Chapter Overview

The automobile and the culture of the highway were the ties that bound increasingly mobile Americans to one another in the 1950s. Automobiles reflected the increasing abundance of the era, with newly designed models being presented yearly. Prosperity was reinforced by a common commitment to democratic principles and middle-class aspirations, though some worried that such a consensus might be breeding a suffocating conformity.

The Rise of the Suburbs

Two factors shaped suburban growth: the baby boom and prosperity. More children created a need for more housing, as well as for other goods and services. Rapid economic growth and government policies like the G.I. Bill made home ownership practical for far more people. Developers used mass production techniques to build housing rapidly at affordable prices.

Levittown, begun in 1947, typified the new auto-dependent suburbs. The interstate highway system begun during the period symbolized a continuation of moderate New Deal-style involvement in the economy, in the guise of Eisenhower's "modern Republicanism." And the new highways encouraged suburban growth; cities began to decline. They were unable to provide recent African-American migrants from the South and Hispanics in the Southwest the opportunities that earlier immigrants had found.

The Culture of Suburbia

The new suburbs blurred ethnic and class distinctions and celebrated the single-family dwelling. Although religious distinctions remained, a consensus that civic-minded Americans ought to hold some core of religious belief, regardless of the particular creed, gained in popularity. Increased income and more free time meant more opportunity to gather in front of the television, as the new medium became the center of family entertainment.

Although more women than ever worked outside the home, the public image of the ideal mother promoted the value of housework and family. More women earned a college degree; median wages held at less than half of men's.

The Politics of Calm

Dwight Eisenhower brought an aura of calm and a gift for organization to the White House. His placid public profile masked a strong decision-maker behind the scenes. Reflecting a pragmatic middle ground, he resisted the demands of conservative Republicans to dismantle New Deal programs. Similarly, he rejected far-reaching proposals of liberal Democrats while supporting some modest social welfare programs and such initiatives as the Interstate Highway Act and the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Partisan politics flourished, though Eisenhower's personal popularity remained very high.

Recessions hurt the Republicans in Congressional elections in 1954 and 1958. The Eisenhower administration reflected pro-business leanings. Business, in turn, innovated to blunt the impact of those recessions. Diversification produced ever-larger, complex corporations; such large multinational and conglomerate firms managed much of the private sector of the economy. New technologies made it easier to manage complex corporate empires.

Nationalism in an Age of Superpowers

Eisenhower shared responsibility for foreign policy with Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. Under Dulles, U.S. anti-Soviet rhetoric became more confrontational, with an expressed willingness to push to the "brink" of nuclear war in order to counteract Soviet influence. Both superpowers competed for the allegiance of former colonies and nonaligned nations. Regional conflicts demonstrated how the cold war struggle inflamed international tensions.

While Stalin's death eased some cold war hostility, this was offset by renewed rivalry. Nationalism posed special problems. A brief war between Egypt and Israel, France, and Britain closed the Suez Canal. A simultaneous uprising in Hungary found the U.S. unprepared to act. Sometimes Eisenhower and Dulles supported covert action when they wanted to topple popular governments that seemed to have a pro-Communist tilt. The launching of the Soviet space satellite Sputnik in 1957 made Americans fear they had lost their edge in defense technology. In his farewell address, Eisenhower warned against unrealistic fears leading to overspending on the military-industrial complex.

Into the 1960s

The first Catholic ever elected president, John F. Kennedy was not instinctively a liberal. Still, he brought to the White House a crew of pragmatic liberals convinced they could use the power of government to bring about positive change. Wielding power meant a more dynamic policy of "flexible" response to contain Communism. The new administration turned its attention to the instabilities of the Third World. Almost immediately the aborted invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs raised doubts about Kennedy's judgment. So, too, did his confrontation with Khrushchev and the Soviet decision to build a wall in Berlin. Kennedy countered by stepping up aid to South Vietnam. And when intelligence sources discovered in October 1962 that the Soviets had placed offensive missiles in Cuba, the president faced the worst crisis of the nuclear age.

Cracks in the Consensus

For all the "consensus" and conformity in the 1950s, the United States had not eliminated striking differences between racial or ethnic groups or economic classes and regions. Culturally, as well, American society often seemed split. "Highbrow" intellectuals condemned mass culture, fearing that mass media, suburbia, and corporate culture produced mass conformity.

The high school became a melting pot, with a faintly rebellious culture, exemplified by the new rhythms of rock and roll. Conventional adults were alarmed by what they saw as "juvenile delinquency." The "beatniks," an urban intellectual group, rejected mainstream values. From the growing civil rights movement to the increasingly strident and independent teen culture, turbulence beneath the calm heralded a new cultural idiom that paved the way for cultural and political ferment in the 1960s.