1. Life After WWII Demand Labor Unions GI Bill
Because of rationing, after war, demand for consumer goods increased sharply
Labor Unions
1946, number of strikes increased
Taft-Hartley Act (1947) Congress passed, decreased power of unions
Ex. President could stop strikes when national interest at stake
GI Bill
June 1944 FDR signed “government issue”
Included several features aimed to help vets make smooth transition
money for college
Advanced job training
Loans for home, farm, business
Help finding work or year of unemployment benefits

3. 1950s Home Front Baby Boom Racial Minorities
2 decades after WWII > dramatic increase in birthrate
Large families > increase in demand
Racial Minorities
Truman Executive Order 9981 (1948) ended segregation in armed forces
Hispanic vets formed American GI Forum to get veteran benefits

4. Baby Boom

5. Post-War Politics 1948 Presidential Election
Truman’s popularity with voters low, lacked support from fellow Democrats, Liberals broke off, Southerners were angry because of Truman’s support of Civil Rights
Seemed certain to lose
Republican candidate: Thomas Dewey
Whirlwind campaign > people responded to tough-talking, plain style

6. 1948 Presidential Election

7. Truman’s Fair Deal
Truman criticized Republican Congress as “do-nothings”
Fair Deal: programs in tradition of New Deal
Included federal health insurance program
Funding for education
Not supported by Congress

9. Global Issues World Bank (1944)
Organization for providing loans, advice to countries to reduce poverty
International Monetary Fund (1944)
System for promoting orderly financial relationships between countries; Designed to prevent economic crises & encourage trade/growth
United Nations (1945)
Organization in which nations agree to settle disputes peacefully; established commission on human rights
General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade (1946)
Agreement on rules, regulations for international trade; focused on reducing tariffs & trade barriers

10. 2nd Red Scare Growing fear of communism (1st in 1920s) because of:
Soviet atomic weapons (late Aug. 1949) Soviets detonated a-bomb
Mao Zedong victorious in Chinese Civil War (Communist)

11. Fighting Communism at Home
Hollywood 10
Most famous HUAC investigation
1947 HUAC collected names of Hollywood writers, producers, directors with radical views
They refused to answer questions > guilty of contempt > jail
Blacklist: list all major Hollywood employers refused to hire
HUAC
Since 1930s House of Representatives had (House on Un-Amer Activities Commission)
Purpose: investigate radical groups
Overtime, focused on communists

14. Communist Fears McCarran Act (1950) Atomic Energy Commission Truman
Congress passed; required communist organizations to register with government
Illegal to plan for totalitarian government
Tried to prevent communists from entering U.S.
Atomic Energy Commission
Accused a-bomb scientist Oppenheimer of communist sympathies > stripped of top-secret loyalty
Truman
Plan to investigate federal employees
3 million investigated > few 1000 resigned, 200 disloyal

15. Major Spy Cases Alger Hiss (1948)
Whittaker Chambers accused Hiss of 1930s plot to place communists inside U.S. government
Hiss denied
Chambers took investigators to Hiss’ farm & found carved out pumpkins with top-secret government microfilm “Pumpkin Papers”
Convicted of perjury > prison

16. Rosenberg’s Ethel & Julius (1951)
Brother in Manhattan Project accused them of providing atomic secrets to spy ring
Denied charges > refused to answer questions regarding political or communist involvement
Convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage
Death sentence > executed 1953

17. Senator Joseph McCarthy
Feb. 9, 1950 Speech, McCarthy claimed 250 known communists working for U.S. State Department
Charges created sensationalism > used to explain loss of China, Soviet development of a-bomb

19. McCarthyism McCarthyism Spread fear based baseless charges
Spread to universities, unions, businesses
Officials & employers feared failed compliance = soft on communism
Wild in charges, alcoholic, 1954 attacked U.S. Army > fall of career
“Good Night & Good Luck”