Chapter 37 - The Eisenhower Era

Invention of transistor helped electronics field thrive
Aerospace industries thrived with Boeing company making its first passenger, jet airplane, the 707
“White collar” workers outnumbered “blue collars” in 1956, meaning that the industrial era was settling in
==Betty Friedman== ==was the godfather of the godfather of the feminist movement==

The 1950s saw the first Diners club cards, opening of McDonald’s, the debut of Disneyland, and the explosion of TV stations * Advertisers used TV to sell products and sports shifted west
==Elvis Presley== ==redefined popular music with him dying from drugs in 1977==
==Traditionalists== ==were shocked by Elvis’s open sexuality==
Marilyn Monroe continued with the redefinition of new sensuous sexuality

Democrats nominated Stevenson while the Republicans nominated Eisenhower in the election of 1952 * Eisenhower was a war hero and well-liked and Nixon, his running mate almost got caught with a secretly financed “slush fund” and gave “checkers speech” to save his political career
“Checkers speech” showed power of TV as Eisenhower had pleaded on national TV * ==Eisenhower== ==(“Ike”) won the presidential election 442-89 electoral votes which kept promise of settling armistice with Korea==

McCarthy charged that there were scores of unknown communists in State Department in February of 1950
Eisenhower secretly hated McCarthy * McCarthy attacked the army and exposed himself as a liar and drunk in 1954

Blacks in South were boundy by Jim Crow laws that segregated all aspects of society
Only 20% of eligible blacks could vote due to intimidation, discrimination, poll taxes, and other schemes
Gunnar Myrdal, through his book, exposed hypocrisy of American life in 1944
==Sweatt v. Painter====: supreme court ruled that separate professionals schools for blacks failed to meet the test of equality==

Truman sought to improve black rights after hearing about the 1946 lynching of black soldiers
1945 case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas reversed ruling of Plessy v. Ferguson when Brown case said “separate but equal” facilities were inherently unequal

Eisenhower came into White House, promising a policy of “dynamic conservatism” which decreased government spending by decreasing military spending
Eisenhower “cracked down” on illegal Mexican immigration and kept several New Deal programs * Eisenhower faced biggest peacetime deficit in U.S. history in 1959

Dulles said U.S. was going to push back communism and liberate people under “rollback”
Ike tried to “thaw” Cold War by appealing to USSR for peace but his proposals were rejected

==USSR== ==formed Warsaw Pact to counteract NATO in 1955==
CIA engineered a coup in Iran to protect oil supplies in Middle East in 1953 * Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, and Venezuela came together to form cartel, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Eisenhower ran and won against Stevenson in 1956
GOP turned to the “party of peace”
Sherman Adams was forced to leave under cloud of scandal due to bribery charges
1959 Landrum-Griffin Act was designed to bring labor leaders to book for financial shenanigans and prevent bullying tactics
==“Space race” began in 1957==

Humanity-minded/focused scientists called for an end to atmosphere nuclear testing
Washington halted “dirty” testing in October of 1958
Khrushchev was invited to America by Ike, for talk * Khrushchev came in angry at Paris conference due to U.S. flying spy planes over USSR

Latin America hated that the U.S. gave billions to Europe and only millions to them and hated America’s constant intervention
==Fidel Castro== ==overthrew U.S. supported Fulgencio in cuba in 1959==
Khrushchev threatened to launch missiles at the U.S. if it attacked Cuba
Ike proposed a “Marshall Plan”

Republicans nominated Nixon and the Democrats nominated Kennedy * Kennedy was attacked due to him being Catholic with him encouraging Catholics to vote for him

Eisenhower was appreciated for ending a war and keeping the U.S. out of other wars
The ==22nd Amendment== ==(1951) limited presidents to two terms==
==Alaska and Hawaii== ==became the 49th and 50th states to join the Union in 1959==

New writers, who focused in realism were successful * Authors and books now explored problems created mobility and affluence of American life
Books by black authors were Black Boy, Invisible Man, etc.
Famous books by Jewish authors included J.D. Salinger’s, Catcher in the Rye