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| 1950s |
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| During this decade, the white population in the nation's largest cities dropped, while the population in the suburbs exploded. Municipalities launched aggressive urban renewal programs that demolished nearly 150,000 structures and displaced nearly a half million people between 1949 and 1961. Although government-sponsored, low-income public housing units also helped to transform the face of the inner city, the units proved insufficient to meet the needs of incoming and displaced residents, mainly nonwhite minorities. The decade also saw the beginning of a major influx of women into the workplace. | 1 |
| Television entered millions of U.S. homes in the 1950s, dramatically altering American life. | 2 |
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| 1950, Jan. 25 |
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| Alger Hiss was found guilty of perjury for having denied his Communist affiliations and his role in the transfer of State Department secrets to the USSR prior to the war. | 3 |
| Created by the National Security Act of 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) moved beyond its original mission as a strictly data-gathering agency to become actively involved in foreign affairs, including the overthrow of foreign governments. | 4 |
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| Jan. 31 |
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| Pres. Truman instructed the Atomic Energy Commission to proceed with its work on the hydrogen bomb. | 5 |
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| June 5 |
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| Pres. Truman signed the third foreign aid bill, appropriating close to $3 billion for the European Recovery Program and the Point Four Program. | 6 |
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| June 25 |
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| The invasion of South Korea by North Korean forces led to calls for U.S. intervention. | 7 |
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| June 27 |
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| THE U.S. INTERVENTION IN THE KOREAN WAR, described as “police action,” was launched to support the UN (See June 27). | 8 |
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| June–Sept |
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| The administration's Korean War policy found immediate support in Congress. Selective service was extended, the military budget was almost doubled, and far-reaching military aid was appropriated under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program. | 9 |
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| July 8 |
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| Gen. Douglas MacArthur was appointed commanding general of U.N. forces in Korea. | 10 |
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| July 20 |
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| The charges made by Sen. Joseph McCarthy of large-scale Communist infiltration into the State Department were found to be untrue by a Senate committee. The senator's careless accusations brought great hardship to many people. | 11 |
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| Sept. 23 |
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| Congress, over the president's veto, adopted the Internal Security Bill, which called for the registration of Communists and Communist “front” organizations. | 12 |
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| Oct. 15 |
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| At a meeting at Wake Island, Pres. Truman and Gen. MacArthur tried to clarify differences regarding America's policy in eastern Asia. On several occasions, MacArthur had without authorization openly advocated a pro-Nationalist and anti-Communist policy in China. Although such views were applauded by critics of the government's Far Eastern policy and of Secretary of State Acheson, the general's interference in matters outside his military sphere had caused considerable embarrassment to the administration's conduct of foreign policy. | 13 |
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| Dec. 16 |
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| Reversals suffered by UN troops in Korea led to the proclamation of a state of national emergency by Pres. Truman. Charles E. Wilson was made head of the newly created Office of Defense Mobilization. | 14 |
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