Deck 28: The Suburban Era 1945-1963

Question 1

The chapter introduction uses the automobile as a symbol for the 1950s in order to make the point that

A) a culture of mobility developed, featuring abundance and a high degree of movement, especially to the suburbs.
B) the variations and yearly changes in car design reflected the diversity and divisions in American life.
C) government programs no longer focused on people (as in the New Deal), but on things (as with the Interstate Highway System).
D) car-buying adults were more influential than children and their toys in shaping American culture.

Answer 1

a culture of mobility developed, featuring abundance and a high degree of movement, especially to the suburbs.

Question 2

All of the following help explain the rise of suburbia EXCEPT

A) "white flight," which lured rural residents to the glamour and high living standards of metropolitan areas.
B) the "baby boom," which led to a large number of young families seeking their own houses.
C) the availability of affordable single-family houses on their own lots.
D) the availability of transportation, which made commuting to a job elsewhere possible.

Answer 2

"white flight," which lured rural residents to the glamour and high living standards of metropolitan areas.

Question 3

Church membership in the 1950s

A) declined to less than half the population for the first time in the twentieth century.
B) grew to more than half the population for the first time in the twentieth century.
C) grew steadily in the suburbs but declined sharply in cities and rural areas.
D) became irrelevant to the consumer-oriented culture of the suburbs.

Answer 3

grew to more than half the population for the first time in the twentieth century.

Question 4

Which of the following was NOT an environmental cost of the 1950s suburban housing boom?

A) environmental impact fees
B) clearing of mature trees
C) lost habitat
D) higher energy consumption

Question 5

Which of the following describes Nikita Khrushchev?

A) sophisticated and inept
B) conciliatory and demanding
C) experienced in international affairs
D) lazy and humorless

Question 6

What phrase did President Eisenhower coin to describe the vulnerable neighbors of a country like Vietnam threatened with a Communist takeover?

A) "sitting clucks"
B) "at the brink of war"
C) "our firm friends"
D) "a row of dominoes"

Question 7

Which of the following statements about the domestic policy style of the Eisenhower era is most accurate?

A) As president, General Eisenhower was predictably an activist and decisive leader.
B) "Ike's" presidency stressed a pragmatic and moderate approach.
C) As a staunch conservative, Eisenhower sought to eliminate as many New Deal welfare-state programs as he could get away with.
D) Eisenhower used his personal popularity to persuade the Republican-dominated Congress to enact most of his legislative proposals.

Question 8

Which of the following was true at the height of the cold war in the 1950s?

A) The United States tended to rely on conventional weapons in order to save money.
B) Armed hostilities between the U.S. and the Soviet Union grew more and more intense.
C) The two superpowers competed for the allegiance of the newly independent nations of the Third World.
D) Unrest, nationalism, and even revolution plagued the countries of Europe.

Question 9

Which of the following statements about the foreign policies of the Eisenhower era is NOT true?

A) In the final stages of the French-Vietnamese war, the United States subsidized the costs of the French war effort.
B) The CIA orchestrated covert operations in the Middle East and Latin America that toppled governments.
C) A joint French-British force invaded Egypt after Gamal Abdel Nasser seized control of the Suez Canal in 1956, but the U.S. sided with Egypt against its NATO allies.
D) The Eisenhower administration refused to meet with the Soviets in any formal summit or meeting.

Question 10

The "new look"of cold war policy, associated with Eisenhower and John Foster Dulles, proclaimed a U.S. commitment to

A) limited war in peripheral areas.
B) "summit" negotiations with Soviet leadership.
C) containment and the threat of a full nuclear response.
D) continuing the Truman administration's approach to containing Communism primarily through reliance on allies.

Question 11

In April of 1961, a 1,400-strong army of poorly-equipped Cuban exiles landed at

A) Havana.
B) Guantanamo Bay.
C) Biscayne Bay.
D) the Bay of Pigs.

Question 12

President Kennedy's economic philosophy was

A) liberal, and favored increased government spending.
B) laissez-faire welfare capitalism.
C) tilted more toward the success of big business.
D) grounded in Keynesian deficit spending to lower unemployment.

Question 13

When the ________ asked the United States to intervene against Ho Chi Minh's army at Dien Bien Phu, President Eisenhower refused.

Question 14

The policy of using the threat of nuclear war in order to persuade an opponent to back down is known as ______.

Question 15

Tensions with the Soviet Union led the Kennedy administration to rethink the American approach to nuclear warfare. Under the ________ doctrine of massive retaliation, almost any incident threatened to trigger a full launch of nuclear missiles.

Question 16

Identify three factors in the suburban growth after World War II.

Question 17

Explain how each of the following affected (or were affected by) the growth of the suburbs: the federal highway system, the film industry, housewives, and African Americans.

Question 18

Describe the key features of conglomerates and diversified corporations.

Question 19

What connections were made during the 1950s between popular culture and juvenile delinquency? Why were such connections made, and were they convincing, in your opinion?

Question 20

Explain how social class, religion, and ethnicity affected suburban communities.

Question 21

Explain the role of nuclear deterrence and covert operations in Eisenhower's foreign policy.

Question 22

Compare the quality of life in the suburbs with the quality of life either on farms or in cities.

Question 23

What impact did the rise of large organizations have on the American tradition of individualism?

Question 24

Compare and contrast the Eisenhower-Dulles conduct of foreign policy with that of the Truman administration.

Question 25

"Highbrow"critics condemned the suburban culture of the 1950s and the popular culture of the mass media. What claims did the critics make? What economic and social developments were they reacting to? In your opinion, were the criticisms justified?

Question 26

How did Dulles and Eisenhower counterbalance each other in the making of foreign policy? What were the principal swings of foreign policy during the Eisenhower administration?

Question 27

How did world events cause President Kennedy to change his cold war foreign policies?