How accurate is it to say that, in the years 1941-80, the impact of war and the Cold War brought
about a decline in the confidence the nation had in the presidency?
Intro:
- Huge decline in period (especially towards end of period)
o 1960, 70% said they trusted gov most of the time under 40% by 1974
- Convincing, however, actions of presidents & impact of media played larger role in this decline
o Impact of war itself may have caused temporary decline, however this decline could’ve been
recovered (e.g. after WW1 Roaring 20s), media & presidents caused long-term change
o Presidential actions = root cause, media significant role in exposing this (contributory)
P1: Impact of war and the Cold War
- Credibility gap reduced trust
o Secret bombing of Laos & Cambodia, My Lai Massacre
- Impact of War itself
o Low morale: of 16mil who fought in WW1 400,000 died and 600,000 wounded/captured, loss
at Vietnam reduced confidence, rationing
- People didn’t support actions during war
o VVAW, formed 1967 when 6 veterans marched soon membership of over 30,000
o Students for a Democratic Society (1960), Symbolic to burn draft cards at anti-war protests
- Increased powers of presidents
o Congress hasn’t officially declared war since 1941, but presidents bypass this
o Truman 1948 Berlin airlift, Johnson sent troops to Vietnam, 1961 Kennedy Bay of Pigs
invasion of Cuba (all without Congress approval)
o CIA & National Security Council created (reported to White House, not Congress)
o Impacts of this:
Violation of separation of powers, made people doubt president
President increased their responsibility
o ‘Hey! Hey! LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?!’
o Caused media to become more critical of president
- However…
o More convincing to attribute loss of confidence to presidents’ actions – impact of war may
have caused temporary decline, but this could’ve been recovered if it wasn’t for presidential
scandal/incompetence & critical media
o Can argue war actually united people & increased support for president (e.g. Cold War united
2 parties under single foreign policy, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbour caused nation to rally
around FDR)
P2: President Actions
- Red Scares
o Gov Involvement (1948 Elizabeth Bentley HUAC, 1950 Joseph McCarthy speech)
o People felt gov not doing enough to prevent communism spreading (‘China Lobby’ blamed
Truman, Committee on the Present Danger formed 1950, reformed 1976)
o Curb on civil liberties (FBI opening letters, tapping phones, bugging homes/offices)
Significant as anti-communism united Democrats & Republicans
- Scandal/incompetence
o Nixon & Watergate 1972, Ford pardoning Nixon
o Carter incompetence, crisis of confidence
- Welfare caused divides
o Kennedy ‘New Frontier’ & Johnson ‘Great Society’ vs. Nixon ‘workfare’
- Roosevelt increased confidence, shows presidents themselves = significant (‘fireside chats’, etc.)
- However, can argue all presidents actually increased confidence
o Nixon & Ford reduced inflation
o Despite this, more convincing to say caused decline
