American History: Post-War US, 1945 - 1961

The Mistaken History of the Korean War by Paul M. Edwards Much of the history of the Korean War has been misinterpreted or obscured. Intense propaganda and limited press coverage during the war, coupled with vague objectives and an incomplete victory, resulted in a popular narrative of partial truth and factual omission. Battlefield stories--essentially true but often missing significant data--added an element of myth. Drawing on a range of sources, the author, a Korean War veteran, reexamines the war's causes, costs and outcomes.

The McCarthy Era by Myra Immell (Editor); Gale Editors (Editor) The McCarthy era was one of the most interesting events in modern history, where thousands of Americans were accused of being communists or communist sympathizers. Readers will hear from McCarthy himself, as well as Harry S. Truman. Other essay sources include the Guardian and the Washington Post. Readers are given the historical background before experiencing a series of compelling essays that step through the events and controversies. Readers will learn about the execution of the Rosenbergs. Personal narratives are spell-binding, including one from a former F.B.I. member who argued for McCarthyism, and a couple who describe what it was like to be falsely accused.

A History of Our Time by William H. Chafe (Editor); Harvard Sitkoff (Editor); Beth L. Bailey (Editor) This popular and comprehensive anthology presents cogent, provocative articles from differing political perspectives on major issues in postwar America. In addition to articles by leading historians, the editors have assembled first-person accounts of various issues by those who havecontributed to the shaping of America's rich history, including Joseph McCarthy and Bill Clinton, as well as Robin Morgan, Anne Moody, and Phyllis Schlafly. For this edition, Chafe and Sitkoff have collaborated with a new coeditor, Beth Bailey, to give this classic text a fresh outlook. The sixthedition has been extensively revised to incorporate new documents and the most up-to-date articles, covering such recent events as the September 11 attacks. With lively and enlightening introductions to each section and headnotes providing a context for the articles, A History of Our Time helpsstudents make sense of the past fifty years of America's sometimes tumultuous but always fascinating history.

Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch A history of the civil rights movement that concentrates on the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Streaming Videos

The 1950s in America were a time of nostalgia and neurosis. Factories poured out goods, the dollar was powerful, and the United States—filled with the heady optimism of victory in World War II—believed that it could politically, culturally, and militarily lead the world. But the decade also saw the solidification of the Iron Curtain in Europe, the entrenchment of Communism in China, years of so-called police action in Korea, and a Red Scare that divided Americans at home. Bill Moyers shows how an initial burst of optimism fostered an era of American conformity, in which fitting in led to a hostility and distrust of those who stood out. (57 minutes)

Personal stories and sensational combat footage make this A&E Special the definitive account of the Korean War, a conflict that many feared would erupt into World War III. Distributed by A&E Television Networks. (90 minutes) Distributed by A&E Television Networks.

Databases

Online From CCBC Libraries

Truman, Congress, and Korea by Larry Blomstedt Three days after North Korean premier Kim Il Sung launched a massive military invasion of South Korea on June 24, 1950, President Harry S. Truman responded, dispatching air and naval support to South Korea. Initially, Congress cheered his swift action; but, when China entered the war to aid North Korea, the president and many legislators became concerned that the conflict would escalate into another world war, and the United States agreed to a truce in 1953. The lack of a decisive victory caused the Korean War to quickly recede from public attention. However, its impact on subsequent American foreign policy was profound. In Truman, Congress, and Korea: The Politics of America's First Undeclared War, Larry Blomstedt provides the first in-depth domestic political history of the conflict, from the initial military mobilization, to Congress's failed attempts to broker a cease-fire, to the political fallout in the 1952 election. During the war, President Truman faced challenges from both Democratic and Republican legislators, whose initial support quickly collapsed into bitter and often public infighting. For his part, Truman dedicated inadequate attention to relationships on Capitol Hill early in his term and also declined to require a formal declaration of war from Congress, advancing the shift toward greater executive power in foreign policy. The Korean conflict ended the brief period of bipartisanship in foreign policy that began during World War II. It also introduced Americans to the concept of limited war, which contrasted sharply with the practice of requiring unconditional surrenders in previous conflicts. Blomstedt's study explores the changes wrought during this critical period and the ways in which the war influenced US international relations and military interventions during the Cold War and beyond.

Cold War Crucible by Hajimu Masuda The end of World War II did not mean the arrival of peace. The major powers faced social upheaval at home, while anticolonial wars erupted around the world. American-Soviet relations grew chilly, but the meaning of the rivalry remained disputable. Cold War Crucible reveals the Korean War as the catalyst for a new postwar order. The conflict led people to believe in the Cold War as a dangerous reality, a belief that would define the fears of two generations. In the international arena, North Korea's aggression was widely interpreted as the beginning of World War III. At the domestic level, the conflict generated a wartime logic that created dividing lines between ?us? and ?them,? precipitating waves of social purges to stifle dissent. The United States allowed McCarthyism to take root; Britain launched anti-labor initiatives; Japan conducted its Red Purge; and China cracked down on counterrevolutionaries. These attempts to restore domestic tranquility were not a product of the Cold War, Masuda Hajimu shows, but driving forces in creating a mindset for it. Alarmed by the idea of enemies from within and faced with the notion of a bipolar conflict that could quickly go from chilly to nuclear, ordinary people and policymakers created a fantasy of a Cold War world in which global and domestic order was paramount. In discovering how policymaking and popular opinion combined to establish and propagate the new postwar reality, Cold War Crucible offers a history that reorients our understanding of what the Cold War really was.

The Ashgate Research Companion to the Korean War by James I. Matray (Editor); Donald W. Boose This essential companion provides a comprehensive study of the literature on the causes, course, and consequences of the Korean War, 1950-1953. Aimed primarily at readers with a special interest in military history and contemporary conflict studies, the authors summarize and analyze the key research issues in what for years was known as the 'Forgotten War.' The book comprises three main thematic parts, each with chapters ranging across a variety of crucial topics covering the background, conduct, clashes, and outcome of the Korean War. The first part sets the historical stage, with chapters focusing on the main participants. The second part provides details on the tactics, equipment, and logistics of the belligerents. Part III covers the course of the war, with each chapter addressing a key stage of the fighting in chronological order. The enormous increase in writings on the Korean War during the last thirty years, following the release of key primary source documents, has revived and energized the interest of scholars. This essential reference work not only provides an overview of recent research, but also assesses what impact this has had on understanding the war.

Historical Dictionary of the Eisenhower Era by Kaufman/Kaufman; Burton Ira Kaufman; Diane Kaufman U.S. Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower first entered into the public eye during World War II as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe. In 1952, he was elected as the 34th President of the United States and served two terms. During those terms he oversaw the cease-fire of the Korean War, kept up the pressure on the Soviet Union during the Cold War, made nuclear weapons a higher defense priority, launched the Space Race, enlarged the Social Security program, and began the Interstate Highway System. The Historical Dictionary of the Eisenhower Era examines significant individuals, organizations, and events in American political, economic, social, and cultural history during this era in American history. In addition to the hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on politics, economics, diplomacy, literature, science, sports, and popular culture, a chronology, introductory essay, and several appendixes are also included in this valuable reference.

Harry S. Truman and the Cold War Revisionists by Robert H. Ferrell The idea of revising what is known of the past constitutes an essential procedure in historical scholarship, but revisionists are often hasty and argumentative in their judgments. Such, argues Robert H. Ferrell, has been the case with assessments of the presidency of Harry S. Truman, who was targeted by historians and political scientists in the 1960s and '70s for numerous failings in both domestic and foreign policy, including launching the cold war--perceptions that persist to the present day. Widely acknowledged as today's foremost Truman scholar, Ferrell turns the tables on the revisionists in this collection of classic essays. He goes below the surface appearances of history to examine how situations actually developed and how Truman performed sensibly--even courageously--in the face of unforeseen crises. While some revisionists see Truman as consumed by a blind hatred of the Soviet Union and adopting an unrestrainedly militant stance, Ferrell convincingly shows that Truman wished to get along with the Soviets and was often bewildered by their actions. He interprets policies such as the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and support for NATO as prudent responses to perceived threats and credits the Truman administration for the ways in which it dealt with unprecedented problems. What emerges most vividly from Ferrell's essays is a sense of how weak a hand the United States held from 1945 to1950, with its conventional forces depleted by the return of veterans to civil pursuits after the war and with its capacity for delivery of nuclear weapons in a sorry state. He shows that Truman regarded the atomic bomb as a weapon of last resort, not an instrument of policy, and that he took America into a war in Korea for the good of the United States and its allies. Although Truman has been vindicated on many of these issues, there still remains a lingering controversy over the use of atomic weapons in Japan--a decision that Ferrell argues is understandable in light of what Truman faced at the start of his presidency. Ferrell argues that the revisionists who attacked Truman understood neither the times nor the man--one of the most clearheaded, farsighted presidents ever to occupy the Oval Office. Harry S. Truman and the Cold War Revisionists shows us that Truman's was indeed a remarkable presidency, as it cautions historians against too quickly appraising the very recent past.