Ch.+29+-+Fair+Deal+and+The+Arms+Build-up

__**The Fair Deal and The Arms Build-up**__ Harry S. Truman proposed a twenty-one point domestic program known as the Fair Deal. The Fair Deal called for several reforms including the minimum wage increase, the guarantee of full employment through federal spending and investment, a Fair Employment Practices Act, The expansion of the Social Security benefits, and the  housing and slum clearance. A promotion of the national health insurance was later added to the Fair Deal. The reforms of the [|Fair Deal] were greatly similar to the reforms of Franklin D. Roosevelt' s New Deal. Truman's reform plans were immediately attacked by the conservative Republicans of the Republican-dominated Congress. Not only did not Republicans reject most of the Fair Deal, they also established the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. The act was developed after many people became extremely angry at increased inflation and soared prices. The Taft-Harley Act simply attacked unions. The act made illegal the closed shop employment method, or the requirement to join a union before being hired, and the union shop employment method, or the requirement to join a union after being employed. The act also allowed states to pass "right-to-work" laws. The Taft-Hartley significantly dented the moral and momentum many unions.
 * __The Fair Deal and Welfare Reforms__ **

Truman's surprising victory in the Election of 1948 boosted the moral of his administration. After the election, Truman was able to pass through Congress some of his Fair Deal reforms. The legal minimum wage rose from 40 cents to 75 cents an hour. The Social Security system was also expanded as benefits increased by 75 percents and it included 10 million extra people. The National Housing Act of 1949 called for the construction of 810,000 units of low-income houses. After all this partial success, Truman turned to fight discrimination and segregation. __** The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) **__ Whenever you look at American history, you will always notice that the United States tried to avoid making alliances and factions. Even George Washington warned the citizens about foreign alliances. Washington recommended that the U.S. should always try to avoid forming alliances with any foreign country. Harry S. Truman realized that the only way to contain Communism was to form alliances with the non-Communist nations of Western Europe. So, in 1949, with the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or [|NATO], between twelve nations, the U.S. tradition of isolation was abandoned. NATO was a formation or alliance against foreign attacks. The members of NATO believed that if a country was to attack any of the NATO members, the attack would be considered as an attack on all the members. The formation of NATO allowed many countries, especially the U.S., to establish military bases in Europe. In response, The Soviet Union formed an alliance with the Communist nations of Eastern Europe. Their alliance became established by the Warsaw Pact, issued in 1955. The American support of NATO increased when, in 1949, the Soviet Union developed its first atomic bomb.

NATO ushered in a period of an arms build-up. The United States and the Soviet Union worked day and night to develop new and more advanced weapons. The nations wanted to out power each other in terms of their arsenal. This led to the so called "Arms Race." The Americans and the Soviets were "racing" each other to see which nation would produce the most advance weapons. The United States held the title of the top weapon holder after the dropping of the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the event that also ended World War II. The Soviets surprised the whole world by testing their first atomic bomb in 1949. This led President Truman to approve to formation of the H-bomb, or the Hydrogen Bomb. The H-bomb was supposedly a thousand times more powerful than the A-bomb, or the bomb that destroyed the two Japanese cities at the end of WWII. Finally, in 1952, the Hydrogen bomb was added to the U.S. arsenal. Not too long after, the hype of nuclear weapons and their power swept across the United States. New shows such as the Twilight Zone started to develop the interest of a number Americans into nuclear weapons. Many people started to view nuclear weapons as things that demonstrate the power and strength of the United States. This soon led to a period that involved strict opposition to and fear of nuclear weapons. The favor for the arms build-up soon declined as well.

__** The National Security Council's Recommendation **__ In 1950, the National Security Council issued a recommendation as a secret report, known as the NSC-68, requesting the three main things that were necessary for the Cold War. The NSC-68 was also, like the Truman Doctrine, developed using the ideas and writings of George Kennan. The U.S. had previously attempted to work with other countries in order to limit the spread of Communism. The [|NSC-68] hoped to establish the U.S. as the leader in the effort against Communism. The recommendation meant that the U.S. should not rely on other nations to lead to effort of fighting Communism. One of the three main points was the quadrupling of the U.S. spending of defense. The U.S. had to strengthen its defense in order to be ready for any type of attack from the Soviets. The second factor was the formation of alliances with non-Communist nations throughout the globe. This would greatly increase the strength of the effort against Communism. The third point of the NSC-68 was to convince the American citizens that an arms buildup was an absolute necessity for fighting the Cold War and keeping the U.S. safe. All in all, the report recommended to strengthen and expand the military power of the U.S.

__** Sources **__
 * American History (textbook) - Alan Brinkley
 * United States History: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Examination (AMSCO) - John J. Newman / John M. Schmalbach
 * The Princeton Review: Cracking the AP U.S. History Exam (2010 Edition) - Tom Meltzer, Jean Hofheimer Bennett, and Susan Babkes
 * Barrons: AP United States History Flash Cards - Michael R. Bergman and Kevin D. Preis
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