I suppose if you forget the A bombs, the fomenting and exacerbation of the Cold War, numerous democracies overturned and murderous dictatorships installed in Latin America and Middle East, and an entirely materialistic/consumeristic outlook on life - yea, the 1950's were pretty cool - if in a very boringly conservative way.  

Thanks for the Marshall Plan - perhaps the true high point.   And thanks for the Music - folk/rock/blues/Jazz which was beginning as a subversive undergrowth.  And MLK.  But from Vietnam on it was all downhill, morally and pretty much every way.  Which is odd for a country which makes so much of its moral superiority.  Is Eisenhower as good as it gets?

notes from no w here