Robert H Donaldson - Modern America: A Documentary History of the Nation Since 1945

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Modern

America

Modern

America

A Documentary History
of the Nation Since 1945

Gary Donaldson

EDITOR

First published 2007 by M.E. Sharpe

Published 2015 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright 2007 Taylor & Francis. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notices

No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use of operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Modern America : a documentary history of the nation since 1945 / Gary
Donaldson, editor.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN: 978-0-7656-1537-4 (cloth: alk. paper)

1. United StatesHistory1945 Sources. I. Donaldson, Gary.

E740.5.M63 2006 973.92dc22

2006022275

ISBN 13: 9780765615381 (pbk)
ISBN 13: 9780765615374 (hbk)

Contents

In a well-known (and perhaps apocryphal) story, Chinese premier Zhou Enlai was once asked what he thought was the historical significance of the French Revolution. Zhou was a well-educated man and an astute student of history. His response still rings in the ears of most modern historians: Its too soon to tell. Whether or not the story is true, it is useful. It begs a very important question: Can we study and understand modern history when we are so close to it? Is it possible to study, objectively, events that we ourselves may have experiencedevents that may even have changed our own lives? The answer is, of course, yes. If history is past events, then modern history fills that bill. It is simply more difficultbut not impossibleto keep personal opinions and bias in check. It is an intellectual challenge. It is, in fact, the best of all exercises in historical detachment.

It can be argued that it is the most recent events that have most affected our lives; we are who we are (as a nation, as a people, as individuals) because of the events of the last fifty years or so. Those events, then, should be studied with the greatest of care. Otherwise, how will we know ourselves well?

In some ways, perhaps old Zhou Enlai was correct. The total impact of the French Revolution may not yet be known. However, he would certainly have agreed that we should study the events anyway, because it is modern history that has built upon the groundwork of the past and made us who we are today.

This collection of documents is designed as a supplemental reading text for courses in post-World War II American history. It should not be considered a comprehensive text. That is, not all topics (or even relevant topics) are discussed here. The documents have been chosen to give a good representation of events, to spark interest and discussion, and to establish a strong foundation for the use of primary material in the classroom. They might best be used selectively.

Each of the twenty chapters includes an introduction designed to explain the general events covered in the chapter. Each chapter contains three or four documents, and each document is introduced with a brief statement explaining its historical significance. In every case possible, the entire document is included. But, for obvious reasons, some documents have had to be abridged and edited for space considerations. In each case, great care has been taken to include as much of the document as possible, and to avoid the all-too-common snippet, the document piece that is only a shadow of the entire thing. Three or four long documents that develop a broad-based idea or an opinion on a topic are much more useful than many snippets.

Each chapter also includes a biographical sketch of a figure germane to the events or topic covered. Most of those chosen were major players in historythe Henry Kissingers, the Barry Goldwaters. But occasionally a figure is included who was on the grounda nurse in Vietnam, a civil rights worker. One criterion was that they all be interesting.

A series of questions follows each chapter. These are designed to stimulate thought and discussion. It is intended that not all questions can be answered only from the documents. Some answers will require further reading outside the chapter, a personal opinion from the reader in some cases, or even a broader understanding of certain historical events or ideas. Not unlike the documents themselves, the questions might best be used selectively.

At the end of each chapter is a bibliography. These recommendations for further reading are not intended to be comprehensive, but rather a starting point for further research in the area.

Modern history may not explain our origins or even our development over time, but it does tell us most about ourselves today, and about those events that most changed our lives.

Modern

America

The end of World War II was hailed as a total American victory over the forces of evilover the horrors of Nazism and the brutality of Japanese imperialism. All wartime goals had been realized in a complete military and moral victory. The sacrifices had been tremendous, but the wars end left the United States astride the world, free of any serious enemies, free to carry on as it wished, and free to convert its huge military-industrial complex to peaceful production that would bring jobs, products, and, all hoped, prosperity to the American people.

But it quickly became apparent that World War II, like most other wars, caused as many problems as it solved: turning victory into a stable peace would not be easy. One problem was the huge and dangerous power vacuums left by the retreating German and Japanese armies in Europe and Asia. In Eastern Europe, Soviet troops occupied every capital city except Athens. In Asia, the Red Army was in northern Iran, Manchuria, and northern Korea. Communists were trying to topple governments in China, Vietnam, Greece, Turkey, and even Italy. For most Americans, communism became the new fear, and soon became a haunting enemy.

In the aftermath of the war, misunderstandings, disagreements, provocations, and outright belligerence pitted the U.S. and the Soviets against each other. The result was a cold war, a diplomatic battleground that, in the United States, gave rise to the policy of military containment and a revulsion for appeasement. Over the next forty years, the country would become involved in hundreds of incidents and situations, large and small, across the globe for the expressed purpose of containing the spread of communism. Americans were often frustrated by these events, but through the entire era they maintained the belief that the United States had the power and the will to keep up a vigil against Soviet expansion. Between 1945 and 1948 both President Harry S. Truman and Soviet leader Josef Stalin put the mechanisms in place that would fuel and govern the cold war.

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