Description
In The Stable Fifties, the third e–seminar in the series America Since 1945, Professor Alan Brinkley examines the shift in American economics and culture that occurred after World War II. While many other combatant countries faced a slow rebuilding period after the war's end, the United States celebrated a vast and steady economic boom that began during the war and continued for the next 20 years. Professor Brinkley examines aspects of American middle–class culture during the Eisenhower years, including the rise of television and the expansion of the suburbs. He also offers a perspective on the Eisenhower presidency.

The series America Since 1945 offers an introduction to and a framework for understanding the United States since the end of World War II. The theme running throughout the series is the emergence in the early postwar years of a highly nationalistic vision of America. This vision determined much of the nation's politics, intellectual life, and popular culture for two decades. It spawned an image of America—often associated with the term consensus or the idea of "the American century"—that was decidedly white, middle class, and usually male. This image did not reflect the experiences and values of many, perhaps most, Americans, but it was persuasive because the people who promoted it exercised a great deal of power over American society. In the 1960s a series of challenges arose that shattered the nation's homogenous image of itself and created a new image that was more diverse and contested. The story of the second half of the twentieth century, therefore, is largely about Americans rising up to challenge the elites who had dominated the nation until the 1960s, and about the changes that emerged from the ensuing confrontations.