The changing political environment 1917-80 Flashcards
When was the Wall Street crash?
October 1929 (ended on 29th)
Who was US President when the US entered WWI?
Woodrow Wilson
What happened to Woodrow Wilson in September 1919?
He suffered a stroke
Which party won the 1920 election?
Republican (Warren Harding)
How many presidential terms did Calvin Coolidge serve?
One
Who was a millionaire before he was 40 and also an orphaned farm boy?
Herbert Hoover
When did the Great Depression begin?
1929 (after the Wall Street crash)
By December 1932, how many Americans were unemployed?
12-13 million
Who did a large number of Americans blame for the Great Depression?
Herbert Hoover
Which party did Franklin D Roosevelt represent in the 1932 election?
Democrats
What was FDR’s key pledge to the American people?
A New Deal (though exactly what is was meant to involve was unclear)
When was FDR’s first presidential term and how many terms did he serve?
1933-36 and he served 4 terms
Who did Ted Morgan describe as “part lion, part fox” and why?
Franklin D Roosevelt, because he was strong and charming, but could also be evasive and devious
Did FDR easily win the 1936 election?
Yes, he won 61% of the vote and every state except two
What did FDR attempt to do in 1937 that caused division in the Democratic party?
Reform the Supreme Court (which some considered against the Constitution)
Was FDR a good war time leader?
Widely considered to be, yes; he delegated well and had a good understanding of how the war was evolving
Did Franklin D Roosevelt die before or after the end of WWII?
Before, in April 1945 (war ended in Europe in May 1945 and September 1945 in Japan)
What caused Warren Harding issues in 1923?
Extensive corruption within his administration with some imprisoned for accepting bribes
What did Hoover create in 1932 to lend money to ailing banks, railroads and insurance companies?
The Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Name two Acts that Hoover had passed to help boost the economy during the Great Depression.
The Glass-Steagall Banking Act and the Relief and Construction Act
What was “rugged individualism” which many Americans believed in during the 1920s?
The belief that government intervention in the economy should be kept to a minimum (something that was hard to avoid by the early 1930s)
Where the 1920s generally a time of great prosperity for the USA?
Yes, until it all crashed in October 1929
What was the size of the 1932 federal budget deficit?
$2.7 billion, the largest peacetime deficit in US history
How many bills did Roosevelt pass in his first 100 days as president?
15 major bills (covering unemployment, relief, industry, agriculture, banking, transport and currency)
Was there a welfare state in the USA at the start of the Great Depression?
No and private charities were unable to cope with the scale of the emergency. This led to a demand for the government to intervene to create jobs and help those in need.
What was The Red Scare of 1919?
The Russian Revolution of 1917 aroused fears of Communism and a wave of industrial unrest in 1919 was widely considered to be revolutionary.
What was the reaction to the Red Scare of 1919?
Congress expelled socialist members, 32 states passed laws making membership of syndicalist organisations a crime and 9,000 people were arrested and held without trial with 500 illegal immigrants deported.
1945-54 was termed the ‘age of fear’, why?
It was a fear of communism and some were concerned that communists had infiltrated the US government. Others were appalled that some people had lost their jobs e.g. teachers, because they were believed to be communist sympathisers.
Who became president after the death of FDR?
Harry Truman and he served two terms winning the 1948 election
What was the original name for the Hoover Dam when it was dedicated in 1935?
The Boulder Dam, but was renamed in 1947 to the Hoover Dam, the name it had in the bills passed by Congress during its construction.
Which president took the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945?
Harry Truman
Who led the Allied armies to victory in Europe (1944-45) and also became US president in 1953?
Dwight D Eisenhower, also known as ‘Ike’
When was the Cuban Missile Crisis, who was in charge of the USA and USSR at the time and what was it?
1962, John F Kennedy (USA) and Khrushchev (USSR), and it was the deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba, within striking distance of the USA
For how many days was JFK president?
1,000
When and where was JFK assassinated?
22 November 1963 in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald
Was JFK a good president?
Hard to know! He only lasted 1,000 days, but he did bring the world back from the brink of nuclear war. He was committed to the cause of civil rights. Some believe the CIA were involved in his assassination (he fired the Director and cut their budget by 20%) …
Who, in 1974, chose to resign rather than face impeachment?
Richard Nixon as a result of the Watergate scandal
Who did Lyndon Johnson say was “too dumb to chew gum and fart at the same time”
Gerald Ford due to his gaffes and falls - down ski slopes and plane ramps!
What is Gerald Ford the only US president to have achieved?
Become the president without having been elected as president or as vice president - he took over after Nixon resigned and the vice president (Spiro Agnew) resigned as a result of another scandal
What is impeachment?
The process of bringing charges against a government official for doing something wrong
In the 1960s many Americans, especially the young, became increasingly ‘liberal’. What views did they typically support?
Civil rights, the government helping poor Americans, sexual liberation (and drug taking) and opposing the Vietnam War
When was the Korean War?
1950-53
Who were the USA defending South Korea against during the Korean War?
North Korea, supported by the Chinese
How many Americans died during the Korean War?
Around 33,000
Which president took the USA into the Korean War?
Harry Truman in 1950
What did China fear Eisenhower would do to end the Korean War?
Use nuclear weapons, as they did in 1945 to end the war with Japan
Who won the Korean War?
The USA (and South Korea)
Why did some consider the Korean War to be a ‘good’ war?
Because the USA and its allies were fighting communist aggressors and because they won
When was the Vietnam war?
1963-73
How many Americans died during the Vietnam War?
Around 56,000
Which US president took America into the Vietnam War?
John F Kennedy in 1963
What did Lyndon Johnson introduce in order to have enough soldiers fighting in Vietnam?
The ‘draft’ (a form of conscription) which was a process by which men aged between 18-26 could be involuntarily drafted into military service. It was introduced in December 1969 for Vietnam.
Why was there a growing anti-war movement by 1967?
TV coverage meant that more Americans than ever saw the true horror of war, plus an increasing number of Americans were dying with no obvious end to the war in sight.
Who decided not to stand for re-election in 1968 and why?
Lyndon Johnson because he was so unpopular due to having escalated the Vietnam war which was not going well for the USA
Did Nixon make things better or worse as far as the Vietnam War was concerned?
Better - he gradually reduced US troop numbers in South Vietnam - to 40,000 by late 1972 and he agreed to end all US combat activities in the area in 1973.
Was the Vietnam War a success for the USA?
No. It is widely accepted that the USA lost the war and in 1975, North Vietnamese forces overran South Vietnam, uniting the country. The war damaged the USA economically, socially and morally. It deeply divided Americans and defeat undermined American confidence.
Did the USA prosper economically as a result of WWII?
Yes, by 1945 they produced 45% of the world’s arms, 66% of the world’s ships and 50% of the world’s goods. There was full employment and workers were well paid.
What was the Truman Doctrine?
In 1947 Truman declared “I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures”. It was a guiding spirit of US foreign policy for the next 50 years.
What was Marshall Aid and what three aims did it have?
In June 1947, US Secretary of State George Marshall offered US economic assistance to Europe. It aimed to (i) help Europeans, (ii) promote Europe economically (so they would spend more on American goods) and (iii) stop poverty-stricken Europe adopting Communism.
When was the Central Intelligence Agency CIA founded?
- In 1948 it was given authority to mount covert operations against Communists.
When was the NATO alliance formed?
April 1949 (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation)
When did Japan bomb the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor?
7 December 1941, resulting in the USA declaring war on Japan
When did Hitler declare war on the USA?
11 December 1941
In order to help win the 1940 election, who assured Americans “Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars”
Franklin D Roosevelt (he got that one a bit wrong, but did get 55% of the vote …)
