33rd President Harry Truman
- Fought in WW1
- Was Missouri state senator
- Became vice president for FDR in January, 1945
- Took over for FDR when he died in April, 1945
- One of the most unpopular presidents of all time 22% approval rating at one point
- Rating has improved greatly over the last 60 years
- last president not to have a college degree
Accomplishments
- President when WW2 ended with Germany and Japan
- Potsdam
- conference/declaration
- Decided to use the atomic bomb against Japan
- had to deal with transition from wartime economy to peacetime economy
- helped organize and later join the United nations
- took a hard line stance against communism and the soviet Union Policy of Containment
- desegregated the US military.
- Rruman Doctrine and Marshal plan were passed
- Created the CIA and National security council
The Fair Deal
- Similar to FDR's New deal of the 1930's
- aimed to promote economic development and social welfare
- Faced a lot of opposition from southern Democrats and Republicans
- Most fair deal proposals did not get passed
- it dealed with
- Civil rights
- Housing
- Social Security
- He recognized Israel as a home place for the Jewish People
- Got US involved in Vietnam by giving aid to France
- Berlin Airlift
- NATO established
- Chinese Civil War ends
- McCarthyism
- The Korean conflict and firing of General Douglass MacArthur
- Assassination attempt over Puerto Rican independence
Election
- Truman vs Thomas Dewey
- Truman came from way behind to win
- Newspapers and Polls all assumed Dewey would win easily.
34th President Dwight Eisenhower
- famous WW2
- dominated by the cold war containment policy
- used CIA to do covert-ops to disrupt communist governments
- Opened relations with spain
- ended the Korean conflict as promiesed in his 1952 election compaign
- Defensive alliances were signed with south Korea and Taiwan
- SEATO was formed
- Increased US involvement in Southeast Asia
- NASA created due to soviet sputnik launch
non coldwar
- Believed in laissez-faire
- Believed in a balanced budget
- Deported around 1 million illegal immigrants
- mostly Mexicans
- sent federal troops to little rock Arkansas to help in the desegregation of all public schools-1954-Brown vs the Boards of Education of topeka, KS case
- Helped pass the federal-aid highway act of 1956 which created the United states interstate highways
Comments