1950's
The Federal Highway Act, an act that built all of the interstates within America, mainly for military usage if need be, provided for quick and easy transportation from state to state. American automobiles once again saw a new "face lift" in the sense of the new, sleeker design and a more efficient engine, transmission, tires, chassis, etc. People had more to spend due to the abundance of materials during WWII, through this more people were able to purchase cars, a first in many families.
Political
1.)Communism was spreading in the years following World War II creating competition, fear and mistrust. This posed as a threat to our way of life, and resources. Stalin broke his earlier promises made at the Yalta Conference in 1945. He promised free elections in the Eastern European countries, but he instead blocked the elections and imposed communism, a move he would later regret.
2.)Churchill states "An Iron Curtain has descended upon Europe." Containment of communism was the main idea during this time period. The U.S. did whatever to stop the spread of communism. There was an arms race with Russia, which meant that there was sort of a battle to see who could develop and create nuclear weapons first.
The domino theory was the theory that if one state, or country is influenced or under communism, then all the surrounding areas will be under communistic rule.
Economic
1.)American manufacturers during the war regained their bearings. They were able to re-tool and re-organize, and through this came an abundance of goods throughout the market. The more abundance, plus the more money families received through the war (victory gardens, war time bonds, and even being paid to fight) equaled a better economy, a more consumer friendly one.
2.)The Interstate highway systems were created at this time. These highways were huge systems of streets that could handle any car or truck, and to support military and civil defense operations, particularly troop movements. This was the main purpose for the highways, just in case Communism decided to attempt to conquer America. Each highway actually by regulation had to be big enough so that a military plane could land on it if it had to.
Social
1.)September 1945- The Red Scare- Rumors and accusations of Communists in the United States and of Communist infiltration of the government tapped into fears that the Communists were trying to take over the world. As the cold was intensified by around 1946 and early 1947, Americans were starting to believe that Communists were secretly working to subvert, and take over the American government system. Through this belief came the Red Scare, a time of angst and worry, a time when HUAC (previously described) flourished in the response to Communists inside America.
2.)The baby boom was a huge outbreak, and epidemic, where a lot of women started having more and more children, thanks to the new abundance of goods and even wealth. The baby boom generation comes into even more play in the '60's and in the '70's.
Progress?
The 1950's & Cold War was a time of success. Americans determination to contain communism was successful. Although there was a scare that communists hacked into the government, other than that America was safe from Communism. The economic boom brought brand new changes to society, changing how Americans worked and lived. Now, there were new technological and medical breakthroughs with the transistor, and antibiotics. There was also a rise in television and mass media to provide entertainment in America. Elvis and the rise of Rock N' Roll gave more and more to a culture filled time, a culture of yet again good times. Innovations in the strive for space exploration came because of the Cold War (America's was more so in the '60's), when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into orbit, the first ever satellite to travel to space, America created NASA in hopes of one day, fully exploring the wows of the universe.
How the 1950's & Cold War lead to the 1960's and the 1970's
The Cold War carried over into the '60's and the '70's, through the space race, a race between the Soviet Union and the United States to see who could achieve the ultimate goal in space exploration, landing a man on the moon, and through Vietnam. All of the abundance in America during the 1950's would carry over into the 1960's and 1970's. And the baby booms of the '50's, they'll make an appearance again in the '60's and the '70's.