Truman/Cold War/1948 Election Terms

Issues after WWII

1. destruction in nations where fighting was 2. shape of new world and new political alliances

Two issues of US policy in Asia

1. reconstruction of Japan 2. Chinese Revolution

Berlin Crisis

Berlin was divided and "controlled" by more than one country; when England, France, and US decided to merge theirs into one, USSR imposed a blockade on it

Red Scare

Fear of a rise in Communism in the US following WWII because of nations such as China, the Soviet Union, Vietnam, and North Korea being Communist

"Do-nothing Congress"

Republican Congress elected in the 1946 midterm election that fought against Truman, but there strong anti-labor laws and opposition to Truman's policies led to his reelection

Eightieth Congress

Republicans took control of congress in the 1946 midterm elections

Domino effect

Theory by Eisenhower that if one nation fell to Communism, the surrounding nations would fall as well This theory justified containment

Truman Doctrine

Truman asked Congress for $400 million to support Greece and Turkey because they were resisting communist insurgents

Truman and Civil Rights

Truman created the President's Committee on Civil Rights and issued an executive order forbidding racial discrimination in hiring of federal employees and another order ending segregation in the Armed Forces

Truman recalls "do-nothing congress"

Truman recalled the Eightieth congress and challenged them to put their newly-drafted, very republican platform into action, which meant that for 2 weeks they passed no legislation; Truman then went about deriding them for doing nothing

Truman/Dewey Election 1948

Truman was not likely to be reelected; Truman trailed his chief opponent, Thomas Dewey; to save his chances he recalled the 80th Congress, showing that they didn't do enough; he was reelected, surprising many; carried a democratic majority into Congress

Segregationists leave Democratic party

Truman's policies supporting civil rights led many of those Democrats in the South to abandon the party and support Strom Thurmond in the 1948 presidential election This allowed for Congress to become dominated by Republicans

Proxy Wars

US in Korea and Vietnam; hot wars

Chinese Revolution

US sided with Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government; communists overthrew the Nationalists and exiled them to Taiwan; US did not recognize threat of Mao Zedong's communist regime

containment

US would not instigate a war with Soviet Union, but would come to defense of countries in danger of Soviet takeover

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

US's defense alliance with Canada and countries in Western Europe

Berlin Blockade

USSR tried to keep England, France, and US from taking over the city; Truman continued to send in food and supplies to the portion under Western control; continued for almost 1 year

National Security Council

a group of foreign affairs advisers who work for the president

McCarthy's downfall

accused the Army of harboring communists; revealed he was lying and made a fool of on Ed Murrow's TV show and the Army-McCarthy hearings

strikes in essential industries

annoyed many Americans because they affected all other industries and the lives of each and every citizen

Propaganda in US and USSR during Cold War

each country portrayed the other as trying to take over the world

Alger Hiss

found guilty of consorting with a communist spy; brought on further a fear of "the enemy within"

seizure of the mines

government intervened and seized the mines when a settlement couldn't be reached

Edward R. Murrow

host of TV show which exposed McCarthy

President's Committee on Civil Rights

issued a report calling for an end to segregation and poll taxes, and for more aggressive enforcement of anti-lynching laws; one of the things that Truman did which alienated voters

Mao Zedong

leader of Communist insurgents during Chinese Revolution

Army-McCarthy hearings

on TV, showed that McCarthy was lying about people, and Army members, being communist

United Mine Workers

organized strikes of mine workers; annoyed Americans because it took power away from other industries, shutting down steel foundries, plants, and more

Cold War

power struggle; no actual combat; US and Soviet Union didn't fight in the war, but US fought Proxy wars

Taft-Hartley Acts

prohibited "closed shops," restricted labor's right to strike, prohibited use of union funds for political purposes, and gave he government power to intervene in strikes; passed over Truman's veto

"Dixiecrats"

segregationist democrats, who started a racism outbreak after advances like Jackie Robinson in baseball; left the party to support Thurman for president

Joseph McCarthy

senator who became very famous; climbed to have a list of communists working for the State Department; lead a campaign of innuendo that ruined innocent peoples' lives; never actually uncovered a communist, but tried to accuse so many people with hearings; got people in all sorts of professions "blacklisted" for ever associating with a communist, preventing them from working

Marshall Plan

sent over $12 billion to Europe to help rebuild its cities and economy; in return countries were expected to become allies of America

Central Intelligence Agency

the United State's spy network

Investigations of federal employees

those found to have either previous association with communists or a "moral" weakness (alcohol, homosexuality, etc - made them easy blackmail targets) were fired on the spot

"Closed shops"

union-only work environments

Long Telegram

was the idea for containment; a telegram that Kennan sent to Washington from his duty station in Germany advising Truman to contain Communist expansion