Grand expectations: the United States, 1945-1974

Abstract

Beginning in 1945, America rocketed through a quarter-century of extraordinary economic growth, experiencing an amazing boom that soared to unimaginable heights in 1960s. At one point, in late 1940s, American workers produced 57 percent of planet's steel, 62 percent of oil, 80 percent of automobiles. The U.S. then had three-fourths of world's gold supplies. English Prime Minister Edward Heath later said that United States in post-War era enjoyed the greatest prosperity world has ever known. It was a boom that produced a national euphoria, a buoyant time of grand expectations and an unprecedented faith in our government, in our leaders, and in American dream--an optimistic spirit which would be shaken by events in '60s and '70s, and particularly by Vietnam War. Now, in Grand Expectations, James T. Patterson has written a highly readable and balanced work that weaves major political, cultural, and economic events of period into a superb portrait of America from 1945 through Watergate. Here is an era teeming with memorable events--from bloody campaigns in Korea and bitterness surrounding McCarthyism to assassinations of Kennedys and Martin Luther King, to Vietnam War, Watergate, and Nixon's resignation. Patterson excels at portraying amazing growth after World War II--the great building boom epitomized by Levittown (the largest such development in history) and baby boom (which exploded literally nine months after V-J Day)--as well as resultant buoyancy of spirit reflected in everything from streamlined toasters, to big, flashy cars, to soaring, butterfly roof of TWA's airline terminal in New York. And he shows how this upbeat, can-do mood spurred grander and grander expectations as era progressed. Of course, not all Americans shared in this economic growth, and an important thread running through book is an informed and gripping depiction of civil rights movement--from electrifying Brown v. Board of Education decision, to violent confrontations in Little Rock, Birmingham, and Selma, to landmark civil rights acts of 1964 and 1965. Patterson also shows how Vietnam War--which provoked LBJ's growing credibility gap, vast defense spending that dangerously unsettled economy, and increasingly angry protests--and a growing rights revolution (including demands by women, Hispanics, poor, Native Americans, and gays) triggered a backlash that widened hidden rifts in our society, rifts that divided along racial, class, and generational lines. And by Nixon's resignation, we find a national mood in stark contrast to grand expectations of ten years earlier, one in which faith in our leaders and in attainability of American dream was becoming shaken. Grand Expectations is newest volume in prestigious Oxford History of United States. The earlier releases were highly acclaimed, and one, Battle Cry of Freedom, was both a New York Times bestseller and a winner of Pulitzer Prize. Patterson's volume takes its rightful place beside these distinguished works. It is a brilliant summation of years that created America that we know today, a time of setbacks amid unmatched and lasting achievements.