The Greatest Generation: Exploring American Ethos during the Postwar Period
There are many periods in American history that can be characterized as “watershed” moments; the birthing of the nation, the Civil War, the Great Depression, and the World Wars. Analyzing these events episodically, outside of the continuum, deprives us of the ability to answer the greater questions which answer the “why” and “how” we became our present collective self. Any thorough historical discussion of the American story must include an adequate appreciation of the postwar period as it closed one chapter and opened another, further defining who we are. Through their effective use of popular mediums such as film and periodical, communicators Henry R. Luce and David Halberstam influenced popular opinion both contemporaneously with the period and reflectively many years hence drawing tremendously valuable insights into the American experience.
Magazine magnate Henry Luce was called “the most influential private citizen in America of his day” (Wikipedia, Henry Luce). To be sure, his position as editor and founder of such iconic magazines such as Life, Time, Sports Illustrated, and Fortune, afforded him a unique forum for communicating his opinions; and this Luce did in grand fashion through his February, 17 Life magazine editorial: “The American Century.”
As all effective appeals do, Luce first considers (and complements) his audience. He wanted to build his case slowly and resists the urge to prematurely hit the main point….brilliant. He wants Americans to “know how lucky we are” to be who we are, where we are, at this pivotal point in history (Luce, pg.61). At this publication, the attack on Pearl Harbor had not provided the great catalyst to force our entry into the war. This is something not lost on Luce. He admits that man hates war (one of his four propositions) and that to be effectively convinced into an action so abhorrent to his nature the argument must be masterfully constructed (Luce, 64).
Luce wants us to resist isolationist rhetoric and commit wholeheartedly to the war effort we must admit that we are in. Further, Luce contends that we should resist the perception that we are merely aiding our British ally and to “defend and even promote, encourage and incite so-called democratic principles throughout the world” (Luce, 62). The author recognizes that general support of the U.K. in this conflict is not enough and that there is a greater opportunity to project American power and influence abroad. He gives us the reasonable pretexts to commit more fully to the effort. Additionally, he enlists the greatest of motivations (fear) by suggesting that National Socialism might spread here (Luce, 62).
Luce knew that many Americans adored and respected Roosevelt for having brought us out of the depression. Using this predisposition he called upon the populace to get behind our leader and “help him be our greatest president” (Luce, 64).
The author then masterfully appeals to position in time and begins to center his argument on the mantra “The American Century.” He makes the claim that this is our “first century as a dominant power in the world” a unique position meeting a unique opportunity (Luce, 64). We have taken our place as a bastion of intellectual, scientific, artistic, and commercial expertise. By creating an urgency to act and providing the confidence for us to do so, Luce meets the requirement of any sales pitch……never forget to ask for the sale.
Many Americans possess the inherent self-image of themselves as good-will ambassadors or the model of righteousness in the world. Luce uses this perception in order to “create the world of the 20th century” by being the “Good Samaritan” (Luce, 65). Admirably, he proposes that for every dollar we spend on arms we should spend a dime on food for the world’s hungry. Is this something we have embraced?
Ultimately, our nation did fully commit and enter the war with the full capacity of our collective being. And the world was saved from fascist ideologies and imperialistic threats to our sovereignty. There are many reasons why this was so but chief among them was the appeal by Henry Luce in his vanguard publication. By constructing his argument in such an organized and systemic manner he rallied the nation to fully commit to a monumental effort and achieve the full potential claiming their place in history as the “Greatest Generation,” a term made popular by journalist Tom Brokaw in later years (Wikipedia, Greatest Generation).
One of the greatest opportunities for historical reflection can be found in the medium of documentary film. Among those that provide greater contextual understandings and draw meaningful inferences from postwar evidences is David Halberstam’s The Fear and the Dream. Refusing to merely list events in a trivial series of unrelated occurrences, the Pulitzer Prize winning author “disassembles the complicated decade from its paranoid beginning to its violent end” (Ing).
The film covers the important elements in an appropriate cause/effect narrative that is easy for the audience to follow and effective for a complete understanding of the relationships existing between events. For example, following Roosevelt’s death his successor (Truman) was faced with a great decision…the development and subsequent use of an atomic weapon. Although it shortened the war with Japan and saved millions of lives, the U.S. had let the genie out of the bottle and entered the age possessing a “nuclear monopoly.” This was not to last as the U.S.S.R. tested their first device in August of 1949. The 50’s begin with the cold war duality between these two powers competing for the hegemony that Luce so desperately wanted for us. The result was “duck-and-cover” drills, disaster shelters and mutually assured destruction costing us alone 4 trillion dollars. This thread of events, presented in this organized manner demonstrates the effectiveness of Halberstam’s prose. We connect the events into a series which is sensible and readily digestible to the layman and inerrant to the historically proficient.
Beyond the fear lies the dream, a much more pleasing side to the postwar era. Returning servicemen started families resulting in a 21 million strong baby boom by 1950. New families needed homes. Enter Bill Levitt. This real-estate developer single-handedly created the concept of “suburbia” where multitudes of inexpensive tract homes met the demand of the new demographic realities. One-hundred dollars down got you a new home (as long as you were white) and by 1955 3 out of 4 homes were built in these types of subdivisions.
The red scare provided the catalyst to revive the failing congressional career of “tail-gunner Joe” McCarthy who manipulated the press to destroy the careers of thousands of others who crossed his path. The House Committee on Un-American Activities became a national witch-hunt which saw communist sympathizers in all areas of American society. This misuse of political power and media resources perpetuated by one man remains a stain on our national name yet speaks volumes as to the extent of red paranoia on us collectively. Without the cold war there would be no fodder for McCarthy’s cannon, and many innocent people paid the price.
The decade ended with commercial success for Mickey Spillane who also used the communist threat coupled with lurid sex and violence to become a best-selling author. Television began to broadcast over more than 100 stations with popular shows like Your Hit Parade. The late fifties saw the cold war become hot as the Korea conflict escalated drawing outnumbered and unprepared U.S. troops to the peninsula from Japan. It almost led to another use of nuclear weapons if General MacArthur had had his way. Truman relieved a favored figure and saved the world from a dangerous predicament at the cost of his own career. There are trade-offs in history. Sacrifice of self for the greater good as Truman was to realize.
These accomplished men, Luce and Halberstam, demonstrate the power of popular forms of media to influence opinion to create history, and to analyze the past to help us make sense of it. They are effective communicators as they follow the established methods of argument and rhetoric. These two examples highlight the important functions of both print and film mediums in our society and make a great introduction to our analysis of the postwar period.
Works Cited
Halberstam, David. "David Halberstam's The Fifties: "The Fear and the Dream" Part 1." YouTube. YouTube, 16 Jan. 2014. Web. 31 Aug. 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ooU8B2MBF8>.
Ing, Sarah. "David Halberstam's The Fifties, Vol. 1: The Fear and the Dream Read More at Http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/movies/synopsis/0,,2170540,00.html#uDiHFhLqz 3SVJCfw.99." Artist Direct. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2016. <http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/movies/title/0,,2170540,00.html>.
Luce, Henry R. "LIFE." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2016. <https://books.google.com/books?id=I0kEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepag e&q&f=true>.
Wikipedia contributors. "Greatest Generation." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 14 Jul. 2016. Web. 31 Aug. 2016.
Wikipedia contributors. "Henry Luce." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 30 Aug. 2016. Web. 31 Aug. 2016.
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