1. Postwar America: The Affluent Society
HJH

2. The Fair Deal Truman asked Congress for:
national health insurance
increased minimum wage
full employment guarantee
civil rights for African Americans
Republican-controlled Congress blocked his programs, but Truman vetoed their tax cut
Desegregated armed forces by executive order in 1948

3. The Election of 1948

4. Population Growth and Shifts
20 million move from rural to urban areas
By 1970, 76 million in suburbs, 64 million in cities
Gov’t subsidized:
FHA insured builders’ loans & buyers’ mortgages
Veterans got additional benefits
Expressways built

5. Levittown

6. Levitt Home Styles

7. Levittowns

8. Building the New York Thruway

9. Postwar Economic Boom
White-collar workers outnumber blue-collar workers for first time
Rosie the Riveter went back to being Rosie the Secretary

10. Television & the Consumer Economy
Postwar marketing used powerful new medium of TV
Business model based on radio
Nationwide networks
Advertisers sponsors shows to reach demographic groups
Advertisers increasingly targeted teenagers
Increasing disposable income
Highly susceptible to emotional manipulation

11. Other Postwar Trends
Christian revival, but mainline Protestant churches focus more on soothing middle-class anxieties than preaching the gospel
Consensus & conformity characterize the national mood, but not a return to traditional values
Rev. Norman Vincent Peale

12. Eisenhower’s Dynamic Conservatism
U.S. & Canada agree to jointly develop St. Lawrence Seaway (1954)
1954 Housing Act supposed to build low-income housing for those displaced by urban renewal
Atomic Energy Act (1954) allowed private companies to build nuclear power plants
1956 Highway Act spent $31 billion to create 41,000-mile interstate highway system

13. Automobile America