Thanksgiving 2018 Part 2

The History of the United States of America Part 7 (1945-1964)

From 1945 to 1964, the United States of America witnessed massive changes. World War Two ended with the liberation of millions of human beings from fascism and other forms of oppression. Also, there was the start of the Cold War which pitted the capitalist United States and the Communist USSR against each other. China became Communist too after the Chinese civil war. Proxy wars flourished, and they transpired in the Korean peninsula, the Vietnam peninsula, and other locations. Western Europe was rebuilt in part by the Western Marshall Plan. Billions of dollars worth in loans, which originated from the United States, aided places like France, Britain, and Western Germany. America invested heavily into Japan immediately after WWII. Later, Japan grew to be a technological powerhouse and continues to be so today in late 2018. Economic growth expanded into new heights. Conversely, poverty (when the poor suffered great suffering), sexism, and racial injustice flourished throughout America during that timer period too. That is why members of the Civil Rights Movement fought for the Little Rock Nine, the Brown decision, the Freedom Riders, and other unsung heroes who desired freedom plus justice. This same Civil Rights Movement (with heroes like Ella Baker, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Septima Clark, Medgar Evers, etc.) ultimately ended Jim Crow apartheid via the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. America and other nations formed NATO or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as a buffer against Communist growth in Europe. The Soviets responded to this development by establishing the Warsaw Pact.

This era of time saw the rise of liberal Democratic Presidents like Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon Baines Johnson along with the center-right or moderate President Dwight D. Eisenhower (who supported the expansion of Social Security and the development of the interstate highway system). The Beat movement started during the 1950's that displayed art, poetry, and a rejection of conformity involving our society functions. McCarthyism harmed the freedom of speech, but heroes stood up against the extremism of Joseph McCarthy too. Great liberal legislation was difficult to pass in Congress during this time because of the Conservative Coalition. By 1964, the Great Society would begin and some of the most progressive legislation in human history would exist (by a liberal Congress formed in 1964). America's involvement in the Vietnam war would develop during this time, but signs of a catastrophic war would transpire even in the early 1960's. This time was the start of the Cold War. The Berlin Airlift helped many human begins. The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 saw real leaders (among those from America and the USSR) coming together to prevent WWIII literally with their deeds. Labor unions reached substantial power, and more people saw cultural excellence like Motown, athletic greatness, and diverse fashion styles. The Baby Boomers were born in that age and America grew its impact on the world scene even more.

The Early Era of the  Cold War


The Cold War has a long history. Isolationism and totalitarianism made the world see that intervention for a righteous cause, without archaic views, is a necessity. Franklin Delano Roosevelt saw the start of a new international United States government. Shortly before the end of World War II, the once allies of America and the Soviet Union started to break down their friendship. Both were in unison in opposing Nazi Germany. They had many disagreements even before the end of World War II. America’s government embraced capitalism. It had laws the promoted free elections, religious freedom, and the embrace of political differences. America had many economic liberties, but it hasn’t lived up to true equality because of racism and discrimination. Stalinism dominated the Soviet Union. Stalinism was a perversion of socialism. Stalinism made the Communist Party control of all economic and military-political decisions. Anyone questioning Stalin could face imprisonment or death as the Stalin purges attested. In the Soviet Union, Stalinism suppressed religious liberty, and people couldn’t own private property readily. When Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at Yalta in February of 1945, everyone from the Allies knew that they were going to win the war. The question was how to deal with a post-war world. By that time, the Soviet Union had already occupied Eastern Europe and parts of Germany. Stalin wanted Germany to be divided, and he dominated Eastern Europe. America and Great Britain wanted a strong, unified Germany with independent nations existing in Eastern Europe. The Yalta conference ended with Stalin agreeing with free elections in Eastern Europe while the Allied powers divided Germany into occupation zones (where Allied powers would control a specific section of Germany). By the spring of 1945, Stalin’s forces still conquered almost all of Eastern Europe.

The satellite states of the Soviet Union would be Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Eastern Germany was under control of the Soviets too. The Soviets didn’t want a repeat of a Nazi Germany, so they were very concerned to maintain control of Eastern Europe. The Potsdam meeting took place in the summer of 1945. FDR passed away by this time. The meeting had the American President Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin, and the new British Prime Minister Clemente Attlee. Truman and Attlee wanted Stalin to confirm the decisions promised at Yalta. Stalin refused to do so, and he refused to allow free elections in Eastern Europe. Truman was a more of a hardliner against the Soviets than FDR. His advisers and Truman himself believed that the Soviets wanted world domination, which is ludicrous. This distrust among both sides ultimately resulted in the Cold War. The Red Army was very powerful, and both Americans including the Soviets didn’t cause an actual resolution to solve the complex issue of Eastern Europe.

Winston Churchill also believed in the myth that the Soviet Union wanted world domination. He was more of a hardliner than Truman in many respects. That is why Churchill gave his famous, disturbing Iron Curtain speech. He gave this speech on March 5, 1946, at Missouri at Fulton College. Churchill did this intentionally since Missouri was Truman’s home state. Churchill said that a virtual iron curtain has descended from Eastern Europe. He said that Stalin wanted to spread communism in Western Europe and East Asia. He wanted democratic countries to stand firm to oppose communism. The Soviet Union installed more communist governments in Eastern Europe. Stalinism created a police state system to crush political plus religious dissent. There is no excuse for that. Truman agreed with Churchill. Truman was born poor and was a WWI veteran who served in France during that war. He had a steadfast personality. 1947 was the year when the Cold War came into a new era. The Communist movement spread in Europe and Asia. Turkey had communists, and a right-wing Greek government had a civil war against communists back in 1947. Greece and Turkey wanted foreign aid and America did give both nations assistance. The date of March 12, 1947, was when Truman gave a speech to both Houses of Congress. He said that he wanted Congress to send aid to Turkey and Greece in promoting democracy. Congress agreed and provided $400 million to both countries. Aiding nations in opposing communism became known as the Truman Doctrine.

George K. Kennan was an American diplomat and a researcher of the Soviet Union. He wrote an article entitled, “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” under the pseudonym X. It promoted the containment doctrine or that the best way to stop Communism was to contain it in its borders as it is. Kennan wrote that Stalin wouldn’t risk an overt war with America since it would be too costly. So, Kennan wanted Stalin contained, so the spread of communism in other lands would decline. Kennan also wanted total American economic, political, and military power to confront Stalin along with patience. After World War II, Western Europe was devastated. There were significant shortages of fuel, food, and medical supplies. Winters were brutal. That is why the Secretary of State George C. Marshall established a plan to make a recovery for Europe. He gave a speech at Harvard University. He said that the economic health of the world must develop to achieve real peace. His plan was the Marshall Plan. Congress passed the Marshall Plan in early 1948. It allowed America to give about $13 billion in grants and loans to nations in Western Europe. It provided food to reduce famine, fuel to heat houses, and factors. It gave money to grow the economy. It lasted for four years. It offered cash to Europe in Eastern Europe, but Stalin refused to accept the money. The Marshall Plan was a success to rebuild Western Europe, and it proves that government money can save people’s lives literally. Conversely, America’s economy grew as trade increased between Western Europe and the United States of America. The Marshall Plan was a political measure also to try to stop the spread of communism.

During the early Cold War, Germany was one major flashpoint. So, the Allied Powers divided Germany into zones controlled by France, Britain, and America. These nations were in Western Germany. The Soviet Union controlled Eastern Europe alone. The Allies controlled West Berlin. The Soviets controlled East Berlin. West Berlin had more economic prosperity than East Berlin. Stalin wanted to control West Berlin, so he stopped all highway, railway, and waterway traffic from western Germany into West Berlin. This Berlin Airlift took place in June of 1948. He wanted to blockade the city. So, America and Britain supplied West Berlin via a massive airlift. Food, fuel, medical supplies, clothing, and toys were sent to West Berlin by various forms of transportation. Planes flew to the city around the clock. Some aircraft existed in one plane per minute. American and British planes flew in the rain and snow. The Berlin airlift showed how far America would go into promoting its interests. Stalin realized that the blockade was over by May 1949. The barrier was over. After the airlift, Western allies formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO in 1949. NATO was a military alliance against Soviet expansion. It promoted to defend each other if one nation experienced an attack. Initially, it was made up of 12 Western European countries and North American nations. They supported collective security. West Germany was in NATO by 1955. The Soviet Union responded by forming the Warsaw Pact. The Warsaw Pact was a military alliance that included communist states of Eastern Europe except for Yugoslavia. It was about each nation defending each other if one suffered an attack. The Soviet Union controlled the pact entirely.

Soon, Cold War conflicts would exist in Asia. In China, Jiang Jieshi was fighting Mao Zedong in the Chinese Civil war. Jiang is also known as Chiang Kai-shek. Both men were allies in fighting Japan during WWII. They were enemies after World War II. America supported Jiang while Stalin supported Mao. Many nationalist generals were not apt to follow justice. Many corrupt nationalists used the money for their benefit instead of funding the Chinese people starving. Mao promised to free Chinese people. Mao gained more popularity in China, and the Communists won the Chinese civil war. Jiang had corruption issues after he wanted American military intervention. By 1949, Jiang fled to Taiwan. Mao controlled China and called his country the People’s Republic of China. Many Americans were shocked about China being Communist as China is the most populous nation on Earth. The division of Korea took place along the 38th parallel. North of that line was the Communist government and south was the non-communist government. American occupation troops were in South Korea until June of 1949. North Korea built up its military. On June 25, 1950, North Korea attacked across the 38th parallel. The Soviets aided North Korea with tanks and other weapons. 90,000 North Korean troops overran the capital of Seoul and went after the South Korean Army who was retreating. Truman created his response. He wanted intervention in South Korea in not repeating in his mind of German aggression during World War II. Truman called on the UN to promote a military response in the conflict. The Soviet Union wasn’t present for the votes which it could use its veto power to stop the call for an intervention. The Soviets were not present since the UN refused to seat Mao in the UN. Truman used a UN resolution instead of Congressional authorization to intervene in the Korean war.

Truman deployed troops from Japan to South Korea. The problem was that these soldiers lacked combat readiness for the environment, for the terrain, and military equipment. They joined the South Koreans and fled too. They gathered at Pusan or a city in South Korea. The Allies held fast. New supplies and troops helped the American plus South Korean forces. By September 1950, the UN counterattack started. General Douglas MacArthur held a bold plan to drive out the North Koreans. He said that North Korea had a rapid advance, but its supplies were low. So, he wanted to strike North Korean forces by using a surprise attack on the port city of Inchon behind enemy lines. Inchon was a poor landing site, so MacArthur believed that the North Koreans wouldn’t deduce such an attack on that region would transpire. He took a risk, and he succeeded. By September 15, 1950, U.S. Marines landed at Inchon. They launched an attack into the rear guard of the North Koreans. Communist forces were being defeated and fled into North Korea. The 38th parallel was the border. U.S. officials debated about what to do next. Some wanted to end the war since the UN mandate completed its order. Some wanted to push onward into North Korea. Truman didn’t want China to be involved in the fight if U.S. forces traveled into North Korea. Chinese leaders didn’t want Americans to go near its borders.

MacArthur ignored China’s warnings. He believed that China wouldn’t intervene in the war. Later, America wanted a resolution to have a unified Korea. MacArthur attacked north of the 38th parallel.   North Korea existed with mountains. The temperature was cold. By Thanksgiving 1950, U.S. forces were near the Chinese border at the Yalu River. By November 25, 1950, 300,000 Chinese soldiers attacked the Americans and South Koreans. Outnumbered, the UN troops retreated. Now, China was in the war. America had a dangerous conflict. Truman never wanted atomic weapons dropped. MacArthur wanted an invasion of China, which is ludicrous. Truman was angry at MacArthur. MacArthur opposed a limited war and wrote a letter to the House criticizing Truman. Truman later fired MacArthur for insubordination. America had an outcry and MacArthur was hailed as a hero in America. Ironically, the Korean War would end in a stalemate. By the Spring of 1951, the Allied forced regrouped and stabilized their position near the 38th parallel. Diplomats had a peace strategy. Dwight D. Eisenhower won the 1952 election in part because of the stalemate of the war. Eisenhower studied the war and formed a peace deal. The cease-fire came on July 27, 1953, after Stalin died.

Millions of Koreans experienced death including 37,000 Americans. From that moment onward, North Korea became communist, and South Korea would be non-communist. The Korean War expanded military U.S. involvement overseas, and the pro-US Southeast Asia Treaty Organization SEATO was formed in Asia (to fight communism. It included Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, France, Britain, and the United States). Military spending was half of the federal U.S. budget. Japan improved relations with America. Like Truman, future U.S. Presidents would send troops to war without Congressional declarations of war. By 1950, the Cold War expanded. The two dominant superpowers of America and the Soviet Union controlled most of the resources on Earth. The Soviet Union tested its atomic bomb on September 2, 1949. It shocked the world. Truman created the Atomic Energy Commission. Nuclear bases grew in America. America first tested the hydrogen bomb in 1952. J. Robert Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein opposed this development as promoting an arms race. The arms race grew. Eisenhower believed in fighting communism by building nuclear weapons in America. He wanted more planes, missiles, and submarines to deliver them. Conservatives opposed this view as reducing ships and tanks. Liberals feared that this policy provoked WWIII.

Eisenhower’s ally was the Secretary of state John Foster Dulles. Dulles in 1954 threatened usage of nuclear weapons to stop the spread of communism. Dulles’ brinkmanship policy was part of the Cold War. Stalin’s death caused Nikita Khrushchev to take power in the Soviet Union. He wasn’t as cruel as Stalin, but he opposed American policies. He condemned the errors of Stalin and wanted more peaceful relations with the West. Khrushchev met with Eisenhower in Geneva via conference on July 1955. Peaceful co-existence would be harder to enact than many realized. Eastern Europeans yearned for more freedoms. Hungarian students and workers had the Hungarian revolution (which was headed by progressives and socialists). Although, the Soviets crushed it and killed hundreds of Hungarians. The Soviet Union and Hungary fought at a water polo match in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.

The Suez Canal crisis existed. Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser was a nationalist. He wanted a dam on the Nile River at Aswan. America and France supported the plan at first. Nasser recognized China and talked with the Soviets, so the Eisenhower team didn’t fund that project anymore. Nasser then nationalized the Suez Canal and placed it under government control. The canal was a place where Western powers gained resources. So, Britain, France, and Israel joined forces to attack Egypt. President Eisenhower opposed the actions of Britain, France, and Israel. He didn’t supply them with U.S. oil. When this happened, the three nations withdrew its troops from Egypt. Eisenhower used his doctrine to handle money and troops to fight communists. He used the CIA to organize coups in Iran by 1953 against the democratically elected government of Iran. In 1954, the CIA aided forces to fight in Guatemala. The CIA was involved in many corrupt actions for actions under the guise of “anti-Communism.” The Soviet Union flew the satellite Sputnik 1 into space. Sputnik 2 had a dog in orbit called Laika. It died after it orbited. This shocked Americans and America funded NASA to invest in space research plus technological growth. The Cold War had bomb drills, shelters, and other posters.

Anti-Communism and the McCarthyism

The massive anti-Communism and the vicious McCarthyism of the late 1940’s to the 1960’s represented a time in American where civil liberties and the First Amendment rights in general were violated in general as a means for some to promote the lie that every Communist wanted to take over the world (and make a totalitarian empire).  It was a time where debates about national security and protecting human freedoms were abundant. After World War II, the Cold War existed in full swing by the late 1940’s. This new Red Scare was part of the McCarthyism era and the overall paranoia that some embraced about Communism when Communism is not monolithic. There are variations in the Communist system as the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has accurately stated. Me personally, I don’t believe in Stalinist Communism (as Stalin is complicit in the overt murder of millions of people and used totalitarianism to violate the human rights of people in the Soviet Union just like the anti-Semitic murderous Czars did before Stalin was born). I do believe that laissez faire, neoliberal capitalism is evil since it involves little to no regulation of the market and it abhors a public social safety net. Not to mention that many imperialists and colonialism have used laissez faire capitalism historically to dominate and harm the peoples of the world (especially people of color). Capitalism readily promotes covetousness, a lust for profit, and an ignoring of human solidarity. The promotion of the common good is a prerequisite for better society. That is why the individual has a responsibility to use his or her gifts in the best way possible and the collective has a responsibility to improve society in general. The role of government to is to promote the general welfare for the people. By the 1950’s, the Korean War existed. American life changed. Weapons and supplies were grown by American industries. Popular culture, movies, and newspapers promoted the idea of us vs. them (being the Soviets).

The Cold War was truly global and murderous at times. Ironically, it was an extension of World War II. The paranoia of Communists infiltrating every aspect of American society was promoted by General J. Howard McGrath. He was Truman’s Attorney General. Truman was a staunch anti-Communist throughout his Presidency. McGrath said that communists were in businesses, offices, street corners, etc. Communism grew in Eastern Europe and Asia. Some Americans felt that this meant that Communists would try to take over the American government.

The truth is that only a few American communists were agents of the Soviet Union. Only a handful of them were in high ranking positions in government. Most government officials were loyal to the United States. President Truman by March of 1947 created the Federal Employee Loyalty Program. This allowed the FBI and the government security agencies to screen federal employees for signs of political disloyalty. Then, about 3,000 federal employees were dismissed or resigned after investigations. The Attorney General then formed a list of what he deemed fascist, totalitarian, and subversive organizations. People of those groups were scrutinized by the Attorney General. Many were fired for jobs since they were labeled “security risks.” The Truman administration used the 1940 Smith Act to try to cripple the Communist Party in America. The act made it illegal to teach or advocate the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. A New York jury found 11 communists guilty of violating the Smith Act in 1949. They were sent to prisons. Congress wanted to search for communists too.

The House Un-American Activities Committee or HUAC was created in 1938. It was done to investigate actions of possible fascists, Nazis, and communists. HUAC investigated Communists more after World War Two. They investigated the government, newspapers, science, education, unions, armed forces, and other parts of American life. What we know about HUAC comes heavily from their persecution of Hollywood actors and actresses back in 1947. They accused many actors and actresses of being communists. Many actors and actresses were Communists and some were just progressive left wing non-Communist people. Regardless, these human beings have the right to believe in what they want as stated in the First Amendment. Left wing writers, directors, and producers were known as the Hollywood Ten. These people refused to answer questions as asserting their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. The Congressional HUAC hearings were filled with yelling, accusations and counter-accusations. The Hollywood Ten were later cited for contempt of Congress. They were tried, convicted, and sent to prison. This was bad. Also, it was evil for many movie executives to circulate a blacklist of entertainment people who they didn’t hire because of accused communist ties. Many careers of actors and actresses ended because of the new Red Scare hysteria that violated the freedom of conscience.

It wasn’t until the Supreme Court decision in 1957 with the Watkins v. United States decision that witnesses before HUAC couldn’t be forced to name radicals that they knew. HUAC bullied filmmakers during that time to only show films about entertainment. Before that time and before the Hays Code, films had controversial subjects and talked about issues like racism including anti-Semitism. Freedom of speech was further violated with the Hollywood Ten incident and other situations during that time. Many Americans, who lost their jobs, were of organizations that they belonged to as a product of the Attorney General’s list. Some people were fired for just talking with communists or making statements those authorities deemed “disloyal.” Communists were expelled and blacklisted from academic places, labor unions, scientific laboratories, and city hall. J. Robert Oppenhemier was investigated too. He led the Manhattan Project that led to the creation of the atomic bomb. He was the chairman of the General Advisory Committee of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission or the AEC (after World War II). Oppenheimer had ties to the Communist Party including his wife and brother. He didn’t deny this, but he had the right to believe in what he wanted to believe in without persecution. By 1954, the AEC denied Oppenhiemer access to classified information.

There is no evidence that Oppenheimer was disloyal to America, but they did it anyway. Many spy cases came about during this era too. They were the cases of Alger Hiss and Julius plus Ethel Rosenberg. Hiss was educated at Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Law School. The Rosenbergs were from the poor, lower east side of Manhattan. Alger Hiss had a long career. He worked in New Deal agencies and helped to form the United Nations. Whittaker Chambers came to accuse Hiss of something. Chambers was a communist and then opposed it because of Stalin’s brutality. He wrote about his views of Communism being evil omitting that Stalin isn’t representative of all Communists on Earth. He testified before HUAC about his communist past. He accused Alger Hiss was one of his contacts in the federal government Hiss talked before HUAC. He denied that he was a communist agent or espionage agent. He denied that he knew Whittaker Chambers. Richard Nixon back then was a young member of Congress from California. Nixon told other committee people to keep the pressure on Hiss. Hiss’s story fell apart. Information proved that Chambers did know about Hiss. Hiss was given confidential government documents. Chambers had a microfilm copy of some of these documents. They were stored by him in a pumpkin on his Maryland farm. Hiss was tried for perjury. He had a hung jury at first and was convicted during the second trial. He was sentenced for five years in prison.

After his convictions, some believed that Alger Hiss was innocent. People among both sides exist. Hiss being accused of being a communist threat grew anti-Communist paranoia in America. Richard Nixon was in the national spotlight. That is why in 1952, Richard Nixon was named Eisenhower’s running mate and would be President by the late 1960’s. The Rosenbergs were accused of helping the Soviets to build the atomic bomb. Klaus Fuchs was accused of sending atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. When authorities investigated Klaus Fuchs, it led to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. The trial of the Rosenbergs has been debated to this very day. The word of one confessed spy was used against the Rosenbergs. The Rosenbergs pleaded innocent to all charges. They said that they are being persecuted because they are Jewish Americans and they held unpopular views in America. Both were found guilty and sentenced to death. Some believed that the harsh sentence was used to try to find others of the alleged spy ring. Both Rosenberg denied knowledge of any spy ring. They were on death row for 26 months. They were electrocuted in 1953. Debates existed to this very day. Some believe that they are guilty and others view both human beings as innocent. Some believe that anti-Semitic sentiment influenced the outcome. Back in the 1990’s, new evidence claimed that Julius Rosenberg was  a recruiter for the Soviet Union (according to the VERONA documents) and Ethel Rosenberg had a minor role in the espionage. Others believe that the death penalty was too harsh for both people. In 2015, following the most recent grand jury transcript release, the Rosenberg’s' sons, Michael and Robert Meeropol called on the Obama administration to acknowledge that Ethel Rosenberg's conviction and execution was wrongful, and issue a proclamation to exonerate her. Similarly, on September 28, 2015, the 100th anniversary of Ethel's birth, 11 members of the New York City Council issued a proclamation stating that "the government wrongfully executed Ethel Rosenberg", and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer officially recognized, "the injustice suffered by Ethel Rosenberg and her family", and declared it, "Ethel Rosenberg Day of Justice in the Borough of Manhattan.”

Joseph McCarthy was famous for his anti-Communist zealotry. He used ruthless tactics. The early Cold War had many historical events like the Chinese Revolution, Soviets testing nuclear bombs, and the Soviet agents in America. Americans in many cases lacked confidence. McCarthy exploited these American fears as a way for him to harass witnesses and promote the lie that every Communist is a treacherous proponent of world dictatorship. McCarthy believed that American traitors were undermining America. By February of 1950, Joseph McCarthy accused many State Department leaders of being communist agents. He held a paper citing names of such individuals. This happened in Wheeling, West Virginia. McCarthy was a Senator from Wisconsin. This caused people to want McCarthy to say names. He said that 205 people had security risks. Later, he claimed that 57 employees were communists. Names on his list soon changed. He had never publicly shown the list of names. When the Korean War started by June of 1950, more Americans heard of McCarthy. He used anticommunism to win another term as Senator. Then, he promoted his anti-Communist witch hunt called McCarthyism. It lasted for the next 4 years. He made many reckless allegations against people. From 1950 to 1954, he was one of the most powerful Senators in America during that time. He was the head of the investigative subcommittee, but he made false accusations against people.

Many people lost jobs and had their reputations destroyed for just being accused by McCarthy of being communist. McCarthy was caught telling lies and then told another one. Then, McCarthy accused former Secretary of State George Marshall (a national hero and author of the Marshall Plan) of being a Communist. Other Senators feared him. They were afraid that they would be called sympathizers of communists. Members of the far right American Security Council aided McCarthy. Joseph McCarthy was educated at the Jesuit Marquette University. J. Edgar Hoover agitated anti-Communism too and he abhorred anyone promoting progressive causes regardless if that person was Communist or not. It isn’t a secret that the government (even backed by the AFL-CIO back then) helped to suppress left wing unions like the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, and the Maritime Cooks and Stewards Union. Dorothy Bailey (who was a black woman) worked in the U.S. Employment Service in Washington, D.C. She was fired from her job in 1949 just for opposing Jim Crow segregation. She was very loyal to America and only admitted to being a brief member of the American League for Peace and Democracy. Many people criticized the accusers for asking the following question to her since that question was offensive: “…Did you ever write a letter to the Red Cross about the segregation of blood? What was your personal position about that?” Great lawyers like Thurman Arnold, Abe Fortas, and Paul Porter defended her and the Supreme Court defended the firing. Later, Dorothy Bailey worked with the lawyers in a new job. The Eisenhower administration later opposed McCarthy too. The Supreme Court threw out state sedition laws that were on the books in 33 states. It cut back the Federal loyalty program and grew out a number of Smith Act convictions. McCarthy went after the United States Army in 1954. He said that it was filled with Communists. Army leaders said that McCarthy went personal.

The Senate formed televised hearings to figure out the truth. Many Americans saw the emotional coverage. Many didn’t like McCarthy’s bullying tactics. The TV showed McCarthy snicker at others’ sufferings, twist the truth, and harass witnesses. In mid-June, he had lost many of his supporters. The Senate censured and condemned him for his false allegations. The journalist Edward R. Murrow was one of the few journalists who criticized Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy continued to serve in the Senate. Yet, he had little power and influence. The Red Scare declined by 1954. McCarthyism and the Red Scare saw free speech suppressed and lax debate about issues. Americans later realized that democratic institutions are important and the First Amendment is great to preserve not suppress because of ideological views.

President Truman

After WWII, America saw a massive economic boon. The growth of the middle class existed. More than 12 million Americans were in the military by August 1945. When the war ended, the military economy converted into a peacetime economy. July 1946 was when 3 million people stayed in the military. Many soldiers were worried about losing their benefits. So, the government created the famous GI Bill of Rights. It gave veterans many benefits. It gave college aid, unemployment payments to veterans who couldn’t find work. Some veterans struggled to get loans to start businesses and own homes. The GI Bill was one of the most significant governmental programs in history. It was involved in an increase of home ownership and the growth of the suburbs. 8 million veterans came into education. A baby boom existed too. Many families grew more children being more confident in the future. From 1940 to 1955, there were from 130 million to 165 million Americans. Economic issues existed when prices of goods increased. By this time, America had the highest standard of living in the world by producing 50 percent of the world’s total output with only 6 percent of the world’s population. Worker productivity increased, and technologies developed into a higher level. More government spending also enhanced this economic growth. Truman was President in labor strikes, the growth of Communism, and an uncertain domestic situation. Unions wanted wage increases. Employers didn’t want this, so labor strikes existed in coal, steel, railroad, and automotive industries. The Taft Hartley Act curtailed many labor union rights that existed during the New Deal. Truman vetoed the Taft-Hartley Act and Congress overridden his veto. FDR was afraid of the white southern senators and representatives who agreed with segregation. Truman formed a civil right committee to investigate race relations in America. The committee made recommendations for civil rights policies. Congress rejected those recommendations. No comprehensive civil rights laws passed until the 1960’s. Truman desegregated the military via executive order. By 1951, most units integrated.

By the spring of 1948, Truman’s popularity was low. He faced opposition from the left and the right. Southern Democrats didn’t like his support for civil rights. Some were in the States’ Rights Party whose head candidate was Strom Thurmond or a South Carolina governor. From the left, Henry Wallace ran for President in the new Progressive Party of 1948. Wallace was once FDR’s Vice President during FDR’s third term. Republican candidate Thomas Dewey was a New York state governor. Many viewed Dewey as the winner. Truman traveled the nation and defeated Dewey in an upset. After his victory, Truman wanted to promote the Fair Deal. The Fair Deal wanted to improve on the New Deal with new programs like national health insurance. Congress didn't readily pass Truman's legislative proposals, and the Korean War situation caused his popularity to decline. He didn’t seek the 1952 Democratic nomination.

President Eisenhower

The 1952 election saw Eisenhower as the victor. The Democratic candidate was Adlai Stevenson from Illinois as Senator. Eisenhower was a war veteran and was very much beloved by people. He worked in the military for almost his adult life. Eisenhower was a center-right man, so his moderate policies are found throughout his Presidency. He wanted the federal government to not be too strong, but he didn’t repeal New Deal programs. He didn’t oppose Social Security and the minimum wage. Federal spending increased in both of his terms. Eisenhower formed many new large programs. One was the interstate highway system and he spent federal dollars for education in training more scientists, etc. The 1950’s economy was powerful and Eisenhower experienced a Presidency filled with development and he saw the rise of the modern day Civil Rights Movement.  This era saw more than 40 million Americans coming into the suburbs from 1940 to 1960. Rural areas experienced a massive decline in population. William Levitt and other leaders promoted houses in Levittown (in Long Island, NY) and other places. The Federal Housing Administration and the GI Bill facilitated the growth of suburban housing. Also, many black people were discriminated against heavily from living in suburban housing. The suburban culture was heavily white, middle class, and had the stereotypical image of conformity back then.

More people owned and drove cars in America. The 1956 Interstate Highway Act helped to create expressways nationwide. It grew infrastructure. Vacations were in abundant. Migration for the Sunbelt grew. The Sunbelt is the region from the Southern and Western states. More Americans came into Houston, Los Angeles, etc. People migrated for economic reasons and wanted to get into aerospace and electronics industries that were found in the Sunbelt. Air coordinating caused more people to visit places like Florida, Texas, and Arizona. The South and the West became stronger politically in the House and in the Senate. Computer technology saw more women and people of color in those industries. Corporations evolved to be multinational like IBM, General Motors, and General Electric. Education focused more on STEM fields and the increase of research universities, state colleges, and community colleges spread. The National Defense Education Act sent $1 billion to create more scientists and science teachers. It gave money for high school and college graduates to continue their scientific education. Unions like the AFL-CIO reached its peak of power especially within the Democratic Party. Franchise businesses were modernized back then. So, this era was an era filled with massive happenings.

1950's Society

The 1950’s saw America in a paradox. It saw the existence of suburbia and Jim Crow simultaneously. It was the combination of the presence of a large number of nuclear families and poverty found in urban plus rural communities. It saw the explosion of musical expression, especially among black artists, but also the massive co-option (or what we call cultural appropriation) of black music by numerous white artists too. Therefore, the 1950’s witness cultural growth regarding literature and the Beat movement along with other events that showed the imperfections of the United States of America in general at the same time. Back then, many reactionaries promoted the stereotype that men must work, and women must stay at home and take care of children. This time was the time of the explosion of television. More spending and consumerism came existed. With an expanding economy, Americans brought more cheap items. Median family income rose from $3,319 to $5,417. America was more prosperous than the 1920’s. Buying on credit was advanced by General Motors and other companies. More appliances were commonplace in American households like refrigerators, ranges, dryers, and electric washing machines. This decreased the burden of people to do work. These specific tasks of house cleaning became more efficient in houses. Suburbia saw a boom in shopping malls. By the end of the 1950’s, 90% of American households had at least one television.

As for women, millions of women were working in factories during World War II. As high as 25 percent of all workers in the wartime auto industry were women in 1943. After the war, most women, who were in the factories, worked at home as homemakers. Many women worked in the 1950’s too. Many conservatives back then promoted the nuclear family which was made up of a mother, a father, and children. This agenda wanted women to be solely homemakers. TV shows supported this idea including movies like The Tender Trap from 1955. The lie that a woman must have children and have a marriage to validate her womanhood was a common perspective back then. So, there is nothing wrong with nuclear families, extended families, and other types of families either. Also, families cared for children. One scholar was Dr. Benjamin Spock. His book, “Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care” promoted a balance of discipline and nurturing children for children to exist as functional, strong adults. Spock was a progressive and would oppose the Vietnam War, ally with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and supported socialism. Spock wanted children to be respected. Many parents spent tons of money on children. Religion expanded during the 1950’s too. Revivals, TV religious shows, and an expansion of church attendance were real. 80 million people came to church in 1958 as compared to 50 million in 1940. The evangelist Billy Graham was the most popular preacher back during the 1950’s with his worldwide sermons. He met with Presidents, international leaders, and other human beings. Roman Catholic Bishop Fulton Sheen showed his message. This religious fervor and anti-Communist sentiments in America caused Congress to add the words “In God We Trust” to the dollar bill and “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance back in the 1950’s.

These policies came in response to the Red Scare and some believing in the threat of what they deem "atheistic communism." Scientific achievements grew too. Dr. Jonas Salt worked on a vaccine against polio in 1954. Many children were killed before to the development. The vaccines and antibiotics increased longevity and saved the lives of millions of people. Penicillin is a known antibiotic. Television entertainment evolved into a complex array of news, comedies, dramas, thrillers, and other aspects of human expression. The 1950’s saw Lucille Ball in I Love Lucy, Beat the Clock, The Lone Ranger, Dorothy Dandridge in Carmen Jones, and other classic shows. The Mickey Mouse Club and Leave It to Beaver existed. Many of these shows expressed the views of the people during that period. One weakness of mainstream TV shows of the 1950’s is that most of them lacked African American characters. Also, these shows omitted the real-life issues of alcoholism, racism, poverty, depression, and mental illness. Ironically, many family TV shows didn’t show the total components of family problems in honest terms. You can't sugarcoat reality. Reality ought to be shown without the filter.

Hazel Scott and Dorothy Dandridge were legendary black women artists. 

By 1952, presidential candidates used TV to advertise their ideologies. By the 1950’s, music was exciting with the growth of gospel, R&B, jazz, bluegrass, country, and ultimately rock and roll. By the summer of 1951, DJ Alan Freed advocated rock and roll music. Rock music came from black people in America. Rock and roll came from the rhythm and blues music from African Americans in the South. Many black Americans came from the South and traveled into the North to spread culture and music. Many companies promoted rhythm and blues music too. Chuck Berry was an originator rock music innovator. Even Elvis Presley was inspired to show his rock music by watching African Americans in Memphis performs. Blues players like B. B. King had their music demonstrated by Sam Philips. Philips advanced Elvis.  Heartbreak Hotel was his first hit. Then, Elvis was everywhere from Ed Sullivan to other shows. Back then, America was a much more conservative nation. So, Elvis’ dancing and lyrics had objections from ministers and some politicians. Some members of Congress accused rock and roll of being subversive. To this very day, individuals debate certain types of music about its content and other aspects of its components. Little Richard was another famous rock and roll innovator.


Additionally, racism was abundant during the 1950’s. Claude Brown, who was a black man, touched on these issues from his novel Manchild in the Promised Land. Many people criticized the culture of the 1950’s as too conformist. The quality of life in America wasn’t beneficial to millions of African Americans and the poor. Suburbs, shopping malls, and new equipment readily saw materialism, and this malaise of excessive materialism including conformity is what intellectuals criticized also. Sociologists David Riesman and Nathan Glazer in The Loney Crowd book didn’t want conformity to replace individualism. Many authors wrote about the alienation that some felt. Sloan Wilson wrote about such feeling in his bestseller The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. Movies like Rebel Without a Cause outlined teenage angst, and the actor James Dean starred in the film.

Beatniks or Beats existed as a social movement who wanted to fight back against the materialism and cultural conformity of the 1950’s. Many of them were writers and artists. One was Allen Ginsberg. Ginsberg is not representative of all Beats as Ginsberg is a wicked person (by supporting a pro-pedophile organization. He was right to oppose the Vietnam War and on other issues, but he was dead wrong to support a pro-pedophile group).  Other Beat scholars included Ira Cohen, Ed Dorn, Josephine Miles, and other human beings. It is true that many in the middle class back then concerned themselves more with the status quo than freedom and justice for all people. Urban and rural poverty was enormous back then. Poverty was widespread in the midst of suburbs, malls, highways, and gated communities. Michael Harrington in his The Other America book from 1962 documented how poverty existed in the cities and towns of African Americans, Mexican Americans, poor white people, etc.

As early as the 1950’s, when African Americans came into the cities from rural areas, many whites traveled from the cities to the suburbs. Cities in many regions saw their populations decline. Many middle-class persons moving into the suburbs caused a decline in tax revenues which caused economic problems in the cities. Suburbs gained political power, and a more conservative Congress was hesitant in investing in urban and rural communities in the billions of dollars. Cities saw a lack of public services from street repair to recycling. The inner city saw poverty and crime. Many inner cities had poor schools and dilapidated housing. The federal government used urban renewal to address this problem. The problem with urban renewal is that in tons of causes, neighborhoods are destroyed in the process to make highways and other expensive housing. So, more impoverished people moved into more crowded areas. Many people lost their homes in urban renewal projects from New Jersey to East Harlem, New York. In attempting to combat the shortage of affordable housing, the federal government created public housing. At first, many people loved public housing being inexpensive, having running water, etc. The problem is that many forms of public housing concentrated in the midst of poverty and no subsequent plans existed to help the poor or integrate the poor in communities filled with a diversity of income levels. Fences and other confining architectural arrangements surrounded many public housing areas. Today, that is why people are creating solutions to solve poverty.


Rural poor areas had issues too. Mississippi Delta sharecroppers suffered a great deal. Rural residents experienced mayhem in many cases. Miners in Appalachia and other people experienced corporate exploitation. Large farmers dominated farm production. Independent farmers suffered. Some farmers moved into the cities, and some stayed. Other Americans experienced injustices too. Puerto Ricans came heavily into New York City after World War II. Many of them served in WWII. Some of them suffered poverty and housing discrimination. They had little political power back then. Many of them organized into organizations to fight for better services, education, and an end to discrimination. Mexican Americans fought for their rights too. The bracero program was the usage of Mexican labor to deal with agricultural services in America. Mexican immigrants had temporary visas to do the action. Many employers exploited numerous workers. Mexican workers worked in crops throughout the Southwest. The migrants suffered so unjustly that one U.S. Department of Labor criticized it. That is why Mexican American Ernesto Galarza worked to organize unions for Mexican farm laborers. Native Americans saw the termination policy. This policy wanted to end tribal governments and relocate Native Americans to the cities (and it stopped the federal responsibility for the health and welfare of Native Americans). Some criticized this policy as creating more burdens for Native American people. The 1950's culture was diverse and multifaceted in its arrangement.

President John F. Kennedy

The Presidency of John F. Kennedy was one of the most historic times in American history. JFK had charisma, intellect, and leadership qualities. One of his greatest strengths was that he didn’t always follow the dictates of the military industrial complex, he evolved to be more progressive, and he advanced a sense of idealism that impacts the world today. He became the 35th President of the United States of America from January 1961 to his unfortunate assassination on November 22, 1963. He was President during the peak of the Cold War, and he handled many issues with the Soviet Union. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in Massachusetts and was a U.S. Senator before being President. Brookline, Massachusetts was the place of his birth. He was also a Navy WWII veteran. JFK believed in volunteering and community work, which is why he mentioned many words about promoting activism in everyday life. 1960 was an era of change, and John F. Kennedy politically battled Richard Nixon (then-Vice President of Eisenhower) for the Presidency in 1960. Kennedy argued that Eisenhower didn’t do enough to handle the conflicts of the Cold War internationally and new change ought to exist. Nixon’s views were that he was the successor of Eisenhower’s successes and that Kennedy had inexperience and that didn’t merit him to achieve the Presidency. By the end of Eisenhower’s 2nd term, there was economic growth. There was still poverty. The Brown decision existed along with the racist backlash against it; Sputnik 1 came about, the U-2 spy plane incident existed, and the Montgomery bus boycott documented the evil of Jim Crow apartheid. John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon were born in the 20th century. Each served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Each was a Senator before, and each had a great understanding of foreign policy affairs.  Each man didn’t agree with Communism. They had differences too. Kennedy was born in a wealthy family as his father was a businessman in many areas. Nixon was from a struggling family environment in California. Kennedy was much more progressive than Nixon on many issues.

The election was close from the beginning to the end. The televised debate between Nixon and Kennedy changed many Americans’ minds. While those who listened to the radio viewed the debate as nearly even or Nixon winning it, many watchers of the debate on TV viewed John F. Kennedy as the victor. Kennedy wanted to change while Nixon wanted a continuation of the policies of Eisenhower. Nixon looked tired after recovering from an illness. Kennedy tanned from a California campaign. About 70 million Americans watched the televised debate. By this time, Dr. King and other African Americans were in a Georgia jail for protesting in Atlanta. Coretta Scott King was scared, so she called Robert Kennedy. Later, John F. Kennedy called her. Kennedy worked to allow Dr. King released on bail. This action increased the support among African Americans for Kennedy. JFK would call himself a liberal in a speech, and he endorsed the separation of the church and state where he said that the Vatican's religious views would never influence his political decisions. The election was close with Kennedy winning the popular vote 49.7% to 49.6%. JFK won the Electoral College too. JFK started his Presidency as a Cold Warrior.

He wanted the fight against Communism to be firm. He saw the new communist government in Cuba under Fidel Castro as wrong. He wanted to fund more missiles. Eisenhower, ironically in his Farewell Address, opposed the excessive defense spending of the military industrial complex while JFK in his early term wanted an increase of defense spending. He was the first President born in the 20th century, so he gave his historic Inaugural Address to promote a new generation of Americans to handle challenges worldwide. His military policy of a flexible response advanced the Green Berets and other mobile units of the military to handle crisis overseas. He also dealt with the Third World. The developing nations of Africa, Asia, and Latin America saw the hypocrisy of American capitalism. Many of them allowed support from the Soviet Union. JFK knew this and believed that the only way to get developed nations on America’s side was to promote the rhetoric of democracy and fair dealing to limit or contain communism. So, Kennedy organized the Peace Corps (its first director was JFK’s brother in law Sargent Shriver) and the Alliance for Progress to help the Third World with resources, education, and health services. Many people in both groups were sincere in helping people. It is true that both programs were created in part to compete against the Soviet Union ideologically. Many wanted to win the ideological battle against communism. Volunteers in the Peace Corps since 1961 helped many people of color overseas. The organization of the Peace Corps grew to 5,000 members by March 1963 and 10,000 the year after. Since 1961, over 200,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps, representing 139 different countries.

Also, Kennedy dealt with Castro. Castro overthrew the dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. At first, America wanted to have a good relationship with Castro. This situation changed when Castro nationalized services, received funds from the Soviet Union, kicked the Mafia out of Cuba, and used other reform measures. Many wealthy and middle-class Cubans fled into America. These Cubans would be anti-Communists. Castro was right to end the reign of a tyrant like Batista. Castro made the mistake of embracing Stalinism in his revolutionary path. American elites didn’t want a nuisance solution in dealing with Castro back then. They explicitly wanted to overthrow and kill Castro. Eisenhower authorized the CIA to plan an invasion of Cuba to overthrow Castro’s new government. The CIA recruited many Cubans in Guatemala to do it. Eisenhower now was gone from the Presidency. Kennedy was pressured by the CIA to go forward with the plan which he did (on April 4, 1961). On April 17, 1961, the Bay of Pigs invasion occurred. The attack was lax, and it transpired improperly. There was no protective cover. JFK refused to use protective cover since it might have provoked a more extensive invasion. 300 of the 1,400 invaders (called Brigade 2506) were captured or killed.  CIA director Allen Dulles later stated that they thought the president would authorize any action that was needed for success once the troops were on the ground. Kennedy negotiated the release of the 1,189 survivors. Castro was becoming stronger. The CIA and many Cubans hated Kennedy for this. This invasion defeat was one reason why the some in the CIA and the military industrial complex, in general, had a vendetta against JFK.  JFK fired Allen Dulles too.



The Berlin Crisis existed in 1961. John F. Kennedy met with French leader Charles de Gaulle who told him to ignore Khrushchev’s abrasive style. De Gaulle respected Kennedy and his wife. Khrushchev wanted a peace treaty to have western zones of Berlin to be ruled by East Germany. JFK refused to do so, but the Soviets wanted skilled East German workers to not to go into West Berlin. Kennedy wanted West Berliners, and West Germans to reject Communism. The conference at Vienna in June of 1961, both men talked about the Berlin issue. It failed. Khrushchev viewed Kennedy as young and inexperienced. Both men argued. Kennedy wanted no occupation of Western Berlin by Soviet forces. Tensions rose. Kennedy asked Congress to increase military spending. Khrushchev allowed the building of the Berlin Wall between West and East Berlin. The Berlin Wall was a sign of the Cold War for decades to come. In response, Kennedy sent 1,500 U.S. troops to West Berlin. Soviet and American tanks moved next to each other. War could have existed, but cooler heads prevailed.


Kennedy took personal responsibility for the pro-American invasion of Cuba since he was President. Kennedy said that he wanted to resist communist “penetration” in the Western Hemisphere. The Cuban Missile crisis was another event that ultimately strengthened Kennedy’s powers. Initially, the U.S. government found missiles in Cuba. These missiles came from the Soviet Union. By August and September 1962, the U.S government found this out. CIA U-2 spy planes took photographs of the Soviets’ construction of intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Cuba. Radical generals wanted an invasion of Cuba which President John F. Kennedy refused to do so. These missiles could harm the East Coast and the Panama Canal. Kennedy wanted the shells removed. On October 22, 1962, Kennedy gave a speech and blamed Nikita Khrushchev for the actions. So, JFK used a blockade to prevent further materials from coming into Cuba that involved missiles. It was a naval blockade. The U.S. Navy would stop and inspect all Soviet ships arriving off Cuba, beginning October 24. The Organization of American States gave unanimous support to the removal of the missiles. The President exchanged two sets of letters with Khrushchev, to no avail. United Nations (UN) Secretary General U Thant requested both parties to reverse their decisions and enter a cooling-off period. Khrushchev agreed, but Kennedy didn't.

 

One Soviet-flagged ship was stopped and boarded. On October 28, Khrushchev agreed to dismantle the missile sites, subject to UN inspections. The U.S. publicly promised never to invade Cuba and privately agreed to remove its Jupiter missiles from Italy and Turkey, which were by then obsolete and had been supplanted by submarines equipped with UGM-27 Polaris missiles.


Kennedy formed a diplomatic settlement with help from Attorney General Robert Kennedy or his brother. Kennedy agreed to remove U.S. missiles in Turkey and Italy, and the Soviets withdrew their weapons from Cuba. Many military generals called this evil and had more hatred of JFK. From that moment onward, Kennedy and Khrushchev would work more together in trying to have a peaceful co-existence. Both sides moved towards détente. Each had a hotline to between tensions as found in Moscow and Washington, D.C. They communicated, and by 1963, America, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union signed the historic Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. This banned above-ground nuclear tests. 36 other nations signed it as well. During the summer of 1962, Kennedy had a secret taping system set up in the White House, most likely to aid his future memoir. It recorded many conversations with Kennedy and his Cabinet members, including those concerning the "Cuban Missile Crisis.”


JFK aided Israel but opposed Israel having nuclear weapons. JFK supported the CIA-backed coup of Qasim on February 8, 1963. The aftermath was a puppet pro-Ba’ath Party leader ruling Iraq. Qasim promoted human rights and restricted Western ownership of Iraqi oil. JFK visited his ancestral home of Ireland in June 1963 where he accepted a grant of bearings from the Chief Herald of Ireland and received honorary degrees from the National University of Ireland and Trinity College, Dublin. He visited the cottage at Dunganstown, near New Ross, County Wexford, where his ancestors had lived before emigrating to America. Kennedy also was the first foreign leader to address the Houses of the Oireachtas (the Irish parliament).


Kennedy promoted a neutral Laos and dealt with the Vietnam War. Kennedy wanted an end to communism in South Vietnam. He gave political, economic, and military support to the South Vietnam government. In late 1961, the Viet Cong began assuming a predominant presence, initially seizing the provincial capital of Phuoc Vinh. Kennedy increased the number of military advisors and special forces in the area, from 11,000 in 1962 to 16,000 by late 1963, but he was reluctant to order a full-scale deployment of troops. JFK also promoted Operation Ranch Hand that supported aerial defoliation in South Vietnam. On August 21, just as the new U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. arrived, Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu ordered South Vietnam forces, funded and trained by the CIA, to quell Buddhist demonstrations. The brutal suppression of the rights of the Buddhists in South Vietnam was evil by Diem. Lodge was instructed to try getting Diem and Nhu to step down and leave the country. Diem would not listen to Lodge.

Cable 243 (DEPTEL 243), dated August 24, followed, declaring that Washington would no longer tolerate Nhu's actions, and Lodge was ordered to pressure Diem to remove Nhu. Lodge concluded that the only option was to get the South Vietnamese generals to overthrow Diem and Nhu. At week's end, orders were sent to Saigon and throughout Washington to "destroy all coup cables.” U.S. clergy from the Ministers' Vietnam Committee expressed a first formal anti-Vietnam war sentiment. Kennedy wanted to research about Vietnam. Kennedy desired the withdrawal of 1, 000 troops by the end of 1963 and all troops sent home by 1965. The coup against Diem happened on November 1, 1963. Kennedy supported the coup excluding assassination. South Vietnamese generals like Big Minh led the coup. The South Vietnamese generals' forces killed Diem and Nhu, and JFK was shocked by their deaths. The Vietnam War situation would be more unstable since then. There were statements made by Secretary of Defense McNamara in the film "The Fog of War" that Kennedy was strongly considering pulling the United States out of Vietnam after the 1964 election. The film also contains a tape recording of Lyndon Johnson stating that Kennedy was planning to withdraw, a position in which Johnson disagreed. Kennedy had signed National Security Action Memorandum (NSAM) 263, dated October 11, 1963, which ordered the withdrawal of 1,000 military personnel by year's end, and the bulk of them out by 1965. Such an action would have been a policy reversal, but Kennedy was moving in a less hawkish direction since his speech on world peace at American University on June 10, 1963. It is uncertain to know what JFK would have gone, but it is most likely that JFK would have never escalated the American military involvement in the war like LBJ did.


John F. Kennedy’s domestic policies were part of the New Frontier. It wasn’t as progressive as the New Deal, but it was liberal. He had a conservative Congress, so his domestic policies were opposed by many in Congress. Kennedy still wanted changes in Social Security, invested in anti-poverty measures, and made strategies in fighting racial discrimination. JFK also fought against U.S. Steel experiencing a price increase, and he wanted to eliminate tax loopholes for oil companies. On March 22, 1962, Kennedy signed into law HR5143 (PL87-423), which abolished the mandatory death penalty for first-degree murder suspects in the District of Columbia, the only remaining jurisdiction in the United States with such a punishment. His cabinet included many college-educated men like Robert McNamara, Dean Rusk, and others. The liberal Arthur Schlesinger Jr. inspired ideas for President John F. Kennedy. Kennedy wanted to deal with the economy, education, healthcare, and civil rights. It would be 1963 when JFK would focus more on domestic issues. The socialist Michael Harrington wrote his book entitled, “The Other America” that made many Americans witness the epidemic of poverty in America. Kennedy pushed through a higher minimum wage, an extension of Social Security benefits, and improvements in the welfare system. He promoted the study of women suffering injustices with the President’s Commission on the Status of Women. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 wanted equal wages for equal work.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 would ultimately ban discrimination by employers by race, color, religion, national origin, or sex. The economy was stagnant at the beginning of JFK’s term. JFK promoted tax cuts to encourage businesses to invest in new factory equipment. He increased military spending. He promoted Keynes’ deficit spending theory. That means that you borrow money to spend more than is received from taxes. He promoted tax cuts form middle-class Americans and increased the tax burden on wealthier people. His policies contributed to the economic growth of the late 1960’s. JFK was timid on civil rights during the early part of his Presidency. He believed in civil rights but feared Southern resistance in Congress. During his first year in office, Kennedy appointed many black people to office including his May appointment of civil rights attorney Thurgood Marshall to the federal bench. In his first State of the Union Address in January 1961, President Kennedy said, "The denial of constitutional rights to some of our fellow Americans on account of race – at the ballot box and elsewhere – disturbs the national conscience, and subjects us to the charge of world opinion that our democracy is not equal to the high promise of our heritage." JFK believed in legislative actions beyond grassroots organizing in getting civil rights achieved. The truth is that you have to do both since solutions come by the grassroots organization by definition.


There were the Freedom Riders, who organized an integrated public transportation effort in the South, experienced white mob violence, including by law enforcement officers, both federal and state. Kennedy assigned federal marshals to protect the Freedom Riders rather than using federal troops or uncooperative FBI agents. On March 6, 1961, Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925, which required government contractors to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during employment without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin." It established the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity. Displeased with Kennedy's pace addressing the issue of segregation, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his associates produced a document in 1962 calling on the president to follow in the footsteps of Abraham Lincoln and use an Executive Order to deliver a blow for Civil Rights as a kind of Second Emancipation Proclamation. Kennedy did not execute the order. JFK reluctantly sent troops to protect James Meredith to be enrolled at the University of Mississippi in September of 1962. Both the President and the Attorney General were concerned about King's ties to suspected Communists Jack O'Dell and Stanley Levison. After the President and his civil rights expert Harris Wofford pressed King to ask both men to resign from the SCLC, King agreed to ask only O'Dell to resign from the organization and allowed Levison, whom he regarded as a trusted advisor, to remain. The truth is that Levison left Communism by 1960.

Also, O’Dell was a Communist and so what. He has the right to believe what he wants. The First Amendment says that we have the right for the freedom of speech. JFK promoted executive orders and other policies in opposition to racial injustice, but he never promoted a strong federal civil rights bill until 1963. That was when we had Birmingham where cops brutalized men, women, and children with water hoses and dogs back in 1963. 1963 was a significant year for the Civil Rights movement. President John F. Kennedy had no choice but to act. Kennedy gave his historic June 11, 1963 speech where he explicitly endorsed human equality and called for the passage of the civil rights bill that would punish violators of civil rights and federally promoted civil rights. President John F. Kennedy initially didn’t support the 1963 March on Washington for fear of losing support for civil rights legislation in Congress. Later, he supported it, and the March was a huge success. The price that was that many speeches had censorship (i.e. John Lewis's speech was censored in 1963) and other actions were taken to make the march more “palatable” for his liking.

RFK authorized the FBI to wiretap King and other leaders of the SCLC in October 1963. Although Kennedy only gave written approval for limited wiretapping of King's phones "on a trial basis, for a month or so," Hoover extended the clearance, so his men were "unshackled" to look for evidence in any areas of King's life they deemed worthy. The wiretapping continued through June 1966, and the revelation of it existed in 1968. JFK promoted progressive immigration reform. JFK also wanted to use government agencies to get land, handle damages, and use assistance to help the displaced Seneca Native Americans after a Kinzua Dam construction project flooded their lands. JFK invested in the space race. With Sputnik 1 in space, America created NASA. Yri Gagarin was the first human to orbit Earth in April 1961. So, Kennedy allowed NASA to cause Alan Shepard to have a space flight. JFK desired human beings to go to the Moon before 1970. The first American to orbit Earth was astronaut John Glenn in February of 1962. Humankind would go into the moon by July 1969 with Neil Armstrong via the Columbia. By the end of 1963, Diem died via assassination. The civil rights bill was in Congress. Détente was growing. President John F. Kennedy was in high spirits. He came into Dallas after his historic American university speech where he called for world peace. Soviet leaders and Americans respected him by the end of 1963. He came into Dallas by November 22, 1963, to end tensions in preparing for his 1964 Presidential reelection bid. He was in a motorcade when he died via a murderous assassination. Three shots from a rifle killed him. Lyndon B. Johnson would be President. The Warren Commission would say that Lee Harvey Oswald did it alone from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. Many would disagree with that view to this very day. Millions of Americans had sadness by the evil assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

His wife wanted his funeral to be similar to Lincoln’s funeral as both men would have significant similarities. There was a Requiem Mass done at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle on November 25, 1963. John J. Cavanaugh officiated the funeral service. His internment existed at the Arlington National Cemetery. 16 million people visited his grave from 1964-1966. On March 14, 1967, Kennedy's remains were disinterred and moved only a few feet away to a permanent burial plot and memorial. It was from this memorial that the graves of both Robert and Ted Kennedy modeled their graves from the JFK memorial.

The honor guard at Kennedy's graveside was the 37th Cadet Class of the Irish Army. Kennedy was much impressed by the Irish Cadets on his last official visit to Ireland, so much so that Jackie Kennedy requested the Irish Army to be the honor guard at her husband's funeral. The burials of Kennedy's wife Jacqueline and their two deceased minor children existed in the same plot. JFK's brother Robert was buried nearby in June 1968. In August 2009, Ted's burial positioned next to his two brothers. John F. Kennedy's grave lit up with an "Eternal Flame.” Kennedy and William Howard Taft are the only two U.S. presidents buried at Arlington. According to the JFK Library, "I Have a Rendezvous with Death," by Alan Seeger "was one of John F. Kennedy's favorite poems and he often asked his wife to recite it.”

With Kennedy’s death, America would never be the same again. John F. Kennedy was a man filled with both promise and unrealized dreams. He made great policies and made great mistakes (like his extramarital affairs). Many people back then didn’t realize his massive health issues like Addison’s disease, hypothyroidism, back pain, etc. A man with great leadership and intellect was gone, but the spirits of progressive Americans remained. John F. Kennedy’s legacy will be that he had an incredible amount of wit, leadership qualities, aptness to change when it was the right thing to do, and courage. A man with multiple diseases, being hated by many in the military industrial complex, and experiencing massive tragedies plus still accomplish the things that he did (in a short span of time) takes much courage. So, we certainly are inspired by President John F. Kennedy to continue in the work of promoting freedom and justice for humankind.

The early era of President Lyndon Baines Johnson

President Lyndon Baines Johnson became President after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Many of LBJ’s policies came from the Kennedy administration from civil rights legislation to anti-poverty measures. Also, LBJ signed laws more progressive than JFK on domestic issues, and he executed a foreign policy much more reactionary than John F. Kennedy. Lyndon Johnson had a dual legacy which encompasses both the good things that he did regarding civil rights and the environment along with the bad policies that he made concerning escalating the Vietnam War and other foreign policy issues. By November 27, 1963, LBJ addressed a joint session of Congress to call for the fulfillment of John F. Kennedy’s legacy by passing civil rights and tax legislation. LBJ signed the Clean Air Act on December 17, 1963. By January of 1964, LBJ talked about the Soviets. January 2, 1964, was when President Johnson held a budget conference with United States Postmaster General John Gronouski. Gronouski said after the meeting that the plan designed to save money for the upcoming fiscal year of 1965 would not cut back on the utilities of the mailing service. The US received a note from the Soviet Union calling for the renunciation of force in disputes of territory ownership. President Johnson released a statement on labor-management relations. The next day, President Johnson issued a report on the attempted assassination of President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana. Nkrumah fought against colonialism and saw his nation achieve independence after much struggle. Lyndon Baines Johnson also signed the Executive Order 11136, which formed the President’s Committee on Consumer Interests and it formed the Consumer Advisory Council. He released the Task Force on Manpower Conservation report on January 5. United States Secretary of Labor W. Willard Wirtz announced that the federal government would step in to mediate the railroad work rules disputes. On January 8, 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson gave a historic speech.

It was the 1964 State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress. He gave his speech to focus on the War on Poverty. He wanted government investments on all levels of government to eradicate poverty in America. The War on Poverty cut poverty in America in half from 1960 to 1970, and we still have a long way to go today in ending income inequality too. In January 1964, LBJ also met with business leaders on tax reduction, and he focused on solving political issues with Panama. January 17, 1964, was when President Johnson released a statement to comment on a report by the Immigration and Naturalization Service which advocated legislation to abolish the discriminatory national origins system. The Twenty Fourth Amendment to the Constitution was passed in early 1964 which repealed the poll tax. LBJ also attended the 12th Annual Presidential Prayer Breakfast at the Mayflower Hotel at Washington. He consistently supported the tax bill during February of 1964. He also signed Proclamation 3573 calling the week National Poison Prevention Week starting on March 15, 1964. He also promoted Medicare for elderly Americans.

On February 11, 1964, President Johnson signed a bill amending the Library Services Act in the Cabinet Room. President Johnson said that the legislation "expands a program which helps make library services available to 38 million Americans in rural areas" and "authorizes efforts to strengthen inadequately funded urban libraries. This act authorizes for the first time grants for the construction and renovation of library buildings." On March of 1964, LBJ sent condolences to Alaskans in the aftermath of the earthquake harming their state, and he sent help to Governor Egan. By July 2, 1964, Lyndon Baines Johnson signed the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964. It extended rights to African Americans, women, and other Americans in opposition to racism and discrimination.

The Beginning of the Vietnam War

American involvement in the Vietnam War has existed long before 1960. Communist activist Ho Chi Minh was once not a Communist, and he wanted Woodrow Wilson to support his independence movement after the end of World War One. Wilson refused to do. So, Ho Chi Minh continued in his activism. By the time of World War II, Japanese forces occupied Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh was a part of the pro-Allied troops who wanted to end the Japanese occupation. During World War II, Minh formed the Viet Minh group or the Vietnam Independence league. The American OSS or the Office of Strategic Services allied with Ho Chi Minh and his Viet Minh guerrillas to fight the Japanese plus help downed American pilots. By 1945, the  Japanese ousted the French colonial government, and the puppet leader Bao Dai was its puppet ruler. Ho Chi Minh spread his movement in the midst of famine and starvation in Hanoi by the summer of 1945. The Allied Potsdam conference wanted non-Vietnamese people to control the Indochina peninsula. Japan surrendered on August of 1945. Ho Chi Minh occupied Hanoi and proclaimed a provisional government. He quoted the Declaration of Independence and wanted America to support him. Truman ignored his calls, and British troops arrived at Saigon on September 13, 1945. In North Vietnam, 150,000 Chinese Nationalist soldiers looted Hanoi and other Vietnamese villages. In South Vietnam, the British forces allowed 1400 French soldiers to go on a rampage against the Viet Minh on September 22, 1945.

The French mob killed innocent children too which was supported by many French civilians who joined in the rampage. Viet Minh used a strike and fought back. The Binh Xuyen killed people, and they were a Vietnamese criminal organization. An American OSS officer died by a Vietnamese person. His name was Dewey, and he was mistaken for a French soldier. He wanted America to leave Southeast Asia. The French, led by World War II General Jacques Philippe Leclerc, seized South Vietnam. The French expelled the Viet Minh from Saigon. Ho Chi Minh wanted total Independence of Vietnam from the French. Yet, the French refused to do so. So, in 1946, the French continued to occupy Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh had no choice, but to fight back. By December 19, 1946, Viet Minh started their large-scale attack against French occupation. This war was the First Indochina War. "The resistance will be long and arduous, but our cause is just, and we will surely triumph," declares Viet Minh military commander Vo Nguyen Giap. "If these [people] want a fight, they'll get it," French military commander Gen. Etrienne Valluy stated.

The French used Operation Lea for them to fight Viet Minh guerrilla positions in North Vietnam. The Viet Minh fought back. The puppet leader Bao Dai ruled South Vietnam during the early 1950's, and the U.S. and the British recognized him. China recognized Ho Chi Minh’s Democratic Republic of Vietnam. General Giap of Vietnam organized fortifications to fight back against the French. During his term, Eisenhower will significantly increase U.S. military aid to the French in Vietnam to prevent a Communist victory. U.S. military advisors would continue to accompany American supplies sent to Vietnam. To justify America's financial commitment, Eisenhower will cite a 'Domino Theory' in which a Communist victory in Vietnam would result in surrounding countries falling one after another like a "falling row of dominoes." The Domino Theory will be used by a succession of Presidents and their advisors to justify ever-deepening U.S. involvement in Vietnam. We know that the domino theory is false. The French were finally defeated by the forces of Ho Chi Minh after the siege at Dien Bein Phu when 45,000 Viet Minh troops trapped almost 10,000 French soldiers. Some including some French leaders wanted Eisenhower to send nuclear weapons or a ground force to protect the French, but Eisenhower refused to do so. The French surrendered by May 7, 1954. After eight years, the French enacted withdrawal from Vietnam. On May 8, 1954, The Geneva Conference on Indochina began, attended by the U.S., Britain, China, the Soviet Union, France, Vietnam (Viet Minh and representatives of Bao Dai), Cambodia and Laos, all meeting to negotiate a solution for Southeast Asia. By July 21, 1954, the Geneva Accords divided Vietnam in half at the 17th parallel, with Ho Chi Minh's Communists ceded the North, while Bao Dai's regime received the South. The accords also provide for elections to be held in all of Vietnam within two years to reunify the country.

The U.S. opposed the unifying elections, fearing a likely victory by Ho Chi Minh. Bao Dai installed Ngo Dinh Diem as his prime minister in South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh controlled North Vietnam. Diem wanted Vietnamese Catholic people to come into the South to grow political power, so nearly 1,000,000 Vietnamese people came to the south and thousands of Communists from the south traveled to North Vietnam. The organized crime group of Binh Xuyen was cracked down by Prime Minister Diem. Ho Chi Minh received Soviet aid. Diem takes power entirely by October 23, 1955. CIA-connected U.S. Air Force Col. Edward G. Lansdale advised Diem. Historians have said the election that caused Diem to have power to being rigged. Diem refused to do radical land reform. In 1957, the Soviet Union wanted a permanent division among North and South Vietnam, but the U.S. rejected this plan by not wanting to recognize North Vietnam.

While Diem used persecution against his opponents with brutal force, the Viet Minh guerillas do use a campaign of terror in South Vietnam where over 400 South Vietnamese officials were killed in October 1957. By March of 1959, the call by Ho Chi Minh to unite all of Vietnam starts. This event was the beginning of the Second Indochina War. The Ho Chi Minh trail was constructed starting on May 1959. On July 8, 1959,  two U.S. military advisors, Maj. Dale Buis and Sgt. Chester Ovnand, were killed by Viet Minh guerrillas at Bien Hoa, South Vietnam. They are the first American deaths during the Second Indochina War. Americans have called this war the Vietnam War. President Diem experienced a failed coup on November 20, 1960. He and his brother Nhu caused over 50,000 people to suffer arrests by the police, and many civilians were tortured and also executed in November of 1960. Support for Diem continued to decline. Many fled to North Vietnam and sent back to infiltrate South Vietnam as part of the People’s Liberation Armed Forces. On December 20, 1960, the National Liberation Front existed by Hanoi, and they acted as a political organization in South Vietnam. When John F. Kennedy was President, he had criticisms for Diem, but he didn’t want South Vietnam to fall to the Communists. JFK wanted a military intervention to provoke a political settlement in Vietnam just like he did with Laos.

LBJ called Diem the Winston Churchill of Asia when Kennedy was in office. By May of 1961, President Kennedy sent 400 U.S. Green Beret “advisors” to South Vietnam. They trained South Vietnamese soldiers to use counterinsurgency against Vietnamese pro-North Vietnam forces. JFK expanded military advisors. Helicopter units came into Vietnam. On January 15, 1962, during a press conference, President Kennedy was asked if any Americans in Vietnam are engaged in the fighting. "No," the President responds without further comment. One of the evilest parts of the Vietnam War was Operation Sunrise. This action was the Strategic Hamlet program that Vietnamese people were uprooted from their ancestral farmlands and resettled into fortified villages defended by local militias. Many Viet Cong killed or intimidated village leaders. Diem ordered bombing raids on Viet Cong controlled hamlets. Some U.S. pilots along with the South Vietnamese Air Force ware involved in the bombings. Many civilians died. The North Vietnamese victory in the Battle of Ap Bac on January 3, 1963, sent shockwaves worldwide. Three American helicopter members died as a product of murder. Diem (in 1963) continued to persecute the Buddhists by suppressing their religious liberty rights. On June and August of 1963, many Buddhists burn themselves to death to protest the mistreatment of Buddhists. JFK was shocked. Ambassador Lodge met with Diem. On September 2, 1963, during a TV news interview with Walter Cronkite, President Kennedy described Diem as "out of touch with the people" and adds that South Vietnam's government might regain popular support "with changes in policy and perhaps in personnel." Also during the interview, Kennedy commented on America's commitment to Vietnam "If we withdrew from Vietnam, the Communists would control Vietnam. Pretty soon, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaya, would go..."

Generals from South Vietnam like Dương Văn Minh organized the coup. JFK in his diary said that his administration bore some responsibility for it. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. Debates continue about what JFK would have done as it related to Vietnam if he had lived. In 1964, more generals in South Vietnam ruled like General Minh and General Nguyen Khanh. Johnson continued the policy of militarily being involved in Vietnam. LBJ allowed the CIA to back South Vietnamese commandos to use speedboats to harass radar sites along the coastline of North Vietnam. The U.S. Navy supported the raids via their warships in the Gulf of Tonkin including the destroyer U.S.S. Maddox which conducted electronic surveillance to pinpoint the radar locations.  The Gulf of Tonkin incident of August of 1964 expanded U.S. military involvement in Vietnam into another level. The first attack on August 2, 1964, was real with little damage to American ships. The second attack on August 4, 1964, was proven to be not part of reality as said by former United States Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara in the 2003 documentary The Fog of War. LBJ exploited this deception of the second attack for him to escalate the Vietnam war with the Gulf of Tonkin resolution which was passed by Congress. LBJ used his incident to win the 1964 election against a fellow anti-Communist Barry Goldwater (Yet, Goldwater was much more reactionary than Johnson on domestic issues). The Vietnam War would never be the same again.


By Timothy