Since 1877 Test 3 People Flashcards
1
Q
Harry S. Truman
A
- After FDR’s death, Truman becomes president 1945-1953
- he became president towards the end of WWII, he authorized the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki causing VJ Day
- Responsible for the “Truman Doctrine”; the US signed treaty with a lot of countries in fighting communism
- He helped passed the “Marshall Plan” to rebuild Europe
- During the start of the cold war, he authorized the 1948 Berlin Airlift; sent airplanes into W Berlin with food, clothes, survival products (showed that the US was dedicated to E Berlin)
- He was involved in the creation of NATO in 1949 (when north invaded south Korea)
- He was big on civil rights; he signed an executive order desegregating military and federal agencies
- He won re-election in 1948 (even though many thought he would not win)
1. his slogan was “give them hell harry” and “the buck stops here” - he asked the United Nations to approve military and send troops from all representatives to help south Korea
- he fired Douglas McCarther for talking crap about him when he refused to use nuclear weapon on N Korea
2
Q
Dwight Eisenhower
A
- the was the “supreme commander” from WWII; very popular b/c of this
- “IKE” was his nickname; he made one of the first ever commercials for his presidential election
- he was a moderate republican who ran against Adlai Stevenson in 1952 & in 1956
- during his election he promised to deal with:
1. communism
2. corruption
3. end the Korea war - he appealed to a lot of black voters
- people were afraid he would repeal social security & min. wage, but he instead expanded it
- Eisenhower came up with the domino theory; Congress agreed to his request in 1955 allowing militarily support in Taiwan and took a position against the People’s Republic of China
- His BIGGEST accomplishment - building a main US highway system in 1930; he convince congress to ok this by saying it was for defense and military reason
- he authorized the establishment of NASA which led to a “space race”
- during the Little Rock Crises, he sent in the national guard to force Orval Faubus to let integration occur
- he authorized planes to spy on the Soviet Union (U2 incident 1960) which resulted badly and was a set back on fixing relationship with them
- before he left office at 70 years old, he warned about the “military-Industrial complex”
3
Q
John F Kennedy
A
- in his 1960 election held the first presidential debate (with Nixon)
- he as a catholic (the first & only president to be)
- he had a bad back (due to WWII) and was on medication; he had only 1 rocking chair that he could sit in
- Issues most involved:
1. Bay of Pigs invasion - 1961 a CIA operation to drop soldiers off in Cuba; our men was captured
2. Cuban Missile Crises - b/c of this Cuba asks the soviet union for nuclear missiles to prevent US spies and invasion; our planes catch them setting this up - Kennedy assigns his brother Robert as Attorney General - the result was a navel blockade (not nuclear bombing) that lasted 13 days
3. Russia ultimately pulled their missiles out but in return we promise *not to invade Cuba and * take our missile out of Turkey
4. Nuclear Test Ban Treaty - for the first time Russia & US make an agreement as to how much missile to have; no longer test atomic bomb in space, atmosphere, or in water
5. Peace Corps. he helped established this
6. Project Apollo - he authorized funding for this - NOV. 22, 1963 he is assassinated; a few days later Lee Harvey Oswald was shot - people thought there was a connection and that his assassination was a conspiracy
4
Q
Lyndon B Johnson
A
- after JFK’s assassination, LBJ becomes president Nov. 22 1963; he was elected President in his own in 1964 against Barry Goldwater
- he was a democrat from Texas
- he designed the “Great Society” plan (main goal was to eliminate poverty and racial injustice):
1. federal spending on social programs
2. wanted to end poverty - health care (medicare & medicaid/ food stamps/ housing aids)
3. does a lot for school - school lunch programs and “title one” funds for primary and secondary education
4. colleges - federal aid/ grants
5. public funding for radio & TV (PBS & NPR)
6. NIH CDC NEA & NASA funding
7. aid to parents w/ children (AIDC) - Does a lot for civil rights movement:
1. Civil rights bills: signed by Johnson banned racial discrimination in public facilities, interstate commerce, the workplace, and housing
2. The Voting Rights Ac:t banned certain requirements in Southern states used against African Americans
3. the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965: reformed the country’s immigration system - he wanted to be remembered for ending poverty but instead most remember for his involvement in the Vietnam War
1. he escalated American involvement in the Vietnam War; in 1964, Congress passed the “Gulf of Tonkin Resolution”, which granted Johnson the power to use military force in Southeast Asia without having to ask for an official declaration of war
2. the number of US personnel in Vietnam increased from 16,000 advisers in 1963 to 550,000 in early 1968
3. Johnson faced trouble due to the large growing antiwar movement - Mach 1968 he does not try to run for president again (retire in disgrace) he knew he had become so unpopular b/c of the war
- After he left office in 1969, he returned to his Texas where he died of a heart attack
5
Q
Richard Nixon
A
- He ran for election in 1960 and lost to John Kennedy; in 1968 he ran again for the president and won
- he said he had a secret plan:
1. more bombing in N. Vietnam
2. Incursions into Loas, Cambodia
3. Vietnamization - his slogan “peach with honor”
- Although he initially escalated the war in Vietnam, he ended the U.S. involvement in 1973, along with the military draft.
- Nixon’s visit to the People’s Republic of China in 1972 opened diplomatic relations between the two nations
- he initiated” détente” and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union the same year
- he did enforce desegregation of Southern schools
- he established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) & (ESA) Endangered Species Act
- he was president during the Apollo 11 moon landing (end of the moon race)
- He was reelected in 1972
- The Watergate scandal
1. The scandal escalated, costing Nixon much of his political support, and on August 9, 1974, he resigned before having to face impeachment from congress
2. After his resignation, he was issued a pardon by his Gerald Ford (new president)
6
Q
Ronald Reagan
A
- Ran for president in 1980; he promised to:
1. rebuild defense (he did)
2. cut tax (he did)
3. balance budget (couldn’t do this) - he won b/c America was ready for someone strong and confident; he was an actor and a great speaker; was nick named “Teflon president”
- was the oldest and 1st president to be divorced
- during his presidency:
1. federal budget rose for military
2. defense expenditures rose
3. appoints the first female justice Sandra Day O’Connor
4. Dealt with OPEC (organization of petroleum exporting countries) oil scare in US
4. US involvement in the Latin American & Caribbean war of 1954 (we won) - 2 months into his presidency, he was almost assassinated (shot in the chest by a crazy man in love with an actress)
- Runs for president again and wins;
- Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), he suggests this
- Reagan becomes really good friend with Gorbachev
- His second term dealt a lot with foreign matters, such as the ending of the Cold War and the revelation of the Iran–Contra affair
1. He described the Soviet Union as an “evil empire”
2. the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union occurred soon afterward his visit to Berlin in 1987
7
Q
Joseph McCarthy
A
- Senator fro WI
- a communist hunter (went over board) known as the McCarthy Witch Hunt (the era McCarthyism)
- he began accusing people who weren’t communist (if they said something negative about the gov. they were a communist)
- the senate finally brings him down, but this wasn’t until Eisenhower’s term (this was during Truman’s presi)
8
Q
Adlai Stephenson
A
- He ran for president in the election of 1952 and 1956, both time against Eisenhower as the Democratic party and LOST both times
- he lost the Democratic nomination against Kennedy in 1960; Kennedy appoints him as the Ambassador to the United Nations after his election
9
Q
Nikita Khrushchev
A
- he becomes the new Soviet Leader after the death of Stalin
- he led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War
10
Q
Neil Armstrong
A
- the first person to walk on the moon
11
Q
Fidel Castro
A
- in 1959 he comes to power in Cuba
- he is a very hated dictator and Cuba tries to overthrow him
- the US debates on whether they should assist; the decision to help comes when Castro starts to take over surrounding land (most belonged to American companies, sugar and fruit factories) and he was leading Cuba towards communism
- Eisenhower ultimately decides to over throw him with the help of the CIA
12
Q
Milton Berle
A
- an American comedian and actor
- he was the host of Texaco Star Theater (1948–55)
- he was the first major American television star; was known as “Uncle Miltie” and “Mr. Television” during TV’s golden age
13
Q
Jackie Robinson
A
- a famous black baseball player for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947
- his dignity in the face of verbal abuse won him nationwide respect, and his baseball earned him the Rookie of the year award
- his success opened the door to the integration of baseball and led to the discontinuation of the Negro Leagues (to which black players could only play in)
14
Q
Thurgood Marshal
A
- He was the chief counsel for the NAACP
- he was a lawyer who argued before the Supreme Court and won victory in Brown v. Board of Education
- he later becomes the first African american as the 96 justice for the supreme court (Johnson appoints him)
15
Q
Emmett Till
A
- in 1955 him and his mother visited Mississippi (they were from Chicago); he was 14 years old at the time, his friend dared him to whistle at a white women, he did; later the women’s husband and son found him and beat him with chains - he died and his mother held a open cassette funeral
- The trial attracted a vast amount of press attention
- Bryant and Milam were acquitted of Till’s kidnapping and murder; protected against double jeopardy, Bryant and Milam publicly admitted in an interview with Look magazine that they killed Till
- Till’s murder is noted as a pivotal event motivating the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
