American History: A Survey 10/e   Alan Brinkley
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Summary

From the late 1940s through the 1950s, the United States experienced continued economic growth and low unemployment. Most of the nation participated in the prosperity and agreed about the beneficence of American capitalism. Only a few intellectuals questioned the rampant consumerism and the values of the growing corporate bureaucracies. Even big labor and big business seemed to be getting along better than ever before. The politics of the period, symbolized by President Eisenhower, the cautious war hero, reflected the popular contentment. Blacks, inspired by the Brown school desegregation decision, began the protests that would bring the civil rights revolution of the 1960s. Locked into a policy of containment and a rigidly dualistic world view, the United States was less successful in its overseas undertakings. Despite a string of alliances, an awesome nuclear arsenal, and vigorous use of covert operations, the nation often found itself unable to shape world events to conform to American desires.

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