2. Presidential Election of 1952
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Republicans – Dwight D. Eisenhower
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Turned down bid in 1948
Concerned isolationists might regain
the White House
VP – Richard Nixon
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Democrats – Adlai Stevenson
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The “Checkers speech”
Governor of Illinois
Truman very unpopular, cabinet
members facing bribe charges,
Democrat in charge for 20 years
“I like Ike”
Landslide victory for Eisenhower
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55% to 44%
EC – 442 to 89
3. Eisenhower Presidency
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Cabinet acted as a true advisory board
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Cabinet members could easily take over day-to-day
operations
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Small government, reduce taxes, end government
regulation of business (Tennessee Valley Authority
“creeping socialism”)
Health insurance program, domestic affairs
The Bricker Amendment
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Suffered a heart attack and a stroke while in office
Moderate approach
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Full-time secretary, an agenda, regularly kept meeting
minutes
Intended to limit the power of the President
Would require Senate ratification of all agreements
made by the President with other nations
Bill defeated by a single vote
2 new states during his presidency
4. Business, Labor, and Farms
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Big business booms
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1955 – AFL and CIO unions merge to create the
AFL-CIO
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Tons of mergers in the 1950s
Nation’s 100 largest companies controlled 30 %
of all industrial production
General Motors, AT&T had annual budgets larger
than many countries
The merger increased the strength of organized
labor and made it easier for workers to form local
unions
Farmers’ share of the national income dropped
from 9% to 4% from 1948-1956
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Eisenhower reluctant to guarantee farmers set
prices
Hurt small farms, agribusinesses (large-scale
farms) take over
by 1959 half of U.S. farmland belonged to 4% of
the farmers
5. Presidential Election of 1956
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Exactly the same as 1952
Republicans – Dwight D. Eisenhower
Democrats – Adlai Stevenson
Even more of a landslide than 1952
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57% to 42%
EC – 457 to 73
6. An Economy of Abundance
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Post WWII – economy gets rolling
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“Economy of scarcity” – productivity limited
by a lack of resources and overpopulation
“Economy of abundance” – new technology
led to endless variety and amounts of goods
and services
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Highest standard of living in the history of the
world
Americans produced more than we could use
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Video
Wealth distributed throughout the population
1920s – wealthiest 5% received 35% of the
country’s income
1960 – this group received only 18%
Americans bought automobiles, household
appliances, and other luxuries
7. Technological and Scientific Progress
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Factories and industries began using
automation – operating a production system
using mechanical or electronic devices
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Computers emerge
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Goods produced more efficiently and quickly
than ever before
Took over bookkeeping functions such as
billing and inventory
Guide satellites, forecast weather, identify
fingerprints
1955 – Dr. Jonas Salk develops a vaccine for
polio
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Within a year polio is nearly wiped out
By 1960 – pneumonia, tuberculosis, diphtheria
all nearly eliminated
8. Move to the Suburbs
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Reliance on automobiles meant people didn’t have
to live in the city anymore
Levittown – endless housing development created
right outside the city
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William Levitt – father of modern American
suburbia
Planned communities – assembly line houses
$8,000 to $12,000
Monthly payments of $57 – even low by 1950
standards
Shopping centers emerge in the suburbs along with
businesses and factories
Highway Act of 1956 – 42,000 miles added to the
interstate highway
1955 – automobile sales account for 20% of GNP
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Car culture
9. Conformity and Changes in Family Life
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“The American Dream” – new house in the
suburbs, larger television, newest model of car
Everyone alike – young, white, good income,
job in service industry
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
pressure on women to return home
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Post WWII more women dropped out and
married young
“Baby boom” – 1945 to 1961
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Dr. Benjamin Spock – raising children is more
important and rewarding than a job
More than 65 million children born
Record high in 1957, finally broken in 2007
with 4.3 million babies
Children given more freedom and an increasing
amount of material goods
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Critics pointed to the rise in juvenile
delinquency
10. “The Golden Age of Television”
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1946 – 17,000 sets in homes
1957 – 40 million sets in homes
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More people owned televisions than
refrigerators
Industry emerged directly out of radio
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ABC, NBC, and CBS all started as radio
companies
Beginning with 1952 Election, Republicans and
Democrats were pouring millions into television
advertising
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1 for every family
Fear that it would help whichever candidate
most effectively used television
By the late 1950s television had replaced
newspapers and radio as the primary source of
news
