chapters 37 + 38 Flashcards
LBJ
Believed FDR was his “political daddy,” supported New Deal policies, served in both the House and the Senate (Minority and Majority Leader roles), got what he wanted by giving people the “Johnson treatment”: backslapping, flesh-pressing, and arm-twisting
Robert Kennedy
Was shot and killed on June 5, 1968, by Sirhan Sirhan [an Arab immigrant who strongly opposed Kennedy’s support of Israel]
Weathermen
Anti War movement (a militant SDS offshoot) that believed in violent protest, e.g., Chicago’s “Days of Rage”
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 barred employers from discriminating based on race, sex, or national origin
SALT I
The Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) froze the numbers of long-range missiles allowed for a 5-year period (ratified in 1972)
détente
Nixon’s visits resulted in detente, or relaxed tension, between the U.S. and the world’s two largest communist powers
N.O.W.
National Organization for Women (N.O.W.) was compromised mainly of upper-middle class white women. Key leaders:
Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique & Gloria Steinem, founder of Ms. Magazine. “The personal is political”
Yippies
Youth International Party
Kent State
When American college students learned about troops entering Cambodia, they staged protests on their college campuses. On May 4, 1970, four students were killed at Kent State (Ohio). Two were killed at Jackson State (Mississippi)
My Lai massacre
American troops massacred men, women, and children during a search-and-destroy mission (to root out the enemy) in My Lai and My Khe
Free Speech Movement
The Free Speech Movement at Berkeley (1964) originated with the banning of activist literature on campus
SDS
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) planned protests at college campuses
Title IX
Laws outlawing gender discrimination in publicly-funded education & college sports
Vietnamization
By Jan. 1970, the Vietnam conflict had become the longest in U.S. History, and the 3rd bloodiest. Nixon decided that American troops would be gradually withdrawn from S. Vietnam and the S. Vietnamese would take over the burden
Nixon Doctrine
Nixon stated that the U.S. would honor its existing defense commitments, but Asians and others would have to fight their own wars in the future w/o the support of American troops
Barry Goldwater
Republican candidate in the election of 1964. Goldwater was an extremely conservative senator from AZ who attacked LBJ’s Great Society programs and remaining New Deal programs
Stonewall Riot
Members of NYC’s gay community demonstrated against a violent raid by police officers on the Stonewall Inn bar in Greenwich Village on June 28, 1969
Warren Court
Judicially active, this court passed a number of decisions that dealt with social issues:
Brown v. Board of Education (1954), desegregation of schools
Miranda v. Arizona (1966), provides rights to the accused
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), states must provide counsel to defendants in criminal cases who are unable to pay
Tet Offensive
The Viet Cong (NVA) mounted coordinated attacks on 27 key S. Vietnamese cities. It took weeks for General Westmoreland’s troops to regain them
Burger Court
Warren Burger succeeded Earl Warren as chief justice in 1969. Nixon sought to put appointees on the bench that would stop meddling in social and political issues. However, the Burger Court proved reluctant to dismantle the rulings of the Warren Court, even with 4 Nixon appointees on the Court
Rachel Carson
Wrote the book Silent Spring (about the dangers of pesticides) that inspired the creation of the EPA
Port Huron Statement
SDS’s Port Huron Statement (written by Hayden) called for the inclusion of all Americans in the democratic process
Great Society
LBJ declared a “War on Poverty.” Various economic measures were planned to combat poverty in his domestic program
Cointelpro
Johnson encouraged the CIA to spy on antiwar activists and the FBI used its counterintelligence program (Cointelpro) against the peace movement
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Humphrey (Johnson’s V.P.) won the Democratic nomination over Eugene McCarthy (antiwar candidate; children’s crusade) in the election of 1968
George Wallace
The American Independent Party ran George Wallace, former governor of Alabama (who was a racist and in favor of bombing N. Vietnam to smithereens)
Richard Nixon
Republican nominee in the election of 1968. He ran with Spiro Agnew; the two were tough on crime and called for “peace and honor” in Vietnam. He was dubbed the “Law and Order President.” Nixon won, aided by his sabotaging of the Vietnam peace talks
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
“Provocative” N. Vietnamese attack(s) on the Maddox in the Tonkin Gulf (Aug. 2nd and 4th) led to Johnson pressuring Congress into signing the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. This gave the president a “blank check” to use American forces in Southeast Asia
Abbie Hoffman
Abbie Hoffman: Co-founder of the “Yippies” (Youth International Party), known for being theatrical, anti-authoritarian, and anarchist
The “Silent Majority”
Nixon believed that he was supported by most Americans, yet their voices were not heard over the criticism of the media
War Powers Resolution
Requires the president to report to Congress within 48 hours of committing troops to a foreign conflict & forbids armed forces from remaining more than 60 days w/o a declaration of war or authorization to use force by Congress
EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency
OPEC
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a cartel. When the embargo was lifted in 1974, OPEC quadrupled the price of crude oil
stagflation
Stagnation (of the median family income) + inflation (caused by military spending & Great Society programs with no increase in taxes).
CREEP
The men in the Watergate scandal were working for the Republican Committee for the Re-election of the President (CREEP). This group was involved in dirty tricks, espionage, sabotage, etc. It was headed by G. Gordon Liddy
George McGovern
Democratic candidate in the election of 1972. McGovern promised to withdraw troops from Vietnam within 90 days of his election, relied on getting the young people to vote, and his campaign was doomed when it was revealed that his running mate had received psychiatric care in the 1960s for manic depression
ERA
The Equal Rights Amendment won congressional approval but failed to be ratified by 2/3 of the states. It died in 1982, three states short.
Stop-ERA
Phyllis Schlafly led the Stop-ERA movement. She argued that the law would undermine the American family b/c it could require women to serve in combat, increase the divorce rate, and lead to homosexual marriages.
Gerald Ford
Congress invoked the 25th Amendment, replacing Agnew with Nixon nominee Gerald Ford (the House minority leader)
Camp David Accords
An agreement between Israel & Egypt was made in the 1978 Camp David Accords, allowing Egypt to recover the Sinai Peninsula
Iranian Revolution
In 1979, Iranians took out their revenge on the Western-allied Shah and his allies, deposing the Shah and declaring a republic during the Iranian Revolution.
Woodward & Bernstein
Woodward & Bernstein broke the Watergate story in the Washington Post after receiving information from an inside source that they names “Deep Throat”
Spiro Agnew
Due to an unrelated fiasco, V.P. Spiro Agnew was forced to resign on Oct. 10, 1973, for taking bribes from MD contractors while he was governor and V.P.
SALT II
A SALT II treaty was discussed in 1979 (Pres. Carter) but never ratified due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
U.S.S.R.
The Soviets attacked Afghanistan in Dec. 1979 and appeared ready to make a play for the oil rich nations of the Persian Gulf. Carter placed an embargo on grain exports to the U.S.S.R. and called for a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Regents v. Bakke
Preference in admissions can’t be given to members of any group solely based on ethnic or racial identity. [Bakke believed he had suffered reverse discrimination.]
Milliken v. Bradley
Desegregation plans can’t require students to move across school-district lines.
Neoconservatives
Neoconservatives fueled the conservative revival:
* Pro free-market capitalism
* Economist Milton Friedman argued in Free to Choose that free markets were superior to solving social problems and protecting individual liberty.
* Questioned welfare program spending
* Called for traditional family values
* Anti-Soviet
* Advocated for deregulation of American industries
* President Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act in 1978.
the Helsinki Accords
Ford and 34 other world leaders legitimized the Soviet-dictated boundaries of Poland and other Eastern European countries. The Soviets promised more liberal exchanges between East and West and promised to protect human rights. The Soviets, however, soon clamped down on dissident movements inspired by these accords. Détente was failing.
Saturday Night Massacre
Nixon ordered the firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who had been ordered to turn over the White House tapes.
IAT (“All Tribes”)
Activists from Indians of All Tribes, seized Alcatraz (Nov. 1969) and occupied the island for 19 months until forcibly removed by the govt. This led to an increase in Indian activism
Cesar Chavez
Mexican American Cesar Chavez (co-founder of the United Farm Workers) protested against poor wages for agricultural workers.
United Farm Workers
Protested against poor wages for agricultural workers. (5-yr. boycott starting in 1966 on CA grapes, “Salad Bowl” strike in the early 1970s, protested the Braceros Program b/c it exploited migrant labor)
Jimmy Carter
Democratic candidate in the election of 1980
Panama
The Panama Canal Treaty (1977): control of the canal would be turned over to the Panamanians by 2000.
U.S. v. Nixon
The Court ruled that “executive privilege” did not protect Nixon from investigation of criminal activity and that he could not withhold any portion of the tapes. The House Judiciary Committee pressed forward with its articles of impeachment (obstruction of justice)
Saigon
After two years on their own, the S. Vietnamese were defeated in 1975. Americans had to be hastily evacuated from the American embassy in Saigon on April 30, 1975.
Carter Doctrine
The Carter Doctrine stated that the U.S. would defend its interests in the Persian Gulf.
