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