http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_US_troops_fought_in_World_War_2
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1013698/what_was_president_harry_trumans_fair.html
http://countrystudies.us/united-states/history-115.htm
For those who are seeking a long blog from me this week you will be sorely surprised. This blog is going to be relatively short but not so short that you do not get the meaning out of my assigned topic. For this week I have been assigned to blog about Truman’s Fair Deal. Here we go, strap in your seat belts and prepare for a relatively short ride.
Democratic President Harry Truman had quite a job ahead of him in the years to come. World War 2 had finally ended (1946) and the devastating affects of the Great Depression were finally starting to subside. The war had actually aided in the fight against the Depression because it gave millions of people jobs and boosted our economy as goods were produced to fight the Axis Powers.
However, Truman faced a rather daunting situation; more than 16 million men and women (the majority being men) left, and 15 million would be coming back. That meant homes, jobs, cities, farms, everything would change. These men and women would want to come home to a good job, a warm home, hot food, and a reliable government after all that they had been through.
Truman knew that he had to ease these veterans back into their lives. The Soldiers were already demanding a higher minimum wage and better working conditions along with financial aide and workers compensation among other things.
In less than a week after the war had been ended, Truman proposed to congress a system of 21 points designed to make life a little easier for the veterans coming home and for people in general. This 21 point plan was known as Truman’s Fair Deal which was to build on FDR’s New Deal.
Despite these efforts, many Americans were left without jobs. Nearly 5 million people went on strike against the car, electric, and steel companies. The strikers next began to try and fight the coal, oil, and railroad industries but Truman took action against them. Truman lost a lot of support when he did this.
The Republicans were also vicious when it came to Truman’s Fair Deal. The Republicans had finally gained control of both Congressional houses and were boycotting and cutting funding for many of Truman’s points. Some of the points included a higher minimum wage, fair employment practices, better workers compensation and more.
Most thought that Truman would be ousted as soon as the 1948 presidential election. Despite the odds being heavily against him, Truman ran for reelection and faced a long and hard campaign. Truman’s biggest supporters were the blacks and farmers and the lower class. In Truman’s plan, workers could not be discriminated against because of color and race. People were absolutely astonished When Harry Truman actually won the presidential campaign against the Republican governor from New York, Thomas Dewey.
Truman spent the remainder of his term working with his Fair Deal and won a lot of respect from it. Though Congress repeatedly tried to undercut him, he was successful in many areas.
Truman’s Fair Deal was one small step towards bettering America in a time when people needed hope and stability in their lives. I think that the Fair Deal was a pretty good idea and probably would have been even more successful than anyone had hoped for if the Republicans hadn’t harassed him. Oh well, I think that the lesson is that you have to fight to achieve what you seek. I thin I liked the Fair Deal and think that Truman wasn’t too bad of a guy.
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