Eisenhower

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Domestic Policy Civil Rights Foreign Policy
Samantha Red
Flashcards by Samantha Red, updated more than 1 year ago
Samantha Red
Created by Samantha Red about 7 years ago
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EISENHOWER DOMESTIC POLICY 1952 ELECTION General in WW2 & not linked to any political faction. Republican- Nixon was VP: he had experience= balanced ticket. Anti-communist crusader so voters felt protected. Promised to end Korean War. Used TV ads- call for time to change. Democrats involved in financial corruption scandal.
EISENHOWER DOMESTIC POLICY NIXON AS VICE PRESIDENT Balanced the ticket. Tense relationship with media: whiff of corruption that didn't sit well with Ike's promise of a clean administration. Accusations of using $118,000 of campaign donations for personal use: made a TV speech to explain & public responded positively. Considered 1st modern VP. Became defacto leader of repubs as Ike didn't resonate with members of congress.
EISENHOWER DOMESTIC POLICY THE ECONOMY Determined to cut fed spending to allow a $7bill tax cut- abolished Reconstruction Finance Corporation, cut funding to Tennessee Valley Authority, & sold atomic power plants. Federal Housing Administration offered low interest loans to buy homes= building boom= suburbs. Credit cards (Diners Club 1950)= increased private debt by 2. BUT stimulated economy & created manufacturing jobs. Introduced price controls to control inflation. Federal spending increased 11% as had to subsidise agriculture. Eisenhower Recessions: Korean War & New Look policy. Oligopolies in cars, steel, aluminium etc. Growth of media (adverts)= desire for glamour- no longer 'making do'. Economy doing well: GDP grew with real wages. Baby Boom: increased population- teenagers= new demographic. Investment in plant & equipment (WW2)= $10bill a year. Military spending= $40bill.
EISENHOWER DOMESTIC POLICY CONSUMER BOOM By 1960: 60% owned own home, 75% owned cars, 87% had TV. Work life got easier for most & real wages rose 10%. More office jobs. Mass development of radio- new music 'rock and roll'. Leisure industry grew. TV: homogenising the US & encouraged consumer society (adverts). More money spent on advertising than on education. Increase in cars= deaths on the road & pollution. Encouraged flight to suburbs (drive into work). Those left in cities= poor= less tax paid= less money for public services= ghettos. Chocolate cities white suburbs. 1954 McDonalds, 1955 Disneyland, 1956 Indoor Mall.
EISENHOWER DOMESTIC POLICY SOCIETY Half of fed spending was on defence= large section of society depended on Cold War continuing. Changes from consumer boom not welcomed by all: Right W= saw it as encouraging sexual liberation & juvenile delinquency. Left W= disliked conformity & role of housewife. The 'creeping socialism' of dems criticised but accepted some responsibility to the poor= dynamic conservatism. Raised min wage to $1. Extended social security to cover 10.5mill more. Massive spending on transport network. 1956 Highways Act $30bill= boost to jobs (construction & diners). Kerr-Mills Act: matching fed money to for healthcare for elderly. $30mill polio vaccination programme. 1958 National Defence Education Act: $887mill for science & language teaching & loans. 1958 NASA created (response to Sputnik).
EISENHOWER CIVIL RIGHTS BROWN V THE BOARD OF EDUCATION NAACP game support to case: argued seg education was against 14th amendment. Chief Justice Warren ruled segregation unconstitutional: even equal facilities were psychologically damaging. Was a major victory for using the legal system. Supreme Court would now have to back integration in other areas. In border states: 70% of schools desegregated in a year. But no time limit & citizens councils formed to oppose integration. KKK had a revival. Alabama outlawed NAACP & Louisiana persecuted NAACP. This all led to Brown II in 1955- desegregation should be achieved with all deliberate speed. Eisenhower did not take action to enforce as felt laws were useless in changing the hearts of people.
EISENHOWER CIVIL RIGHTS MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT Trigger= Rosa Parks 1955. The boycott lasted a year. Originally demands were modest however weren't accepted so stakes increased: complete end to segregation. Had to gain support from entire black community in Montgomery to be successful so alternative transport arranged. Assisted by NAACP lawyers & MLK emerged as a leader of CR movement. The legal challenge: Browder V Gayle- ruled seg was unconstitutional- SC backed this. Integrated buses began running in 1956.
EISENHOWER CIVIL RIGHTS LITTLE ROCK Arkansas central HS: 9 black students accepted into the school & faced extreme racial hatred. Governor Fabus saw opportunity for electoral success so sent national guard to surround school. Clear the students couldn't enter due to crowd so Ike forced into action (also due to USSR propaganda about the event)- sent troops to protect the students. This event shows the resistance to integration. Instead of allowing the students in: Gov Fabus closed the school & Little Rock not integrated until 1972. TV helped CR movement: people horrified at extent of racial hatred towards children & black community would now be more active.
EISENHOWER CIVIL RIGHTS CIVIL RIGHTS ACT 1957 & 1960 1957: drew up a CRA to get black vote in 1956 election, would help them to vote. Congress weakened the bill & Ike didn't fight it. Did very little to help registration but established a CR division in Justice Dept & a fed CR commission. 1960: introduced another bill- growing number of attacks on blacks & wanted black vote. Again opposed in congress so weakened. Both together only added 3% more to the register.
EISENHOWER CIVIL RIGHTS HOW SUCCESSFUL? Seemed more reluctant than Truman: until Little Rock he provided no leadership on the issue. Some argue his evolutionary approach was the best long term method. Laws would have provoked white backlash. It was the black movement itself that forced most of the changes: pressure from NAACP and international situation. Brown ruling important but slow, CRA's dismissed as too weak.
EISENHOWER FOREIGN POLICY NEW LOOK Cut back on conventional forces= more dependent on nuclear weapons (threat). Continue containment not roll back. Believed in domino theory so had to confront all communist expansion. BUT misunderstood the situation: Mao and Ho only pushed closer to China because of US actions. But would not do anything o bring US into direct conflict with USSR & China. Arms & Space Race: many wanted increased spending but Ike wary of
EISENHOWER FOREIGN POLICY KOREAN WAR By 1953: public opinion= anti war. Economically important to end, Khrushchev keep to improve relation. Armistice signed June 1953. 33,651 US personnel died, huge expenditure, & humiliating defeat (300 mile retreat in 1960). Strengthened communist paranoia and NSC-68 now in place. Increase in spending stimulated economy.
EISENHOWER FOREIGN POLICY CHINA Nationalists fled to Taiwan. US support continued: $250mill per year. 1954 treaty promised protection of Taiwan. Would not recognise Mao as Chinese leader. Threatened to release Chiang on China in a bid to end the Korean War= nationalist raids on China- responded with bombings testing US commitment.1955: sent troops under Formosa Resolution & threat on nuclear war. 1958: Chiang increased army & Chinese resumed bombing. US sent ships nut refused to use nuclear bombs- made it clear Chiang couldn't expect unlimited support.
EISENHOWER FOREIGN POLICY VIETNAM 1951: French close to defeat. 1954: Geneva Conference on Indo-China Vietminh close to uniting Vietnam- Ike not keen on the conference as feared communists would gain too much so only sent an observer. Destined to fail: Geneva Accords- 17th parallel communist North & Capitalist South and democratic elections to unite in 2 years. Not viewed as a success but all they could do was establish an effective barrier to communism. South East Asia Treaty Organisation: guaranteed security to SV- Diem supported by US to become leader. Diem= dictator- no land reform (peasant country) & consistently unpopular. US aid trained ARVN & to produce consumer goods. Ike inherited very limited involvement in the area so he was the main driving force: 800 military advisers.
EISENHOWER FOREIGN POLICY COLD WAR Improving relations: Khrushchev aimed for peaceful coexistence, end of Korean War, & agreed future of Austria (neutral country). Geneva Summit 1955: clear tension remained, no agreement over Germany & Khrushchev rejected open skies policy. Hungary 1956: revolt against communist government- expected help from US (CIA promised this over radio). Communists crushed the revolt. Berlin: relations worsened as no treaty still. West still developing fast than East= Brain Drain. Ike would not abandon Berlin even after USSR threatened to sign a treaty with East Germany- deadline to remove passed & USSR didn't follow through threat. Met in Paris 1960- U2 spy plane shot down, US denied it was theirs but were proved to be lying= humiliating and relations soured more.
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