Figure 45. President since the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman was inaugurated in January 1949 after being elected in his own right. Image courtesy of Library of Congress.
“Fair Deal,” which included civil rights measures, a national health care program, and federal aid to education. Conservative legislators, determined to limit the role of government, waged a fierce battle against such programs. SEE FIGURE 45 AUTUMN 1949 Billy Graham Embarks on Ministry as Church Membership Surges Church attendance rose steadily in the 1940s, from 49% of America’s population to more than 60%. All major denominations shared in the growth, but it was particularly obvious in the rise to nation-wide popularity of spokesmen and preachers such as Norman Vincent Peale, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, and the young Billy Graham. The impressive revival of religion spoke to Americans’ search for meaning in uncertain times. SEE FIGURE 46
Figure 47. Mao Zedong (left and above) dressed for cold weather, inspects a People’s Liberation Army artillery unit. Image courtesy of Gao Fan.
AUTUMN 1949 China Falls to Communists
Civil war had raged in China since the 1930s. Communist forces led by Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) contended for power with the Nationalist government of Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek). Following the defeat of Japan in 1945, Jiang badly over-extended his frail regime by attempting to occupy northern China and Manchuria. The Truman administration provided more than $2 billion in aid to the Nationalists, but to no avail. In 1948 and 1949 the communists steadily drove Jiang’s armies southward, ultimately forcing them to flee the mainland to Taiwan. In America, conservative critics heaped blame for the “worst defeat in its history” on Truman. The refusal of the United States to recognize “Red China” helped to isolate the world’s most populous country and distorted relations between the two nations for more than two decades. SEE FIGURE 47
Figure 46. Rev. Billy Graham was an influential evangelist and spiritual advisor to numerous presidents. Image courtesy of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
35
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator