President Eisenhower
Marin Hulme
Election
-Republicans-Eisenhower
-Democrats- Adali E. Stevenson
-Senator Richard M. Nixon- VP for Republicans
-Nixon was reported to have a "slush fund"
-Nixon publicly apologized and gave the famous "Checkers Speech"
-the election was overwhelmingly won by Eisenhower
Second Election
-Republican
-Democrats- Adali Stevenson
-Eisenhower won an enormous majority
-drastic labor-reform bill came into play after recurrent strikes in major industries
-enormous response to Teamster Boss Hoffa from Eisenhower on public television
Cold War
1954 CIA-backed coup in Guatemala, Dien Bien Phu falls to pro-Communist forces, Geneva Conference splits Vietnam into two countries, SEATO is founded
1955- Warsaw Pact is signed
1957- Eisenhower Doctrine is announced USSR launches Sputnik I
1958- Congress passes National Defense Education Act
1960- U-2 incident embarrasses U.S. government
1961- Eisenhower gives farewell address
Joseph McCarthy
-Anti-communist
-Senator from Wisconsin
-originally said Secretary of State Dean Acheson employed 205 Communist leaders
-stated there was only 57 real communists---failed to root out one
-began making charges against government officials for "acts of communism"
-loved the limelight
-began accusing U.S Army and was going too far
U.S Army fought back for months and showed how ridiculous Joseph McCarthy was
-known as "Low Blow Joe"
-Senate condemned him for " conduct unbecoming a member"
-Died three years later of chronic alcoholism
Desegregation of the South
-two thirds still remained in South
-Jim Crow Laws still in existence
-segregated school, public toilets and drinking fountains
-20 precent of eligible southern blacks were registered to vote
- An American Dilemma by Swedish scholar Gunnar Myrdal exposed the contradiction between"America’s pro- fessed belief that all men are created equal and its sordid treatment of black citizens."
-NAACP helps advance black people in America and helped say the "white primary" is unconstitutional
- African Americans were some of the most affected people by the war
-went North and West in search of jobs
-Sweatt v. Painter: separate schools for black did not meet the test for equality
-Rosa Parks sat on a seat that said "whites only" and was arrested
- Chief Justice Earl Warren strongly advocated black equal rights
- Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas: the learned justices ruled that segregation in the public schools was “inherently unequal” and thus unconstitutional.
- At little rock in September of 1957, Ike was forced to act.
-Orval Faubus, the governor of Arkansas mobilized National Guard to prevent nine black students from enrolling in school
-Eisenhower sent down troops to help escort them to school
- Southern Christain Leadership Conference (SCLC): 1957; MLK; mobilize black churches for black rights
-Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC): 1960; force desegregation in schools
Eisenhower Policies
-legitimated many New Dealish programs
-Interstate Highway Act of 1956: $27 billion plan to build 42 thousand miles of sleek fast motorways
-built up an air fleet of superbombers (called the Strategic Air Command, or SAC) equipped with city-flattening nuclear bombs.
the Eisenhower Doctrine in 1957, pledging U.S. military and economic aid to Middle Eastern nations threatened by communist aggression.
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Space Race
-Soviet scientists amazed the world when they sent Sputnik I, II an a dog to space in 1957
-"Rocket Fever" swept the nation
-America exploded Vangaurd missile just a few feet above the ground
-National Defense and Education Act NDEA- $887 million in loans to needy college students for the improvement of teaching the sciences and languages