Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 (Oxford History of the United States #10)

3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 · rating details · 264 ratings · 28 reviews

Beginning in 1945, America rocketed through a quarter-century of extraordinary economic growth, experiencing an amazing boom that soared to unimaginable heights in the 1960s. At one point, in the late 1940s, American workers produced 57 percent of the planet's steel, 62 percent of the oil, 80 percent of the automobiles. The U.S. then had three-fourths of the world's gold s...more Beginning in 1945, America rocketed through a quarter-century of extraordinary economic growth, experiencing an amazing boom that soared to unimaginable heights in the 1960s. At one point, in the late 1940s, American workers produced 57 percent of the planet's steel, 62 percent of the oil, 80 percent of the automobiles. The U.S. then had three-fourths of the world's gold supplies. English Prime Minister Edward Heath later said that the United States in the post-War era enjoyed "the greatest prosperity the world has ever known." It was a boom that produced a national euphoria, a buoyant time of grand expectations and an unprecedented faith in our government, in our leaders, and in the American dream--an optimistic spirit which would be shaken by events in the '60s and '70s, and particularly by the Vietnam War.
Now, in Grand Expectations, James T. Patterson has written a highly readable and balanced work that weaves the major political, cultural, and economic events of the period into a superb portrait of America from 1945 through Watergate. Here is an era teeming with memorable events--from the bloody campaigns in Korea and the bitterness surrounding McCarthyism to the assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King, to the Vietnam War, Watergate, and Nixon's resignation. Patterson excels at portraying the amazing growth after World War II--the great building boom epitomized by Levittown (the largest such development in history) and the baby boom (which exploded literally nine months after V-J Day)--as well as the resultant buoyancy of spirit reflected in everything from streamlined toasters, to big, flashy cars, to the soaring, butterfly roof of TWA's airline terminal in New York. And he shows how this upbeat, can-do mood spurred grander and grander expectations as the era progressed.
Of course, not all Americans shared in this economic growth, and an important thread running through the book is an informed and gripping depiction of the civil rights movement--from the electrifying Brown v. Board of Education decision, to the violent confrontations in Little Rock, Birmingham, and Selma, to the landmark civil rights acts of 1964 and 1965. Patterson also shows how the Vietnam War--which provoked LBJ's growing credibility gap, vast defense spending that dangerously unsettled the economy, and increasingly angry protests--and a growing rights revolution (including demands by women, Hispanics, the poor, Native Americans, and gays) triggered a backlash that widened hidden rifts in our society, rifts that divided along racial, class, and generational lines. And by Nixon's resignation, we find a national mood in stark contrast to the grand expectations of ten years earlier, one in which faith in our leaders and in the attainability of the American dream was becoming shaken.
The Oxford History of the United States
The Oxford History of the United States is the most respected multi-volume history of our nation. The series includes three Pulitzer Prize winners, a New York Times bestseller, and winners of the Bancroft and Parkman Prizes. The Atlantic Monthly has praised it as "the most distinguished series in American historical scholarship," a series that "synthesizes a generation's worth of historical inquiry and knowledge into one literally state-of-the-art book." Conceived under the general editorship of C. Vann Woodward and Richard Hofstadter, and now under the editorship of David M. Kennedy, this renowned series blends social, political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, and military history into coherent and vividly written narrative.(less)

Paperback, 880 pages

Published November 20th 1997 by Oxford University Press, USA (first published April 18th 1996)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 629)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Oct 05, 2012 Jeremy Perron rated it 4 of 5 stars

My march through the ages has me now arriving at James T. Patterson's Grand Expectations, covering an era where my grandparents were building their families and my parents were kids. Since this book is about the recent past it is far more tangible than anything I have read so far. It begins in the world where America--with her allies--had just one World War II. Everything seemed so perfect for America was all-powerful, the world's most free nation that had just freed the world, the reforms of th...more My march through the ages has me now arriving at James T. Patterson's Grand Expectations, covering an era where my grandparents were building their families and my parents were kids. Since this book is about the recent past it is far more tangible than anything I have read so far. It begins in the world where America--with her allies--had just one World War II. Everything seemed so perfect for America was all-powerful, the world's most free nation that had just freed the world, the reforms of the New Deal will protected us from another Great Depression, and science would soon cure everything.

Very soon however the American people were about to learn that they were far from invincible, several members of their nation's minority populations were not free, and the nation had some tough times ahead. This was not entirely a bad thing for although grand expectations* had led to some great disappointments those disappointments led to people great and small to take actions to make things better. At the beginning of this book half the nation is still legally segregated and the opportunities for minorities and women were extremely limited, at the end legal segregation was dead and things in America had changed greatly for those oppressed peoples. The battle for equality was far from over but things were very different.

Like the rest of the series this book covers America from various directions. It looks at the top from the various administrations of Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon. It explores things from the point of view of civil rights leaders such as Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Medgar Evers. The book even takes a look at some of the more extreme activists such as Malcolm X, who was for most of his career a black nationalists and not a believer in equality. The book examines at the sixties counterculture and the famous concert at Woodstock. It also covers the average Americans who were just trying to get along with their lives and who really enjoyed the show 'All in the Family.'

"No performer aroused more alarm than Elvis Presley. Elvis, twenty years old in 1955, was the son of poor Mississippi farm folk who had moved into public housing in Memphis when he was fourteen. HE pomaded his hair and idolized Brando and Dean, whose Rebel Without a Cause he saw at least of dozen times and whose lines he could recite from memory. Presley learned to sing and play guitar while performing with local groups, often with people from his Assembly of God congregation. In 1954, he recorded 'That's All Right' and a few other songs, mainly in the blues and country traditions, thereby exciting Sam Phillips, a local loved black music and had recorded such musicians as B.B. King earlier in the 1950s. But the color line barred them from fame. 'If I could find a white man with a Negro sound,' Phillips is reputed to have said, 'I could make a billion dollars.'" (p.372)

"The civil rights act was nonetheless a significant piece of legislation, far and away the most important in the history of American race relations. Quickly upheld by the Supreme Court, it was enforced with vigor by the State, for there were many thousands of hospitals, school districts, and colleges and universities affected by provisions of the law. Although many southern leaders resisted, most aspects of enforcement proved effective in time, and the seemingly impregnable barriers of Jim Crow finally begin to fall. Black people at last could begin to enjoy equal access to thousands of places that had excluded them in the past. Few laws have such dramatic and heart-warming effects."(p.546)

There are some parts of the book I am very critical of. The book lacks a type of poetic feel that was present in previous volumes such as Gordon Wood's Empire of Liberty and David Kennedy's Freedom From Fear. Also often this book strongly leans to the negative. I am not saying one should not be critical when need be, for example there are several sections in David Walker Howe's What Hath Good Wrote that are very critical at times but nevertheless has a strong sense of wonder. This book very much lacks that at times. The moon landing is barely covered. For thousands of years humans had look at the moon and often worshiped it, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin went out and walked on it, and Patterson strongest stance on the matter is: it did not give us as much scientific information than we would have liked. While criticizing President Kennedy's foreign policy--again, nothing wrong with criticizing, especially the Bay of the Pigs disaster--he reduces the entire Peace Corps to just a single sentence. He also feels at times he needs to say something critical every time he says something positive. When discussing Cuban Missile Crisis he feels he needs to balance the positive view of Kennedy's handling of the event view with a more critical one, despite the fact that the critical view's argument is extremely weak. In some ways Patterson's seems to be so caught up in the era's disappointments to appreciative its wonder.

I still highly recommend this book it is very insightful look into to how America was and the American people themselves at the end of World War II to how disappointed they were after the disastrous Vietnam War and the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union chilled the air for the entire era as the nation that though it could to anything had to learn its limits. America in this era was a nation of high hopes and great disappointments.

*If the reader was given a hundred dollars every time the words 'grand expectations' came up the reader would probably finish with a few thousand dollars. (less)

like · see review

Apr 14, 2012 Aaron rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a good book. Patterson does an excellent job of flushing out all of the disparate groups that came together - and opposed each at various times - to form the Civil Right movement. It seems that today, if Americans think of Civil Rights, they seem only to think of Martin Luther King, Jr. The movement was so much more than him, although obviously he was a great leader who inspired millions of people. Patterson details how the various factions were forced to acknowledge each others' differe...more This is a good book. Patterson does an excellent job of flushing out all of the disparate groups that came together - and opposed each at various times - to form the Civil Right movement. It seems that today, if Americans think of Civil Rights, they seem only to think of Martin Luther King, Jr. The movement was so much more than him, although obviously he was a great leader who inspired millions of people. Patterson details how the various factions were forced to acknowledge each others' different approaches in order to accomplish their respective missions.

Patterson gives a fair impression of Eisenhower - knocking him, in my opinion rightfully so, for not embracing Civil Rights and being more willing to influence people as only he could during the 1950s.

Patterson also is neutral in his appraisal of Lyndon Johnson - acknowledging that his legislative accomplishments were really exemplary while at the same time he was over-selling his Great Society. And, of course, the disaster of Vietnam.

It is apparent to me that Patterson does not think highly of Truman. He mostly disparages him and leaves one with the impression that he was a bungler and in over his head. On the contrary, I think Truman was a bold leader and, while initially trying to feel his way around after FDR's death, did a great job. He was thrust into an awful situation, without much knowledge of events due to FDR's penchant for keeping everyone in the dark.

Also, another shortcoming is the all-too-brief treatment that Patterson gives to both Kennedy assassinations - especially JFK's. That was a seminal moment and a major turning point in American history. Yet Patterson devotes only a few pages to the event. He could have, and I think should have, gone into much more detail on that tragic occurrence.

All in all, a solid book. This is the third volume that I have read of the Oxford History series; the previous two books were stronger in their subject matter than this one was - with the exception of the Civil Rights discussion. (less)

like · see review

Jul 25, 2010 Adrian Carpio rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: american-history

I agree with some of the other readers that this book in the Oxford series did not have the same "punch" as McPherson's "Battle Cry of Freedom," for example, but it still was a great survey of this very pivotal period in American history.

It touched upon all the major events, incidents and trends of the era. Patterson took some complicated events that not only had economic and political impact but social ramifications, as well.

Patterson did a great job stressing how Vietnam helped spoil the great...more

like 1 like · see review

Oct 04, 2010 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found this a fast and interesting read. I also found it to be both very objective and not very objective, depending how you read it.

As for objectivity, the author does an excellent job in analyzing and explaining the important and controversial events in this time period. For a given event, he would usually describe the event, then describe arguments by critics (both contemporary and modern)that are both critical and in favor of the event. He would then give his own criticism of the event, whi...more

like · see review

May 20, 2009 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was an informative read about an interesting era, but it wasn't written with the verve that some of the other volumes in this series had. And as a pet peeve, I get that the author's central thesis was that the American people had ""grand expectations" for their lives and their country during this time, but seeing the phrase literally every other page was distracting and cheesy.

like · see review

Jul 05, 2010 Converse rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

A good read; main thesis is that a combination of good economic growth until the 1970s, & the rights revolution of the 1960s, together gave many Americans a sense that the future would be much better than the past, leading to a sense of disgruntlement when it started being only somewhat better in the 1970s.

like · see review

May 05, 2013 Ruth Zhang rated it 3 of 5 stars

A good and detailed description on the presidents during the Cold War, focusing on a lot of domestic and foreign policies. There is a lot of information to pick up, and is a good book for writing research papers.

like · see review

Jun 27, 2012 Florence Millo rated it 5 of 5 stars

Grand Expectations by James Patterson

I cannot overstate how much I enjoyed this history of the United States from the end of World War II to 1974. I am a baby boomer and this book covers the period of my childhood and youth. I read the book slowly because I remember so much of the period. Civil rights, school desegregation, the assassinations of John and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Vietnam, feminism, Watrgate, and Nixon's resignation. The Cold War and the nuclear arms race. Wow, it was...more

like 1 like · see review

Jan 17, 2010 Bdesmond Desmond added it

Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 (Oxford History of the United States) by James T. Patterson (1997)

like · see review

May 26, 2009 David rated it 3 of 5 stars

Least impressive of the histories I've read that make up the Oxford History of the United States.

like · see review

Mar 16, 2010 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: us-20th-century

Another strong installment of the Oxford History of the US. Another Bancroft winner.

like · see review

Jul 30, 2008 Eunice Schroeder rated it 4 of 5 stars

What I've learned so far: how the postwar economic boom created the most affluent society on earth and raised expectations for ever higher levels of wealth, power, and happiness for all Americans. The 50s were economic boom years, even more so the sixties, which saw the high tide of liberalism, especially under Johnson in 1964 (Civil Rights Act) and 1965 (Medicare, Medicaid, Voting Rights Act, federal aid to education, immigration reform). However, these liberal programs created unforeseem probl...more

like · see review

Apr 20, 2013 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars

Excellent!!

like · see review

Aug 22, 2011 Tom Rowe rated it 4 of 5 stars

Lots of stuff happened. A good overview. Enjoyed it.

like · see review

May 04, 2013 Robin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

A decent, but not great, review of US from 1945 to 1974. Too much detail and over use-of statistics in some cases. Author also interjects his opinions / bias that are at times over stated.

like · see review

Oct 05, 2012 Brian rated it 4 of 5 stars

Skipped a bit here and there, but this kind of book invites that. Patterson's central point was how America had a spirit of optimism after World War II and had "Grand Expectations" for its future which united it. In the sixties and seventies, this broke down, especially with Vietnam.

I remember as a fun, insightful, and thorough history of fairly recent events that perhaps we can begin to look back with a bit more 'hindsight.'

like · see review

Aug 05, 2007 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars

Considering the turbulently heroic times just before it this period in U.S. history is a bit of a letdown. American optimism runs aground during the cold war.

Is it just me who thinks this or were there a lot of really asinine moves made under the guise of 'fighting communism'. A strain of long-term foolishness culminating in the current Iraq debacle. Like we no longer know how to make a move unless an -ism is invoked.

like · see review

May 14, 2012 Ladygwen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, hillsdale

For my History of America after WWII with Dr. Moreno. A good, comprehensive guide, occasionally with good attitude. Like the class, this textbook disappointed me a little- in modern America we have access to all the primary resources, and yet we read this textbook.

like · see review

Sep 06, 2007 ben rated it 5 of 5 stars

a thoroughly comprehensive view of US politics, culture, economics, and everything else from post WWII to the end of the vietnam era. not light reading, but definitely provides a nearly objective view of some of the key issues of the time.

like · see review

Mar 06, 2007 Pedro rated it 4 of 5 stars

Good survey of US history from WWII to the seventies. Very good on the presidency, race relations and foreign affairs, especially the Korean and the Vietnam war. Arguments about society and the economy based on numbers, although sources uncertain.

like · see review

Apr 17, 2012 Jana rated it 4 of 5 stars

The author looks at all that happened during this time period from many different perspectives and lets the reader choose how to interpret it. The Civil Rights Movement is particularly interesting.

like · see review

Jun 19, 2007 Jack rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: All

Shelves: nonfiction

The Oxford History of the US is a great series. Taking forever to finish up. This one isn't quite as good as Freedom From Fear, but a thorough accounting of all things US from 1945 to Watergate.

like · see review

Feb 26, 2007 Nicholas T-R IV rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this book at a very ignorant state in my life which probably inflates my opinion of a most likely mundane historical text.

like 1 like · see review

Apr 23, 2011 Matthew Hurley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, history, school-books

Comprehensive, informative, interesting. Shattered my childhood illusions about the moral character of our presidents.

like · see review

Apr 20, 2008 Peter D. McLoughlin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The postwar boom written in more complexity and gloomier shades than present in popular consciousness.

like · see review

Nov 11, 2012 Robert Quinlan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Grand... Absolutely grand.

like · see review

Jun 18, 2011 Ray rated it 4 of 5 stars

Simply one of the best History books of the period.

like · see review

Jan 02, 2012 Christopher rated it 3 of 5 stars

Solid and highly informative.

like · see review

May 15, 2013 John A. rated it 5 of 5 stars

May 15, 2013 Iliyana rated it 4 of 5 stars

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 20 21 next »

Non Fiction

10 users

History > American History

6 users

Politics

4 users

Literature > American

3 users

History > World War II

2 users

Academic > College

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by James T. Patterson

Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush v. Gore

Brown V. Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone and Its Troubled Legacy

The Eve of Destruction: How 1965 Transformed America

America's Struggle Against Poverty in the Twentieth Century

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Grand Expectation...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974
avg rating	preview: Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 Goodreads rating: 3.97 (264 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/71636.Grand_Expectations?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348772037l/71636.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/71636.Grand_Expectations?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 by James T. Patterson[/url]

Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 (Oxford History of the United States #10)

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (5)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by James T. Patterson

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Grand Expectation...

Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974 (Oxford History of the United States #10)

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topicDiscuss This Book

combineOther Editions (5)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

Books by James T. Patterson

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Grand Expectation...

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (5)