truman's fair deal

**Reconversion

The process of moving the economy from wartime production to consumer goods production after WWII. It was a difficult transition, with 12 million service members discharged and looking for work, leading to a lean towards recession. Truman proposed extensions of New Deal-style programs, but faced opposition from a Conservative Coalition.**

**Conservative Coalition

An informal alliance between Midwestern Republicans and Southern Democrats in Congress that opposed efforts to revive or extend New Deal programs and later blocked much of Truman's Fair Deal agenda, particularly on civil rights.**

**Post-War Economic Challenges

Included the end of wage and price controls, which caused prices to skyrocket while wages stagnated. This led to massive strikes from 14.5 million unionized workers. Truman's attempt to resume price controls on items like meat backfired, causing shortages and making him very unpopular.**

**Election of 1946

Republicans took control of both houses of Congress for the first time since 1928, reflecting public frustration with post-war strikes, inflation, and Truman's perceived mismanagement of the economy.**

**Taft-Hartley Act (1947)

A significant law passed over Truman's veto that curtailed the power of unions. It allowed employers to campaign against unions, required union leaders to sign anti-communist loyalty oaths, banned strikes by government workers, and imposed an 80-day "cooling-off period" for strikes deemed a national danger.**

**Impact of the Taft-Hartley Act

Truman denounced and vetoed it, but Congress overrode him. Southern Democrats feared unions would undermine the low-wage textile industry and empower Black workers. The act's unpopularity with labor caused many union workers to swing back to supporting the Democratic Party.**

**Truman and Civil Rights - Motivation

Driven by violence against African American veterans and the context of the Cold War. The U.S. needed to win the "hearts and minds" of newly independent nations, and systemic racism was hypocritical and attacked by Soviet propaganda as a flaw in the American system.**

**"To Secure These Rights"

A 1947 report from a presidential commission appointed by Truman. It called for major civil rights reforms, including an anti-lynching law, abolishing the poll tax, a voting rights bill, and the desegregation of the armed forces.**

**Truman's Civil Rights Actions

In 1948, he issued an Executive Order to desegregate the armed forces and banned racial discrimination in federal government hiring. The Army and Air Force complied slowly, but full integration wouldn't happen until the Korean War. These actions deeply angered Southern Democrats.**

**Jackie Robinson

The man who integrated Major League Baseball in 1947, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. An army veteran and all-around athlete, he faced intense racism from teammates, opponents, and fans. His success and poise won over fans, he was named Rookie of the Year, and he became a national symbol of progress, inspiring many African Americans.**

**Election of 1948 - Democratic Split

The Democratic Party splintered into three factions: the mainstream Democratic Party (Truman), the States' Rights Democratic Party (Dixiecrats), and the Progressive Party (Henry Wallace), making Truman's expected defeat almost certain.**

**Dixiecrats (States' Rights Democratic Party)

A segregationist party launched in the South. They stood for racial segregation, limited government, and states' rights. Their candidate, Strom Thurmond, won four Deep South states, splitting the Democratic vote.**

**Progressive Party (1948)

A left-wing party led by former VP Henry Wallace, who was critical of Truman's anti-Soviet foreign policy. They advocated for more progressive domestic policies and conciliation with the USSR.**

**Truman's Fair Deal

Truman's ambitious domestic agenda announced during the 1948 campaign. It proposed a hike in the minimum wage, federal aid to education, universal healthcare, and expanded Social Security benefits (unemployment and retirement).**

**1948 Election Outcome

Despite the Democratic Party splintering and facing Republican Thomas Dewey, Truman won a stunning upset victory by campaigning aggressively against the "do-nothing" Congress and energizing the New Deal coalition of labor, farmers, and Black voters.**

**Fair Deal's Legislative Fate

After his election, much of Truman's Fair Deal agenda was defeated by the Conservative Coalition in Congress. They blocked national health insurance, federal aid to education, major civil rights bills, and new farm subsidies, showing the continued power of the conservative alliance.**