plained, “conservative when it comes
THE CULTURE OF THE 1950s
to money, liberal when it comes to
human beings .” A critic countered During the 1950s, many cul-
that Eisenhower appeared to argue tural commentators pointed out
that he would “strongly recommend that a sense of uniformity pervaded
the building of a great many schools American society . Conformity, they
. . but not provide the money .”
asserted, was numbingly common .
Eisenhower’s first priority was Though men and women had been
to balance the budget after years of forced into new employment pat-
deficits . He wanted to cut spending terns during World War II, once the
and taxes and maintain the value of war was over, traditional roles were
the dollar . Republicans were willing reaffirmed . Men expected to be the
to risk unemployment to keep infla- breadwinners in each family; wom-
tion in check . Reluctant to stimulate en, even when they worked, assumed
the economy too much, they saw their proper place was at home . In his
the country suffer three economic influential book, The Lonely Crowd, recessions in the eight years of the sociologist David Riesman called
Eisenhower presidency, but none this new society “other-directed,”
was very severe .
characterized by conformity, but
In other areas, the administra- also by stability . Television, still very
tion transferred control of offshore limited in the choices it gave its view-
oil lands from the federal govern- ers, contributed to the homogenizing
ment to the states . It also favored pri- cultural trend by providing young
vate development of electrical power and old with a shared experience re-
rather than the public approach the flecting accepted social patterns .
Democrats had initiated . In general,
Yet beneath this seemingly
its orientation was sympathetic to bland surface, important segments
business .
of American society seethed with
Compared to Truman, Eisen- rebellion . A number of writers,
hower had only a modest domes- collectively known as the “Beat Gen-
tic program . When he was active eration,” went out of their way to
in promoting a bill, it likely was to challenge the patterns of respect-
trim the New Deal legacy a bit — as ability and shock the rest of the
in reducing agricultural subsidies culture . Stressing spontaneity and
or placing mild restrictions on la- spirituality, they preferred intuition
bor unions . His disinclination to over reason, Eastern mysticism over
push fundamental change in either Western institutionalized religion .
direction was in keeping with the
The literary work of the beats
spirit of the generally prosperous displayed their sense of alienation
Fifties . He was one of the few presi- and quest for self-realization . Jack
dents who left office as popular as Kerouac typed his best-selling novel
when he entered it .
On the Road on a 75-meter roll of
270
OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY
paper . Lacking traditional punctua- tary services and in the work force,
tion and paragraph structure, the and they had made limited gains .
book glorified the possibilities of the Millions of African Americans had
free life . Poet Allen Ginsberg gained left Southern farms for Northern cit-
similar notoriety for his poem ies, where they hoped to find better
“Howl,” a scathing critique of mod- jobs . They found instead crowded
ern, mechanized civilization . When conditions in urban slums . Now,
police charged that it was obscene African-American servicemen re-
and seized the published version, turned home, many intent on reject-
Ginsberg successfully challenged ing second-class citizenship .
the ruling in court .
Jackie Robinson dramatized the
Musicians and artists rebelled as racial question in 1947 when he
well . Tennessee singer Elvis Presley broke baseball’s color line and be-
was the most successful of several gan playing in the major leagues . A
white performers who popularized member of the Brooklyn Dodgers,
a sensual and pulsating style of Af- he often faced trouble with oppo-
rican-American music, which began nents and teammates as well . But an
to be called “rock and roll .” At first, outstanding first season led to his
he outraged middle-class Ameri- acceptance and eased the way for
cans with his ducktail haircut and other African-American players,
undulating hips . But in a few years who now left the Negro leagues to
his performances would seem rela- which they had been confined .
tively tame alongside the antics of
Government officials, and many
later performers such as the British other Americans, discovered the
Rolling Stones . Similarly, it was in connection between racial problems
the 1950s that painters like Jackson and Cold War politics . As the leader
Pollock discarded easels and laid out of the free world, the United States
gigantic canvases on the floor, then sought support in Africa and Asia .
applied paint, sand, and other mate- Discrimination at home impeded
rials in wild splashes of color . All of the effort to win friends in other
these artists and authors, whatever parts of the world .
the medium, provided models for
Harry Truman supported the
the wider and more deeply felt social early civil rights movement . He per-
revolution of the 1960s .
sonally believed in political equality,
though not in social equality, and
ORIGINS OF THE CIVIL
recognized the growing importance
RIGHTS MOVEMENT
of the African-American urban vote .
A
When apprised in 1946 of a spate
frican Americans became in- of lynchings and anti-black violence
creasingly restive in the postwar in the South, he appointed a com-
years . During the war they had chal- mittee on civil rights to investigate
lenged discrimination in the mili- discrimination . Its report, To Secure
271