Eisenhower And JFK Flashcards
Election of 1952
Landslide victory for Eisenhower (442 to 89) — first Republican since 1928 (Hoover)
Eisenhower’s Domestic Policy (what it is)
“Conservative when it comes to money and liberal when it comes to human beings”
Eisenhower and his domestic policy
- moderate “middle-of-the-road” Republican
- Federal Govt. “smaller rather than bigger”
- Removed Truman’s wage and price controls
- budget surplus: $300 million
Massive Retaliation Policy
Promised U.S. nuclear attacks in answer to Soviet Expansion
- Secretary of State, john foster Dulles
- condemned containment
- proposes new and bolder plan
Brinkmanship
John Foster Dulles
Dulles believed he had to push Soviets to the brink of war to get results
U.S.-Soviet arms race
Race to make nuclear weapons (“more bang for your buck”)
1. Hydrogen bombs replace atom bombs
2. Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMS) (1,500 mile range)
3. Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMS)
Eisenhowers Domino Theory
When one country falls to communism, its neighbor will soon follow and communism will eventually reach America.
Stalins death
Stalin dies in 1953 at age 74! Succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev
Hungarian Revolution of 1956
Explosion: students and workers protested change in govt. and Soviets leave, U.S. did not intervene.
Communism in Indochina
Peninsula in Southeast Asia, French colony: ~1787-1954
Vietminh (nationalist rebels led by communist leader) vs. French Forces (with financial aid)
Dien Bien Phu: French base in Vietnam where 13,000 French Soldiers were trapped by Vietminh
Geneva Accords
French and Vietminh representatives gather in Switzerland, negotiate cease-fire
Vietminh controlled N. Vietnamese
S withdrawal— French troops
Free election 1956
Communism in Cuba
- Spanish-American War U.S. Naval Base
- 1956 USA owned 90% Cuba’s mining wealth and 40% sugar crops
Fidel Castro
American supported Cuban leader
Overthrows dictator, seized foreign owned property
Forms close ties with U.S.S.R.
Cold War Thaw
Period of easer tension b/t U.S. + Soviets after Stalin’s death
Eisenhower discuss “Peaceful coexistence”
“Thaw” wont last long
U-2 incident
May 1st 1960: Soviets shot down U-2 (spy) plane and captured U.S. pilot Gary Powers
John F. Kennedy background
One of 9 (2nd oldest)
Why England Slept
WWII Purple Heart
Potsdam conference
House, Senate, and President
Election of 1960
JFK (democrat) Promised “new programs to get the country moving again”
VS
Nixon (republican) pledge to continue the policies of Eisenhower
The New Frontier (JFK)
43 years old (so young!)
More federal funds for education
Eradicate poverty
Civil Rights Legislation?
Landing a man on the moon by 1970
JFK Assassination
Nov. 22, 1963: JFK killed in Dallas while traveling
JFK killed by Lee Harvey Oswald killed by Jack Ruby
Conspiracy?!!?!!
Lyndon B. Johnson
Introduced a set of ambitious programs called the “Great Society”
Johnson’s war on poverty
To help those living below the POVERTY LINE
Head Start- preschool education for children of families in poverty
Upward Bound- helped poor students attend college
Job Corps- offered training to young people looking for work
Volunteers in service to America (VISTA)- domestic peace corps of citizens working in poor neighborhoods
Expansion of Medicare- help for senior citizens And Medicaid- help for general poor
Civil Rights Acts of 1964
Landmark legislastion that banned discrimination based on race, color, gender, etc.
Johnson signs bill into law
Kennedy s foreign policy
Flexible Response- Kennedys plan to send special forces abroad (Green Berets) trained to fight Guerilla Wars
Communism— attractive alternative to impoverished countries around the globe
Alliance for Progress
Kennedys 10 year developmental plan: to assist free leaders and free govts and casting off the chains of poverty
5000 people work in more than 40 countries around the world
Bay of Pigs
1961: America’s plan to overthrow Castro using 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban refugees
Fidel Castro: Cuban forces crushed the exiles into submission.
Berlin Wall
Wall of concrete blocks and barbed wire built by East Germany
Germany government with Soviet Support
Cut off communication and travel between Eastern and Western Germany
Cuban Missile Crisis
October 1962: American spy plane maker unsettling discovery while flying over Cuba…
Soviets building nuclear missile launch sites! Sites near completion…
Kennedy orders naval blockade of Cuba
July 20, 1969
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin 1st humans to walk on the moon
“One giant leap for mankind!”
APOLLO PROJECT: NASA program aimed to land a man on the moon
Proxy war
A war instigated by a major power which does not become involved.
Hotline
Direct communication and missile line b/t Moscow and DC
William Levitt
First mass produced residential housing development after WW2
Earl Warren
Fourteenth chief justice of the USA. Make the decision that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.
Sputnik
First artificial earth satellite launched by the Soviet Union
Beat Generation
Literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored American politics in the post-war era.
GI bill
1944- GI bill helped veterans get money to pay for school/training.
White Flight
New suburban communities limited emigration of poor and non-white residents from the city by zoning
Baby boom
“Baby boomers” was a result of strong postwar economy, so Americans had more children. Grandparents
Feminine mystique
Book by Betty Friedan claimed to be the rebirth of feminism, empowered college educated women to seek careers outside the home
22nd amendment
No person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice.
