Rethinking the 1950s: How Anticommunism and the Cold War Made America Liberal

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Historians generally portray the 1950s as a conservative era when anticommunism and the Cold War subverted domestic reform, crushed political dissent, and ended liberal dreams of social democracy. These years, historians tell us, represented a turn to the right, a negation of New Deal liberalism, an end to reform. Jennifer A. Delton argues that, far from subverting the New Deal state, anticommunism and the Cold War enabled, fulfilled, and even surpassed the New Deal's reform agenda. Anticommunism solidified liberal political power and the Cold War justified liberal goals such as jobs creation, corporate regulation, economic redevelopment, and civil rights. She shows how despite President Eisenhower's professed conservativism, he maintained the highest tax rates in U.S. history, expanded New Deal programs, and supported major civil rights reforms. Cover Rethinking the 1950s Title Copyright Dedication Contents Introduction The Liberal Fifties The Liberal Agenda 1 Anticommunist Liberals What Liberals Stood to Gain Liberals and Communists in the Interwar Years Solidifying Political Power The Truman Administration Labor Purges and the Hollywood Blacklist Labor Unions Hollywood 2 Moderate Republicans 3 Corporate Liberals Partners with Government The Repudiation of Individualism: Corporate Management at Mid­Century Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Cosmopolitanism 4 Conservatives American Conservatism before the Cold War Anticommunism and the Creation of the New Right What Was Lost 5 Civil Rights Historians’ Critique of Cold War Era Civil Rights Policy Leverage for Civil Rights Eisenhower, Federal Authority, and Government Spending Ending Segregation in the Military and Washington, DC The President’s Committee on Government Contracts Federal Judges 1957 Civil Rights Act 6 Eisenhower’s Liberal Legacy Eisenhower’s Achievements at Home The Interstate Social Welfare Legislation Taxes and Fiscal Policy Eisenhower the Liberal Internationalist Standing up to the Right Eisenhower and the United Nations Foreign Aid Arms Control and Talking to the Soviet Union Conclusion Afterword Notes Introduction: The Liberal Fifties 1 Anticommunist Liberals 2 Moderate Republicans 3 Corporate Liberals 4 Conservatives 5 Civil Rights 6 Eisenhower’s Liberal Legacy Selected Bibliography Acknowledgments Index