1. Eisenhower and the 1950s
Page 61
NCSCOS Goal 11

2. I Like Ike -Korean War ends Truman’s popularity
-1952 election won by Dwight Eisenhower
Nixon is V.P.
-Middle or Straight Road policies
Modern Republicanism
Ike pursues policies between Laissez-faire and New Deal activism
Conservative when it comes to money but liberal when it comes to human beings

3. Korean War -Korean War had destroyed Truman’s popularity
-Eisenhower pledged an end to the war
-War ends in a cease fire at the original 38th parallel
President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Vice President Richard M. Nixon were elected in 1952 with a pledge to end the Korean War. One year after their election, the war ended in an armistice.

4. Communist Fears -McCarthyism Ike never directly challenged his claims
-Spy cases kept issue before the public
-development of a hydrogen bomb that is much more powerful
Strength = 1 million tons of TNT
-scientists opposed the new weapon but it proceeded
st H-bomb is tested
More dangerous
-1953 USSR tests their own H-bomb

5. Brink of War Brinkmanship – always on the brink of war
-John Foster Dulles was Sec. Of State – Anti-Communist
-containment of communism based on threat of war
– will use force if necessary
-massive retaliation using nuclear weapons
-reduced size of regular forces and buildup of nuclear arsenal
Build air force to deliver bombs
-Began the arms race
Development of nuclear arsenal
The U.S. felt that it could prevent the spread of communism by promising to use all of its force, including nuclear weapons, against any aggressor nation. The willingness of the U.S. to go to the edge of all-out war became known as brinkmanship. Under this policy, the U.S. trimmed its army and navy and expanded its air force and its buildup of nuclear weapons. The Soviet Union followed suit.

6. The Effects of the Arms Race

7. Brink of War
-citizens build backyard bomb shelters and practice air raid drills
-”Duck and Cover”
The threat of nuclear attack was unlike any other. Even if only a few bombs reached their targets, millions of civilians would die. Schoolchildren practiced air-raid drills and some families built underground fallout shelters in their backyards.

9. Fallout Shelter Handbook
from 1962

10. Cold War Spreads -newly developed CIA
-covert actions in Iran and Guatemala
Contains communism
-1953, Joseph Stalin died and tensions seemed to relax
Nikita Krushchev
-Warsaw Pact formed in 1955
Soviet alliance
-Eisenhower Doctrine--stated again that the U.S. should try to defend any nation against communism
Even satellite nations
After Stalin’s death in 1953, the Soviet Union had no well-defined way for one leader to succeed another. For the first few years, a group of leaders shared power. As time went by, one man, Nikita Khrushchev, gained power. He believed that communism would take over the world, but he thought it could triumph peacefully. He favored a policy of peaceful coexistence in which two powers would compete economically and scientifically.

11. Intercontinental ballistic missile
Space Race
-1957, USSR develops ICBM
Intercontinental ballistic missile
new threat of long range nuclear attack
-Oct. 1957, USSR launches Sputnik
confirms development of ICBMs
Proves that USSR has better technology
-great embarrassment to the U.S.
creation of NASA to catch up
-U.S. launches satellite in early 1958
-Race to Space and the Moon had begun
In the competition for international prestige, the Soviets leaped to an early lead in what came to be known as the space race. On October 4, 1957, they launched Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. Sputnik traveled around the earth at 18,000 mph, circling the globe every 96 minutes. Its launch was a triumph in Soviet technology.

12. U-2 Incident -U.S. intelligence begins spy missions over USSR
-U-2 Spy plane was supposedly undetectable
Took pictures of troop movement and missile sites
-Soviet Summit scheduled
Meeting between U.S. and USSR about the arms race
-May, 1960
USSR knows we were spying
-Cold War escalates
New tensions

13. American Dream for Business
Modern Republicanism = laissez-faire
-dream of a successful life
People working in higher-paying jobs
-growth of big business
conglomerates - own different types of businesses to prevent bankruptcy
franchising - company that offers similar products in different places
-conformity
individuality disappears in corporate life
Businesses don’t want creativity
Fast-food restaurants developed some of the first and most successful franchises. McDonald’s, for example, had its start when the McDonald brothers developed unusually efficient service, based on assembly-line methods, at their small drive-in restaurant in California. They simplified the menu, featured 15-cent hamburgers, and mechanized their kitchen. The McDonald brothers sold their franchise rights to Ray Kroc, who improved the assembly-line process and introduced the “Golden Arches.”

14. Consumerism Middle class in America has and spends money
-buying of material goods
More goods you have = success
-new products
polyester, Teflon, electronics
-planned obsolescence
Make products wear out in short time so people buy more
Expect new/better products
-credit cards
Buy now, pay later
-advertising influence
Encouraged more spending (esp. on TV)
Consumers purchased electric household appliances--such as washing machines, dryers, blenders, freezers, and dishwashers--in record numbers. With more leisure time to fill, people invested in recreational items. They bought televisions, record, players, and tape recorders.

15. Dwight Eisenhower, Farewell Address, 1961
Eisenhower Legacy
-Ended Korean War
-Red Scare Continues
Communist paranoia continues
-Space Program Begins
NASA
-Economic Boom of the 50’s
-Return to more Conservative government
“Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action…We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications…In government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”
Dwight Eisenhower, Farewell Address, 1961