What were the circumstances of Eisenhower’s election in 1952?

1. What were the circumstances of Eisenhower’s election in 1952? • Eisenhower had criticized Democrats’ handling of the Korean War • Democrats pointed out that Eisenhower had been involved with American policy in the Korean conflict • Voters seemed to trust and admire Eisenhower – WWII hero • Criticism of Nixon’s secret fund led Nixon to make his Checkers speech

2. Why did President Truman decide not to seek reelection in 1952? • He felt that eight years as president had been enough

3. How did the continuing Cold War affect the Eisenhower administration? • Led to an escalation of the arms race • Policies of brinkmanship and massive retaliation – Secretary of State John Foster Dulles • Use of CIA agents in secret actions against foreign Communist targets

4. How did the Soviet Union strengthen its grip on Eastern Europe? • Warsaw Pact • Used force to put down demonstrations and attempts to bring about reform • Sent tanks into the streets and bombed Hungary

5. How did the concept of massive retaliation fit in with the policy of brinkmanship? • Brinkmanship was the threat of using force • Massive retaliation backed up that threat with the pledge of overwhelming force, including nuclear weapons

6. How did the 1955 summit between Eisenhower and Khrushchev ultimately damage U.S. – Soviet relations? • The Soviets rejected an Open Skies treaty • U.S. sent U-2 aircraft into Soviet space to spy • In 1960, the Soviets shot down an American U-2 and captured the pilot • This soured relations between the two countries

7. What were the Cold War “hot spots” of the 1950’s? • Korea, Vietnam, and the Middle East

8. Why was Vietnam divided in two? • Vietnamese defeated the French for independence in 1954 • Peace talks divided Vietnam into Communist and non-Communist sections • North Vietnam – under Ho Chi Minh – Communist • U.S. and SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization) supported a new anti-Communist nation in 1955 – South Vietnam • Was supposed to be temporary

9. Why were Americans concerned about the outcome of the 1956 election for a new government in Vietnam? • Eisenhower was afraid that it might lead to a Communist victory • That might lead to the spread of communism in the region – the “domino” effect

10. What was the Eisenhower Doctrine? • Policy set forth by President Eisenhower in January 1957 that declared the right of the U.S. to help, on request, any nation in the Middle East trying to resist armed Communist aggression • This came as the result of the Suez Canal controversy between British and France and Egypt, who was supported by Soviets

11. What was the hydrogen bomb, and when was it developed? • A new kind of nuclear device that got its power from fusing together hydrogen atoms • Same process that creates energy of the stars and sun • Developed during the late 1940’s and early 1950’s • Had the potential of creating a blast hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bombs of WWII

12. What reasons did the General Advisory committee of the Atomic Energy Commission give for not developing a “super bomb”? • It wanted to set limitations on the “totality of war” • Wanted to limit fear and hope • To put it simply – it was a path the human race should not go down

13. Why do you think the U.S. chose not to use nuclear weapons during the Korean War? • Obvious factor that it might lead to an all-out nuclear war, since the Soviets also had nuclear weapons

14. What was the arms race, and what were its effects in the United States? • Competition between the U.S. and Soviets to prevent the other country from gaining newer technology or weapons • U.S. began to build large stockpiles of weapons and look for new and better ways of delivering those weapons to their targets • Led to the “space race’ – Sputnik, establishment of NASA in 1958

15. How did U.S. military strategy change during the Eisenhower administration? • There was a shift away from traditional forces, like tanks and soldiers • Relied more on nuclear weapons • The idea was to prevent our enemies from attacking in the first place by promising devastating nuclear response (massive retaliation)

16. Why was the first H-bomb impractical? • Massive size – over three stories tall; weighed a million pounds • Impossible to deliver a million pound bomb • So, scientists went to work to develop smaller, lighter types of weapons • Bombs that could be delivered from aircraft • Missiles delivered from the ground or from submarines • ICBM’s – Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles

17. What were some nondestructive uses of nuclear energy? • Providing electricity for homes and businesses • Nuclear-powered submarines, aircraft carriers

18. Why did the U.S. keep B-52 bombers in the air at all times? • Helped ensure that no enemy could destroy American ability to strike • Any B-52 on the ground could deploy within 15 minutes

19. How did Americans react to the growing threat of nuclear war? • With great fear that there would be an actual attack • Some people built bomb shelters in their back yards • Educational films – Duck and Cover • Air-raid sirens installed in towns across the U.S. – these were tested on a regular basis

20. What is nuclear fallout? • Particles of radioactive material produced by nuclear explosions • It falls through the atmosphere like rain to the ground • Exposure can cause burns, future health problems such as cancer and birth defects • Danger lasts for many years after the blast

21. Why did Eisenhower warn Americans about the military-industrial complex”? • Ike saw the establishment of a permanent arms industry as a threat to freedom • Before, we had no permanent arms industry – factories were converted during war time • After World War II, that all changed

22. How did nuclear fears affect American culture in the 1950’s? • Movies, comic books had plots that centered on the dangers of radiation and life in a nuclear world

23. How did television change American life in the 1950’s? • Brought political candidates, news, advertisements, and entertainment into people’s living rooms • Between 1945-1950, 5 million TV sets came into American homes • By 1959, at least 40 million homes had at least one set

24. How did television change American politics? • Political leaders quickly learned that TV had the power to change their relationships with voters • It could both help and hurt their reputations by exposing their true behavior in public • Gave politicians a much broader audience

25. How did advertising change as a result of television? • At first, a single advertiser sponsored a program • That sponsor’s advertising would be incorporated into the program • Advertisers then shifted to one- or two-minute segments – modern TV commercial was born • By 1960 television had become the major method of advertising in the country

26. How did television’s influence begin to concern some people? • They began to question the effects of spending so many hours watching TV • Especially concerned that it might have a negative impact on children • Continues to be a factor to this day

27. What other technological developments occurred in the 1950’s? • Transistors – improved radios and televisions • Integrated circuit – which is a single piece of material that includes a number of transistors and other electronic components • Computer – 1951 UNIVAC; first computer available for commercial use – predicted outcome of 1952 election • Polio vaccine – 1952 Jonas Salk

28. Why was the development of a vaccine against polio so important? • The year the vaccine was developed there were 57,000 cases of the disease • Vaccine could prevent death or the long-term physical effects of polio • Children could live a normal life

29. How was American culture changing during the 1950’s? • Population grew • Businesses boomed – lots of jobs • New TV’s ran ads urging people to buy more and more • Automobile designs • People bought new stoves, refrigerators, washing machines • New communities and highways were built • Suburban developments – Levittown, New York - 1947

30. How did the automobile industry change in the 1950’s? • In order to appeal to consumers (and get them to buy more cars), automakers began to change the styling of cars frequently – yearly models • Before, cars would go years without being redesigned

31. What factors led to America’s boom times of the 1950’s? • America had become the world’s leading economic power by the 1950’s • Increase in birth rates • New houses were built – suburbia • TV ads encouraged consumers to buy more products

32. What population trend began in the 1950’s? • Shift in settlement to the warmer areas in the southern and western portions of the United States – the so-called Sun Belt • Air conditioning in homes made this more practical • Trend continues to this day

33. How were Americans pushed toward “sameness” in the 1950’s? • The growing class of business workers experienced an increasing loss if individuality • Suburbs often had the same types of homes…