U.S History Quiz on The Cold War and Postwar America : 10 Quick Question ( Part 2)

The Montgomery G.I. Bill preceded the Korean War. It was signeed into law in 1944 to provide funds for soldiers returning from the Second World War so they could pursue an education after they finished their service. The Korean War began in June 1950 with the invasion of the communist North Korean army into the democratic nation of South Korea. The Korean peninsula had been divided at the 38th Parallel following the conclusion of the Second World War. Though President Truman had desegregated the military in 1948, this war marked the first time that African-American and white soldiers fought side by side in combat. The war was fought until 1953, when an armistice was signed, and the peninsula remained divided at the 38th Parallel. Because of the conflict, the United States adopted a policy of permanent mobilization, which led to the creation of a military-industrial complex. This was a powerful partnership between the military, the scientific community, and private industry. Furthermore, the Korean War directly affected the United States’ relationship with Japan. The once bitter enemy of the United States dur- ing the Second World War officially became its partner against the spread of communism with the signing of a formal treaty in 1951.

Issued in 1957, the Eisenhower Doctrine was a response to fears that the Suez Canal could fall under Soviet control with the absence of a British or French presence in the region. This threat was intensified by the U.S. economy’s growing dependence on petroleum, which made the Middle East more vital in the nation’s foreign policy and economy. This policy continued the ideas of the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan in that it promised military and economic support to countries that might become targets of communist states. Eisenhower’s fears of the spread of communism in Asia were illustrated by his domino theory, first described in a speech delivered in 1954. He stated that if one nation in the region fell to communism, that event could spark a chain reaction. This theory helped to fuel the United States’ involvement in Vietnam.

President John F. Kennedy introduced his “flexible response” doctrine in 1961 as a skeptical response to Eisenhower’s New Look Policy, because the introduction of inter- continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) made Eisenhower’s policy obsolete. Eisenhower’s approach was limited to a policy of deterrence, stockpiling a large quantity of nuclear weapons that could be deployed through conventional means. Flexible response was cre- ated to address what Kennedy saw as a “missile gap” created by Eisenhower’s strategy and opted for a more diverse and flexible approach to a Soviet threat that extended beyond just deterrence. The policy was created to introduce variable options other than the threat of nuclear weapons to respond to enemy aggression. The three main stages provided for in this policy included the use of direct defense of a Soviet attack using conventional military force, deliberate escalation in cases where a Soviet attack might possess an advantage in a strike against a NATO nation, and a general nuclear response, which reflected the policy of mutually assured destruction.

In 1945, President Truman outlined a 21-point plan for domestic policy that, by 1948, developed into what Truman called his Fair Deal. It continued, strengthened, and expanded many of the programs that defined Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, which had defined presidential public policy during the Great Depression. Initially, Truman’s Fair Deal continued to push for progressive policies such as universal health care coverage and government-provided incomes for working farmers. Both of these measures were defeated by members of both parties in Congress. Truman did achieve some notable goals under the Fair Deal. He increased the national minimum wage, expanded social security coverage to more Americans, increased government works projects involving flood control and irriga- tion, and provided financial support to poor urban communities. The Square Deal was the domestic policy of Theodore Roosevelt, which included better regulation of business and the dismantling of trusts, greater consumer protection, and conservation of the nation’s natural resources. The New Frontier was the name of the program announced by President Kennedy upon winning the presidential election in 1960. Like Truman’s Fair Deal, it called for far-reaching progressive reforms. These reforms included greater federal aid to education and urban renewal, health care for the elderly, and the creation of a Department of Urban Affairs. As with Truman’s plan, these far-reaching reforms were rejected by Con- gress. Kennedy did manage to increase the minimum wage and provided some increased support through the Area Redevelopment Act and the Housing Act, both signed in 1961 and providing funds to depressed urban areas. The Great Society was introduced by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. In many ways, the Great Society included and expanded upon ideas of the Fair Deal and New Frontier, but unlike the two earlier presidents, Johnson experienced much greater success in turning his planned policy into law. The Great Society included the 1965 Medicare Act, which provided health care for the elderly through the Medicare program and care for the impoverished through Medicaid, a policy that it shared with the goals of the New Frontier. Johnson also created the Department of Housing and Urban Affairs, which also had been a proposed part of the New Frontier.

In 1956, President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, creating the U.S. interstate highway system. With over 41,000 miles of roads, this project was the larg- est public works program in American history. Ninety percent of the funds for the project were provided by the federal government, with the remaining 10 percent coming from state governments. Eisenhower was inspired to construct the system after seeing the German highway system during the Second World War. The completion of the interstate highway system further fueled suburban sprawl and marked the decline of the nation’s railroad system. Eisenhower, like the earlier Republican administrations of Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover, supported the deregulation of business and smaller government and opposed the expansion of the Tennessee Valley Authority, created as part of the New Deal. Medicare (health care insurance for the elderly) and the Department of Housing and Urban Develop- ment, while first introduced as part of the New Frontier under Kennedy, were passed into law under Johnson as part of his Great Society.

Beginning in Long Island in 1947, William J. Levitt introduced the first mass- produced housing development, which became known as Levittown. His system of con- structing homes was in some ways similar to the method Henry Ford used to produce cars, focusing on standardization. Levitt’s first Long Island development consisted of nearly 11,000 standardized, prefabricated homes, and his model was copied widely throughout the nation, helping to fuel the growth of suburban America. Further promoting suburban sprawl was the Federal Housing Administration, established during the New Deal. It pro- vided government-insured loans to homebuyers and was used by numerous Americans in the postwar era. The interstate highway system introduced under the Eisenhower adminis- tration, as well as the increased number of automobiles in the United States, also allowed for the expansion of suburbs by providing efficient means for people to commute to their jobs from greater distances.

Both Friedan and Spock had a massive impact on postwar American society. In 1946, Spock released his popular book, The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care. The book inspired many women to settle into a domestic role and focus on raising their chil- dren. In many ways, this reintroduced the Cult of Domesticity, which had been prominent during the 19th century. This defined a woman’s role as being a homemaker and taking care of children. In 1963, Betty Friedan shattered this view with the release of The Feminine Mys- tique. She directly challenged the idea of a women’s innate passive and subservient nature and encouraged women to pursue their goals outside of the home. In many ways, she was a leader in sparking the women’s right movements of the later 20th century that included the work of organizations such as the National Organization for Women (NOW). NOW, whose founders included Friedan, pushed for an Equal Rights Amendment that would end discriminatory practices faced by American women.

While the 1950s are often thought of as times of social conformity, groups such as the beatniks emerged. The Beat Generation was defined by authors such as Allen Ginsberg, who introduced poems such as Howl, and Jack Kerouac, who authored On the Road. In their works, as well as in their lifestyles, they rejected social conformity and consumerism in favor of spontaneity, drugs, sexual freedom, and often spirituality through Eastern religion. The 1960s also saw the emergence of a counterculture, which became known as the hippies. Like the beatniks of the 1950s, hippies rejected social conformity and often were part of the drug culture of the time. Some also adopted policies of social dissonance, rejecting the Vietnam War. An offshoot of the 1960s counterculture was the Youth International Party (Yippies), founded by Abbie Hoffman in 1968. This group challenged social conformity and politics through large-scale theatrical public events that mocked the Establishment. The term yuppie emerged in the 1980s and referred to young urban professionals.

While the 1950s are often described as a time of cultural and social conformity, it was in fact a period of cultural divergence. Many people experienced a religious reawak- ening, as illustrated by the rise and popularity of televangelists such as Oral Roberts and increased overall church attendance. At the same time, the decade witnessed the emergence of a new youth culture that popularized the rock-and-roll music of performers including Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Buddy Holly.

In April 1961, the U.S. government, led by President John F. Kennedy, attempted to overthrow Cuba’s communist government of Fidel Castro by launching the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. In response, beginning in 1962, Castro agreed to allow the Soviet Union to construct missile bases on the island nation in order to ensure trade with the Soviet Union and create a deterrent for possible future U.S. attacks. This led to mili- tary escalation between the United States and the Soviet Union that became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. For 14 days, the world waited as it seemed that nuclear war had become a real possibility as the two superpowers faced off against each other. Finally, on October 28, 1962, the world breathed a sigh of relief when the United States and the Soviet Union created an agreement to resolve the confrontation peacefully. Kennedy agreed to the removal of strategic nuclear missiles from Turkey, and Nikita Khrushchev withdrew the Soviet missiles from Cuba. The two nations also established a Moscow-Washington hot line, also known as the “red phones,” to provide direct communications between the two nation’s leaders.