American golden age 1945 1960

1. Postwar Boom:
An American Golden Age?
1945-1960

2. I. Postwar Politics, 1945-1960
A. Recent background:
• Great Depression, 1929-1941
• World War II, 1941-1945

3. A. Recent background:
• Demographic effects of WWII
Country Population in
1939
Number of Dead total population
Killed
Soviet Union 175,500,000 23,600,000 13.44%
China 517,568,000 20,000,000 3.86%
Germany 69,623,000 7,503,000 10.77%
Japan 71,380,000 2,680,000 3.75%
France 41,700,000 562,000 1.35%
Italy 44,394,000 459,500 1.04%
Britain 47,760,000 450,400 0.94%
United States 131,028,000 418,500 0.32%

6. Each symbol indicates
100,000 dead in the
appropriate theater of
operations

7. Each symbol indicates
100,000 dead in the
appropriate theater of
operations

8. B. Cold War tensions
• Division of Europe

9. B. Cold War tensions
• China

10. B. Cold War tensions
• Korea

11. B. Cold War tensions
• McCarthyism

12. B. Cold War tensions
• McCarthyism

13. C. Atomic anxiety
• Hiroshima and Nagasaki

14. C. Atomic anxiety
• Hiroshima and Nagasaki

15. C. Atomic anxiety
• Bomb tests and proliferation

16. C. Atomic anxiety
• Hydrogen bombs and bomb shelters

18. C. Atomic anxiety
• Hydrogen bombs and bomb shelters

19. C. Atomic anxiety
• Hydrogen bombs and bomb shelters

20. C. Atomic anxiety
• Sputnik I and UFOs

21. D. Labor issues
• GI Bill –college and loans for WWII vets; affects 80%
of men born in 1920s, 15% of fed. budget

22. D. Labor issues
• 1946 strikes - 4.5 m. steel, coal, and rail workers on
strike; Truman threatened to draft into US army
• 1947 Taft-Hartley Act – restricted organized labor

23. E. Race relations
• 1948 desegregation of armed services
• End discrimination in government hiring

24. F. 1948 Election
• “Give ‘em Hell, Harry!” whistle stop train tour allows
narrow Truman victory over Dewey
• South runs pro-segregation States’ Rights Party

27. F. 1948 Election
• Truman’s Fair Deal: national health insurance, fed.
aid to education, civil rights, public housing, new
farm program, minimum wage
• Most of program fails to pass

28. G. 1952 and 1956 Elections
• Truman approval at 23% by 1952 due to Korean War.
• WWII general Eisenhower wins, re-elected in 1956

29. II. Postwar American Society, 1945-1960
A. Economic boom
• American production – In 1945, USA estimated to
produce 50% of global GDP and 75% of global gold
reserves.
• All major competitors ruined by WWII. US soil
untouched and production at full capacity.

30. A. Economic boom
• Avg. family income tripled, 1940-1955
• Americans had $135 b. in savings from defense
work, service pay, and war bonds
• Home ownership 41%  61%, 1940-1955

31. A. Economic boom
• Marshall Plan  W. European “economic miracle”

32. A. Economic boom
• Car culture

33. A. Economic boom
• 1956 interstate highways

34. A. Economic boom
• Corporate culture –
more white collar than
blue collar jobs
• Growth of
multinational
corporations

35. A. Economic boom
• Franchises

36. B. Search for family stability
• Baby Boom – 65 m. born, every 7 seconds
• Dr. Benjamin Spock – childrearing advice
• Dr. Jonas Salk – polio vaccine

37. B. Search for family stability
• Suburbs – William Levitt, new home every 16 min.
• “White flight” – reduces inner city tax base, leads to
urban decay

38. B. Search for family stability
• Religious revival; Church membership 64 m. (1940)
 114 m. (1960)
• “under God” added to Pledge

39. B. Search for family stability
• Role of women
• 1950 median marriage age: 22.8 men, 20.3 women
• 1957 teen pregnancy all-time high: 96.3/1000


40. B. Search for family stability
• TV nuclear family portrayal

41. C. Changing consumerism
• Standard of living and leisure time

42. C. Changing consumerism
• Mass media – TV

43. C. Changing consumerism
• Mass media – rock ‘n roll and teen
culture

44. C. Changing consumerism
• Consumerism and advertising
• “a freezer became a promise of plenty, a second car
became a symbol of status, and a mouthwash
became the key to immediate success”

45. III. The Other America, 1945-1960
A. Uneven prosperity – 25% of Americans living in poverty

46. B. Race relations
• 1952 - Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
• 1957 - Little Rock Nine

47. C. Juvenile delinquency

48. D. Beatniks and the early counterculture