Postwar Domestic Policies and Truman Aubrey Gibson
Intro * After WWII, there was a need for legislation to help people readjust to non- wartime * Sought to help returning soldiers * Sought to keep the economy in a good position after the need for war products was eliminated
The GI Bill WHY IT WAS ENACTED * Needed to help veterans readjust to normal life * Didn t want to repeat the same mistakes as WWI (many vets were unemployed) * Needed extra support for vets because it was harder for them to get jobs after war and they received bonuses but it sometimes took years to receive them * Response to the Bonus Army * Vets only received $60 after WWI * Wanted to avoid another depression * Had to ensure vets were secure
The GI Bill WHAT IT WAS * aka the Servicemen s Readjustment Act of 1944 * Provided benefits for returning WWII veterans * Established hospitals for rehabilitation * Made low interest mortgages available * Granted money to cover tuition and expenses for veterans who attended college * Between 1944 and 1949, $4 billion was granted for unemployment compensation for vets * The provisions of the law were carried out by the Veterans Administration (1930)
The GI Bill PASSING THE BILL * Drafted by Harry W. Colmery and introduced on January 10, 1944 * The House and Senate both approved their own separate versions of the bill * Was long debated by both houses * Some thought if they gave vets money it would lower their incentive to work ($20 per week) * Questioned if vets should be allowed to go to college * Was meant for the rich at the time * Though spending so much money on vets might cause another depression * Representative John Gibson was the tie breaker and the GI Bill was signed into law June 22, 1944
The GI Bill IMPACT * Decreased flooding of the job market * Increased education and people other than vets began to attend college * Decreased poverty among veterans * Ended July 25, 1956, helped 7.8 million gain education * The Readjustment Benefits Act of 1966 extended benefits from GI Bill to all veterans * Was revised and reintroduced in 1984 as the Montgomery GI Bill (cont. home loan and education) * Updated in 2008 to give vets more education benefits after 9/11
The Employment Act of 1946 WHY IT WAS ENACTED * After WWII finding jobs was a major concern because the U.S. was no longer producing wartime goods * Had to deal with problems of the Full Employment Bill of 1945 * Stated that all Americans able to work should have full opportunity, provided by the government, for continuing employment * Based on principle of compensatory finance (create budget deficit to increase economic activity)
The Employment Act of 1946 WHAT IT WAS * Revised the 1945 act and it became the Employment Act ( didn t require compensatory finance, recognize price stability) * Signed into law February 20, 1946 * States that it is the responsibility of the federal government to promote maximum employment, production, and purchasing power * Policy must be carried out by the president
The Employment Act of 1946 WHAT IT WAS (cont.) * Required the government to use all of its plans, functions, and resources to provide employment * Conflicted with price stability because as employment increases, it leads to inflation which decreases price stability * Very vague and doesn t state specific actions the president needs to take to fulfil requirements
The Employment Act of 1946 IMPACT * Unemployment remained low for the next 20 years * Averaged 4.6% from 1950-1970 * Created the Council of Economic Advisory (CEA) * Composed of three members to advise the president on economic policy * Required the president to submit a report within ten days od submitting the federal budget, predicting the future state of the economy * Established the Joint Economic Committee to review this report
The Employment Act of 1946 IMPACT (cont.) * Inflation was controlled in the following decades * Ranged from 1%- 5% * Unemployment and inflation began to rise again in 1970 * In 1978 the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act was passed to try to fix this * Very similar to 1945 act but gave specific unemployment and inflation goals
The Taft- Hartley Act WHY IT WAS ENACTED * Concern that labor unions were growing too powerful * Needed open communication between labor unions and employers in order to regulate commerce * Act justified under commerce clause * Wanted to make changes to Wagner Act from 1935 * Caused large strikes that nearly disabled some industries ( automobile, steel, packaging) * Stopped work and damaged economy
The Taft- Hartley Act WHAT IT WAS * aka the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 * Was an amendment to the Wagner Act * Designed to benefit all parts- employers, employees, & unions * Required both sides to meet and reach an agreement of a labor contract * Gave employers first amendment rights to speak out against unions * Limits liability of employers * Requires union leaders to rake oath saying they weren t communists * Was originally vetoed by President Truman * Overridden by > 2/3 vote in congress and passed June 23, 1947
The Taft- Hartley Act WHAT IT DID: * Allowed the president to appoint a board of inquiry to investigate union disputes if he believes a strike would endanger health or safety * Can get an 80- day injunction to stop strike * Declared all closed shops illegal * Union membership not required for employment * Permitted union shops to be formed only after majority vote by employees (amended 1951) * Forbids jurisdictional strikes (union represent a particular group of employees) and secondary boycotts (refusal to associate with business it has no dispute with) * Ended check- off system (employer collects union dues) * Forbade unions from contributing to political campaigns
The Taft- Hartley Act IMPACT * Provided protection for employers rather than just unions * Controlled strikes * Enlarged the National Relations Board * Control labor disputes, increased from 3 to 5 members * Created the Federal Mediations and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to enforce the act and settle labor disputes * Was replaced in 1959 by the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 which listed specific union requirements
Primary Source On the Veto of the Taft- Hartley Bill (June 20, 1947) * I am convinced it is a bad bill. It is bad for labor, bad for management, and bad for the country. * Last January I made specific recommendations to the Congress as to the kind of labor legislation we should have immediately... I believe that my proposals were accepted by the great majority of our people as fair and just. * It clearly abuses the right, which millions of our citizens now enjoy, to join together and bargain with their employers for fair wages and fair working conditions. * The bill is deliberately designed to weaken labor unions. When the sponsors of the bill claim that by weakening unions, they are giving rights back to individual workingmen, they ignore the basic reason why unions are important in our democracy. * This bill would again expose workers to the abuses of labor injunctions. * Many provisions of the bill would have the result of changing employers and workers from members of the same team to opponents on contending teams.
OPVL * Origin: Radio broadcast by Harry S. Truman given June 20, 1947. He discusses why he vetoed the Taft- Hartley Act and that he thinks it is bad because it weakens labor unions and interferes with their ability to bargain and reach an agreement * Purpose: to explain to the public why he vetoed the act and urge people (congress who would later vote) not to support the act and urge them to lean towards the policies he had previously suggested * Value: shows Truman s opinions on labor laws and demonstrates that he is pro- union and anti- big business * Limitations: Truman is a liberal so his opinions are biased towards workers rights. He was speaking to the public and trying to persuade them so he may have exaggerated his views. Also, he wanted his original plan to go through so he was trying to get rid of any other options
The Election of 1948 BACKGROUND * Truman had become president after the death of FDR * Republican Party won control of both houses in the 1946 midterm elections * Economy: high taxes, increased cost of living, labor strife, government corruption * Candidates * Harry S. Truman (Democrat/incumbent) * Thomas E. Dewey (Republican) * J. Strom Thurmond (States Rights) * Issues of election: * Civil Rights * 80 th Congress * 22 nd Amendment
The Election of 1948 CAMPAIGNING * Platforms * Democratic: had civil rights platform to gain Sothern delegate support * Republican: had foreign policy platform to strengthen U.S. relations with other countries and a domestic platform get rid of four c s : controls, confusion, corruption, communism * Methods of campaigning included: speeches, radio, advertisements, newspapers, editorials, television (first time), stumping (traveling speeches), and whistle- stop tours (speech from back of train)
The Election of 1948 OUTCOME * Every prediction that was made said that Dewey would win the election * Truman won a surprise victory * Considered the greatest upset of any presidential election * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wihvqs- tuwa
The Election of 1948 WHY TRUMAN WON * Truman had been good leader at the end of WWII * Decision to drop atomic bomb * Took civil rights initiatives * Democrats used FDR s presidency to build party organization * Paid voters with government money * Dewey had a poor campaign * Not very active because he thought he was guaranteed victory * Speeches were bland and he was careful not to offend anyone * Truman s campaign was very strong nearing the election * Whistle- stop campaigns gained him many votes from undecided * Blamed do- nothing Congress for previous problems and promised change * Important states (Ohio, California, and Illinois) supported Truman
The Election of 1948 IMPACT * Truman introduces Fair Deal to try to continue some of FDR s successful New Deal Policies * Passed the 22 nd amendment * In 1950 midterm elections, the Democratic party regained control of both houses of Congress * Confirmed the nations majority party * Allowed Truman to pass laws to aid civil rights and changed foreign policy with the Soviet Union (Truman Doctrine)
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