Politics and Citizenship

(Colonial and revolutionary legacies, American political traditions, growth of democracy, and the development of the modern state.  Definining citizenship; struggles for civil rights.)

Usama Khan, Alyssa Fox, Natasha Olejar

Chapter 25: World War II

• Roosevelt ran for president (as a Democratic candidate) seeking a third term in the election of 1940 with running mate Henry Wallace, a liberal farm economist from Iowa.  Choosing an economist was a smart move because they were coming out of the Depression and Wallace truly understood the economy.  Roosevelt/Wallace won the election with 27 million votes to Republican candidate Wendell Willkie’s 22 million votes, carrying 38 out of the then 48 states.
• Because the war was not on American soil, the US government had to fight to “keep it alive” in the minds of Americans.  In order to this, The Office of War was created.  The Office of War controlled the news the American public received about the war, promoted patriotism, and tried to make sure Americans stayed in support of the war.  It would seem that this is an infraction of the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights because it limited freedom of speech by controlling what the Americans saw and heard.
• After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, President Roosevelt evacuated about 110,000 of the 127,000 Japanese living in the United States to internment camps.  These internment camps were similar to Nazi Concentration Camps.   However, today only Concentration Camps are seen as evil and wrong, while the US’s internment camps are somehow forgotten and overlooked.
• During World War Two, African Americans were still segregated from Whites in the army.  The United States government was willing to fight the racism the Germans showed towards Jews, Poles, Gypsies, Roman Catholics, etc, but still could not get over their own racism towards Blacks.  This seems like a conflict of interests.  What was the difference between the US government’s racism versus the Germans’?  Furthermore, these African Americans wanted to fight for their country, and having an integrated army could have strengthened our forces.  Not to mention, having an integrated army would have set a good example for citizens who were not in the army.  This would have showed Americans that Blacks were not inferior to Whites. 

Chapter 26: Postwar Growth and Social Change

• The government continued it's policy of encouraging big business and industrialization after the war.  The growth of business promoted American capitalism and maximized American profits.  The U.S. solidified it's position as the richest nation in the world during this thriving peacetime economy.
• Corporations' hold on the economy increased, yet workers started straying away from factories as the U.S. became more of a service producing nation instead of a goods producing nation
• Technology advanced rapidly, with the development of computers and calculators, and increasing influence of the television
• The baby boom occurred after the war, leading to a huge population growth
• The National Security Act (1947) created the Department of Defense to deal with defense spending as the Cold War escalated - most Americans were against communism

• Dwight Eisenhower elected first in 1952, and reelected in 1956, victories for the Republican party.

• The advent of the Cold War sparked greater government involvement in research, creating the National Institutes of Health in 1948 and the National Science Foundation in 1950.  The Atomic Energy Commission (1946) and the Department of Defense (1947) provided funding for research and development (R & D).

• The government added the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, and the words "In God We Trust" on all U.S. currency in 1955.  These additions were caused by the religious resurgence occuring in the U.S.  President Eisenhower even commented, "our government makes no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith - and I don't care what it is" (Nash 931).  The general feeling was that religion needed to be a huge part of life, but in reality, the knowledge of religion was quite shallow.
• The role of women was debated - "The American Woman's Dilemma": the debate about whether women should remain in the home (kitchen) or work outside the home
• Sexuality was a main issue in this time period: Alfred C. Kindsay published Sexual Behavioin the Human Male (1948), shocking the U.S. with his statistics pertaining to sex before marriage, homosexuality, and beastiality.  These statistics and the willingness to speak about sexuality reflects the mood of the time period - at least the underlying mood
• The "cultural rebels" didn't fit into the 1950s stereotypes - the "beat generation" was comprised of writes who wrote about unconventional values and challenged the time period's conformity

• African Americans began migrating to northern cities, but they could not escape racism.  Housing and employment were serious issues facing African Americans, as they were not accepted easily into northern cities.  Churches succeeded in banding together African Americans, leading them to the civil rights movement in future years.

• Latino immigrants from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Central America faced persistent discrimination, and like the African Americans, they banded together.  That's all they could do, especially when most were illiterate and unskilled.

• The Migratory Labor Agreement between the U.S. and Mexico brought in about 4.5 million Mexicans to work for Americans farmers as temporary helping hands due to a labor shortage.  These 4.5 million were joined by millions of illegal immigrants.

• Basically African Americans, Latinos, Mexicans, and Native Americans all faced serious discrimination and difficulties in the U.S.  Each group banded together to gain strength as a unit to fight discrimination years later.

Chapter 27: Chills and Fever During the Cold War

• Americans sought to spead their values of liberty, equality, and democracy - however, they did not realize that their country's "universal truths" may not work in other countries.
• Truman and Eisenhower provided a strong leadership for the U.S. in the early Cold War years, matching the strong Soviet leadership under Stalin [Truman finished out Roosevelt's 1944 term, was reelected in 1948; Eisenhower was elected in 1952]
• Truman himself said that he was "not big enough for this job" (i.e. the job of presidency and dealing with the complex post-war issues), although he learned quickly and soon made "rapid-fire" decisions concerning the Cold War
• Both Truman and Eisenhower viewed the Cold War issues as black and white, seeing communism as a threat to the entire world
• The Cold War seemed a war between capitalism and communism
• Containment was the keystone of American policy in the Cold War
• The Truman Doctrine: first major containment policy: "I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures" - Harry S. Truman's statement that became known as the Truman Doctrine
• The Truman Doctrine was directed at the eastern Mediterranean, playing off the Soviet threat that if Greece were to be "infected", that infection would spread to three more continents
• The Marshall Plan: it would assist ravaged nations while American economic ends were advanced
  • Truman said that the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan were "two halves of the same walnut"
  • The U.S. agreed to provide $17 billion over 4 years to 16 nations
  • Some viewed this plan as another step towards war
• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), started in 1949, included 12 nations, all of which agreed that an attack on one nation counted as an attack against all and required appropriate retaliation.  NATO was established to complement the economic plan already in action
• NSC-68: produced by the National Security Council in 1950
  • Built on the Truman Doctrine cataclysmic rhetoric
  • Insisted upon greater defensive spending to ensure the survival of the free world
• The Chinese Revolution, the Korean War stalemate, the Middle East struggles, and Latin American turbulence all enforced American idea of containment
• Americans feared communism lurking at home, creating the Red Scare
  • Truman created a Loyalty Program to have the FBI check into any suspicious "red" activity
  • The McCarran International Security Act of 1950 stated that any act that could contribute to conspiracy to create a totalitarian dictatorship in the U.S. was illegal
• Both Kennedy and Johnson shared the aggressive views provided by their predecessors as the Cold War continued into the 1960s and 1970s
• Kennedy was absolutely determined to deal with the Communist threat sternly - hence the Cuban missile crisis and his unwavering desire to "quarantine" the Cuban's missiles [calling this act a blockade would have been a statement of war, which Kennedy did not want]
• Johnson followed Kennedy's beliefs regarding the threat of communism - he and Kennedy both believed in the domino theory: if one country in a region fell, others would soon follow
• Vietnam: at first, 82% of the public thought American forces should remain in Vietnam until communism was destroyed there
• Students began questioning basic Cold War views: rallies and sit-ins began occuring as students began advocation peace, not war

Politics and Citizenship - Chapter 28 High Water and Ebb Tide of the Liberal State

Usama Khan

• To have been an American citizen during the 1960s would have been VERY interesting. Truman’s Fair Deal was trying to create a welfare state, as was the vision of FDR, supposedly. So the country was chaging dramatically. 

• Truman himself was a classic example of a product of the Missouri democratic political machine. He was a staunch old fashioned democrat, who never hesitated to let people know where he stood or what he thought. This was probably good for him because middle class working Americans were his political base.

• Truman followed Keynesian economic theory, which is that the government had to spend massive amounts of money to keep the economy going and employment up. He and the democrat party wanted to create a welfare state.

• After most of Truman’s plans failed miserably, (he could not fill FDR’s shoes) the Republicans swept both houses of Congress and many governorships (even in “blue” states) in 1946. This is more proof that massive government spending does not solve all of the economic woes of a nation. The fair deal was failing badly.

• The 80^th Congress was unsympathetic to Truman’s ideals (because they were Republicans?). They overrode his vetoes and crushed liberalism. Robert A. Taft, a Republican leader in the senate, got major tax cuts and the Taft-Hartley Act which severely limited the power of unions and strikes, just was the Wagner Act had done before it. Closed shops could be outlawed, and unionists were not allowed to be communists.

• The election of 1948 was an interesting one. The civil rights issue split the democrat party. Southern Democrats formed the States’ Rights, or Dixiecrat Party. They ran J. Strom Thurmond, governor of South Carolina as their presidential candidate, and ran on a platform of racial segregation.

• Meanwhile, Henry A. Wallace (Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, and Vice President under FDR at different points) who Truman had fired from his cabinet ran with the communists in the progressive party (not that all progressives were commies, but some were, and people were still weary of commies)
• The Republicans once again ran New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey.
• Truman won the election and the Democrats took both houses as well. It was a close election, but Truman had a better managed campaign, and the other parties split each others votes, so he won.
• People then again realized Truman and the Democrats sucked, so Eisenhower and the Republicans crushed Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson and the Democrats in the 1952 elections taking the presidency and both houses, and did the exact same thing in the 1956 election.
• Ike believed in “moderate Republicanism.” He realized that it was impossible to scale back the government, so really did not even bother trying. A true fiscal conservative, he slashed the budget and caused unemployment in order to avoid inflation. He also supported business interests and the privatization of utility companies.
• In the election of 1960 Kennedy and Johnson had the election bought for them, and even then they barely triumphed over Nixon. The wanted to stop unemployment, eliminate poverty, and give civil rights to blacks.
• Kennedy surrounded himself with smart people like McNamara the president of Ford.
•  Kennedy moderately succeeded in expanding the welfare state, and he created NASA and the Peace Corps.
•  Kennedy was shot in 1963 and LBJ succeeded him.
• Johnson beat Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election and went on to build a “Great Society.” (I advise my classmates to know the programs that were part of Great Society Legislation, but they do not really fit in the Politics and Citizenship theme)
• The Supreme Court also promoted liberalism (even though it was supposed to be a non – political entity) because Kennedy and Johnson appointed liberal judges whenever they got the chance.
• As with all programs, part of the Great Society succeeded, and part of it failed. Nixon beat George Wallace a third party candidate who ran on a racist platform, and the democrat nominee Hubert Humphrey because the war in Vietnam was unpopular, though the democrats still won both houses.
• Nixon lacked charisma, but was an effective leader. Intelligent people such as Kissinger were loyal to him.
• The Republicans, faced with wars, and oil embargos, tried to destroy the liberal state and impose law and order. Attorney General John Mitchell tried to shift the Supreme Court to the right, which he did with the exception of Roe v. Wade.
• Watergate destroyed Nixon, so he resigned in 1974, and was succeeded by Gerald Ford.
• Ford did not really do anything, so he was beaten in 1976 by Carter, a pathetic democrat who also did not really do anything.
• Most of our presidents from after FDR to before Reagan were just plain average, except Nixon who was awesome, and Kennedy who got shot, so it is not cool to say bad stuff about him.

Chapter 29: The Struggles for Social Reform

Chapter 30: The Revival of Conservatism

• During the 1980s the Republican Party reestablished its dominance. Nixon’s dream had come to a realization. The new deal policies of F.D.R were over, and the Republicans were determined to scale back the social welfare the state provided.
• Conservatives became more and more popular after the Vietnam War, and followed Jefferson’s view of small government. The Republicans wanted to cut back on government spending, downsize the government, reduce taxes, and reduce regulation. This represents a shift away from the 1970s.
• The Conservative movement’s moral positions attracted a wide a variety of people from different backgrounds.
• Conservative Republicans were better at using electronic propaganda than liberals, so they won more elections. Ironically, less people voted than ever before.
• Ronald Reagan crushed Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election, and times were good under him, or so people say.
• George Bush, who took over after Reagan, was not as popular after the Gulf War.
• Although Bill Clinton won the election of 1992, the Republicans had control of both houses. Newt Gingrich became the conservative’s voice.
• Republicans policies were to reverse the damage of the Carter years by following Reaganomics, i.e. cut taxes and spending will increase.
•  Although Reagan cut wasteful spending, he spent a huge amount on the United States Military (see war and diplomacy Ch. 30 for more information) 
• Reagan’s New Federalism seemed clashed with the ideals of Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society. Did they?
• Clinton beat Bush in 1992. This caused a liberal interlude, during which the Democrats tried to reform healthcare, promote NAFTA and free trade, and stop racism, all of which they failed miserably at, so in 1994, the Republicans swept both the House and the Senate. The Republicans also won many more governorships.
• Clinton won the 1996 election by working like a Republican and opposing Affirmative action, which was definitely a controversial conservative position.
• Jesse Jackson made two failed bids for the presidency. Now that Obama is president, is racism over?
•  Women gained rights during the 80s and 90s, though there was still a glass ceiling that they hit, and suffered from unequal pay. Were women incredibly ungrateful? (hint: the answer is yes)
• The Supreme Court was important during this time period, made several controversial, yet important decisions. Look them up.
• Latinos were discriminated against in school systems more than blacks, and very few of them went to college. Most of them worked as manual laborers.
• Native Americans were still suffering from the same problems they had always suffered from. They finally decided to become capitalists, and build casinos, though they were still the nation’s poorest group. When did Native Americans lose the game? Was it now? during the time of Jackson? colonial times?
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• The shift to a service economy and the growing numbers of machines and computers eliminated many traditional jobs American citizens had once held. The recessions America experienced did not help much either. (There is a lot of stuff about economics in Chapter 30 that is really interesting, but it is not my theme, so I will not cover it here. There is also a lot of interesting material about demographic changes. War and diplomacy can deal with the United States winning the Cold War and with operation Desert Storm, as well as other conflicts around the world.) 

Vocabulary

• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)- Founded on February 12, 1909, the NAACP's mission is to "ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination." (NAACP official Mission Statement)