Cold War and Culture: The Eisenhower Years, 1952-1960

“America has been in existence for 150 years and this is the level she has reached. We have existed not quite 42 years and in another seven years we will be on the same level as America. When we catch you up, in passing you by, we will wave to you.”

-Nikita Khrushchev, July 24, 1959

The 50s The 1950s have the popular image

of the “happy days,” when the nation prospered and teens enjoyed the new beat of rock and roll music

While middle-class suburbanites enjoyed their chrome-trimmed cars and tuned in “I Love Lucy” on their new television sets, the Cold War and threat of nuclear destruction loomed in the background

The maximum territorial extent of countries in the world under Soviet influence, after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 and before the official Sino-Soviet split of 1961

The Election of 1952 In the last year of Truman’s

presidency, Americans were looking for relief from the Korean War and an end to political scandals

Republicans nominated Dwight D. Eisenhower (“Ike”) and Richard Nixon for his running mate

The Democrats nominated Adlai Stevenson, a popular governor of Illinois (the darling of liberals for confronting McCarthyism)

Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Eisenhower/Nixon, Blue denotes those won by Stevenson/Kefauver. Orange is the electoral vote for Walter Burgwyn Jones by an Alabama faithless elector. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.

Campaign Highlights Eisenhower had a spotless record, but his running mate

Nixon had used campaign funds for his own personal use Nixon managed to defend himself and save his political

future by effectively using television to portray his positive virtues

In his so called Checkers speech, Nixon won the support of millions of viewers by tugging at their heartstrings

With his wife and daughters around him, he emotionally vowed never to return the gift of their dog Checkers

What became the decisive issue was Eisenhower’s pledge to go to Korea and end the war

Eisenhower won 55% of the popular vote and an electoral college landslide of 442 to 89

Eisenhower

Domestic Politics As president, Eisenhower

adopted a style of leadership that emphasized the delegation of authority

He filled his cabinet with successful corporate executives, such as General Motors’ head Charles Wilson

Modern Republicanism:-Eisenhower was a fiscal

conservative who curbed federal spending

-as a moderate on domestic issues, Eisenhower accepted and in some instances extended New Deal programs

Charles Wilson

Domestic Politics continued…

During Eisenhower’s two terms in office:(1) Social Security was extended to 10 million more

Americans(2) The minimum wage was raised(3) Additional public housing was built(4) Created the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

under Oveta Culp Hobby, the first woman in a Republican cabinet

(5) The creation of a soil-bank program that reduced farm production and thereby increased farm income

(6) He opposed the ideas of federal healthcare insurance and federal aid to education

This so called balanced and moderate approach was dubbed “modern Republicanism”

Critics called it “the bland leading the bland”

Interstate Highway System The most permanent legacy of the

Eisenhower years was the passage in 1956 of the Highway Act which:

(1) Authorized the construction of 42,000 miles liking major cities

(2) Justified new taxes on fuel, tires, and vehicles to bolster national defense

(3) Created an immense public works project creating jobs

(4) Promoted the trucking industry, accelerated the growth of suburbs, and contributed to a more homogeneous national culture

(5) Hurt the railroads and environment-little attention was paid to public transportation

Interstate Highways or in the cities-Freeways

Prosperity Eisenhower’s domestic legislation was modest

and during his years in office:(1) The nation enjoyed a steady growth rate

(inflation at 1.5%)(2) Deficits fell in relation to the national wealth(3) Per-capital income increased(4) The American family had twice the real income

of a comparable family during the boom years of the 1920s

(5) The postwar economy gave Americans the highest standard of living in the world

The Election of 1956 Toward the end of his term,

Eisenhower suffered a heart attack and Democrats questioned his health for a second term

The Democrats ran Adlai Stevenson again, however the results were the same-Eisenhower won by an even greater number than in 1952

It was a personal victory only-the Democrats retained control of both houses of Congress

Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Eisenhower/Nixon, Blue denotes those won by Stevenson/Kefauver. Orange is the electoral vote for Walter Burgwyn Jones by an Alabama faithless elector. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.

Eisenhower and the Cold War

Most of Eisenhower’s attention was focused on foreign policy and various international crises arising from the Cold War

The experienced diplomat who helped shape U.S. foreign policy throughout Eisenhower’s presidency was Secretary of State John Foster Dulles

John Foster Dulles served as U.S. Secretary of State under Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive moralistic stance against communism throughout the world.

Dulles’ Diplomacy Dulles was critical of Truman’s

policy of containment as too passive He advocated a “new look” to U.S.

foreign policy that:(1) Challenged the Soviets and Chinese(2) Wanted to liberate captive nations

of Eastern Europe and encouraged the Nationalist government of Taiwan to resist “Red” China

(3) Advocated the idea of pushing Communist powers to the brink of war to force them to back down or face nuclear annihilation (brinkmanship)

Dulles with president Eisenhower in 1956

Massive Retaliation Dulles advocated placing greater reliance on

nuclear weapons and air power (spend less on conventional forces of the army and navy)

In theory, this would save money, help balance the budget, and increase pressure on potential enemies

In 1953, the U.S. developed the Hydrogen bomb which could level cities (the Soviets developed the bomb within a year after)

To some, the policy of massive retaliation appeared more like a policy for mutual extinction

Nuclear weapons were a powerful deterrent against direct conflict between the superpowers, however, smaller wars could not be prevented

Operation Castle became the highest-yield nuclear test series ever conducted by the United States.

Unrest in the Third World The collapse of colonial

empires after WWII may have been the single most important development of the postwar era

Between 1947 and 1962, dozens of colonies in Asia and Africa gained independence

These Third World nations often lacked stable political and economic institutions –this made many of them reliant on the U.S. or Soviet Union for aid

Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder and first Governor General of Pakistan, delivering the opening address of the 1947 Constitutional Assembly, explaining the foundations for the new state of Pakistan.

Covert Actions

Part of the “new look” in Eisenhower’s conduct of U.S. foreign policy was the growing use of covert action

In 1953 the CIA played a role in overthrowing the government in Iran that had tried to nationalize the holding of foreign oil companies

The overthrow of an elected government allowed for the return of Reza Pahlavi, or the shah (monarch) of Iran

The Shah and his wife left Iran on 16 January 1979

Covert Actions...

The shah provided the West with favorable oil prices and made enormous purchases of American arms

In Guatemala (1954), the CIA overthrew a leftist government that threatened American business interests

It seemed that America supported corrupt and often ruthless dictators if those dictators were in opposition to Communism (led to poor relations in Latin America)

The Shah and his wife left Iran on 16 January 1979

Asia

Korean armistice:-soon after Eisenhower’s inauguration, he went to Korea

to visit U.N. forces and see what could be done to end the war

-With diplomacy, the threat of nuclear war, and the death of Stalin in March 1953 China and North Korea agreed to an armistice and exchange of prisoners

-Korea would remain divided near the 38th parallel, and despite years of negotiations, no peace treaty was ever concluded

Delegates sign the Korean Armistice Agreement in P’anmunjŏm, Korea

Asia continued…Fall of Indochina:-after losing their colonial possessions to the Japanese in

WWII, the French attempted to reassert themselves in Southeast Asia (Indochina)

-support for nationalists and Communists led by Ho Chi Minh resisted

-the U.S. sent aid to the French and the Soviets and Chinese aided the Viet Minh guerrillas

-after a disastrous defeat at Dien Bien Phu, the French tried to convince Eisenhower to send American troops (Eisenhower decline)

-At the Geneva Conference, the French agreed to give up Indochina, which was divided into the independent nations of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam

Division of Vietnam

By the terms of the Geneva Convention, Vietnam was temporarily divided at the 17th parallel until a general election could be held

The new nation became divided as two hostile governments took power on either side (in the North, Ho Chi Minh and the South, Ngo Dinh Diem)

The general election to unite Vietnam was never held because South Vietnam’s government feared that the Communists would win

Ho Chi Minh

Division of Vietnam

From 1955 to 1961, the U.S. gave over 1 billion in economic and military aid to South Vietnam

Eisenhower justified this action by making an analogy to a row of dominoes

According to the domino theory (later to become famous), if South Vietnam fell under Communist control, one nation after another in Southeast Asia would also fallHo Chi Minh

SEATO To prevent the “fall” to communism of South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, Dulles put together a regional defense pact called the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)

Eight nations, U.S., Great Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, and Pakistan, would agree to protect each other in case of attack within the region

The leaders of some of the SEATO nations in front of the Congress Building in Manila, hosted by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos on 24 October 1966

The Middle East

In the Middle East, the U.S. had the difficult balancing act of maintaining friendly ties with the oil-rich Arab states while at the same time supporting the new state of Israel

Israel was created in 1948 under U.N. auspices, after a civil war in the British mandate territory of Palestine left the land divided between the Israelis and the Palestinians

The term "Middle East" may have originated in the 1850s in the British India Office. However, it became more widely known when American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 1902 to "designate the area between Arabia and India“.

Suez Crisis Suez Crisis:-led by Arab nationalist General

Gamal Nasser, Egypt asked the U.S. for funds to build the ambitious Aswan Dam project

-U.S. refused, primarily because of Egypt’s threat to Israel

-the Soviets agreed to provide limited aid for the project (not enough)

-Nasser sensed an opportunity to gain more funding by precipitating a international crisis when he seized the British and French owned Suez Canal

The location of the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea.

Suez Crisis cont... -this act threatened

Western Europe’s supply line to Middle Eastern oil

-in a surprise attack, Britain, France, and Israel retook the canal

-the U.S. sponsored a U.N. resolution condemning the invasion of Egypt forcing the invading powers to withdraw

The location of the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea.

Eisenhower Doctrine The U.S. quickly replaced

Britain and France as the leading Western influence in the Middle East, but it faced growing Soviet influence in Egypt and Syria

In a policy pronouncement in 1957, Eisenhower pledged the support of the U.S. to any Middle Eastern nation threatened by communism (example: Lebanon (1958)-14,000 U.S. marines prevented an outbreak of civil war between Christians and Muslims)

Eisenhower and Vice President Richard Nixon with their host, King Saud of Saudi Arabia, Washington 1957

OPEC and Oil In Eisenhower’s last year in office, 1960, the Arab nations of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Iran joined Venezuela to form the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

The combination of growing Western dependence on Middle Eastern oil, spreading Arab nationalism, and a conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, complicated American foreign policy in the region

Current OPEC members

U.S.-Soviet Relations In terms of U.S. security,

nothing was more critical than U.S. diplomatic relations with its chief political and military rival-the Soviet Union

Throughout Eisenhower’s presidency, the relations between the two superpowers fluctuated between relative calm and extreme tension

Superpower rivalry

Spirit of Geneva After Stalin’s death in 1953, Eisenhower called for a

slowdown of the arms race and presented to the United Nations an “atoms for peace plan” (Soviets also showed signs of peace; established peace with Turkey and Greece)

By 1955, a desire for peace prompted a summit meeting in Geneva, Switzerland

Soviet premier Nikolai Bulganin (less than a year later replaced by Nikita Khrushchev) and Eisenhower discussed an agreement called “open skies,” allowing aerial photography over their territory to lessen the chance of a surprise nuclear strike

The Soviets rejected the proposal, however, the “spirit of Geneva” was widely seen as the first thaw in the Cold War

Hungarian Revolt

The Soviet Union after World War II dominated Hungary

Imre Nagy, a popular liberal Hungarian Communist leader formed a new government

He called for free elections, denounced the Warsaw Pact, and demanded that all Soviet troops leave Hungary (October of 1956)

The Soviet response was swift-tanks rolled into Hungary and put down the revolt

An estimated 30,000 Hungarians were killed and Nagy was executed

The United States and the U.N. did nothing (Ended Dulles’ talk of liberating Eastern Europe and the Soviets vetoed any U.N. resolutions that condemned actions by the Soviets)

Time's "Man of the Year" for 1956 was the Hungarian Freedom Fighter.

Sputnik Shock

After Stalin’s death in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev gained power and believed that communism could prevail peacefully by competing with the United States scientifically and economically

The space race was a key area of competition for the Soviets and the Americans

The Soviets struck first by launching Sputnik (a satellite) October 4, 1957; Americans were shocked

Americans blamed the schools as scientifically inadequate

Sputnik I: beep beep…

Sputnik Shock

In 1958, Congress responded with the National Defense and Education Act-giving millions of dollars to schools for science and foreign language education

In the same year, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was created to guide the building of missiles (rockets) and explore outer space

Less than a year later after a humiliating launch that blew up, the United States finally launched their first satellite into orbit

Sputnik I: beep beep…

The Second Berlin Crisis Khrushchev boasted, “We will bury

capitalism” and told the United States and the West that they had 6 months to leave West Berlin

The United States refused, and instead, Eisenhower invited the Soviet premier to visit the United States

At the presidential retreat of Camp David in Maryland, the two agreed to put off the crisis and schedule another summit conference in Paris for 1960

Nikita Khrushchev

U-2 Incident U-2 spy planes were flying over Soviet

territory since 1957, and the Soviets were aware of these flights starting in 1958

A U-2 plane, piloted by Francis Gary Powers, was shot down in 1960

The U-2 incident caused tension between the U.S. and Soviets and effective killed the friendly “spirit of Camp David”

Eisenhower took full responsibility for the incident and Khrushchev called off the Paris summit

Francis Gary Powers

Communism in Cuba Perhaps more alarming than any other

Cold War development during the Eisenhower years was the loss of Cuba to communism

Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and nationalized American owned businesses and properties in Cuba

Eisenhower retaliated by cutting of trade which forced Castro to seek help from the Soviets

Within a year, Castro announced the creation of a communist state which prompted Eisenhower to authorize a CIA mission to train Cuban exiles and plan an attack to liberate the island

Fidel Castro becomes the leader of Cuba as a result of the Cuban Revolution

Eisenhower’s Legacy After leaving the White House:(1) Eisenhower claimed credit for checking

communist aggression and keeping the peace without the loss of American lives in combat

(2) Relaxed tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union

(3) He initiated the first arms limitations by voluntarily suspending above ground testing of nuclear weapons

In his farewell address, Eisenhower warned against the negative impact of the Cold war on U.S. society

He also warned the nation to “guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence…by the military industrial complex”

Eisenhower’s White House portrait

Popular Culture of the Fifties

Among white suburbanites, the 1950s were marked by conformity to social norms

Consensus about political issues and conformity in social behavior were safe harbors for Americans troubled by foreign ideology of communism

At the same time, the fifties were the hallmark of a consumer-driven mass economy

The Fifties

Consumer Culture and Conformity

Television, advertising, and the middle-class move to the suburbs contributed mightily to the growing homogeneity of American culture

Television:-television programming was dominated by three

national networks which presented viewers with a bland menu of comedies, westerns, quiz shows, and sporting events

-critics of TV, such as FCC chairman Newton Minnow, called this new media a “vast wasteland” and worried about its impact on children

-yet TV became a cultural phenomenon

Consumer Culture and Conformity continued…

Advertising:-in all the media, aggressive advertising by name

brands also promoted common material wants-the introduction of suburban shopping malls and

plastic credit cards provided quick gratification for Americans

-the proliferation of McDonald’s yellow arches on the roadside was an example of how successful new marketing techniques and standardized products became in America

Paperbacks and records:-Americans read more books than ever before

(introduction of paperbacks)-long-playing (LP) records become mass produced

and cheap-Teenagers fell in love with Rock and Roll music

(Elvis Presley became the king!)

In the mid-1950s Elvis Presley became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll

Corporate America

In the business world, conglomerates with diversified holdings began to dominate such industries as food processing, hotels, transportation, insurance, and banking

For the first time in history, more American held white-collar jobs than blue-collar

Large corporations of this era promoted teamwork and conformity (especially dress code)

Big Unions became more powerful after the merger of the AF of L and the CIO in 1955 (unions became more conservative as blue-collar workers enjoyed the middle-class)

For most Americans, conformity was a small price to pay for the new affluence of a home in the suburbs, a new automobile, good schools for children, and a possible vacation (Disneyland opens 1955)

Sleeping Beauty Castle, the icon of Disneyland Park

Religion Organized religion expanded

dramatically after WWII with the building of thousands of new churches and synagogues

Will Herberg’s book Protestant, Catholic, Jew commented on the new religious tolerance of the times and the lack of interest in doctrine, as religious membership became a source of both individual identity and socialization

Women’s Role The baby boom and running a home in the suburbs made

homemaking a full-time job for millions of women In the postwar period, the traditional view of a women’s role

as caring for children and the home was reaffirmed in the mass media and in the best-selling self-help book-Baby and Child Care (Dr. Benjamin Spock)

At the same time, evidence of dissatisfaction was growing, especially among well-educated women of the middle class

More married women, especially as they reached middle age, entered the workforce

Yet women in the fifties were viewed as wives and mothers, and women’s lower wages reflected this attitude

Social Critics Not everyone approved of the social trends of the

1950s:(1) In The Lonely Crowd, Harvard sociologist David

Riesman criticized the replacement of “inner-directed” individuals in society with “other-directed” conformists

(2) In The Affluent Society, the economist John Kenneth Galbraith wrote about the failure of wealthy Americans to address the need for increased social spending for the common good

(3) The sociologist C. Wright Mills portrayed dehumanizing corporate worlds in White Collar (1951) and threats to freedom in The Power Elite (1956)

Social Critics continued…

Novels:-some of the most popular novelists of

the fifties wrote about the individual’s struggle against conformity

-J.D. Salinger provided a classic commentary on “phoniness” as viewed by a troubled teenager in The Catcher in the Rye (1951)

-Joseph Heller satirized the stupidity of the military and war in Catch-22 (1961)\

Beatniks:-a group of rebellious writers and

intellectuals made up the Beat generation of the 1950s

-Led by Jack Kerouac and poet Allen Ginsberg, the Beatniks advocated spontaneity, use of drugs, and rebellion against social standards

-the Beatniks became the models for the youth rebellion of the sixties

Beat, Beat, Beat by William F. Brown

Key Names, Events, and Terms Dwight Eisenhower Richard Nixon Modern Republicanism Oveta Culp Hobby Soil-bank program Highway Act (1956);

interstate highway system

John Foster Dulles; brinkmanship

Massive retaliation Third World Iran Covert action Indochina Geneva Conference

Ho Chi Minh Vietnam Domino theory Southeast Asia Treaty

Organization (SEATO) Suez Canal crisis (1956) Eisenhower Doctrine Organization of Petroleum

Exporting Countries (OPEC) “spirit of Geneva” Open skies crisis Nikita Khrushchev Peaceful coexistence Hungarian revolt Warsaw Pact

Key Names, Events, and Terms

Sputnik National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA) U-2 incident Fidel Castro Cuba Military-industrial complex Corporate America Consumer culture The Lonely Crowd, David Riesman The Affluent Society, John Kenneth

Galbraith Beatniks

Question

U.S. intervention in Iran in 1953 and in Guatemala in 1954 are examples of

(a) the use of covert action by CIA(b) the application of the Eisenhower Doctrine(c) U.S. efforts to stop the proliferation of

nuclear weapons(d) the use of U.S. troops to support democratic

governments(e) the policy of brinkmanship

Answer

A: the use of covert action by CIA

Question

The United States during the Eisenhower years was characterized by

(a) decreased spending for defense(b) breakup of conglomerates(c) increased tension between

Protestants, Catholics, and Jews (d) increased middle-class affluence(e) radical protests on college campuses

Answer

D: increased middle-class affluence