Running head: Political Climate of the 1950's
Political Climate of the 1950's
Steve Welch
University of Phoenix
HIS 145
Mrs. Keleman
Workshop Week 2
June 23, 2008
After World War II, the United States began to change, especially in the political landscape. During the 1950's many situations occurred to change this landscape and how the values of what it was to be "American" was formed. These situations will be defined as they occurred in the 1950's to lay the foundation of the political culture to be. The first of these scenarios is how McCarthyism shaped the face of the political climate.
During the Cold War, fear was a common factor among Americans as the threat of Communism was at everyone's door step. To capitalize on this fear, a Senator from Wisconsin by the name of Joseph McCarthy decided to create a story that he had proof that there were over 200 card carry Communist in our own State Department. Though he never really substantiated any of his allegations, McCarthy was able to tap into the fears and hatred of prominent leaders of the communities. He was able to manipulate people's fears to the extent that they felt that McCarthy was a protector of their Americanism. Before Truman left office, 32 states had teachers taking oaths of loyalty (Davidson, 2002). This was an important event in the 1950's, because this proved how sensitive political culture was at times of fear. The American people would do anything not to lose their identity of freedom. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who orchestrated the D-Day invasion, as President had characteristics in the political scene that had influenced the foundation of public thought.
His views were often characterized as dynamic conservatism. He was liberal towards people but conservative when it came to spending the tax payer's money. His goal while in office was to balance the federal budget and lower taxes. He was to achieve this by not destroying existing social programs and military build up....