Fair Deal As an extension of FDR’s New Deal, Truman looked to create a compulsory health insurance and crop subsidy for farmers Many part of Congress (Northern Democrats, Dixicrats, and Republicans) rejected much of the Fair Deal Fair Deal Points that Passed Raise in minimum wage Expansion in Social Security Development to infrastructure (Irrigation systems) Money to build up public housing projects Truman’s Fair Deal

*This is the election where Eisenhower and Nixon win the Presidency by 55% *First Election where television is a major factor in the election (Checkers Speech) *Eisenhower coined the catchphrase “I Like Ike” *While Eisenhower was a Republican, he was so moderate both parties had wanted him to run on their platform 1952 Election

How does President Harry S How does President Harry S. Truman compare to other American President’s when is comes to social advocacy? How does the American public respond? Essential Question