Chapter 24
An Affluent Society (1953–1960)
The Golden Age of Capitalism (1946–1973)
Economic Boom:
Post-WWII marked the "golden age" of capitalism (1946–1973), characterized by:
Economic expansion
Stable prices
Low unemployment
Rising living standards
Gross National Product (GNP) doubled between 1946–1960.
Official poverty rate:
1950: 30%
1960: 22% (more than 1 in 5 Americans still in poverty).
Technological Innovations:
Everyday life transformed by new inventions:
Television, home air-conditioning, automatic dishwashers
Inexpensive long-distance telephone calls, jet air travel
Wages and Inequality:
Between 1950–1973, average real wages of manufacturing workers doubled.
Wages for low-income Americans rose faster than high-income earners → reduced economic inequality.
Federal progressive tax policy (wealthy taxed at rates ≥70% in the 1950s–70s).
Contributing Factors to Economic Growth:
Strong union movements, government policies, global economic dominance after WWII.
End of the postwar boom in 1973 marked a shift to stagnant incomes and increased inequality.
The Changing Economy:
Cold War Influence:
Boosted U.S. industrial production.
Redistribution of population/economic resources:
West (Seattle, Southern California, Rocky Mountain states) → defense industry growth (aircraft, missiles, radar).
South → military bases, shipyards.
Transition from Industrial to Service Economy:
1950s: Decline in manufacturing employment; rise in service industries (education, information, finance, entertainment).
Mechanization: Employers mechanized to cut costs → reduced need for labor.
Labor Market Shift:
1956: First time white-collar workers outnumbered blue-collar workers.
Southern agriculture mechanized:
New machinery → reduced demand for farm workers.
Shift from cotton to soybean/poultry farming → over 3 million laborers migrated out of the region.
Corporate Farming:
California’s large corporate farms (Latino/Filipino laborers) → mass production of fruits/vegetables.
Suburban Nation:
Housing Boom:
Postwar baby boom + population shift from cities to suburbs → massive demand for homes, appliances, cars.
Housing doubled in the 1950s:
Suburbs like Levittown emerged (prefabricated, affordable homes).
Interstate Highway System:
1956 Federal-Aid Highway Act → 41,000 miles of highways.
Justified by Cold War (nuclear escape routes), but also served commercial interests (automobile manufacturers, suburban builders).
Car Culture:
Symbol of freedom and individual mobility.
Rise of motels, drive-in theaters, roadside restaurants (e.g., McDonald’s 1954).
Environmental Impact:
Suburban lifestyle = car-dependent, high carbon emissions.
Water use for suburban lawns raised concerns in arid regions (e.g., West).
The Growth of the West:
Population Shift:
Post-WWII: 30 million Americans moved west of the Mississippi (1945–1975).
1963: California surpassed New York as the most populous state.
Federal Investments:
Dams, highways, military installations fueled western growth.
Oil production → urban booms in cities like Denver, Dallas, Houston.
"Centerless" Cities:
Western cities (e.g., Los Angeles, Phoenix) lacked traditional downtown centers.
Relied on highway-connected suburban clusters.
Television's Impact on Society:
Media Consumption:
By the late 1950s: 90% of American families owned TVs.
Replaced newspapers as primary news source.
Cultural Influence:
TV dinners (introduced in 1954) → changing eating habits.
Programs depicted idealized suburban life (e.g., Leave It to Beaver).
Avoided controversy; emphasized conformity and middle-class values.
Women in the 1950s:
Workforce Trends:
After WWII, women returned to work (1955 levels exceeded wartime employment).
Worked part-time to support middle-class lifestyles, not for personal fulfillment.
Women earned 60% of men’s wages on average in 1960.
Suburban Family Expectations:
Women pressured to conform to "maternal instinct" and domestic roles.
Popular culture reinforced traditional gender roles.
Baby Boom:
1950s–mid-1960s: High birth rates (average 3.2 children/family).
Younger marriages, lower divorce rates.
Segregation and Housing Inequality:
Suburban Racial Exclusion:
Federal policies supported racially segregated housing.
Levittowns and similar suburbs excluded Black families.
Urban Renewal:
Poor city neighborhoods demolished for middle-class housing/universities.
Non-whites relegated to substandard housing in inner cities.
Native American Relocation Program (1952–1972):
Relocation Goals:
Federal program moved ~100,000 Native Americans to cities.
Promised jobs, housing, education → reality fell short.
Relocated to poor neighborhoods; faced unemployment, alcoholism.
The Divided Society:
Suburbanization:
7 million whites moved to suburbs (1950–1970); cities became increasingly non-white.
Blacks/Latinos trapped in poor urban neighborhoods due to discrimination.
Religion and Anticommunism:
Cold War Religious Messaging:
Religion framed as opposition to "godless" communism.
Changes:
1954: "Under God" added to Pledge of Allegiance.
1957: "In God We Trust" added to currency.
Free Enterprise and Capitalism:
Consumer Culture:
Private ownership and "free enterprise" viewed as cornerstones of freedom.
Rise of stock ownership (25M Americans by mid-1960s).
Conservative Revival:
Two strands of conservatism:
Libertarian Conservatives: Advocated unregulated capitalism, limited government.
New Conservatives: Emphasized moral values and Christian tradition as essential to freedom.
The Eisenhower Era
Ike and Nixon
Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike):
World War II hero; led the Allied invasion of Europe in 1944.
Entered politics to prevent isolationism, defeating Senator Robert A. Taft for the Republican nomination.
Chose Richard Nixon as his running mate:
WWII veteran, known for strong anticommunism.
Gained a reputation for opportunism and dishonesty due to aggressive campaign tactics, such as accusing Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas of communist sympathies.
Advocated for free-market economics and “forgotten man” populism, setting the stage for later conservative movements.
The 1952 Campaign
Role of Television:
First campaign to heavily utilize TV ads.
Key Themes:
Eisenhower’s popularity, expressed through the slogan "I Like Ike."
Public dissatisfaction with the Korean War.
Eisenhower’s pledge to seek peace in Korea contributed to a decisive victory over Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson.
Election Outcomes:
1952: Republicans secured a narrow congressional majority.
1954: Democrats regained control and maintained it for the rest of the decade.
1956: Ike won re-election despite neither house of Congress being controlled by Republicans.
Modern Republicanism
Core Philosophy:
Maintained and expanded New Deal programs while balancing fiscal conservatism.
Defined as "Modern Republicanism" to differentiate from the Great Depression-era Republican image.
Aimed for pragmatic governance rather than drastic ideological shifts.
Major Achievements:
Interstate Highway System: Largest public works project in U.S. history.
National Defense Education Act (1957): Federal funding for higher education in response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik.
The Social Contract
Labor Relations in the 1950s:
AFL and CIO merged in 1955, representing 35% of nonagricultural workers.
New Social Contract:
Long-term agreements granted wage increases, pensions, and cost-of-living adjustments.
Labor avoided disputes over management decisions (e.g., capital investment, plant location).
Limitations:
Benefits were concentrated in unionized industries like steel and automobiles.
Nonunion workers saw some indirect gains, such as increases in minimum wage.
Challenges:
By the late 1950s, labor-management harmony began to erode, exemplified by the 1959 steel strike.
Massive Retaliation
Cold War Strategy:
Secretary of State John Foster Dulles introduced the Massive Retaliation Doctrine (1954):
Threatened nuclear response to any Soviet attack.
Increased risks of escalation into global destruction (Mutual Assured Destruction or MAD).
Impact on Society:
Fear of nuclear war pervaded daily life:
Bomb shelter programs.
School drills to prepare for atomic attacks.
Ike and the Russians
Key Diplomatic Developments:
1953: Korean War armistice and Stalin’s death encouraged diplomatic engagement.
1955 Geneva Summit: First U.S.-Soviet meeting since Potsdam; focused on reducing tensions.
Khrushchev’s "Peaceful Coexistence" Speech (1956):
Acknowledged Stalin’s crimes.
Called for less antagonism but tensions rose with the Soviet invasion of Hungary (1956).
U-2 Incident (1960):
American spy plane shot down over the USSR.
Eisenhower’s denial and refusal to apologize strained relations further.
The Emergence of the Third World
Decolonization:
Post-WWII collapse of European empires:
Independence of India and Pakistan (1947).
Ghana (1957), Indonesia, Malaysia, and others followed.
Cold War Influence:
Many new nations resisted alignment with the U.S. or USSR.
U.S. interventions:
Overthrew nationalist governments in Iran (1953) and Guatemala (1954) to protect economic interests.
Forced Britain, France, and Israel to withdraw from Egypt during the Suez Crisis (1956).
Vietnam Conflict:
Supported French efforts against Ho Chi Minh’s nationalist forces.
Geneva Accords (1954): Temporarily divided Vietnam.
U.S. backed Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam, avoiding elections that would likely favor communists.
Mass Society and Its Critics
Social Critics:
C. Wright Mills: Warned of the "power elite" and the erosion of democracy.
David Riesman ("The Lonely Crowd"): Highlighted conformity and lack of independence in modern society.
William Whyte ("The Organization Man") and Vance Packard ("The Hidden Persuaders"):
Critiqued the monotony of corporate culture and the manipulation of consumer behavior.
Cultural Trends:
Rising generational tensions, symbolized by works like Rebel Without a Cause (1955).
Youth embraced rock-and-roll, making stars like Elvis Presley cultural icons.
The Beats:
Writers like Allen Ginsberg (Howl) rejected mainstream values, materialism, and Cold War conformity.
Promoted personal freedom, spontaneity, and artistic experimentation.
The Freedom Movement
Introduction
Youth Rebellion (1960s): Young white rebels found a cause rooted in political activism, sexual liberation, and generational dissent.
Black Struggle for Equality: The 1960s saw the rise of the civil rights movement, directly challenging the 1950s societal norms. This was one of the greatest movements for equality in the 20th century, eventually transforming the U.S. legal and cultural landscape.
Origins of the Civil Rights Movement
A Surprising Development: The civil rights revolution came as a surprise to many in the 1950s. At the time, few predicted the emergence of a mass movement, especially given the historical and political context.
Challenges Faced:
McCarthyism: Left-wing allies of the Black community were weakened.
Labor Unions: Many union leaders were reluctant to challenge racial inequalities within their ranks.
NAACP: Focused primarily on court battles rather than direct action, making it less effective.
New Constituencies & Tactics: The movement needed new tactics and support, which it found in the Southern Black church, forming the basis of the nonviolent, militant resistance against segregation.
Segregation in the U.S.:
South: Racial segregation was legally mandated under Jim Crow laws, including separate public schools, restaurants, and public facilities.
North/West: While segregation was not legally required, it existed through custom and practice, particularly in housing and education.
Example - Las Vegas: Even in the North/West, Black entertainers were only allowed to perform in segregated hotels and casinos but were denied accommodation at the same establishments.
Legal Assault on Segregation
LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens):
Challenged racial segregation against Latino communities.
Mendez v. Westminster (1946): A significant victory when a federal court ruled to desegregate schools in Orange County, California. This led to the repeal of segregation laws in the state.
Governor Earl Warren: After presiding over wartime internment of Japanese Americans, Warren became a proponent for racial equality, later becoming Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
NAACP Legal Strategy:
Under the leadership of Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP took direct legal action against the “separate but equal” doctrine established by the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).
Gaines v. Canada (1938): The Missouri case forced the state to admit a Black student to its law school due to the lack of an equivalent Black law school.
Sweatt v. Painter (1950): The Supreme Court ruled that the “separate” law school set up for Black students in Texas was not equal to the white law school.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954):
Marshall pressed for a direct attack on the “separate but equal” doctrine, arguing that segregation, even with equal funding and facilities, was inherently unequal because it marked Black Americans as inferior.
Oliver Brown's Case: Brown's daughter was forced to cross dangerous railroad tracks to attend a segregated school, sparking a lawsuit that became part of the consolidated case.
Supreme Court Ruling (1954): The Court declared that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” and thus unconstitutional, marking a turning point in U.S. civil rights history.
Immediate Impact: While the decision didn't call for immediate desegregation, it laid the groundwork for future federal intervention and sparked a wave of optimism among civil rights supporters.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Rosa Parks (1955): A pivotal moment in the civil rights movement occurred when Rosa Parks, a Black woman, refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama.
Her arrest led to a yearlong Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955, spearheaded by local Black leaders and activists.
Boycott Details:
Black citizens, including maids, teachers, and students, refused to ride buses, organizing carpools and walking to their destinations.
The boycott faced significant legal challenges and occasional violence, but the collective action was sustained for 381 days.
Supreme Court Ruling (1956): The Court declared bus segregation unconstitutional, marking a key victory for the movement.
The Daybreak of Freedom
The Montgomery Bus Boycott: A defining moment in the civil rights movement, marking the rise of nonviolent action based in Black churches.
The movement gained support from northern liberals and drew international attention to America’s racial inequality.
Martin Luther King Jr.:
King emerged as the face of the movement, becoming its national symbol due to his leadership in Montgomery.
In his famous “I Have a Dream” speech (1963), King invoked the promises of freedom and equality from the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, while also calling for justice for Black Americans.
His speeches merged Christian, Black liberation, and American ideals, fostering unity and galvanizing the movement.
Massive Resistance
Southern Pushback: The South’s resistance to desegregation remained strong, despite the Brown v. Board ruling.
Southern Manifesto (1956): A document signed by 96 southern congressmen and southern senators denounced the Brown decision, calling for “massive resistance” against desegregation.
Virginia’s Strategy: Virginia, led by Governor Harry Byrd, implemented the tactic of closing public schools and offering private school vouchers for white students to bypass desegregation.
Prince Edward County (1959): The county shut down public schools rather than integrate them, not reopening them until 1964.
Federal Government's Role:
Little Rock Crisis (1957): Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas used the National Guard to block the integration of Little Rock’s Central High School, prompting President Eisenhower to send federal troops to enforce the court order and allow nine Black students to enter.
Eisenhower and Civil Rights
Civil Rights Act (1957): The first national civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, focusing on Black voting rights, though it had weak enforcement provisions.
Eisenhower's Reluctance: President Dwight D. Eisenhower, while acknowledging the importance of civil rights, was unwilling to take strong moral leadership on the issue.
He called for respect for the law but avoided confronting segregation head-on.
Cold War Politics: The global criticism of American segregation during the Cold War highlighted the inconsistency between America’s democratic ideals and its treatment of Black citizens.
American diplomats feared that the slow progress of civil rights would harm the U.S.'s image abroad, particularly in non-white nations seeking independence.
Election of 1960: Kennedy vs. Nixon
Candidates
Republicans:
Richard Nixon: Vice President under Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Nixon was the Republican candidate to succeed Eisenhower.
Democrats:
John F. Kennedy: Senator from Massachusetts and a Roman Catholic.
Family Background: Kennedy's father, Joseph Kennedy, a wealthy Irish American businessman, had served as ambassador to Great Britain during the 1930s.
Rivals for the Nomination:
Hubert Humphrey: Leader of the party's liberal wing.
Lyndon B. Johnson: Texas senator, who accepted Kennedy's offer to be vice president.
Key Issues and Themes
Religious Concerns:
Anti-Catholic Sentiment: Although the World War II generation had promoted tolerance, many Protestants remained reluctant to vote for a Catholic, fearing Kennedy might prioritize church doctrine over public policy or take orders from the Pope.
Kennedy's Response: Kennedy addressed these concerns by declaring, "I do not speak for my church on public matters," emphasizing the separation of church and state.
Youth and Leadership:
Kennedy's Age: At 43, Kennedy was the youngest major-party presidential nominee in U.S. history.
Appeal of Kennedy: Kennedy’s youthful image, along with his wife Jacqueline’s elegance, created an impression of a more vigorous and modern presidency.
Cold War Concerns:
Both Kennedy and Nixon were staunch Cold Warriors.
Kennedy's Critique of Nixon: Kennedy argued that the United States had lost its sense of national purpose in the Cold War, claiming that the Soviet Union had achieved a "missile gap" and technological superiority.
This was not true, as both Kennedy and Nixon knew that the U.S. military and economic power far exceeded the Soviets.
Perception of Kennedy's Leadership: Despite the reality, the missile gap claim resonated with many Americans, presenting Kennedy as a candidate capable of providing fresh leadership.
The First Televised Debate
Impact of Television:
The first televised presidential debate became a pivotal moment in the campaign.
Kennedy’s Performance: Kennedy appeared calm, confident, and handsome, making a strong visual impression on TV viewers.
Nixon’s Performance: Nixon, suffering from a cold, appeared tired, sweaty, and nervous on television.
Radio vs. TV Responses: Those who listened on the radio thought Nixon won, but the TV audience favored Kennedy due to the visual appeal.
Election Results
Narrow Victory:
Kennedy won the popular vote by a slim margin of 120,000 votes out of 69 million total votes cast.
Controversies: Republicans charged that the vote count in Chicago was manipulated by the Democratic machine, leading to suspicions of fraud.
Eisenhower’s Farewell Address (1961)
Military-Industrial Complex Warning: In his farewell address, Eisenhower warned about the dangerous power of the “military-industrial complex.”
He warned against the undue influence of a massive military establishment combined with a permanent arms industry, which had far-reaching effects on American society.
Concerns Over National Security vs. Democracy:
Eisenhower cautioned against the growth of military power endangering democratic processes and individual liberties.
However, his warning largely went unheeded at the time, as many Americans saw the military-industrial complex as a source of jobs and national security.
Growing Controversies of 1950s Life
Environmental Issues:
Air Pollution: The rise of automobile ownership in suburban America led to significant air pollution, especially in cities like Los Angeles, which became known for its smog.
Chemical Use in Agriculture: The widespread use of chemical insecticides posed dangers to farm workers, consumers, and the water supply.
Social Change:
Suburban Rebellion: Housewives began to rebel against their roles centered in suburban dream houses, challenging traditional gender roles and expectations.
Black Civil Rights Movement: African Americans were growing increasingly impatient with the slow pace of racial progress, setting the stage for the civil rights struggles of the 1960s.
The 1960s:
These social, environmental, and political tensions marked the beginning of the turbulent decade of the 1960s, which would become a period of profound change in American society.