1950's: Happy Days for American's
The 1950's were the Happy Days for American's because of the improvements in technology, cultural changes, booming economy, racial advancement, but also the baby boom. President Dwight Eisenhower who was elected in 1952 had a major impact on America's economy. During his term he lowered taxes, but also managed to balance the federal government which allowed for consumerism to thrive and government spending to allow for the feeling of security in the economy. He also maintained many of FDR's social programs such as Social Security and the Interstate Highway System. In the 1950's, two thirds of America's population made it into the middle class. Having a great economy at that period of time was quite extraordinary and distant. After the Great Depression, and the two World Wars, having an outragous economy basically introduced a new life to American's. They were able to afford new and better houses, cars, and all kinds of goods, that were inaccessible to them during the Depression or the World War II. While Europe and Asia were still recovering from World War II, America was rising to the top in economy, but also technology (Economy in the 1950s), (Bruccoli), (Madaras). Besides all of the great changes that occured at that time the 50's also had it's disadvantages. Citizens of the United States were terriffied of the Soviets, their spread of communism, and their new technology inventions such as the atomic bomb or the satellite called Sputnik. The Cold War, which was not an actual war, but a political and economic tension betweet the two nations, was a huge issue. Even though the Soviet Union was extremely powerful and controlled many countries in Europe and Asia, President Eisenhower made sure that communism would not reach America. He created specific laws and policies for communists to forbid them into entering United States, but he also joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 "in order to contain the spread of communism". Eisenhower tried