Political Climate of the 1950s Paper
The political, social, and economical landscape of the United States of America underwent dramatic changes during the 1950s. During this era figures and events such as the likes of: Sen. McCarthy and his crusade to "root out" communism in America, President Eisenhower 's administration and his theory of dynamic conservatism, the government 's belief of looking out for big business, and the Civil Rights movement helped to usher in a new ideas, attitudes, and beliefs.
The focus of America 's obsession with containing the spread of communism during the 1950s was in a large part fueled by Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. One could argue that for a period of time in the 1950s the megalomaniacal senator was the largest personality in American politics. Senator McCarthy "waged" war against a significant number of people that he purported to have connection to the communist ideology or communist party. While history shows that most of the allegations that senator McCarthy leveled where without merit it appeared to have little effect on the campaigning "cause" of protecting Americans from "the queers and commie liberals that were attempting to take over the United States and the world". (Davidson, 2002, pg. 809) While the senator secured temporary power by playing off of public fears; this would be short lived as the list of the accused grew longer and the evidence did not exist. The senator and his witch hunt however were responsible for the implementation of several "loyalty" acts that were implemented to ensure that public and civil servants were "loyal" to America.
President Eisenhower and his policy of "dynamic conservatism" which was in reality a theory that there were functions that the federal government was doing that were the responsibility of the state and local governments, and that the federal government should be small and run efficiently without deficit spending. President Eisenhower believed in budget cutting and federal support for big business;
The focus of America 's obsession with containing the spread of communism during the 1950s was in a large part fueled by Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. One could argue that for a period of time in the 1950s the megalomaniacal senator was the largest personality in American politics. Senator McCarthy "waged" war against a significant number of people that he purported to have connection to the communist ideology or communist party. While history shows that most of the allegations that senator McCarthy leveled where without merit it appeared to have little effect on the campaigning "cause" of protecting Americans from "the queers and commie liberals that were attempting to take over the United States and the world". (Davidson, 2002, pg. 809) While the senator secured temporary power by playing off of public fears; this would be short lived as the list of the accused grew longer and the evidence did not exist. The senator and his witch hunt however were responsible for the implementation of several "loyalty" acts that were implemented to ensure that public and civil servants were "loyal" to America.
President Eisenhower and his policy of "dynamic conservatism" which was in reality a theory that there were functions that the federal government was doing that were the responsibility of the state and local governments, and that the federal government should be small and run efficiently without deficit spending. President Eisenhower believed in budget cutting and federal support for big business;
References: Davidson, T. (2002). Nation of Nations, Third Concise Vol. Retrieved December 09, 2006, from Schultz, S. K., & Tishler, W. P. (1999). American History 102 Civil War to the Present. Retrieved December 09, 2006, from http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture25.html Political Climate of the 1950s Paper