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Essay Cold War Presidents

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The 1950s in America are remembered as a sort of golden age in our history, not just because the economy was thriving, people could move out of the busy city to the quiet suburbs, and Humphrey Bogart and Frank Sinatra was still alive, but because things were simple. True, we entered into an arms race that would hang like a sword over the heads of the American people for the next thirty years, but other than that, people were comforted with the fact that they knew that America was the indisputable hero out to beat the malevolent villain. We were a country of Spaghetti Westerns and Superman, and were too comfortable portraying ourselves as the lawful good. However, by the time we get involved with Vietnam, more and more Americans began to …show more content…

Unfortunately for Truman, the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war far earlier than almost anyone had predicted, and propelled the nation into a process of reconversion. The lack of planning was soon compounded by a growing popular impatience for a return to normal economic conditions. The problem that Truman’s administration made was attempting to hasten that return, despite warnings from economists. While his approval ratings quickly declined, Truman put into effect FDR’s GI Bill of Rights from 1944 which provided economic assistance for veterans, and while this addition to the already present flood of consumer demand ensured that there would be no new depression, it did contribute to more than two years of serious inflation. Truman also had to deal with labor unrest, and when the United Mine Workers went on strike in 1946, and he threatened to use the army the trains, and effectively pressure the workers back to work after only a few days. And through all of his unpopularity, Truman was still persistent to institute his Fair Deal programs, and the American people could rely on his unfazed determination. He called for the expansion of Social Security benefits, raising the minimum wage, a program to ensure full employment through aggressive use of federal spending and investment, a permanent Fair Employment Practices Act, public housing

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