Politics of Resentment (2 of 2)
The cultural turmoil of the 1960s resurrected Nixon’s political career. His strong activation of the politics of resentment keyed his success in 1968 and 1969. Nixon developed two rhetorical tropes which he powerfully used. He combined into one group (1) the angry minorities rioting and taking welfare in the cities and (2) the anti-authority college youth with their antiwar campus activism. Nixon argued that both groups victimized everyday Americans with their disobedience, drugs, and violence. When he spoke of one group, he was simultaneously capturing popular resentment against the other.
During his 1968 campaign Nixon said, “our first commitment as a nation in this time of crisis and questioning must be a commitment to order.” Nixon initially blamed students for the violent deaths at Kent State University (the National Guard fired on student protesters in May 1970, killing four students and wounding nine), a position favored by many in the population.… Read the rest
Stakeholder Capitalism: Postwar to 1960 (1 of 2)
This post discusses the role played by the business community from postwar to 1960, while the next post discusses business political involvement in the 1960s. Subsequent to these two posts, the following posts treat the role of labor similarly.
The business community from the era of the New Deal to the early ’70s often split in its political and governmental activities. On the one side, the US Chamber of Commerce (the Chamber) and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), represented what might be called the ultraconservative business community. On the other side were business moderates, often working under the umbrella of the Committee on Economic Development (CED), which was formed in the early ’40s.… Read the rest
Labor: Post-WWII to 1960
An earlier post dealt with the role of the business community and national affairs from the end of WWII to 1960. This post focuses on labor and the business community in the same time period.
Full Employment Act
After the removal of WWII price controls as well as the excess profits tax, unions undertook widespread strikes to protest the rapid end of these war mechanisms. The Truman administration was also concerned about employment. War production had ended and many in the military would be returning to civilian life.
In this atmosphere the administration drafted the Full Employment Act of 1946. The draft was warmly supported by the liberal-labor alliance because it made full employment a right guaranteed to the American people.… Read the rest
The Last Gasp of Stakeholder Capitalism: The 1960s (2 of 2)
This long post chronicles the last, albeit significant gasp, of stakeholder capitalism.
Kennedy administration
The CED remained influential during the Kennedy administration, especially in trade and tax policies. Kennedy appointed many business leaders to key positions in his administration. These included Walter Heller, Paul Samuelson, a Nobel prize winner and perhaps the most respected Keynesian economist, and Kermit Gordon.
CED’s first success was enactment of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. This gave the president significant authority to negotiate lower tariffs. Kennedy appointed Howard Peterson, a CED trustee, as his special trade advisor, to begin drafting new trade legislation. To get the new trade bill passed Kennedy had to agree to impose quotas on foreign textiles and increase subsidies for Southern cotton growers.… Read the rest
A Social Revolution? (1 of 6)
This is the first of an intended six posts about the social revolution created in part by the U.S. Supreme Court in its Brown vs. Board of Education decision. The next post will review Brown I and the third, Brown II. The fourth post in this series will discuss events from Brown II to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The fifth post will cover the civil rights acts of 1964 and 1968 The last post in this series will examine the Supreme Court’s Griswold decision. This post briefly covers a selection of related facts and events from 1945 to 1953 to characterize the context facing the Court in 1954
A selected chronology
In 1945 seven African Americans were lynched.… Read the rest
A Social Revolution?: Brown v. Board of Education I
After several racial barriers were dropped post-WWII, minority groups, particularly in the North, became increasingly politicized. Congress, however, expressed no concern about such politicization. Relative to the administration, Eisenhower in eight years would never offer a word of support for desegregation. Thus civil rights attorneys began arguing against the separate but equal doctrine. The Sweatt decision (see earlier post) prompted a focus on public schools. The Court eventually decided to hear five public school cases simultaneously. The NAACP was significantly involved in all five cases.
The five cases comprising Brown v. Board of Education
In the 1952 term of the Court, a decision on separate but not equal facilities, Briggs v.… Read the rest
A Social Revolution?
Because Brown II focused solely on implementation the arguments in the Court demonstrated attention to detail. The Supreme Court and the lower federal courts were equity courts. This gave them a wide range of options to fashion remedies. The issue of time became a key area of concern. Suggestions regarding time ranged from an immediate decree for action to a decree with no fixed date for the end of segregation.
Court arguments
The opening argument before the Court dealt with the Virginia and South Carolina cases. The civil rights attorney representing the Negroes called for desegregation as soon as the necessary administrative procedures could be implemented.… Read the rest
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