Introduction:

A.  The Rise (and Fall) of the Post War Era: An  Overview

1. Background: The Great Depression & the New Deal; WWII
2. Forging the Postwar Order: 1945-1960
3. The Postwar Order in Crisis - 1960s & 1970s
4. New World Order, 1980 - date

B.  Four Frameworks for Analyzing Postwar Politics:

1. Presidential Leadership
2. Electoral Politics
3. Legislation and public policy
4. Political Economy

Harry Truman and the Transformation of American Liberalism

Bio: The Provincial as President: Harry S. Truman and the Burden of Modernity

1945-46: A Sea of Troubles

The 1946 Election and the Republican 80th Congress

Cold War Politics (I)

The Election of 1948

The Fair Deal

Cold War Politics (II)

Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Corporate Commonwealth

• Bio: From Provincial to Cosmopolitan (no burden, here!)
• 1952: Eisenhower and the Politics of Republican Moderation
• The First Term

Bending the Curve

Korea, the Cold War, Vietnam

Mostly McCarthy

• The Second Term:

A Democratic Congress

Civil Rights: Deferring the Dream

Holding the Line: The Politics of Defense

1960 and the Problem of Succession

YEAR                        PRESIDENT            HOUSE                SENATE                COMMENTS

1946		Dem 188/Rep 246	Dem 45/Rep 51	"class of 46"
1948	HST (Dewey)	Dem 263/Rep 171	Dem 54/Rep 42	Wallace,Thurmond
1950		Dem 235/Rep 199	Dem 49/Rep 47	Korea, McCarthy
1952	DDE(Stevenson)	Dem 213/Rep 221	Dem 47/Rep 48	Wayne Morse
1954		Dem 232/Rep 203	Dem 48/Rep 47	LBJ
1956	DDE(Stevenson)	Dem 234/Rep 201	Dem 49/Rep 47	Ike wins 57.4%
1958		Dem 282/Rep 154	Dem 64/Rep 36	Recession
1960	JFK (Nixon)	Dem 263/Rep 174	Dem 65/Rep 35	50.08%/49.92%