Chapter 22 & 23

G. I. Bill

Taft-Hartley Act The Taft Hartley Act was passed to try to limit the power of labor unions. This act instituted the idea of the Open Shop which meant that a worker did not have to join the union to work at a company. States with heavy union activity used a Closed Shop, which meant that the worker had to join the union to work at an establishment.

Truman and the Steel Strike The 1952 steel strike was by the United Steelworkers of America against U.S. Steel The strike was scheduled to begin on April 9, 1952, but President Truman nationalized the steel industry hours before the workers walked out. The steel companies sued to regain control of their facilities. the Supreme Court ruled in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, that the president lacked the authority to seize the steel mills.

The Fair Deal The Fair Deal was the name of Truman’s legislative agenda. Included in the program was a raise of the minimum wage, a national housing, an expansion of Social Security and a Civil Rights Bill Congress passed all of the agenda except the Civil Rights bill.

The Election of 1948 Sometimes referred to as the Miracle of 1948 It was taken for granted that Truman would be defeated in the wake of desegregating the Army. He was opposed by Thomas Dewey representing the Republicans and by Strom Thurmond representing the Dixiecrats. The Dixiecrats were a pro-segregation, states rights party that formed in opposition to integration. Truman won the election in one of the greatest upsets in electoral history.

The Checkers Speech The Checkers Speech is one of the most famous political stunts ever pulled. Nixon was the vice presidential candidate in 1952 and it was found that he was using unreported payments from businessmen to maintain his lifestyle. Nixon went on national television and convinced the American people to support him in one of the most maudlin speeches ever written.

Election of 1952 The election of 1952 was a referendum on the Cold War. People were tired of reform by the Democrats and wanted a return to a more conservative president. They chose Dwight D. Eisenhower. His politics were a mystery, he was courted by both the Republicans and Democrats He described his politics as “dynamic conservatism” What this meant was that he would follow a more conservative agenda, but would not simply do nothing like the last Republican president, Hoover, had done.

Interstate Highway Act of 1956

Multinational Corporations

The Organization Man The Organization Man was a bestselling book by William H. Whyte It is considered one of the most influential books on management ever written. A central idea of the book is that average Americans believed in a collectivist ethic rather than to rugged individualism. He observed that this system led to risk-averse executives who faced no consequences and could expect jobs for life as long as they made no egregious missteps.

The Beats

The Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a group of American post-World War II writers who came to prominence in the 1950s. Central elements of "Beat" culture included experimentation with drugs, alternative forms of sexuality, an interest in Eastern religion, a rejection of materialism, and the idealizing of exuberant means of expression Allen Ginsberg's Howl William S. Burroughs's Naked Lunch Jack Kerouac's On the Road Both Howl and Naked Lunch were the focus of obscenity trials that ultimately helped to liberalize publishing in the United States. The Beat Generation developed a reputation as new bohemian hedonists, who celebrated non-conformity and spontaneous creativity.

Transistors

The Other America by Michael Harrington

Suburbia