Final Exam Terms Flashcards
“Have you no sense of decency, sir?”
June 9, 1954
Eisenhower
Joseph Nye Welsh said this to Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Nye Welch was head counsel for the United States Army during the Army-McCarthy Hearings
On June 9, 1954, McCarthy accused one of the Junior attorneys of Welch’s firm, Fred Fischer, of associating with the National Lawyer’s Guild (NLG)
J. Edgar Hoover wanted the Attorney General to designate the NLG as a communist front organization
Welch was fed up with McCarthy’s bullshit, and said this quote
“How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”
April 1971
Nixon
Said by John Kerry in a Testimony before subcommittees of the U.S. Senate,
Was the first Vietnam veteran to testify before Congress about the war
Was a member of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (V.V.A.W.)
“Three generations of imbeciles are enough.”
Buck v. Bell (1927)
Coolidge
Ruled that a state statute permitting compulsory sterilization of the unfit, including the mentally retarded, “for the protection and health of the state” did not violate the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Essentially endorsed improving the human race by eliminating “defectives” from the gene pool
Has never officially been overturned by the Supreme Court
18th Ammendment
Ratified January 16, 1919
Put in effect January 16, 1920
Wilson
Prohibition
Banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors.
Most ambitious social reform ever attempted in the United States .
Proved to be a colossal failure.
Volstead Act (1919) outlined the rules and regulations of the 18th amendment, had too many loopholes
Berlin Airlift
June 1948 to May 1949
Truman
After WWII Berlin was split up, half controlled by the Western Allies (US, Britain, France, etc.) and the other by the Soviet Union.
From June 24 1948 to May 12 1949 Soviet Union set up the Berlin Blockade, cutting off Western Allies’ rail, canal, and road access to West Berlin, so that they could take control of the entire city.
Western Allies responded by delivering cargo to West Berlin by airlift.
By spring 1949 the airlift was clearly succeeding so in May 1949 the embarrassed Soviet Union lifted the blockade.
Resulted in Splitting Germany into Democratic West Germany and Communist East Germany, and split up Berlin in the same way.
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
1911; 146 out of 850 sweatshop workers killed, most were Jewish teen women. Escape routes were limited b/c the owner kept the stairway door locked to prevent theft. Led to reforms in factory working conditions.
Bonus Army March
Spring and Summer 1932
FDR
Bonus Army made up of 43,000 people (1700 WWI vets and their families)
Gathered in D.C. and demanded cash payment redemption of their service certificates (certificates given to WWI vets as bonuses that they could not redeem until 1945)
Great depression struck, people wanted their bonuses now.
AFL-CIO
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
Originally separate, but merged in 1955
Eisenhower
Until 2005 represented almost all unionized workers in the US
AFL founded in 1886
Samuel Gompers was its first president
By 1920 it had 2 million members
Black Tuesday
October 29, 1929
Hoover
AKA the Stock Market Crash of 1929.
The Stock Market Crashed, causing the Great Depression
Bay of Pigs
April 17, 1961
Kennedy
Unsuccessful military invasion of Cuba
A counter-revolutionary military that was trained and funded by the CIA was launched from Guatemala and attempted to overthrow Castro and his regime.
Cuban armed forces under Castro defeated it in 3 days.
Led to the Cuban Missile Crisis
Wagner Act
1935
FDR
Guarantees basic rights of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, and take collective action including strike if necessary.
Watergate
1972
Nixon had members of the CIA break into the DNC headquarters to steal any information that could help him win; Forced Nixon to resign due to the threat of impeachment.
Bretton Woods
July 1-22, 1944
FDR
730 delegates from all 44 Allied Nations met in a hotel in Bretton Woods, NH during WWII in order to rebuild the international economic system and established the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Domino Theory
Existed from 1950’s to 1980’s
Used primarily by Eisenhower and Kennedy
Was the idea that if one country in a region fell to communism, that the surrounding countries in the region would also fall.
Was used as justification for involvement in South Korea and Vietnam
Military Industrial Complex
1961
Eisenhower
Coined by Eisenhower in his farewell speech; concept used to refer to policy and monetary relationships between legislators, national armed forces, and the military industrial base that supports them.
Fall of the Berlin Wall
November 9 1989
Reagan
Prior to the fall, Reagan made his famous speech, telling the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”
Finally the Gates were open, and West Berliners stood atop of the wall celebrating.
Over the next few weeks people would come to the wall with sledge hammers, breaking it down piece by piece.
Huey Long
Assassinated in 1935
FDR
Unscrupulous reformer, opposed the New Deal, proposed “Share our Wealth”
Iran-Contra Affair
1985-1987
Reagan
Scandal of 2nd Reagan Administration involving the sale of arms to Iran in partial exchange for hostages in Lebanon and use of proceeds to fund the Contras in Nicaragua
Camp David Accords
September 17, 1978
Carter
Israeli Prime Minister and Egyptian President had 13 days of secret negotiations at Camp David.
These led to the signing of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty in 1979.
G.I. Bill
1944
FDR
New government agency (Veterans Administration)
Provided unemployment, helped with the job search, generous subsidies for work training and secondary education (paid tuition)
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Brought to court in 1952
Eisenhower
Decision made May 17, 1954
Unanimous court declared that “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place
Met with stiff opposition in the Deep south and Virginia
Eisenhower weary of decision, was secretly against it, believed that you couldn’t force it.
CORE
Congress of Racial Equality
FDR
Founded in 1942 in Chicago.
Played a pivotal role for African Americans in the Civil Rights Movement.
The Freedom Rides were carried out by members of CORE
Helped desegregate Chicago public schools.
Hiroshima
August 6, 1945
Truman
Enola Gay drops first atomic bomb (Little Boy) after the Potsdam Declaration
Roe v Wade
1973
Nixon
Ruled that a right to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th amendment extended to women’s right of abortion.
