PART ONE - Eisenhower - Tranquility and crisis : 1953 - 1960

What factors would affect segregation

Education, Race, Socioeconomic, Gender

What beliefs did Earl Warren have

Anti-segregation

What was education like for African Americans in the South?

Went with separate but equal ruling - obviously unequal in practice

• South Carolina spent 3x more on its white schools compared to black schools

• They also spent 100x times more on transport for white school children than black school children

  • white children are able to go to better school further away but black children don’t get this choice

What were the 2 significant events in the civil rights movement in education?

Brown v Topeka Board of Education - 1954

Little Rock Nine - 1957

What lead to Brown v Board?

The NAACP are looking to challenge the system of separate but equal but need community support & an example.

Oliver Brown’s daughter had to travel 21 blocks to the nearest all black -school in Topeka Kansas despite there being a better all white school only 7 blocks away.

When Brown asks the white principal if his daughter to attend he’s rejected and he turns to the NAACP for help.

What lead to Little Rock 9/crisis?

1957 - very little had been done in Arkansas to desegregate schools despite it being 3 years post Brown v Board.

The local newspaper - Arkansas State Press - campaigned to force desegregation and the school board agreed with this.

This led to 9 black students being registered to go to Little Rock Central High School - a white school - in Sept 1957.

What happened in Brown v Board?

• In 1951, the NAACP are able to put together a case with Oliver Brown & other black families

• They take this to the District Court in June 1951

• The court agrees that segregated schools put black children at a disadvantage but that they should support the Board of Education as the Supreme Court never overturned Plessy v Ferguson

• They take the case to the Supreme Court in Oct 1951

• In May 1954 the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in schools should end

What happened in Little Rock 9?

• Before the students were even meant to first attend school, Governor Orval Faubus called in the National Guard in Arkansas - he said that this was to maintain law and order for when the students arrived but it was actually to keep the black students out

• On advice from the school board the 9 students don’t attend the first day but try to go on the 2nd with escorts & are blocked by the National Guard & receive lots of harassment from the white public

• Over the next 18 days they continue to try to get in but are blocked each time

• At the same time Eisenhower is trying to convince Faubus to obey Brown v Board but he refuses & this becomes a state gov vs fed gov issue

• The students are finally able to sneak into the school - 23rd Sept - but had to leave for their safety as the news of this led to a white mob attacking groups of black people

• Eisenhower does nothing about it

• 24th - another white hate mob turned up at the school and Eisenhower is forced to send in paratroopers to escort the Little Rock 9

• Eisenhower also federalised control over the Arkansas National Guard

What improvements did Brown v Board make?

Ended the legal segregation of schools

What improvements does Little Rock 9 make?

The situation becomes a massive media sensation and becomes brilliant propaganda for the NAACP and influences the white opinion.

The Supreme Court continues to pass laws & passes Cooper v Aaron which called any law that sought to keep public schools segregated unconstitutional.

What role did different groups play in Brown v Board?

• NAACP - take and build a case to the Supreme Court

  • Thurgood Marshall is the lawyer for this

• Black community - join together and allow the NAACP to even make a case - Oliver Brown even though doing this endangers them

• Supreme Court - actually pass Brown v Board

  • Earl Warren is the leader of the Supreme Court and is a more liberal member - without him the ruling may have passed differently

What role did different groups play in Little Rock 9?

• The Little Rock 9 - the 9 students were endangered because of the white mobs etc & so were very brave

• Orval Faubus - used the National Guard to prevent the Little Rock 9 from entering the school and refused to obey federal law

• Eisenhower - sends in support for Little Rock 9 and federalises the National Guard but only when he absolutely has to

• Arkansas State Press - their campaigning is was eventually leads to this whole situation

• The media/press - Little Rock 9 gains national and international attention because of how much harassment the black students get and this is all reported on and even recorded

When was Brown v. Board?

May 1954

What were the consequences & significance of Brown v Topeka Board or Education?

• Huge success for NAACP‘s campaign against segregated education in law as Brown essentially removed all of Plessy v Ferguson related to education

• However this was limited because there was do deadline set by the Supreme Court as to when school had to be desegregated by

  • this was done by Warren as to not anger white supremacists too much

• Angry white reaction - White Citizens Council formed quickly in the South to defend segregation & by 1956 had 250,000 members

• Acceptance of the ruling varied - desegregation happened more easily in the periphery & urban areas of the South - DC but not in the Deep South e.g. Alabama

  • Some school boards stayed segregated by manipulating entry criteria

• Brown became a central issue in Southern politics - nearly all Southern politicians signed the Southern Manifesto saying they were committed to fight against the Brown ruling & so go against the Supreme Court

What were the consequences/significance of Little Rock 9 (- already listed improvements)?

• The paratroopers Eisenhower sent in to escort the Little Rock 9 stayed until Nov & the National Guard stayed under federal control for 1 year

• 8 of the Little Rock 9 stayed on for the school year but were treated badly by some students

• The next academic year Faubus closed all the schools in Little Rock instead of desegregating them like Eisenhower had feared

  • Little Rock Central High only opened with a desegregated population in 1960

• Faubus’ popularity grew & KKK membership increased

• Showed that Supreme Court rulings met tremendous grassroots action in practice

• Showed that Southern white dominated law enforcement gave no protection to African Americans

• Lots of Congressional criticism of Eisenhower’s intervention by e.g. JFK

• The power of TV is highlighted in Little Rock

• Made the civil rights movement aware that they needed more than relying on court decisions - other forms of activism was needed

What were the reactions to Brown from the civil rights movement?

Mainly positive but there are some criticisms about the fact that the ruling couldn’t force people to like integration -

"How much satisfaction can I get from a court order for somebody to associate with me who does not wish me to be near them?"

What can we learn from Little Rock about Eisenhower’s attitude to Civil Rights?

• Not interested in publicly committing to the issue of de-segregation too firmly

• Unwilling to take a moral leadership role - he said he’d only intervened due to a breakdown of law and order

• Concerned about the potential disturbances

• Concerned about the challenge to federal authority from southern state governments

• Concerned about the propaganda risks - Eisenhower says “our enemies are gloating”

When was Emmett Till murdered

1955

Where was Emmett Till murdered

Mississippi

What happened to the men that murdered Emmett Till

They were acquitted, admitted their guilt to a journalist for a cash fee

What did Till’s mother do that caused sensation in the Media

Held open casket funeral

What was Rosa Parks involvement in the Civil Rights Movement before the bus boycott?

• When her family moved to Montgomery where she learned about the 1900 Black Boycott and its success before the 1920s Klan revival

• She married her husband in 1931 who was a founder of the NAACP in Montgomery & Parks later joined in 1942 after her brother had been drafted

• 1943 - Parks clashed with bus driver James Blake when she attempted to board his bus at the front saying she’d never board his bus again

• Parks was inspired by Ella Baker - the NAACP’s top female worker - in 1946 at a leadership training seminar

• In August 1955 she was one of 30 who turned up to hear the new preacher MLK address an NAACP meeting after Brown’s success

• She was able to receive training at Highlander Folk School which was a centre for the study of worker & black rights with support from her (liberal white) employers

What were the rules about segregation on buses

First 10 rows reserved for white people, black passengers could not sit next or parallel to white passengers, if the bus was full black passengers would stand or denied entry

When did the bus boycott start

1955

What role had Rosa Parks had in the NAACP

Secretary

What pushed Rosa Parks to become a test case for the NAACP?

She had been excited about the bus boycott in Baton Rouge in 1953 and was disappointed when it had been called off just as it had started to have effects.

Her training at Highlander Folk School pushed Rosa to work harder for freedom.

Claudette Colvin - a 15 year old girl who attended the NAACP youth meetings & was under Parks mentorship and was almost picked to be the test case but Parks highlighted the way the press would depict Colvin badly.

What did Rosa Parks do on Dec 1st 1955?

She boarded Blake’s bus and refused to give up her seat when her & 3 other black people were told to give up their seats to a white man wouldn’t have to sit by them- she wasn’t planted by the NAACP she chose to do this because of her beliefs.

She was then arrested for this where in jail she was treated badly.

What happened to Rosa Parks after Dec 1st 1955?

Parks agreed to become a test case for the NAACP despite warning from her husband.

She lost her job at a Montgomery Dpt store after this and the Park’s landlord raised their rent.

They also received phoned death threats.

How long did the bus boycott last

Almost a year

What happened in the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

• On the day of Parks’ trial a one day boycott was held – its aim was first-come-first-served seating rather than an end to segregation

• When this was rejected, the boycott was continued for a year

• Most of the city’s 50,000 black population took part. They walked to work, and were involved in car-pooling

• It had a real impact because most bus users in Montgomery were black so the boycott really hit the finances of the bus companies

• Northerners made collections for Montgomery blacks to help with carpooling

• The boycott was called off when desegregated buses started operating in December 1956 following the Supreme Court ruling

Who had helped organise the bus boycotts?

• The NAACP and Alabama State College offered to help

• The NAACP worked with church leaders especially the minister at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Dr Martin Luther King, who allowed his church to be used as a meeting place to plan a bus boycott

• King became the leader of the boycott – the NAACP lacked the influence of the church and the Alabama State College employees risked being sacked so there wasn’t really an alternative

• He headed a new umbrella organisation, the Montgomery Improvement Association. Jo Anne Robinson (Women’s Political Council) played a key organisational role

• In June 1956 the NAACP part funded a case in which the federal district court said segregation on the buses was unconstitutional (BROWDER v. GAYLE).

What was the white public’s reaction to the Montgomery Buss Boycotts 1955-56?

• The white Montgomery Citizen’s Council organised opposition

• Its membership doubled from 6000 in February 1956 to 12,000 by March

• Black taxi drivers had supported the boycott by agreeing to ferry passengers at below-market rates, but the city banned this practice.

• King was arrested, first for a speeding offence

• City officials also arrested King and more than 80 boycott leaders, using a 1921 law that prohibited actions obstructing lawful business

• King’s family home was bombed

When was it declared that segregation on buses was unconstitutional?

Nov 1956. This ruling came into effect on 20th December 1956

Who emerged as an important figure during the bus boycotts

Martin Luther King

What were the types of consequences/significance of the Montgomery Bus Boycotts?

Limited -

• In Montgomery the boycott was a limited victory as apart from the buses the city remained segregated

Symbolic -

Practical -

What were the symbolic consequences of the Montgomery Bus Boycotts?

Symbolic -

• It was a small victory with big implications - it had been the result of black orgs that that been developing for years

• Demonstrated the power of community action & specifically non-violent action

• Demonstrated the importance of churches in the CR movement

• Revealed the determined racism of many white Southerners & how white extremism frequently helped to increase black unity & determination

• Showed there were some white people e.g. Rev Gratez who supported the CR movement & the boycott

What were the practical consequences of the Montgomery Bus Boycotts?

Practical -

• Inspired similar bus boycotts in the South

• Showed continued effectiveness of NAACP strategy of working through the law courts & importance of dedicated individuals like Rosa Parks

• Inpsired more Northern white support & more cooperation between Norther & Southern black people

• Inspired other - Melba Pattillo who was one of the Little Rock 9

• Emergence of MLK as the CR movements leader

• Formation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957 by MLK

Why was Eisenhower more reluctant to support Civil Rights than Truman?

• Grew up in an all white town in the South - lack of motivation due to upbringing

• Said he feared the emotional strains that would arise from desegregating schools - why he doesn’t comment etc on Brown v Board etc

• Ideologically opposed large scale fed intervention - why he rejected the re-establishment of the FEPC

• Political reasons - lack of support allowed him to pick up some white Southern votes - doesn’t want a split party like in 1948 election with Dems

How did Eisenhower interact with Black people in politics/as staff?

• Eisenhower only employed one black staff member - E.Frederic Morrow in 1955 - Morrow said he faced racism inhis office as clerks would refuse to file for him etc & that Eisenhower never asked him about civil rights

• Eisenhower also only met with Black leaders - King, Wilkins & Randolph once

• He also disliked Adam Clayton Powell and his attempt to make federal aid for school building contingent on desegregation

• Eisenhower’s staff also held racist views - e.g. that black orgs over-dramatised incidents of racial injustice

How was Emmett Till’s case an example of how Eisenhower had a lack of leadership in Civil Rights?

August 1955 - Emmett Till’s body was discovered and his mother held an open coffin funeral

Till had been accused of whistling at a white woman and the defence argued that Till was alive & in Chicago despite this being horribly false.

Eisenhower made no comment despite the horrible comments & accusations - contrasts to Truman’s support of black soldiers post WW2.

What were Eisenhower’s promised in terms of Civil Rights?

• 1st State of Union Address - calls an end to racial discrimination but doesn’t say the gov will do this

• Reaffirms Truman’s commitment to desegregate the military - African Americans still didn’t get equality in promotions etc

• Didn’t aim nor want to do anything significant about black people’s problems but he inadvertently managed to do so with Brown v Board

What had the south implemented to prevent black people from voting

Literacy tests

What was the Civil Rights Act of 1957?

• Prosecution of anyone who tried to prevent someone for voting

• Aimed to ensure all citizens could vote

• Proposed a new Justice Dept division to monitor civil rights abuses & a bipartisan civil rights commission report

• Eisenhower initially supports it in his State of Union address but goes against this when it received criticism from Dems -

  • said he didn’t know what was actually in it

• Dems worked to weaken the bill & Eisenhower doesn’t fight to keep it intact and was even filibustered against by Thurmond

What did the Civil Rights Act of 1957 actually do?

Did very little to help African American people exercise the vote as any offical indicted for obstructing a black voter would be judged by a white court.

What was the 1960 Civil Rights Act?

• Intro’d as he was concerned about bombings of black schools, churches etc

• He considered the bill to be moderate but it was watered down again by Dixiecrats

• Became law as both parties wanted to court the black vote in the election year

• Established penalties for obstructing black voters voting

How significant were the 1960 & 1957 Civil Rights Acts?

Not very -

Significant - first civil rights acts post reconstruction and lead to a small increase in black voters, acknowledged fed responsibility in civil rights & encouraged activists to work for more legislation

Insignificant - only increased by 3% and didn’t really work in practice e.g. 1957 one & critiqued by contemporaries

How did the Cold War effect Eisenhower’s actions in Civil Rights?

• Lack of action could be in order to show national unity in the Cold War as he did’t want to antagonise America’s white majority

• This ended up making Black communist sympathetics very unpopular especially among trade unionists so damaged the overlap of labour & civil rights

• Helped the movement as not supporting it made the US look very hypocritical for rallying against totalitarianism when black people in the South were so unfree

• African Americans were interested in the emergence of independent African countries & decolonisation inspired black Americans e.g. Melba Pattillo of Little Rock

  • correlation between 1957 Ghana independence from Britain & 1957 civil rights act

On what date did the Little Rock nine finally enter the school

September 25th 1957

What are some to show the growth of the American economy in the 50s?

1947 - 2.7% of families owned TVs 1956 - 81% did

Half the population went to the cinema every week.

1946 - 48.8% of families owned vacuums 1956- 66.7% did

Why did the economy grow so much in the 1950s?

• Technological advances due to WW2 that are continued due to the Cold War

• Investment in research & development - led to scientific & technological advances that improved people’s homes e.g. fridges

• Baby boom - increase in population from 15.7 million to 180.7 million from 1950-60

• New modernised industries

• Commitment to foreign aid in return for American products - Marshall Plan - meant American exports could increase

• Wartime savings - gave Americans increased purchasing power now that it was peacetime

• America had been hadn’t suffered in WW2 as much as its rivals had so in comparison there was a large difference as the USA had less to recover from

Why was the Baby Boom so important to age of affluence?

Houses and cars were needed so house construction was expanded out of the cities into suburbs.

The rising birth rate also increased spending on baby food & toys creating new markets - more spending.

What were the key features of the booming economy in the 1950s?

• Advertising and Credit

• Television & entertainment

• Suburban Living

• Car industry

How was advertising & credit a key feature of the booming economy in the 1950s?

• Many people were pleased by the consumer society with increased purchasing power & easier lives due to household chores being easier

  • mass media spread this message in adverts

• Adverts dominated the media - some argued that it shaped popular standards and exercised social control and manipulated audiences

• TV in America was supported by advertising unlike in Europe

• $10 billion was spent by advertisers per year to persuade/manipulate

• Credit cards facilitated the illusion of fulfillment

How was suburban living a key feature of the booming economy in the 1950s?

• Mass movement of the middle class to the suburbs and edges - had massive effects on social life in America

• E.g. movement into the sun-belt Florida , Texas Cali

• Suburbs met the need for housing for ex GIs and their families - cheap and only 2.5x the average family income

• Idea of Levittown - suburbs built by the Levitt brothers which were massive suburbs built for veterans etc with all amenities included in the houses as well as luxuries in the neighborhoods - swimming pools etc

  • 1st Levittown built in Long Island 1947

• Very popular with the America people as the houses were mainly well constructed

• Closely linked with the car industry

How was the car industry a key feature of the booming economy in the 1950s?

• By 1956 there were 75 million cars and trucks on American roads

• Competition between neighbors in suburbs to have the latest/best car - they become a status symbol

• This importance of cars was also pushed by adverting e.g. in advertising of the Cadillac

• Necessary for suburban life as well in order to travel into the cities where the jobs are

• Eisenhower’s Interstate Highways Act 1956 also supported the automobile culture and led to development of car is king places - malls, drive ins

  • creates jobs

How was television & entertainment a key feature of the booming economy in the 1950s?

• By 1960 90% of American people owned a TV set

• Polls revealed TV was 50% of American people’s favorite leisure activity

• Development of a new culture for teens

• Popularity of Elvis & James Dean etc

What was The Other America and it’s argument?

The Other America is a book published in 1962 about the poverty present in America’s affluent society.

In it, Harrington argues that poverty is heavily present in America but it’s invisible as it’s much worse and more extentsive than people think.

• Poverty is defined as a household surviving on less than 3000 putting 25% of the nation as in poverty

• The other America is mainly in rural areas & crowded slums where there was a lack of middle class visitors

How accurate was The Other America?

• It was published in 1962 but it used data from the end of Eisenhower’s presidency

• There was a large economic disparity in the US the top 20% owned 77% of the population wealth but the bottom 20% only owned 0.05%

• 43% of black families were classed as poor

• Soaring medical costs were unreachable for most people etc

• Eisenhower’s administration had no role in federal healthcare, poverty & education - reflects the values of the era - complacency & pushing of private interests & pleasure not public responsibility

How significant was The Other America?

Revealed that many Americans hadn’t benefited from the economic boom as they were in poverty but no attention had been brought to their issues to the wider American public.

What was rural poverty like in “the age of affluence”?

• In places like the Appalachia - Valley of Poverty

• Long term poverty which had existed for many years but exacerbated by the collapse of the coal industry in the 40s

• The poverty present is ignored by affluent America

• Harsh conditions - lots of disease, polluted streams

What was urban poverty like in “the age of affluence”?

• Followed after the Great Migration - black people become increasingly concentrated in urban areas while white people move to the suburbs

• Black unemployment is high so poverty remained a major issue - discriminatory employment practices & lack of support from unions

• Black people faced mistreatment from landlords & shop owners etc who purposely raised prices knowing their black clients without cars couldn’t leave

• The urban areas facing poverty were forgotten about as there was no need to travel to them & became avoided by white people due to the high crime rate

• Local gov faced a shortage of money to carry out necessary improvements

What was white flight?

Large scale migration of White Americans from the cities to the suburbs which had a negative effect on the inner city area they left behind.

What were the main positives of the age off affluence for US society?

• Expansion of the economy - steady growth rate of 4.7% despite there being 3 mild recessions in the 50s - overall caused the rate of personal income to grow

• Increase in living standards - war time savings & increased purchasing power but also new 5 day work week

• New amenities enabled housewives to leave the home and become involved in community outside their families

• Increased wealth allowed Americans access luxuries/novelties - household appliances, clothes, cars

• Also allowed for travel e.g. to Europe which had previously only been for the rich - building of new tourist attractions for those who couldn’t afford travel e.g. Disneyland

• Music & entertainment as whole became more accessible to the masses

What were the main negatives of the age off affluence for US society?

• Suburbia led to the destruction of natural environments despite the appeal of quiet rural life they supposed to emulate

• Suburbs were homogenised & uniform - lacked personality & character

• Pressure to conform/competition - suburbanites needed to match or outcompete their neighbors

• Many American’s ended having 2nd thoughts about suburbia despite falling in love with it at first

• Extreme waste - almost as many cars made in Detroit were getting junked

• Prescription drug use & alcohol consumption soared in suburban America - not just women - may turned to tranquilisers with 1,159,000 pounds of them consumed by 1959

• Women faced mixed messaging of advertising - robust homemakers vs elegance

What was HEW

Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

When was HEW started

1953

What did Eisenhower mean when he described himself as “dynamic conservative”?

Conservative when it comes to money, liberal when it comes to human beings - also known as Modern Republicanism

This was considered a bit contradicting as Eisenhower wanted both balanced budgets and to support American people but you need to spend money in order to support people.

Why did Eisenhower go for Dynamic Conservatism instead of Old Republicanism?

• There had been a precedent set by a huge change that the would gov support people’s lives under FDR & the New Deal and people expected this to continue

• Many people had benefited from Social Security so he couldn’t roll it back like Old Guard reps wanted

• Hoover specifically & Reps in general were viewed unpopularly due to inaction in the Great Depression so it wouldn’t make sense for Eisenhower to follow unpopular policies

• Eisenhower wasn’t a life long Rep so had no loyalty to Old Republicanism

• Republican control in the 1920s had ended with the Great Depression

What had Old Republicanism been like?

• Laissez Faire ideas - little to no government interference in peoples live & economy

• Pro business

• Introduction of annual budget - shows worry/want for balanced budgets

• Some public works & public measures introduced but only at the end of the Great Depression

What were Eisenhower’s policies as part of Dynamic Conservatism?

• Welfare - extended Social Sec to cover 10 million Americans

• Employment - increased min wage by 25% & Interstate Highways Act created many jobs

• Housing - $500 million made available for low income public housing

• Infrastructure - Interstate Highway Act - largest public works in peacetime with 41,000 miles of road built & establishment of a soil bank

  • this was also motivated by the difference in infrastructure in Europe vs USA & better escape routes if an atom bomb is launched

• Education - National Defence Education Act (1958) - low cost loans to college students & federal funds given to schools to improve STEM & languages teaching

  • motivated by Sputnik success

• Set up Dpt of Health, Education & Welfare which oversaw the distribution of the polio vaccine & significant in education as previously there was no federal support/influence

How were black people effected by Dynamic Conservatism policies?

Black people were disproportionately displaced by the Interstate Highways Act.

What evidence do we have the Eisenhower followed dynamic conservatism?

Creation of HEW, established national parks, continued free school lunches, construction of interstate highways

What evidence do we have that Eisenhower didn’t follow dynamic conservatism?

Expanded social security, expanded unemployment benefits, raised minimum wage, 1958 National Defense Education Act, no effort to integrate schools, Jim Crow laws in existence, limited voting rights

When did Eisenhower vote for the first time?

1948 - shows lack of loyalty & experience in politics

How did Eisenhower pay for all of the Dynamic Conservatism policies?

Domestic spending rose substantially from 31% to 49% between 53 & 61 but overall federal spending as a % of GDP declined - this never happened after Eisenhower.

Balanced budget in 1956, 1957, and 1960

What republican ideas did raising the minimum wage challenge?

The free market

How many new cars were manufactured in 1955

7.9 million

What happened in the recession of 1958

5 million unemployed

How did McCarthyism end

1954 - televised hearings on communists in the army and the senate voted to censure him, died in 1957

What did the 1956 Soil Bank Act do?

Removed farmland form production to reduce large crop surpluses after WW2

What did the 23rd amendment do

Allowed citizens in DC to vote in presidential elections without being registered to vote in a different state

What was Eisenhower’s background?

Eisenhower grew up in the Midwest - Kansas in a small town and “lived the American Dream” : he was the 3rd of 7 sons from a poor family who were also religious & conservative.

He was most well known for his military background and was even called “the best officer in the army” in the 1930s by General MacArthur.

Who was running in the 1952 presidential election?

Eisenhower & Richard Nixon = Republicans

Adali Stevenson (Truman chose to not run again) = Democrats

There was no major 3rd party like there had been in 1948’s election.

How were the Republicans/Eisenhower viewed by the public?

Eisenhower was well known & respected as the leader of allied forces on D-Day - he was popular and campaigned himself as an “uncle figure”/ peoples president as well as being a good strong pragmatic leader.

Nixon was known by the public as the prosecutor on the Alger Hiss case (1950) and so staunchly anti-Communist.

How were the Democrats viewed by the public?

Stevenson was campaigned/presented as an intellectual figure which was isolating to some of the public.

The Democrat’s reputation was spoilt/bad during this time due to the Korean War (stalemate but no victory yet) and by the “Mess in Washington” - evidence of payoffs etc for political favours. It was a small case but 9 Dems were arrested.

How did a TV campaign for Eisenhower come to be?

• Summer 1952- Eisenhower met with advertising hotshot Rosser Reeves to discuss how to translate his military fame into political gain.

• The salesman sold the him on a dramatically new approach to television: a 30-second advertising spot campaign. Though television ownership was skyrocketing, Eisenhower initially resisted as he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to articulate his qualifications and policy stances in 30 seconds

• Eventually he said yes, and advertising executives and motion picture producers joined together to launch “Eisenhower Answers America!”

What was different about the 1952 election compared to previous elections?

It was the first time TV advertising had been used in a presidential campaign - only radio had been used previously.

How was Stevenson’s TV campaign different to Eisenhower’s?

Stevenson, believing TV centred too much on image, purchased half-hour blocks of television time to give plenty of time to explain his stance on the issues, preferring “substance” over “style”.

However in order to afford such time, the campaign opted for late-night hours, when viewership was low.

In contrast, Eisenhower's short ads were shown in breaks between popular TV shows when viewership was high, reaching a new audience

What was Eisenhower’s platform/policies in the presidential campaign?

• Eisenhower won the Republican nomination against Robert Taft – a victory for the eastern,internationalist Republicans

  • Taft was a leader of the Republican “Old Guard”

• Eisenhower was a more moderate Republican, representing more moderate East Coast Republican ideas

  • internationalist, and a continuation of social security measures but more efficiently run

• By picking Nixon, a moderate conservative senator, as his running mate Eisenhower was able to appeal to the Old Guards

• Campaigned against “Korea, Communism, Corruption” & later said he would go to Korea

• Criticised Democrats for setbacks abroad – especially China

• Presented as a people’s president - “Ike” was friendly and relaxed whereas Stevenson seen as too much of an intellectual

What was the role of McCarthy in the 1952 election?

The election took place at the height of McCarthyism and the hysteria and paranoia of the Red Scare impacted on the election

Stevenson spoke out against McCarthy on several occasions on his encroaching of personal freedoms etc

Eisenhower didn’t - he even shook hands with McCarthy in Wisconsin and let himself be associated with McCarthy even when hes had targeted George Marshall - a WW2 colleague - despite Truman’s anger due to this

McCarthy was a strong critic of Stevenson and would “accidentally” say in speeches “Alger, I mean Adlai…”

What was Stevenson’s campaign like?

Stevenson tried to distance himself from Truman’s presidency and policies, preferring to focus on the New Deal & FDR

Stevenson’s running mate was a Southern Democrat to appeal to Southern Dems who though moderate for a southern Democrat, supported segregation

Stevenson hoped to exploit the rift between the conservative Taft Republicans and the moderate Eisenhower Republicans.

What were the strengths of Eisenhower’s campaign that allowed him to win?

• Reputation/public knowledge of Nixon as the persecutor on the Alger Hiss case - added to staunchly anti-Comm reputation

• Reputation of Eisenhower as leader of allied forces on D-Day - lots of respect from the public & liked by them

• Eisenhower’s image in the campaign & his personality of a kind, helpful uncle figure with very strong leadership skills - trustworthy & calulated

• Campaigning of Eisenhower as the people’s president

• Committed to building infrastructure

• Preserves the New Deal & adds to it

What were the weaknesses of Stevenson’s campaign that allowed Eisenhower to win?

• Stevenson didn’t think he could win in the first place

  Democrat problems -

• Korean War – engaged in a war they could neither end nor win

• McCarthyism – Truman criticised McCarthy in areas where he was popular

• “Mess in Washington” - evidence of pay-offs, gifts in exchange for political favours. Small, but 9 Democrats ended up in prison

• Divisions between different groups in the party (Dixiecrats)

• Intellectual image isolated people

• Lack of strategic TV campaigning - lack of widespread attention compared Eisenhower

What was Nixon’s background?

Nixon grew up in a struggling family in poverty but was exceptionally clever & hardworking & was able to win a place at Yale but had to reject it as his family couldn’t afford it.

He was later able to go to a local college & pursue law after at Duke.

• He was able to relate to working class people & had lived the American Dream

• He had a reputation for honesty

When running for Senate - 1950 - he said his Dem rival had Communist sympathies publicly like many Reps but privately acknowledged this was false

• Lied to remain in power & start of ideas of dishonesty

Why did Nixon almost not end up becoming Vice-Pres in the 1952 election?

While Nixon was viewed positively due to the Alger Hiss case in 1952 he fell into controversy which could have meant he wasn’t going to be on the Rep ballot as a running mate.

Nixon had been accused of giving political favors in return for funding which was especially controversial as the Reps had criticised the Dems for a similar scandal.

Checkers Speech - Nixon’s response to the scandal which he addresses the accusations head on with honesty & appeals the American people as a family man

• Checkers is a reference to his family dog he got as a gift

He’s able to keep his place on the ballot.

What were the general reasons for Nixon playing a more active role as VP than any of his predecessors?

Nixon’s own skills, Eisenhower’s needs + others

Why did Nixon play a more active role as VP than any of his predecessors - Nixon’s own skills ?

• Nixon’s strong work ethic (evident since he was at law school)

• Nixon’s links to Congress meant he became Eisenhower’s “man on the hill”, liaising with the Republicans in Congress who he had previously worked with on Eisenhower’s behalf

• Eisenhower recognised that Nixon held political skills from his time in the House and the Senate the he himself didn’t possess

Why did Nixon play a more active role as VP than any of his predecessors - Eisenhower’s needs?

• Eisenhower’s ill health meant Nixon had to step up on two occasions

• Eisenhower’s belief that FDR keeping Truman ill-informed had led to problems

• Eisenhower’s military background meant he recognised the importance of a strong “second in command”

• Eisenhower recognised that Nixon held political skills from his time in the House and the Senate the he himself didn’t possess

• Eisenhower wasn’t a long term Republican Party member so didn’t have strong personal links to the party

• Eisenhower wanted to be a President for all people. Nixon could be used to appeal to the party faithful so that Eisenhower wouldn’t alienate other voters – used as a Partisan campaigner

Why did Nixon play a more active role as VP than any of his predecessors - other factors?

Nixon, unlike some other VPs, had not been a former rival of the President

What roles did Nixon take on in his more active role as VP?

• Partisan Campaigner

• Liason with Congress

• Goodwill Ambassador

• Civil Rights Advocate