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History - USA (TRUMAN) > Key Individuals > Flashcards

Key Individuals Flashcards

1
Q

Who was Franklin D. Roosevelt?

A

32nd President of the United States from 1933 to 1945
One of the most popular presidents in US history
Led America through the Great Depression and WW2
Attended Tehran and Yalta
Began the ‘New Deal’ policy before his untimely death in April, 1945

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2
Q

Who was Harry S Truman?

A

33rd President of the United States from 1945 to 1952
Kickstarted American aggression towards communism through his doctrine and policy of ‘containment’
Widely unpopular by the end of his presidency (22% Approval rating)

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3
Q

Who was Winston Churchill?

A

Prime Minister of Britain during WW2
Attended Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam (briefly)
Replaced by Clement Atlee at Potsdam
Delivers the ‘Iron Curtain’ speech in 1946

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4
Q

Who was Joseph Stalin?

A

Premier of the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1953
Attended Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam
Delivers the February 9th Speech in 1946 - inevitability of war between capitalism and communism
Enacts the Berlin Blockade in 1948

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5
Q

Who was Douglas MacArthur?

A

Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers
Oversaw Japan’s occupation (1945-52)
General of the UN forces in the Korean War until he was relieved of duty by Truman due to his suggestion of atomic warfare against China (April, 1951)

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6
Q

Who was Hirohito?

A

Emperor of Imperial Japan
Allowed to keep his title after WW2, had no power within Japan during it’s American occupation

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7
Q

Who was George Kennan?

A

The US ambassador based in Moscow
Sent Truman the ‘Long Telegram’ (Feb, 1946) highlighting how the USSR are expansionist and wanting to spread communism however will back down if challenged
Criticised the Truman Doctrine for being too sweeping with no criteria for what labels a country threatened

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8
Q

Who was Nikolai Novikov?

A

Soviet ambassador based in Washington
Sends the ‘Novikov Telegram’ to Stalin (Sept, 1946) highlighting US foreign policy’s end-goal being ‘world supremacy’

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9
Q

Who was Walter Lippman?

A

American Journalist
Criticised the Truman Doctrine to be ‘an ideological crusade [which] has no limits. It cannot be controlled.’
Highlighted the impulsivity of Truman could cause devastating after-effects for his foreign policy (proven later on via China + Korea)

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10
Q

Who was George Marshall?

A

Truman’s Secretary of State
Suggested the basis of the Marshall Plan after touring a war-torn Europe
Argued against endorsing the partition of Palestine - ignored by Truman

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11
Q

Who was William Tunner?

A

US General in charge of orchestrating the Berlin Airlift
His ‘straight-in approach’ to the Airlift maximised the efficiency of supplies being flown into Berlin
Boasted how ‘We can keep pouring it in for 20 years if we have to.’

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12
Q

Who was Mao Zedong?

A

Communist Leader of China (1949-76)
Defeated Kai-Shek’s Nationalist forces ending the Chinese Civil War
Established China as the ‘People’s Republic of China’

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13
Q

Who was Chiang Kai-Shek?

A

Leader of the Chinese Nationalists
Supported by the USA in the Chinese Civil War ($2 billion given)
Once defeated by Mao, him and his forces fled to Taiwan

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14
Q

Who was Tsiang Tingfu?

A

The Chinese Nationalist Representative at the United Nations (1947-62)
Warned the world that the fall of China to communism would cause a rippling effect throughout Asia for more revolts of democracies in favour of communism - proven right by 1950 via the Korean War/Indochina

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15
Q

Who was Ho Chi Minh?

A

Formed the Indo-Chinese Communist Party (1930) to fight against French occupation in Vietnam
Fought guerrilla warfare against the Japanese in WW2 - expected US support after WW2
Truman refused to support Minh, instead covering 78% of France’s cost invading Indo-China
Viewed as a ‘puppet’ of Stalin by the USA

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16
Q

Who was Kim Il Sung?

A

Installed by the Soviets to rule North Korea (1948-94)
Supported by China during the Korean War

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17
Q

Who was Syngman Rhee?

A

Elected to rule South Korea (1948-60)
Supported by UN/US during the Korean War

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18
Q

Who was Matthew Ridgway?

A

US General of the UN forces after MacArthur’s dismissal in 1951
His tactic of ‘Dynamic Defence’ revitalised UN troops and helped stabilise the Korean War

19
Q

Who was David Ben-Gurion?

A

The first Prime Minister of Israel
Proclaimed the nationhood of Israel on the 14th May 1948 - struck a table to emphasise ‘The name of our state shall be Israel’

20
Q

Who was Chaim Weizmann?

A

The first President of Israel
His gift to Truman was accepted on the 25th May 1948 - a Torah - due to Truman’s recognition of Israel earlier that month

21
Q

Who was Clark Clifford?

A

A key advisor to Truman leading up the 1948 election
Pushed for Truman to endorse the UN partition of Palestine in order to win the votes of Jewish people within America
Said the infamous ‘Harry Truman the man’ phrase in regards to who won the 1948 election

22
Q

Who was Dwight Eisenhower?

A

General of the Army within Europe during WW2
Saw the bombings of Japan to be ‘completely unnecessary’
Declined both Republican and Democrat prepositions to run for President pre-1948

23
Q

Who was Joseph Martin?

A

House Minority Leader
‘not even President Roosevelt had asked for so much at one sitting.’ - highlights how Truman wasn’t respected unlike his predecessor, FDR

24
Q

Who was Strom Thurmond?

A

Leader of the ‘Dixiecrat’ party which stemmed from Democrats who broke away from the party (1948)
Attempted to run for President in 1948 under ‘State’s Rights’ slogan

25
Q

Who was Thomas Dewey?

A

Truman’s Republican opposition in the 1948 election
Ran an ‘overconfident and uninspired’ campaign
Lost by 2 million votes

26
Q

Who were Fielding L Wright and Earl Warren?

A

Running Mates of their respective parties during the 1948 election
Wright - DIxiecrats
Warren - Republican

27
Q

Who were Robert A. Taft and Fred A. Hartley?

A

Republicans who pushed for the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947
This act curtailed the power of unions, made them non-compulsory and liable for breaching contract

28
Q

Who was Joseph McCarthy?

A

Republican Senator who capitalized on the ‘Red Scare’
Figurehead of ‘Red Scare’ and threw ‘red-bait’ accusations at virtually everyone who opposed him

29
Q

Who was Roy Cohn?

A

American lawyer
McCarthy’s chief counsel
Rose to prominence due to his ‘prosecutorial misconduct’ in using Greenglass’ testimony (perjury) to convict the Rosenbergs (1951)

30
Q

Who was Douglas Maclean?

A

Member of the ‘Cambridge 5’
British Spy who had passed US/UK/Canadian atomic secrets (specifically plutonium developments) to Moscow while based in Washington (1944-48)
Also informed Soviets of the formation of NATO and Marshall Aid to Greece + Turkey

31
Q

Who was Millard Tydings?

A

Chairman of ‘Tydings’ Committee’ which investigated McCarthy’s claims on communists - ‘a fraud and a hoax’
Fell from influence after a forged photograph between him and the US Communist Party leader was spread by McCarthy’s followers (1950)

32
Q

Who was Arthur Vandenberg?

A

US Senator during Truman’s Presidency
Advised Truman to ‘scare the hell’ out of the American people during the ‘Truman Doctrine’ speech
Kickstarted the ‘Red Scare’ thanks to this advice

33
Q

Who was Alger Hiss?

A

US government official
Accused + convicted of espionage and communist connections (1948)

34
Q

Who was Klaus Fuchs?

A

German physicist working on Manhattan Project
Confessed to leaking atomic documents to Soviets (1950)

35
Q

Who were Ethel and Julius Rosenberg?

A

Communist Spies who were the couriers of Fuchs’ atomic documents to the Soviets
‘Shopped’ by Ethel’s brother, David Greenglass, in exchange for the freedom of his wife
Convicted (1951) and executed by electrocution (1953)

36
Q

Who was Adlai Stevenson?

A

Presidential Candidate in 1952 after Truman stepped aside as the Democrat’s choice
Victim of the public mob (McCarthyites/Right-wingers) led by McCarthy
Hated due to being a ‘commie-crat’ and his speeches being ‘trilled’ in a ‘fruity’ voice (homophobia)

37
Q

Who was J. Edgar Hoover?

A

Chief of the FBI during ‘Red Scare’
Between 1947 - 1952, over 3 million FBI investigations on supposed communist leads
Truman had privately compared him and the FBI to the Nazi Gestapo’

38
Q

Who was Edward Dmytryk?

A

Member of the ‘Hollywood 10’
Only one to ‘flip’ - after serving 4 months he admits to being communist and named other alleged members
This led to his blacklisting ending, and he continued directing films in the US

39
Q

Who was Dalton Trumbo?

A

Member of the ‘Hollywood 10’
Screenwriter who refused to testify to the HUAC
Despite his blacklist from entertainment, continued publishing screenplays with no credit given

40
Q

Who was Thurgood Marshall?

A

Civil Rights activist
Lawyer for the NAACP (won 29 out of the 32 cases)
Specifically won the ‘Brown v. Board of Education’ (1954) - desegregated public schools

41
Q

Who was A. Philip Randolph?

A

Civil Rights Activists
Influential in civil rights within trade unions
His pressuring of presidents meant the establishing of the FEPC (1940), Executive Order 9981/Desegregation of Army (1948) and the Civil Rights Act (1964)

42
Q

Who was Adam Clayton Powell?

A

Civil Rights activist
Founded the newspaper - ‘People’s Voice’
Elected 12 times consecutively to House of Reps
Became Chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labour (1961)

43
Q

Who was George McLaurin?

A

Cause for ‘McLaurin v. Oklahoma State’ (1950)
Allowed to enter the University of Oklahoma to pursue a PhD - kept segregated

44
Q

Who was Herman Sweatt?

A

Cause for ‘Sweatt v. Painter’ (1950)
The Court had ruled him attending a different school just because of his race was unequal - accepted to Texas University

History - USA (TRUMAN) (15 decks)

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