Retreat from the New Deal Section 16.1 Truman, re-elected, holds up a paper announcing his defeat.
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Transcript of Retreat from the New Deal Section 16.1 Truman, re-elected, holds up a paper announcing his defeat.
Retreat from the New Deal
Section 16.1
Truman, re-elected, holds up a paper announcing his defeat
What is a backlash in political elections?
• Election of 2008
• Election of 2000
• Election of 1994
• Election of 1946
When citizens punish the incumbent government by voting against themBelow: Dick Cheney
2000
What factors contribute to a backlash?Voters are upset about the
way the current President or Congress is handling:
• Economy– Depression or
Recession– High Taxes
• Civil Rights• Morals/Religion• Security/Foreign Policy• Perceived Corruption
Right: montage of controversial slogans and people
Today we will be able to identify that, following WWII, Americans turned
away from the New Deal and towards conservatism by analyzing the results of
the election of 1946/1948.
We will also be able to explain that, despite this political shift, Truman was able to win the election of 1948 to the
surprise of political experts.
Where on the political spectrum did FDR, Truman, New Deal Policies, and
Congress fall in 1945?
FDR
Truman
The New Deal
Congress
Where on the political spectrum do communism and unions fall?
FDR
Truman
The New Deal
Congress
Communism Unions
Where on the political spectrum do conservatives fall?
FDRTruman
The New Deal
Congress
Communism Unions Conservatives
Backlash
Post WWII America
Capture from Peter Jennings clip on postwar issues
Describe Truman’s plan for America:• Continue New
Deal programs• Subsidize public
housing• Institute a form of
National Health Insurance
• Fight job discrimination
• Civil Rights– Desegregated
military
Above: Truman at desk; below left: cartoon implies Truman is greedy for power; below right: headline on de-segregation of military
What hindered Truman?• Inflation
– 15% annually in late ‘40s
• Shortages– Marshall Plan
• Labor unrest
• "To Err is Truman"
• Approval ratings– 87% in 1945 – 32% in 1946
Above: cartoon implies- wordlessly- that Truman is too small for the job (dwarfed by military hat, of the sort MacArthur wore)
Why was there a backlash in 1946?• Slow economy
– still regulated by price controls from WWII
• Republicans (Nixon) pushed Truman to remove the price controls.
• Truman did– Result = prices soared– Strikes increased
• Red Scare• Republicans campaigned under
slogan, “Had Enough?”
Below: Nixon with HUAC lawyers
What were the results of the 1946 congressional elections?
1947 Democrat Republican
House 188 246
Senate 45 51
1946 Democrats Republican
House 243 190
Senate 57 38
Election of 1946
Why was the 80th Republican-dominated Congress called the “Do Nothing”
Congress?• Truman’s label for them
• Said conservative Congress would not pass anything he proposed
• Republicans claimed they were trying to stop “government interference.”– Disliked New Deal– Wanted to control unions
Above: Truman signs law; below: President meets with civil rights advocates
What was the Taft-Hartley Bill?•Limited unions’ bargaining power, ability to strike, and requirements for union membership.
•Passed the House and Senate
•Truman vetoed the bill, calling it “Slave Labor”
•Congress voted to override the President’s veto.
Above: Senator Taft; below: US Capitol
Who were the candidates for president in the election of 1948?
• Thomas Dewey
– Republican Governor of NY
– polished, well spoken
• Truman
– Incumbent
– Blunt, gruff
– 35% approval rating
– Encouraged not to run
Above: Dewey; Below: Truman
Who were the candidates for president in the election of 1948?
• Strom Thurmond
– Dixiecrats
• Broke away from Democrats over “states rights”
• i.e., Civil Rights intruding on “Southern Way of Life”
• Henry Wallace
– Progressive party
• A socialist
Above: Thurmond Below: Wallace
Why is important that Thurmond and Wallace ran for President? Who did it
hurt?
A grinning Harry Truman
Election of 1948
Right: a 1948 Time election cover
TrumanCapture from clip on Truman and human rights
Truman takes to the RailsCapture from clip on Truman campaigning
Describe Truman’s campaign strategy:• Exposed the “Do Nothing Congress”
– Congress had rejected civil rights, new deal reforms, and many others.
• Gave over 230 speeches– 32 thousand miles
• Message: Republicans have no real plan
• Dewey’s pollster stopped making phone calls a month before election
• Dewey – Only gave 16 speeches– Vague on issues (platitudes)
• Still…polled one week from election day,• 50 experts all predicted a Dewey victory
Two pictures of
Truman campaigning
Get Out the Vote!
The last step was for Democratic Party activists to heed President Truman and encourage voters to ignore the polls, assume ‘their man’ had a chance, get out there on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November, and VOTE.
What were the results?• Truman won,
49.5% to 45.1%
• Wallace and Thurmond each got about 2%
• Chicago Tribune (conservative paper) assumed Dewey would win, and printed headline early
“Dewey defeats Truman” reprise
Should politicians do what is popular or what they think is right?
Clockwise, from left: Truman’s whistle-stop tour, Clinton, George W. Bush