This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

Readings

The readings below are from the following required texts:

Buy at Amazon Boyer, Paul S. Promises to Keep: The US Since World War II. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. ISBN: 061843383X.

Buy at Amazon Baker, Paula, and Robert Griffith eds. Major Problems in American History Since 1945. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. ISBN: 0618550062.

Buy at Amazon Schrecker, Ellen. The Age of McCarthyism. 2nd ed. Bedford, MA: St. Martin's, 2001. ISBN: 0312393199.

Buy at Amazon Schulman, Bruce J. Lyndon B. Johnson and American Liberalism: A Brief Biography With Documents. Bedford, MA: St. Martin's, 1995. ISBN: 1403971536.

WEEK # TOPICS READINGS
1 The Dawn of the Nuclear Age  
2 World War II and the Origins of the Cold War

Session 1

  • Boyer. Chapter 1.
  • Griffith, pp. 50-65.

Session 2

  • Boyer. Chapter 2.
  • Griffith, pp. 100-119.
3 Cold War Abroad

Session 1

  • Schrecker, pp. 97-149.

Session 2

  • Shrecker, pp. 150-95.
4 Cold War at Home

Session 1

  • Boyer. Chapter 3.
  • Schrecker, pp. 196-246.
5 Age of Abundance

Session 1

  • Boyer. Chapter 4.
  • Griffith, pp. 147-62, 164-67.

Session 2

  • Boyer. Chapter 5.
  • Griffith, pp. 200-13.
6 JFK and the New Frontier

Session 1

  • Boyer. Chapter 6.
  • Griffith, pp. 236-68.
7 LBJ and the Great Society

Session 1

  • Boyer. Chapter 7.
  • Griffith, pp. 305-11.
  • Schulman, pp. 167-77.

Session 2

  • Schulman, pp. 177-91.
8 Civil Rights

Session 1

  • Boyer. Chapter 8.
  • Griffith, pp. 354-64.
  • Schulman, pp. 192-208.

Session 2

  • Griffith, pp. 364-77.
  • Schulman, pp. 208-12.
9 The New Left and Counterculture

Session 1

  • Boyer. Chapter 9.
  • Griffith, pp. 447-66.

Session 2

  • Griffith, pp. 503-512.
10 Vietnam

Session 1

  • Boyer. Chapter 10.
  • Schulman, pp. 213-25.

Session 2

  • Griffith, pp. 399-422.
  • Schulman, pp. 226-32.
11 End of Liberalism

Session 1

  • Boyer. Chapter 11.
  • Schulman, pp. 233-45.

Session 2

  • Griffith, pp. 512-522.
12 Watergate

Session 1

  • Boyer. Chapter 12.

Session 2

  • Griffith, pp. 557-571.
13 Economic Woes

Session 1

  • Boyer. Chapter 13.

Session 2

  • Griffith, pp. 595-613.
14 Reagan Revolution

Session 1

  • Boyer. Chapter 14.

Session 2

  • Griffith, pp. 641-659.
15 A New World Order

Session 1

  • Boyer. Chapter 15.

Session 2

  • Griffith, pp. 690-705.