Mark Scott Smith's Blog: Enemy in the Mirror, page 37

John Birch Society

In 1958 the John Birch Society, an American ultraconservative political advocacy group was founded by retired candy manufacturer Robert Welch to promote anti-communism and social conservatism. At its height, the John Birch Society claimed 100,000 members. 

Welch published the Society’s monthly magazine American Opinion and weekly The Review of the News. He also wrote books entitled The Road to Salesmanship, May God Forgive Us, The Politician (Eisenhower) and The Life of John Birch.

An adherent of conspiracy theories, Welch believed many individuals and organizations were part of an international communist plot. Welch accused Presidents Truman and Eisenhower of being communist sympathizers and possibly Soviet agents.

In the 1960s, Welch became convinced that even the Communist movement was a tool of a total conspiracy run by international families of financiers.

Source: Wikipedia 

The post John Birch Society appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

The Stroll

The Stroll was a slow rock ‘n’ roll dance and a song popular in the late 1950s.

Performed by The Diamonds, the Stroll reached No. 1 on the Cashbox chart, #4 on the U.S. pop chart, and #5 on the U.S. R&B chart in 1957. The song was ranked #48 on Billboard magazine’s Top 50 singles of 1958.

Similar to the Virginia Reel, two lines of dancers, men on one side and women on the other, face each other, moving in place to the music. Each paired couple then steps out and does a more elaborate dance up and down between the rows of dancers.

Source: Wikipedia

The post The Stroll  appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Eisenhower Warns of Communist Threat

Text of January 1958 address:

The threat to our safety, and to the hope of a peaceful world, can be simply stated. It is communist imperialism.

This threat is not something imagined by critics of the Soviets. Soviet spokesmen, from the beginning, have publicly and frequently declared their aim to expand their power, one way or another, throughout the world.

The threat has become increasingly serious as this expansionist aim has been reinforced by an advancing industrial, military and scientific establishment.

But what makes the Soviet threat unique in history is its all–inclusiveness. Every human activity is pressed into service as a weapon of expansion. Trade, economic development, military power, arts, science, education, the whole world of ideas–all are harnessed to this same chariot of expansion.

The Soviets are, in short, waging total cold war.

Source: The American Presidency Project

The post Eisenhower Warns of Communist Threat appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Bobby Fischer US Chess Champion

The chess prodigy Bobby Fischer won the 1958 U.S. Championship at age 14.

In the 1972 World Championship Fischer won the title match against Boris Spassky of the USSR in Reykjavík, Iceland. Publicized as a Cold War confrontation between the US and USSR, the match attracted more worldwide interest than any chess championship.

Source: Wikipedia

The post Bobby Fischer US Chess Champion appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Mao’s Great Leap Forward

The Great Leap Forward in the People’s Republic of China was an economic and social campaign from 1958 to 1962 that was launched by Chairman Mao Zedong in an attempt to restructure the country from an agrarian economy into a communist society composed of people’s communes.

The economic disaster caused by the enforcement of drastic Great Leap policies in agrarian China resulted in one of the largest famines in human history. Excess mortality associated with the famine has been estimated to range from 15–55 million deaths. 

Source: Great Leap Forward – Wikipedia

The post Mao’s Great Leap Forward appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

1957 Timeline America

The post 1957 Timeline America appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

SPUTNIK 1 ~ Fellow Traveler

In October 1957 Sputnik 1 was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union. The satellite orbited for three weeks before its batteries ran out. It continued to orbit the planet for two months before it fell back into the atmosphere in January 1958.

The satellite’s success precipitated an American response that triggered a Cold War Space Race.

Source: Wikipedia

The post SPUTNIK 1 ~ Fellow Traveler appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Tonight – Starring Jack Paar

Although, as my fried Rodney pointed out, the YouTube picture above is NOT Jack Paar – the video actually is.

Jack Harold Paar (1918 –2004) was an American talk show host, author, radio and television comedian, and film actor. After Steve Allen, he became the second host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962.

The post Tonight – Starring Jack Paar  appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Arkansas National Guard Prevents School Desegregation

In September 1957, as a test of Brown v. Board of Education, nine Black students enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Governor Orval Faubus called in the Arkansas National Guard to block the Black students’ entry into the high school.

Later that month, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent in federal troops to escort the Little Rock Nine into the school.

Source: History.com

The post Arkansas National Guard Prevents School Desegregation appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.

Miss USA (a mother) Loses Her Title

After 18 year old Mary Leona Gage was crowned Miss USA in 1957, she was stripped of her title when it was revealed that she was married and the mother of two children.

The post Miss USA (a mother) Loses Her Title  appeared first on Enemy in the Mirror.