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American Public Policy in the Fifties: The Development of Dilemmas
During the 1950s, Eisenhower simultaneously developed public policy through control of military commitments abroad; for the individual, the ironic combination of consumer freedom, repressive social structures, and civil rights expansion; a protectionist stance on the economy coupled with a cautionary rejection of increased domestic spending; and the suffocation of political dissent with the blanket of patriotism. The 1950s serves as a point of restrictive reference, justifying its significance for past and future public policy.
Irreversibly changing American foreign policy between 1948 and 1951, the American government escalated its size, scale, and scope abroad, building friendships but also making enemies, intending to defeat the spread of Stalinist Communism across Eastern Europe and Asia and defending democratized freedom and prosperity. Out of the World War II economic boom at home, the United States supplemented the struggling financial structure of postwar Europe with the 1948 Marshall Plan. In addition, United States policy introduced the American military as an international police power, sponsoring militarization in “forty-seven nations and led American forces to build or occupy 675 overseas bases and station and station a million troops overseas” (Johnson 443). President Harry S. Truman escorted the United States into the 1950s by involving them in the Korean War. Wishing to commit military forces, he bypassed the United Nations Security Council and the approval of Congress to engage in the conflict between North and South Korea. Elected on a peace platform in 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower ended the Korean War by “breaking the armistice deadl...
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... for society inevitably adjusts; what solutions seemed to last, for all great visions eventually fade; and what worked once, for it may never work again.
Works Cited
Ehrenhalt, Alan. “Learning from the Fifties.” The Wilson Quarterly. Summer, 1995.
Hoffer, Eric. Harper Perennial, 1951.
Johnson, Paul. Modern Times. Harper Collins, 1991.
Johnson, Paul. “U.N. Get Out of New York!” Forbes.com. 2 February 2004. 3 March 2004 http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2004/0202/029_print.html.
Murray, Charles. “Losing Ground.” Basic, 1984.
Siegel, Fred. The Future Once Happened Here. Free Press, 1997.
Sowell, Thomas. “The Vision of the Anointed.” Basic, 1995.
U.S. Department of Defense, The National Security Strategy of the United States of America. September 2002.
U.S. Department of Defense, Quadrennial Defense Review. September 30, 2001.
During the post WWII period in America, the face of the nation changed greatly under the presidency of Truman and Eisenhower. America underwent another era of good feelings as they thought themselves undefeatable and superior over the rest of the world. Communism was the American enemy and American sought to rid the world of it. Because of the extreme paranoia caused by Communism, conformity became an ideal way to distinguish American Culture from the rest. Conformity became a part of every American Life to a large extent. It became evident through the medium of culture, society and politics throughout the era of the 50s.
The alliance formed between the US and USSR during the second world war was not strong enough to overcome the decades of uneasiness which existed between the two ideologically polar opposite countries. With their German enemy defeated, the two emerging nuclear superpowers no longer had any common ground on which to base a political, economical, or any other type of relationship. Tensions ran high as the USSR sought to expand Soviet influence throughout Europe while the US and other Western European nations made their opposition to such actions well known. The Eastern countries already under Soviet rule yearned for their independence, while the Western countries were willing to go to great lengths to limit Soviet expansion. "Containment of 'world revolution' became the watchword of American foreign policy throughout the 1950s a...
The Korean War changed the face of American Cold War diplomacy forever. In the midst of all the political conflict and speculation worldwide, the nation had to choose between two proposed solutions, each one hoping to ensure that communism didn?t sweep across the globe and destroy American ideals of capitalism and democracy. General Douglas MacArthur takes the pro-active stance and says that, assuming it has the capability, the U.S. should attack communism everywhere. President Harry Truman, on the other hand, believed that containing the Soviet communists from Western Europe was the best and most important course of action, and that eliminating communism in Asia was not a priority.
I will examine just a few of President Eisenhower’s foreign policies and how they played in to the influencing the United States involvement in the Cold War and how the Cold War made its way to
The early 1950s was a time of tension and uncertainty in the world. The Cold War replaced ‘hot’ war. Humankind had gone from the terror of actual war to the terror of the potential of nuclear war. The situation was aggravated by the ongoing conflict in Korea which pitted the forces of the ‘Free World’ against the specter of international Communism. Anticommunist hysteria gripped the US political scene, mirroring many of the excesses of the Stalinist enemy that it was in struggle with in the international arena.
The Eisenhower presidency pursued dynamic conservatism or modern republicanism in his new term. In his own words, Eisenhower declared “I will be conservative when it ...
World War II had just ended. Women that were working because their husbands were out fighting in the war came back home when the war ended. The 1940’s ended and it was time for a new decade. The 1950’s were looked as a state of mind or a way of living instead of another time in American history. The 1950’s were the most influential decade in American history because the civil rights act began, fashion was completely new and trendy there were more much advancement in entertainment and medicine, and suburban life was much more functional than any other decade in America.
The 1950s in America was a time that brought about simplicity and perfection amongst the American society. The “all-American Dream” with the flawless family, which was emphasized by the constraints, and expectations that were demanded by the American Republican era of Eisenhower, would pave way for manifesting changes of the 1960s. Through the emphasis of media and societal expectations and political and wartime upheaval, Americans would fit the cookie cutter mold that would breed the fighters and lovers of the 1960s.
On March 12, 1947, President Harry S. Truman defined United States foreign policy in the context of its new role as a world superpower. Many historians consider his speech to Congress as the words that officially started the Cold War. The Truman Doctrine was a major break from U.S. historical trends of isolationist foreign policy. His speech led to the Cold War policy of containment. Moreover, it served as a precedent for future U.S. policy of interventionism. According to Stephen Ambrose, an important quote from Truman’s speech, "I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures," stands as "all encompassing" and would "define American policy for the next generation and beyond."1 Faced with strong opposition, Truman was still able to achieve a consensus in Congress aimed at quelling the communist threat through active foreign policy and involvement. The Truman Doctrine not only demonstrated the new foreign policy of the U.S., but also helps to explain American foreign policy since the Doctrine’s inception.
U.S. participation was centered on America’s foreign policies at the time. Although the War did not break out until June of 1950, several conflicts brewed over the attempt to take over the entire nation under one rule for several years after World War II. The majority of these conflicts took place at the 38th parallel where Korea was split. Decisions influenced by President Harry S. Truman and his doctrine, which was essentially the policy to contain the spread of communism, gave the United Nations an opportunity to prevent global domination through communism (“Teaching with Documents”). The fear of international communism from the powers of The Soviet Union and People’s Republic of China was the main reason that caused the United States to intervene.
These fears proved to be something that Americans needed to have dealt with but could not do all by themselves. As a result, America’s definition of freedom expanded to show the same concepts of positive freedom that were seen in the 30s and 40s. Throughout the Cold War Americans called for the government to “protect those freedoms through the preservation of internal order, the provision of national defense, and the administration of justice” (Foner 789). Consequently, the positive freedoms from the depression that provided security against the domestic issues that filled the 1930s were expanded to cover domestic and international concerns during the
In conclusion, the 1950s is considered to be a decade of progress by many historians, rather than a period of major conservatism. We can still find signs of progress from the 1950s in our world today, in everything from housing to appliances and popular culture. This period also introduced some new ideas to the American culture by the way of television shows, radios, and newspapers.
During the years between 1920 and 1960, America saw change in many aspects of life. The United States was a part of two major wars and a crash of the banking system that crippled the economy greater than ever seen in this country’s history. Also the country had new insecurities to tackle such as immigration and poor treatment of workers. These events led to the change of America lives socially, economically, and politically. The people of America changed their ideas of what the country’s place in the world should be. The issues challenging America led the country to change from isolation to war, depression to prosperity, and social change. The threats to American way of life, foreign and domestic, were the changing forces to the country in the twenties to the sixties.
The 1950s seemed like a perfect decade. The rise of suburbs outside cities led to an expansion of the middle class, thus allowing more Americans to enjoy the luxuries of life. The rise of these suburbs also allowed the middle class to buy houses with land that used to only be owned by more wealthy inhabitants. Towns like Levittown-one of the first suburbs- were divided in such a way that every house looked the same (“Family Structures”). Any imperfections were looked upon as unfavorable to the community as a whole. Due to these values, people today think of the 1950s as a clean cut and model decade. This is a simplistic perception because underneath the surface, events that took place outside the United States actually had a direct effect on our own country’s history. The rise of Communism in Russia struck fear into the hearts of the American people because it seemed to challenge their supposedly superior way of life.
Throughout history the United States has fought in many wars. Whether the fighting took place in Europe such as WWI or in our own land like the civil war. The one war many people seem to forget is the Korean War. The Korean War also known as the “forgotten war” was a war between North Korea, South Korea and the US together with the South Koreans to help. The Korean War was fought on sea, land, and in the air over and near the Korean peninsula (Brown, p.2). On June 25, 1950, the North Koreans rumbled across the thirty-eighth parallel. The invasion was successful because the south was not expecting or even prepare for a war. The invasion was so successful that they pushed the south to a tiny defensive area around Pusan. That’s when President Truman steps in real quick to halt the invasion of the North Koreans. Truman ordered American armed forces under General Douglas MacArthur to support South Korea. The Korean War was a clash between Communist forces and Free World (Brown, p.2).