The Century: America's Time

Reporter Peter Jennings hosts this important series that chronicles the events and experiences of America in the twentieth century, the century that Henry Luce dubbed

Episode 8, Best Years

After the initial jubilation at the end of World War II, America faced severe domestic demographic problems and the international specter of communism and the Cold War. In response to the serious housing shortages exacerbated by the high marriage rates and subsequent baby boom of returning soldiers and the girls they left behind, the Truman administration created the GI Bill, which enabled veterans to secure low interest mortgages and college educations. But the domestic bliss of new homes and growing families could not alleviate the growing fears and hysteria of the new atomic age, and a demagogue from Wisconsin, Senator Joseph McCarthy, harnessed this hysteria for his personal political success. This episode covers some of the major events of the immediate post-war years such as the Korean War, McCarthyism, the Marshall Plan, the Berlin Airlift and the adjustment of returning soldiers.

The Best Years fulfills the following National Standards for History for grades 5-12: Chronological thinking, historical comprehension, historical analysis and interpretation, historical research capabilities, historical issues-analysis and decision-making for Era 7.

Discussion Questions

  1. What is the difference between a

  2. Winston Churchill coined the famous phrase

  3. The U.S. Government granted returning soldiers the GI Bill of Rights. What was the GI Bill of Rights? How did this bill of rights shape the coming decades?

  4. What was the Baby Boom? How did it change America? What are they effects of this boom today?

  5. Although the post-war economy was the most prosperous in American history, some Americans were excluded. How did the prosperity and economic advantages of the period exclude most African-Americans and women?

  6. Discuss the devastating losses Europe suffered in the war and their effects during the post-war period.

  7. Discuss the ideological conflicts and differences between the United States and The Soviet Union.

  8. What was the Marshall Plan? How did it shape post-war foreign policy?

  9. Many times conquering armies rape the women of the conquered nation. Why is this done?

  10. What was the American reaction to the Soviets obtaining nuclear power?

  11. Why was there such a different reception for Korean War veterans than World War II veterans?

  12. What was a blacklist? How did political witch-hunts result in these lists?
Extended Activities

  1. Create a consumer advertisement for the post-war period.

  2. Design a bomb-shelter for your home.
Related Videos

Air Dates

Classroom Materials