Today we had blog discussion again.
Harry Truman -33rd President (1945-1953)
- Became Vice president for FDR in January, 1945
- Took over for FDR when he died in April, 1945
- On of the most unpopular presidents of all time when he left office -22% approval rating
- Rating has improved greatly over the last 60 years
Accomplishments
- President when WWII 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
- Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan were passed
- Created the CIA and the National Security Council
- "The buck stops here"
- The Fair deal-help people in need
- Israel- home place for the Jews
Dwight Eisenhower-34th Pres.(1953-1961)
- Famous WWII General
- Decided to join the Republican Party after WWII
- This all but guaranteed him a win in the 1952 election
- Richard Nixon was his Vice-President
- Believed in Laissez-faire
- Believed in a balance budget
- Deported around 1 million illegal immigrants
- Sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to help in the desegregation of all public schools-1954-Brown case
- Helped pass the federal-Aid Highway Cat of 1956 which created the US interstate highways
Accomplishments
- Dominated by the Cold War- Containment policy
- Used CIA to do convertors to disrupt communist governments abroad
- Opened relations with Spain
- Ended the Korean Conflict as promised in his 1952 election campaign
- Defensive alliances were signed with South Korea and Taiwan
- SEATO was formed
- Developed idea that nuclear weapons would be defensive
- NASA created due to Sputnik launch
John F. Kennedy 35th pres. 1961-1963
- Served in WWII
- Was a US Representative and Senator form Massachusetts before becoming President
- Married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier
- First and only Catholic president
- Youngest elected president and second youngest president
- Assassinated in 1963 in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald
1960 Election
- Ran against Vice-President Richard Nixon
- First presidential televised debates took place
- Many say this helped JFK with the election
Accomplishments
- Cold War issues dominated Kennedy's presidency
- Berlin Wall was built in 1961
- Bay of Pigs invasion-1961
- Cuban Missile Crisis
- Alliance for Progress with Latin America
- Kennedy increased the number of helicopters, military advisers and undeclared special forces to Viatnam
- The CIA helped the new Ba'ath Party government overthrow Communists in Iraq.
- murdered large numbers of Iraq's educated people
- Saddam Hussein is said to have participated in this massacre
- Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed-1963
- Peace Corps was established in 1961 where Americans volunteer to hep underdeveloped nations in areas such as education, farming, health car, and construction
- Signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963, a federal law aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex
The New Frontier
- Promised federal funding for:
- education
- medical care for the elderly
- economic aid to rural regions
- government intervention to halt the recession
- end racial discrimination
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