Truman-+F+period

  “Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnny Ray South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio.”     This is an excerpt from Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”; this entire song is a list of names and events that represent aspects of popular culture and events within the duration of the Cold War.

__Harry Truman__ Harry Truman was the 33rd President of the United States. He began as Vice President to Franklin D. Roosevelt who died less than three months into his fourth term. In 1949, Harry Truman was in his second term. He appointed Louis A. Johnson as Secretary of Defense. Together they belived that the atomic bomb was irrelevent to their regular fighting tactics. When the Soviet Union exploded their first atomic weapon August 29th, they began to rethink their views. Truman was also a strong supporter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

__ Doris Day__ Doris Day was born in Evanston, Ohio which was a neighborhood located in Cincinnati. Her mother named her after the silent movie actress Doris Kenyon. Growing up one of her hobbies was Dancing. She aspired to be a ballerina but in 1937 a car accident damaged her legs and ruined her dreams of becoming a Ballerina. While she was recovering, she took up singing and began performing locally at age 17. She felt that her last name was too long so she made her stage name Doris "Day". Soon after this she started touring with the Les brown Band. She made her first movie in 1948 called //Romance on The High Seas//. In the 1950s she starred in movies like //Calamity Jane, Lucky Me, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Pillow Talk//. She is remembered mostly for her film //Pillow Talk.// Overall, she had 40 films and 45 albums during her career. In 1953 she starred in the musical //Calamity Jane.// The musical won the Acadamy Award for best original Song for the song "Secret Love". That song became her fourth U.S. Number one recording. After not renewing her contract with the Warner Brothers in 1954 she broadened her acting career by including more dramatic roles. Fans loved her for her beauty, terrific singing voice, and bubbly personality. __Red China__ "Red China" was the terminology used to describe communistic China. Communism became the selected political party within China after the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. The communistic grip of China not only affected the mainland, but extended to Taiwan and various Fijian isles. The Chinese communist party was led by M    a      o Zedong. (December 26th, 1893-September 9th, 1976). Despite the fact that communism originated within the Soviet Union, the People’s Republic of China eventually disengaged from the Soviet Union and lived in fear of the Soviets, despite the fact that they remained communist. In the 1950’s, communism was frowned upon in many western civilizations, but it was mostly feared. In America, propaganda films were made to demote the ideas entering the country. Through the 1950’s, under the rule of Mao Zedong, China faced several economic failures. Zedong would remain involved with government, but would ultimately resign in 1959.

__Johnny Ray__ Johnny Ray was an American singer, song writer, and pianist. He was born on January 10, 1927 in Dallas, Texas. Since childhood he was partially deaf and began wearing a hearing aid at age 14. In 1949 he signed a contract with Okeh. He had two famous number one hits in 1951. The first was “Cry” and the second was “The little white cloud that cried.” While performing his hit "Cry" he actually began to cry. He sold over 2 million copies. After both of those number one hits he became a teen idol. He developed a unique style by alternating between pre-rock, R&B and a type of conventional classic pop. During his performances he did things that related to rock ‘n role like beating up his piano.



__ South Pacific __ South Pacific, a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, was adapted to film in 1958. Both film and musical were based off of James A. Michener’s “Tales of the South Pacific”. The film starred such actors as: Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr, Ray Waltson, and Juanita Hall. Upon release, the film was extremely popular with several varying demographics. The movie was filmed in Kauai, Hawaii, and Tioman Island off Malaysia's south east coast. The film is known for the use of colored filters during many of the song sequences, which has been a source of criticism for the film. This film features the popular song, “Some Enchanted Evening”.

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__ Walter Winchell __ Born April 7, 1897 Died February 20, 1972 Winchell was an American newspaper and radio announcer. He altered journalism forever with the invention of the gossip column. Winchell’s writings and broadcasts were so popular that just one comment could affect a celebrity’s entire career. He was born i nto a Jewish family and because of his heritage Winchell became one of the first American reporters to comment on Hitler’s various atrocities. He aided in uncovering one of the world’s greatest villains. Whether it is evident or not to the young journalists of today, Winchell made a permanent print on the history of journalism. 

__Joe DiMaggio__ Joe DiMaggio was an American baseball player for the New York Yankees. He was one of the greatest hitters and center fielders of all times. He spent 13 seasons with the New York Yankees and helped lead and win them to 9 World Series. He was known for the best-known record in major league history. He got at least one hit in 56 consecutive games. When the war began he enlisted in the armed services after the 1942 season. He returned to the Yankees in 1946 after the war ended. In 1949 he missed the first half of the season because of injuries. He returned to the Yankees in June and hit 4 home runs in the first three games. He retired in 1951 after the season. He was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. That same year he married Marilyn Monroe but divorced 9 months later.

This verse in Billy Joel’s hit, “We Didn’t Start The Fire”, depicts people and general aspects of life within the 1950’s. The main focus in the verse pertained to the influence of popular culture on the generation. It mentioned celebrities, a popular film and an athlete: Doris Day, Johnny Ray, South Pacific, and Joe DiMaggio. All these things mentioned had a large influence, because at this point the entertainment industry was still being altered. New styles like “rock n’ roll” were appealing to the masses, and not just young people, but all demographics. Culture was and remains a large influence on the behaviors of past generations and generations to come.

__Sources__ http://WWW.Wikipedia.org The White House, "Harry S. Truman ." 11. 28 May 2008 <[|http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ht33.html>.]