US history, the Idiots’ Guide



US II cheat sheet “The Whole Enchilada” If you know and understand all of this stuff, you’ll pass the test….

The “New” South and the “Wild” West 1877-1898

After Reconstruction the South went about inventing the “myth of the Lost Cause.” Southern whites had been united in their attempt to stand up for their rights against an overreaching federal government…they fought the good fight but lost due to Yankee numbers…and Yankee attempts to make citizens out of their property. Total BS, but it was accepted for 100 years.

In the south, Jim Crow began to become the law – segregation was supposed to be illegal, but so what? Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) said as long as things were “separate but equal”, segregation of the races was okay. But with no legal/political rights for African Americans, who was there to enforce equal? In control were the Democrats as they made the “Solid South” basically a one party rule. In order to force this were methods like lynching, Literacy tests, poll taxes, and grandfather clauses. Ida B. Wells reported specifically on that horrific practice of lynching.

Sharecropping in many ways replaced slavery – also known as debt peonage. The land lord tells you to grow cotton. Everyone is growing cotton so the price of cotton went down, so the land lord tell you to grow more, so the price goes down and they tell you to grow more…the land lord lets you buy stuff at his store on credit and before you know it, you’re trapped…

As time went by different voices tried to speak out against the racism and social and economic discrimination blacks faced in the South, though in different ways. Booker T. Washington wanted African Americans to prove to whites their worthiness through hard work and sought education for blacks across the south. WEB Dubois wanted African Americans to speak out for rights and demand changes. He and his Talented 10th formed the NAACP and wanted to make legal challenges to segregation and Plessy v. Ferguson.

Now onto the great outdoors, the Wild West, where cowboys roamed vast empty lands and rule the parries…. except not really, thanks Hollywood. Cattle worker life was hard and a lot of work, There were long cattle drives to get the meat to big industrial meat packing cities like Chicago, but that will be replaced by railroad transportation soon (more on that below). Cowboys usually ended up working for someone else, not themselves, on a ranch, where barbwire fenced in the great plains and “tamed” the West. Others moved out west, the mining industry got companies rich, not too many individual minors struck it rich. Also mining had big negative impacts on the environment. Homesteaders and Exodusters moved out West in search of their own little house on the prairie and built their soddies. A lot didn’t make it but some farms survived. BTW all this reshaping and destroying the environment out west is going to help lead to National Parks being established like Yellowstone and Yosemite.

Out in the West, railroads were king! The transcontinental railroad helped settle the great plains quickly after the Civil War (Of course the government played a big role in the financing of those railroads). The companies gained influence and became monopolies out west, especially if you were a farmer and that was the only way to get your crops to market back east. Of course railroads don’t come from nothing, Chinese and Irish immigrants worked horrible conditions to build those railroads.

So what about the animals and people who were there before the railroad? Well of course the buffalo were slaughtered to make way, which hurt the economic livelihood of the Native Americans who were being continually removed and pushed into smaller and smaller lands and reservations. Just remember, massacres abound in these closing decades of the 1800s. The Sand Creek, and Battle of Wounded Knee are of course the two most famous where the US Army massacred native Americans. Treaties were made, and broken, like when say gold was discovered in the Black Hills on Sioux land, but that didn’t matter. There were some Indian successes, like Cluster’s defeat at the Battle of Little Big Horn, but mostly defeats for the Indians and relegation to smaller reservations. Eventually The federal government tried to Americanize [assimilate] them and it took their kids and tried to teach them to be good little farmers – just like the white people (The Dawes Act). Passed in 1887, but all they got was crappy land that couldn’t be farmed and was a miserable failure. The Dawes Act also took their children and put them in boarding schools to learn “civilized” white American ways and lose their language and native culture.

Going back to the farmers (both in the South and the West) the Populist Party grew out of the conditions on the farms. Farm prices had been going down since the Civil War [in part due to the farmers’ overproduction of crops] and it became almost impossible for farms to make it. Farmers want inflation, so they wanted US currency to be based on both gold and silver (Free Silver) – increasing the money supply, They also wanted:

Lower tariffs on manufactured goods from Europe

Government ownership of railroad and telegraphs

Interest rate caps

A graduated income taxes [the rich pay more, what a concept] instead of property taxes – which hurt them the worst and direct election of US Senators

William Jenning Bryan ran for president twice on that platform and lost both times [the second time in 1896, he was also the nominee of the Democratic Party which had more or less “swallowed up” the Populists, which led to the demise of this once-promising party] “You shall not crucify mankind on a cross of gold…”

The “Gilded Age” a shiny coating on the filth 1865 – 1898

The US’s economy really kicked in and grew at an unbelievable pace. The U.S. built factories, and railroads. Cities grew as a result, Immigration continued to grow. [Especially the “New Immigration” from countries in southern and eastern Europe.]

Huge new corporations like Standard Oil, Duke Tobacco and Carnegie Steel were created and all this new wealth created massive new corruption. There were no rules—“Social Darwinism” and laissez-faire government ruled the day. Wages were often cut, thousands of workers were killed or maimed on the job and the average person was probably worse off in 1895 than they were before the Civil War, but so what? $$ was being made!

The rich like Cornelius Vanderbilt and J.P. Morgan created trusts and monopolies, built huge mansions, bought and sold state legislatures, and controlled the powerful U.S. Senate. They used this power to crush unions (the “Pinkertons” detective agency was infamous at stopping strikes.)

The most important of which were the Knights of Labor [which allowed skilled and unskilled workers, men and women, whites and blacks to join] and the American Federation of Labor [which allowed only skilled workers to join and focused on “bread and butter unionism”—better wages, hours, and working conditions] and there were many ugly strikes and confrontations [among these were the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, the Haymarket Riot, the Homestead Strike, and the Pullman Strike], but in the end, the companies always won. [primarily because they had the active support of both state and federal governments which helped turn many of these strikes into bloody affairs]

Social Darwinism – the idea that if you’re rich, you are a more highly evolved life form and if you’re poor, well, sorry, but it’s your own fault. Youth read book by Horatio Alger about the average guy who pulled himself up by his boot straps….if he can do it, so can you.

There were half hearted attempts to clean things up – The Pendleton Act established the civil service – which began to do away with the old Jacksonian “Spoils System” where all government jobs were filled by political supporters. That was only because some office-seeking nutcase shot president James Garfield. But political scandals were so common. They didn’t even get people’s attention. – kind of like now?

Cities grew so fast that things like fresh water, housing, decent food, sanitation, transportation and medical care were only available to those who could afford them and most couldn’t. Many cities fell under the control of political machines that provided services in return for votes and kickbacks.

The most infamous of these was the Tammany Hall machine that ran New York City. [it’s most famous “boss” was William Tweed who was eventually convicted and sent to prison, largely due to the efforts of the political cartoonist Thomas Nast.]

Progressives, Imperialists, and World War I 1895 – 1919

T. Roosevelt was the arch Imperialist. Imperialists believed that they should do the “backward peoples” (AKA “Our darker brothers”) of the world a favor by taking over their lands and instituting “enlightened” government but mostly they wanted to take their resources and create new markets for American goods.

Because all the major European countries had begun to divide up Africa and Asia between them, the US decided to take the advice of people like Admiral Alfred “The importance of Sea Power” Thayer Mahan and Sen. Albert “march of the Flag” Beveridge and join in the fun – the U.S. wanted to become a “player” on the world stage, too!

*The U.S. engineered an overthrow of the government of Hawaiian Islands and annexed them 1898. The first episode of “Don’t screw with the American Fruit Company.”

*The U.S. picked a war with Spain over one of our battleships which was blown up in Havana Harbor. [“Remember the Maine! became the battle cry.] The U.S. volunteer army [including Teddy Roosevelt’s “Rough Riders”] and navy kicked some Spanish butt and took the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and some small islands in the Pacific. We supposedly “gave” Cuba its independence – as long as they did exactly what we said. (we forced them to sign the Platt Amendment) The Filipinos didn’t like us when we refused to grant them independence and they fought an ugly little guerrilla war against us. Finally Gov. Taft won them over – kind of.

The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine [the so-called “Big Stick”] established the U.S. as the “policeman” of the Western Hemisphere and led to much resentment towards the U.S. in Latin America [Does the name Fidel Castro ring a bell? He studied history too, you know!]

Later the U.S. instigated a revolution in Colombia and “freed” Panama. Panama then “let” us dig a canal across the isthmus. That cut a month out of the trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific – an absolute necessity for a “2 ocean empire”

By 1900, the US had the largest and most productive economy in the world and the rest of the world powers began to notice us. We even joined them in an invasion of China after they tried to throw out the “foreign devils” in the Boxer Rebellion. Despite rumors to the contrary, bullets did kill them. We instituted the “Open Door” Policy in China so that the U.S. could also benefit through one-sided trade deals with China – just like the other imperial powers.

To many younger and educated middle-class people, the country was in danger of falling into chaos and revolution, so they decided the system had to be changed enough to save it. They’re called the Progressives.

Jacob Riis exposed the conditions of the tenements in New York in his novel [complete with documentary photographs], How the Other Half Lives, Ida Tarbell went after Standard Oil [in The History of the Standard Oil Company] and Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle. [which led Congress to pass the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906] TR called these writers/journalists “Muckrakers” because they spent their time investigating the nasty stuff at the bottom.

A young man who had served time in the New York Assembly and as NY City Police Commissioner became the figurehead of the movement. TR or Theodore Roosevelt came to personify the Progressives.

Progressives wanted to clean up the government corruption, protect workers and consumers, and extend democracy [by adopting many of the old Populist demands--- direct election of U.S. Senators, adoption of the secret ballot and initiative, referendum, recall, and primary elections for potential candidates]

In order to assist immigrants to “Americanize”/assimilate – Jane Addams and the “settlement house” movement began– Hull House in Chicago [and many others] led that crusade – including a young Eleanor Roosevelt

Use scientific management methods in corporate America and city government – the City Manager system came from this – use specially trained experts instead of corrupt “Bosses” to run cities…”Trust us, we know what’s best for all you ignorant low life immigrants.”

First we have to limit the availability of liquor—the old temperance movement which led to Prohibition [which was achieved with the passage of the 18th Amendment] and pass mandatory school attendance laws…child labor is bad, but for many families absolutely necessary.

Progressives also believed in giving workers a bit of help against the corporations, which they saw as too powerful. TR called this the “Square Deal.”

He also had Booker T. Washington [whose “Atlanta Compromise” speech made him THE spokesman for African Americans in this period] over for dinner and told the coal companies what they were going to do…but he was no radical, change the system enough to save it…remember?

TR even went after big business and began to break up some “bad” Trusts (huge companies – such as Morgan’s Northern Securities Trust) with the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and also was able to get the Pure Food and Drug and Meat Inspection Acts through Congress. . . which meant among other things, that you can no longer sell cocaine as allergy medicine nor can you prescribe laudanum as the latest cancer cure.

Whereas, TR was not afraid to use force, his successor, William Howard Taft (our fattest President) believed in Dollar Diplomacy – Let the dollar do the talking instead of the maxim gun. [Though the U.S. found that it still had to use guns to protect its investments!] He was a wimp in TR’s eyes, so Roosevelt split the Republican Party [by forming the Progressive or “Bull Moose” Party] in 1912 and a Democrat won, Woodrow Wilson. Socialist, Debs ran too and got about 8% of the vote.

Wilson was a good - if racist – progressive. He continued to go after the huge Trusts [with the Clayton Antitrust Act] and the 16th Amendment provided for the old populist income tax and the 17th Amendment provided for the direct election of US Senators. He also set up the Federal Reserve System– to regulate and bring some sort of federal control/supervision to the banking system.

BUT in 1914 the Europeans went to war over stupid stuff. They had been in an arms race since the 1890’s. They had been competing for colonies. They had a tradition of hatred and distrust that was fueled by extreme nationalism. They had gotten into a series of secret alliances, so once the house began to fall (Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary’s assassination in Sarajevo provided the “spark” that set off the “powder keg” that was Europe at that time). No one could figure out how to stop the march towards war.

The machine gun made successful offensive attacks impossible, so both sides built elaborate trench systems and the war soon became a massive and horrible blood bath Neither side could figure out how to stop the stalemate. They tried all sort of new and horrific weapons----poison gas, airplanes, tanks, submarines, along with periodic suicidal and stupid frontal attacks, but nothing worked. The grim reaper and the armaments industry did very well indeed.

The US stayed out for 3 years. Finally in April 1917, the US entered the war. Whether it was the Zimmerman Telegram asking Mexico join in an alliance with Germany and attack us, or the German submarines [called “U-boats”] sinking ship with Americans on board or Wall Street fearing it may lose its investments in Britain and France or some combination, the U.S. went to war. To get America on the same page, civil liberties had to be curtailed and dissent was outlawed. [with passage of the Espionage and Sedition Acts] that limited freedom of speech against the government during the war.

We came in at the critical moment. The Russians had dropped out and into Revolution. The Germans were playing their last card but the U.S “doughboys” under Gen. Jack Pershing arrived just in time to stop the German offensive. The war ended on 11th November, 1918 with the “armistice.” The victorious Allies, US, Britain and France met at Versailles outside of Paris. They were in charge of putting the world back together. Woodrow Wilson had gone to France with his 14 Point – blueprint for post war peace – no secret alliances, a League of Nations, freedom of the Seas, free trade, self-determination, etc. Progressive idealism on display.

However, Britain and France wanted to humiliate Germany for starting the war...(there was enough blame on that count to go around) They won and the Treaty of Versailles--- took away Germany’s military, navy, and all of its colonies, imposed a government on them and made them pay France and Britain reparations to the tune of $33 billion for damage done during the war. Wilson did get a League of Nations added, but…

In the end, the U.S. Senate didn’t ratify the treaty, and the nation returned to its isolationist traditions. “You Europeans are crazy, just like Washington said.” Everyone had the flu anyway – no joke. Millions died in world-wide influenza epidemic

The Roaring Twenties or “Jazz Age” 1919 – 1932

Johnny came marching home to civil unrest and unemployment. The media blamed communists and anarchists, but it was mostly wage cuts and no jobs. Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer, ordered all suspected foreigners rounded up and deported in the Palmer Raids. The re-born Ku Klux Klan attracted millions of new members as it expanded its hate to include foreigners, radicals, Jews, and Catholics as well as African Americans. Everyone wanted to be a “right thinking” American – except the intellectuals who bailed for Paris (expats) where you could believe and do what ever you wanted. The so-called [by the judge in the case] “Italian, anarchist bastards” Sacco and Vanzetti were tried and eventually fried for the crime of being Italian, anarchist bastards and not, it would appear, because they had committed any crime. (Ok, Vanzetti was probably guilty, but not based on evidence available at the time)

Ok, let’s get on with the party… the 18th [Prohibition] Amendment became the law of the land in 1920. With “Demon Rum” outlawed, a new criminal enterprise was born----bootlegging. Nationwide, though the consumption of alcohol did decline, the people’s demand for booze caused organized crime, led by “gangsters” like Al Capone, to be on the rise. The price of cars went down [Thanks to Henry Ford’s assembly line and his “Model T”] and most could afford them. Urban areas (only) had electricity, so people began to buy vacuum cleaners, fans, toasters, even refrigerators – for the rich, but most of all people bought radios. People bought all this stuff “on time” by making installment payments. For the first time we invented a consumer society. The new filed of advertising (using propaganda tricks learned during the war) began to convince us to buy things we didn’t even know we needed. The buying started the economic boom of the ‘20’s.

In foreign affairs there was an attempt to limit naval construction by the Washington Conference and outlaw war with the Kellogg – Briand Pact. (described as a letter to Santa Claus - how exactly does one “outlaw” war?)

Warren Harding was elected in 1920 by promising a return to “normalcy” [by which he meant a return to the good old days of laissez-faire government and Social Darwinism and isolationism in foreign affairs] which isn’t even a word. He was clueless and his buddies looted the country while he began to drink heavily. (To be fair, he did set up health clinics and his record on civil rights was better than Wilson’s).

Eventually Albert Fall, Secretary of the Interior did go to jail over the Tea Pot Dome Scandal. Seems he took a bribe to let Sinclair Oil drill on US property. Veterans Bureau chief, Forbes, was even worse, he took kickback on veterans hospital construction. Harding had the good taste to die before any of the scandals broke. He was followed by “Silent” Cal Coolidge. Who believed that the business of America is business – and the government shouldn’t interfere.

The lost generation – F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway. Others like Sinclair Lewis made fun of “right thinking Americans” like George Babitt. They knew it was all a sham, so party hardy every day. [Also, the horrific and senseless slaughter that was World War I might have had something to do with their attitudes!]

The Scopes Trial (Monkey Trial) about teaching evolution in TN was a metaphor for the cultural divide that afflicted the country…urban, diverse, wet America v. rural, dry, traditional values – which is the true America? Both?

Not everyone was invited to the party… about half of the families in the country lived at or below the poverty level. They were not buying cars and fridges. Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon believed in “Trickle Down Economics.” Cut taxes, get rid of government regulations and the economy will grow. Eventually, the wealth will “trickle down” to the rest. The rich began to invest in stocks because stock prices were going through the roof. Put a $100 on RCA and next year it will be $200, and the following year $400….Problem is that began to slow down the purchase of other goods, The other half had no money to spend.

By late 1928, demand for goods was falling and inventories were rising, but no one cared…the party continued. The Republican Presidential candidate Herbert Hoover said that the country was on the verge of ending poverty, where there would be “two cars in every garage, and a chicken in every pot.”

October 24, 1929. No one knows why, but the stock market began to tank. People who had bought stock with borrowed money - on margin – had to sell all their stock at once – which drove the price down farther… and farther …and farther. To make matters even more interesting, bank took depositor’s money and gambled in the markets with it…and lost it…no FDIC, no money. The stock market crash didn’t cause the Great Depression, but it did signal its beginning.

The Depression and New Deal 1932 - 1939

Congress passed the Smoot – Hawley Tariff, taxing imports, so other countries taxed our exports. We stopped lending to the Germans, who stopped paying back the French, who stopped paying us back and the entire world economy slowed to a crawl. (This was called the Dawes Plan, and it collapsed as the world’s economy tanked)

President Hoover did try, some. He pushed through the NIRA which lent money to companies. But by election day 1932, unemployment in the US was approaching 25 %, perhaps higher, and in some cities it was 40%. People blamed Hoover as they moved into shacks in Hoovervilles and slept under newspapers called Hoover blankets. It wasn’t his fault, but … To make matters worse, WW I veterans ( Bonus Army) had marched to DC to get the pension money they had been promised later. They set up a Hooverville where the Pentagon is now. Hoover sent the army in and Gen. Doug MacArthur and his underling, Dwight Eisenhower chased them out with tear gas and tanks. That did not look good in the newsreels at all.

The Democrats had run TR’s cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and he won in a landslide. Roosevelt had no clue how to end the depression, he offered, “bold, persistent experimentation.”

*He also closed the banks for a long weekend. Only those banks judged safe were allowed to re open. That restored faith in the banking system (the Bank Holiday)

• He brought a bunch of bright young men from Columbia to DC and created the Brain Trust.

• He got his New Deal through Congress in 100 days ( the 3 R’s “relief, recovery and reform of the capitalist system”)

o AAA – paid farmers not to grow – eliminated over supply, raised prices

o NRA – price and wage controls, codes to regulate the economy ( Big Blue Eagle)

o CCC – put young men to work in forests for a dollar a day

o PWA/ WPA = paid unemployed to build / create roads, schools, post offices etc.

o TVA and REA – brought electricity to rural areas, especially in the south

o Social security – old age pensions for some – “creeping socialism”

The New Deal never fixed the depression, only WWII did that, but it did give people enough hope to keep them from taking nutcases like Huey the “Kingfish” Long ( Share the Wealth/ every man a king) or Father Coughlin too seriously.

At this time the Germans are electing Adolf Hitler and the Japanese army whacked the Prime Minister and took over the government. We were lucky indeed that we had a leader (no, FDR was no socialist radical) and not a head case at this moment.

By the mid 30’s things were not great, but looking up. The conservative Supreme Court struck down the AAA and the NRA because they were unconstitutional, which they are. FDR tried to appoint a bunch of new judges. But the Court Packing Scheme went too far. FDR’s popularity began to wane, but he won re-election ’36 anyway.

When FDR cut back on the deficits and the courts killed the NRA, the economy tanked again in ’37 and ’38. FDR passed social security to give pensions to (some) old people and pushed through the Second New Deal (REA, WPA) but the depression continued…

World War II 1941 - 1945

Sept. 1, 1939 the Germans triggered WW2 in Europe. They had been jerking the Czechs and the Brits and the French around since 1936, but the invasion of Poland went too far. The Japanese had already invaded China in 1931 – so the war is on. Wilson’s League of Nations sat by and let the world go to Hell in a Handbasket (remember we never joined.). Once again the US was reluctant to get in. FDR was pushing us to war, but America was being stubborn. Finally, “December 7, 1941, a day which will live in infamy…” the Japanese bombed our naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

It took a while but the Allies (Britain, US, USSR and Free France and China) began to push the Axis (Germany, Italy and Japan) powers back. The Americans and the Brits threw Hitler out of Africa (Operation Torch), then invaded Italy and finally on June 6, 1944, (D-Day) France. Meanwhile the Russians were coming in from the east after their victory at Stalingrad. – Then it’s checkmate for Hitler’s Germany. Besides we bombed the crap out of them. Germany basically ceased to exist.

In the Pacific, Japan was out classed by the US. Using Island hopping, we got closer and closer to the Japanese islands so that we could bomb the crap out of them too. They fought well, but it really didn’t matter. At Coral Sea and Midway (turning points), the US Navy trashed the Japanese navy – partly because we were reading their codes in real time.

At home, Rosie the Riveter worked double shifts and grandma raised the kids. Rationing went into effect, no gas, no tires, no stockings, no cars, limited food and sky high taxes made sure everyone made some sacrifices. That’s how we became the Arsenal of Democracy and ended the Depression.

Meanwhile, with the top secret Manhattan Project the US built the first atomic bombs, then on August 6, 1945 the world changed when we nuked Hiroshima and 3 days later Nagasaki. Japan surrendered.

The Beginnings of the Cold War 1945 - 1952

FDR, Churchill and Stalin had met at Yalta in early 1945.

They decided that Germany should be partitioned,

That there would be free elections in those parts of Europe liberated by the Soviets and

That the Soviet Union would come into the war against Japan 3 month after the war in Europe was over.

To be real, Stalin had no intention to let Eastern Europe decide its future. He wanted a buffer zone between him and Germany – and FDR probably knew it, but he wanted Russia in the war against Japan, so he pretended Stalin was a nice guy. This will be a big deal after the war. Did FDR sell us out to the Ruskies? Or did he believe he could work with “Uncle Joe?” FDR died less than 3 months later

July 1945, Potsdam Conference: FDR gone, replaced by VP, Harry Truman. Churchill gone, lost an election, Stalin still there. Truman had an attitude because Stalin had not permitted elections in Eastern Europe. Got even more of an attitude when he heard that the A-bomb actually worked – don’t need /want Russians in Asia. US and Soviet Union begin the Cold War.

Churchill visited the US and made his famous Iron Curtain speech in 1946. Then China fell to those godless commies under Mao Tze Dong. Then the Soviets cut off access to Berlin (Berlin Airlift) and we flew food and fuel in for a year. In the end Stalin backed down, but the cold war is on… Truman Doctrine – the US will stop Communist Aggression (AKA Policy of Containment – Kennan’s “Long Telegram”) Sect’y of State George Marshall took it a step farther and offered to give Europe US aid to rebuild – called the Marshall Plan.

1948 – US joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) permanent alliance with western Europe to oppose the Commies.

1949 – Soviets exploded their first A – bomb. We figured that they were too stupid to do that, so we began to suspect they were spying on us – we now know they were. (Julius and Ethyl Rosenberg were fried in the electric chair for spying)

1950 – Korean War begins, North Korea, commie, invaded South Korea. We (and the UN) sent troops under Doug MacArthur. He landed them behind the North Koreans at Inchon and chased them up to the Chinese border. At which time the Chinese became offended and struck back. Truman had told Mac Arthur not to do that (or use atomic bombs), and MacArthur was fired. MacArthur was a hero, Truman wasn’t. In the end, the war ended with a truce and the 38th parallel is still the dividing line between North and South Korea. (The US still has men there)

Americans coming home from the war found shortages of everything – especially jobs and housing. They had the benefits of the GI Bill, but things were still tough. When war time price and wage controls came off, prices spiked up faster than wages. Strikes were pretty common and Truman tried to draft strikers – but the court said NO! Insecurity breeds contempt and we were not feeling good about ourselves, so we had to find a scapegoat - Commies. Republicans began to beat Truman for being either clueless or an actual commie lover himself and “losing” China..

In the elections of 1946, the Republicans gained both houses of Congress for the first time since 1932. They set up the House Un American Activities Committee (HUAC) which began investigations of Commie influence – Everyone had to take loyalty oaths and paranoia became the order of the day. (Miller wrote the Crucible about this period.) Sen. “Tailgunner Joe” McCarthy used this fear to manipulate the people and create power for himself. McCarthyism is what Arthur Miller was writing about in the Crucible. “I hold in my hand the names of 209 employees of the State Department who are known members of the Communist Party.” Actually it was a laundry list.

They then passed the Taft –Hartley Act which outlawed closed union shops mandated “cooling off” periods before strikes. Truman vetoed it, but no matter…it’s the law.

Truman’s own party dissed him for integrating the armed forced by executive order – Strom Thurmond and his fellow southern Democrats bolted and became Dixicrats People thought Truman had no chance to win the ’48 elections…. BUT he did. They underestimated “Give ‘em Hell Harry”.

Thanks to the GI Bill more young men had gone to college than ever before – this raised incomes enabling these young men and their growing families to move out to the suburbs, buy a TV and enjoy the good life – as long as you did exactly what everyone else on your street did – conformity become the rule. You played by the rules, worked hard, your employer took care of you, gave you regular raises and promotions – even health insurance. It was a great time to be a white male. Pretty much sucked for everyone else, but for the man in the “gray flannel suit,” it was supposed to be heaven.

The Fifties 1952 - 1960

In 1952 we liked Ike – Dwight Eisenhower – supreme commander in Europe during the war. Moderate Republican rode in on the commie baiting of Senator Joe McCarthy, then trashed him when he took on Eisenhower’s buddies in the army (Army – McCarthy Hearings, 1954). Eisenhower’s hatchet man and VP was a young man by the name of “Dick” Nixon – who had made his reputation going after Alger Hiss – who really was a commie spy, as we now know.

1954 – Supreme Court announced its decision in the Brown v. the School Board of Topeka, KS. “Segregation has no place in public education”. South went nuts…how dare the Supreme Court tell us how to run our affairs. “Private schools” flourished across the South.

1955 – Rosa refuses to give up her seat and begins the Montgomery bus boycott ( MKL and SCLC gained national prominence in Montgomery.

Like all good Republicans, Ike wanted to cut spending and taxes, he really wasn’t too successful, but he did try to cut military expenses - he did this by coming up with the idea of Brinkmanship ( more bang for the buck). If you cross the line we’ll nuke you ‘cause nukes are cheaper than divisions.

Eisenhower Doctrine – we’ll defend the Middle Eastern oil fields. (This came out of 1956 Suez Crisis – a last hurrah for European colonialism)

1957 – Soviets launch Sputnik – first man made satellite. Embarrassed the US because our rockets kept blowing up on the launch pads. Bigger issue, the same technology which could launch sputnik could launch nukes at the US. Created the missile gap. First time the Feds get involved in education.

1957 – Eisenhower reluctantly federalizes Arkansas national guard troops to integrate Little Rock High

1959 U-2 Crisis – Soviets shot down one of our U-2 spy planes just before Eisenhower and Soviet leader Khrushchev were to meet. The US denied that we flew spy planes over Russia. They produced the plane and the pilot – big embarrassment for Ike. Summit called off.

JFK and LBJ 1960-1968

Elections of 1960: Ike’s VP, Richard Nixon – commie hunter v. John Kennedy and the New Frontier. Very close election. Kennedy looked better on TV – first presidential debate. That put him over the top.

Kennedy tried to do some things (New Frontier), but the southern Democrats ignored him – they were afraid of a northern Catholic who had sent a nice letter to Dr King. So they blew him off. He lasted 3 years and had his brains splattered all over Jackie’s pretty pink dress in Dallas – lots of theories about that….

1962 - Missile Crisis-(Blockade Cuba, get Ruski missiles out), and the Bay of Pigs fiasco (Attempted CIA over through of Castro, our bad, Cuba), and the Berlin Wall, so you can see the cold war was in full swing. But the missile crisis was too close a thing, so Test Ban Treaty was passed and the “hot line” installed. (And our missiles secretly pulled from Turkey)

VP Lyndon Johnson took the oath on the way back to DC from Dallas. A real political operator – knew where all the skeletons were and would threaten to bring them out if you didn’t support him. As crude and crass as he was, he was painfully effective. He promised to create the “Great Society” – or the War on Poverty

He got the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 – eliminating discrimination in public places (March on Washington, “I have a Dream”)

He got the 24th amendment which eliminated poll taxes

He got the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (After Selma Marches)

He got Medicare and Medicaid

He got public TV and radio and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

He got immigration reform

He got urban renewal an attempt to rebuild inner cities

He got the war on poverty…

but he also got the Tonkin Gulf Resolution (Congress handed him a blank check to wage war) which resulted in the war on the Vietnamese. – “Hey, Hey LBJ, How many kids did you kill today?”

Johnson did not run for re-election in ’68 because we now know that he had come to realize the kids were right

1968- MLK and Bobby Kennedy assassinated, Democratic Party Convention a mess

Kids – who are called “baby boomers” went to college in record numbers (and joined SDS) and protested against the suburban conformity mentality their fathers lived in. We call these kids Hippies” “Tune in, turn on and drop out” became a rallying cry. The society went from everyone being on the same page to everyone doing their own thing… The civil rights movement turned more violent after King’s assassination in ’68. Other Movements like the Black Power Movement (and Black Panthers), the Chicano Movement, and American Indian Movement, all showed discontent with the current situation, and a demand for pride in one’s culture and heritage. Some looked at these movements as an example of how radical and fearful things had become. These changes were too much too fast and the conservatives launched a reaction which would lead to the Reagan years in the ‘80’s. After 1975, we have the reaction and America became much more conservative.

“Dick Nixon, now more than ever” 1969 – 1974

*Southern Strategy – the race card- appeal to disaffected white southerners get ‘em to vote Republican

*Recognition of “Red China” Isolated USSR – 1972 – détente – easing of tensions between the two superpowers.

“Last environmentalists president” – Earth day – 1970, EPA and clean air and water acts (silent spring’s role in that)

*Paris Peace Accords – ended the Vietnam War (and the draft) in 1973

*1973 Arab – Israeli War…US gave massive assistance to Israel and the Arabs hated us for it. OPEC cut off our oil and thus the “first energy crisis.” Gas lines and stagflation to follow…

*Watergate: 1972 – someone – on orders from the Whitehouse (?) authorized a break in of the Democratic HQ at the Watergate Hotel. Burglars were caught, Nixon tried to cover it up and probably destroyed evidence. Nixon v. US, “oh yes you do have to turn over the tapes and don’t give us that “executive privilege” crap!..18 minute gap= obstruction of justice.

Pentagon Papers (Vietnam was a fiasco and the Pentagon knew it in 1966)…New York Times v. US , no prior restraint.

War Powers Act 1973: tried to prevent presidents from abusing their powers as commander-in- chief, after 90 days they have to get Congress to pass an official declaration of war. ( Has not been too successful.)”

*Nixon resigns rather than face impeachment – Aug. ’74 It took 2 years, but the investigation of the break in at the Watergate Hotel got too close to the White House.

During this period women finally pushed into the professions and management (led by people like Gloria Steinem and Betty Freidan and NOW). Title IX gave girls equal opportunities in school and athletics

We even became concerned about the environment. Rachel Carson wrote the Silent Spring about the dangers of DDT. Johnson and Nixon signed laws to begin the process to clean up the air and water. (Clean Air and Clean Water Acts)

Gerry Ford – someone has to be president… 974 – 1977

• Only president who was never elected in a nation wide election. Was appointed by Nixon as VP when Agnew had to resign

• Pardoned Nixon – sealed his fate

• Stagflation continues (WIN campaign – lapel buttons will slay the inflation dragon)

• Helsinki Accords – closer cooperation between the east and the west…remember the cold war is still in high gear. We don’t like you, but we will recognize your spheres of influence and you will respect ours.

• “Deindustrialization” hit the northeast and Midwest…Our old factories and over generous labor contracts made US industry uncompetitive with rising power of Germany and Japan.

Jimmy Carter –“ I’m Jimmy Carter and I’m running for president.” 1977 – 1981

*Elected as an “outsider” He was so much of an outsider his own party dissed him. He stole the nomination from Ted Kennedy and the liberal wing of the Democratic Party never forgave him.

*Bakke v. CA (1978): case – over turns quotas in affirmative action, though still allows the general practice of it, and raises the issue of “reverse discrimination”

*Did have Egypt and Israel come to Camp David (The Accords) and agree to recognize each other and not to attack each other again. No major middle eastern wars since, but both Sadat and Begin assassinated for being peacemakers.

*US “gave away” the Panama canal – to the Panamanians.

*stagflation continued and got worse…deregulation of the airlines and financial industry were supposed to fix it…

*Iran overthrew another corrupt anti-commie, pro US, dictator. Iran set up a theocracy and cut off our oil again – and took 52 hostages at the US embassy.

Sets off the second oil crisis. In modern money gas hit $3.00 a gallon in 1981.

*In 1979 the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Carter felt betrayed (Helsinki and all that), so he got Congress to begin to fund a massive arms race and we sat out the ‘80 Olympics in Moscow as a protest.

*“Malaise” failed attempt to rescue the hostages in Iran, and interest rates (14% mortgages – 21% car loans) and a recession in ’79 doom Carter after one term.

It’s Getting Real(ly Close to the End) 1980-Present

Ronnie Reagan – Morning in America, 1981 – 1989 The “moral majority” – Christian fundamentalists had a major impact on politics…not that Reagan himself was all that religious, but the “televangelists” were able to energize the Republican “base.”

*Reactionary, cut growth of social programs and taxes and increased defense spending. “Supply Side” economics, See Mellon’s old trickle down ideas. “ deregulation” get the government out of the economy.

Marginal tax rates were cut in half…(see above)…the problem is that at the same time defense spending was raised and the Dems in Congress were not too hip on cutting spending, so we began to run ever larger deficits - 200,000,000,000. per year or so. Social security taxes were raised, but that only affects poor people and Congress stole the money anyway.

*Began arms race with USSR, which they could not afford and drove them out of business. Star Wars (SDI)- take the arms build up into space. “Mr. Gorbachev. Tear down this wall”

*Huge deficits, but hey, “It’s morning in America” We wanted to feel good about ourselves again and Reagan made some of us feel that way. “We don’t need no stinkin’ solar cells, Americans don’t wear no sweaters.”

AIDs is an emerging and big problem, slow response form Reagan administration.

*Iran-Contra scandal. Seems we sold weapon to Iran – our mortal enemy and used the money to overthrow a socialist government in Nicaragua. Illegal, but so what? It’s morning in America. All of this is still classified.

GHW Bush - the last of the old guard 1989 – 1993

*Internationalist – used the UN to create an alliance to attack Iraq after it invaded Kuwait. Very successful in Iraq, but the recession killed his popularity in record time. Remember the rule, foreign affairs don’t matter…”It’s the economy stupid”

Signed the American With Disabilities Act – making the US friendlier for the disabled.

* Did raise taxes – despite pledge not to do so (“Read my lips, no new taxes”) and mild recession in ‘91 ruined re-election bid. Last of the Eisenhower Republicans and WW II veterans).

Bill Clinton –“ I didn’t have sex with that woman…but I did with all those” 1993 – 2001

• Proposed national health insurance. Got nowhere, politics – and the insurance industry killed it.

• Fought against Newt Gingrich and the “Contract with America” (low taxes, limited government) and won… the government shut down and the people blamed the Republicans…so the trick backfired…Americans like government programs, they just don’t like to pay for them.

• Lost control of Congress in 94 and spent the rest of his terms fighting the Congress…did reform “welfare” and set up workfare (no checks for sitting around) and TANF program… Also signed NAFTA – North American Free Trade Agreement – jobs moving to Mexico…

• Impeached over a stain…not guilty, but the public really didn’t want to know all the sorted details of our president’s extra curricular activities.

• Got the US involved in Bosnia and the breakup of the old Yugoslavia… genocide took place anyway. Dayton Accords tried to end the killing…

• Signed Family Medical Leave Bill – now we can take unpaid leave if we’re sick…WOW!

• But Bill did balance the budget with GHWB’s tax increases and Republican spending cuts…

G W Bush – “Mission Accomplished” 2001 – 2009

Disputed election in 2000. Evidence of vote fraud in Florida, Supreme Court ruled that there was no time for a complete vote re-count and less than that would be a violation of the equal protection clause – so Bush won.

More tax cuts and more deficits…2 wars and a drug bill for seniors with out any way to pay for them had the expected results. VP Cheney said “deficits don’t matter.” Because the Chinese were buying up all our debt. We even put the wars “off budget” to hide how bad things were. Amazing how rapidly things change!

Six months into first term, 9/11 –Horrible tragedy. We invaded Afghanistan to go after Al- Qaeda who claimed responsibility for the attack – Patriot Act and Home Land Security now controversial “spy on us” all in the interest of protecting us. Speaking of tragedies, what about FEMA and that whole Katrina thing?

Then decided that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction – based on information that was both incorrect and obtained under torture. so we invaded them as well. Will take a while into Obama’s administration to eventually leave.

Ne-conservatives dictated foreign policy: US has an obligation to remake the world in its democratic image (AKA nation building) and laissez faire image. Bush became one of the most controversial US leaders and his stands on domestic security (Patriot Act) and laissez faire (let the markets regulate themselves) economic policy remain controversial.

2008 Crash and Recession The “housing market bubble” burst in 2008 and it triggered a significant recession…the ‘Great Recession” Bush and the Wall Street crowd pushed through a “Bank Bailout.” Probably helped prevent a total collapse.

“Yes we can”…Barak Hussein Obama – running short on time here, but internationally we will see the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq , though instability will allow the emergence of the Islamic Stat e (ISIS ) in Northern Syria and Iraq. Israel and Palestine are still being Israel and Palestine, and Russia begins to be aggressive towards their neighbors (again). Domestically politics will become more polarized and Obama will win a hard fought victory for Universal Health Insurance with the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). Also Climate Change is increasingly understood and studied.

Donald Trump- Anti-establishment anger abounds (as DC fails to do much) Trump campaigned as the anti-politician. He won.

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