Unit 1 Key Terms Flashcards
civil rights law passed in 1990 that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
unsuccessful presidential candidate against Lyndon Johnson in 1964; he called for dismantling the New Deal, escalation of the war in Vietnam, and the status quo on civil rights. Many see him as the grandfather of the conservative movement of the 1980s.
Barry Goldwater
President of the United States, 1993-2001. Member of the Democratic Party whose leadership represented a more centrist approach to government which included policies passed with a Republican-controlled Congress. His major achievements included the North American Free Trade Agreement, welfare reform, and a balanced budget. He became only the 2nd president in American history to have been impeached by Congress.
Bill Clinton
agreement reached between the leaders of Israel and Egypt after protracted negotiations brokered by President Carter; Israel surrendered land seized in earlier wars and Egypt recognized Israel as a nation. Despite high hopes, it did not lead to a permanent peace in the region, however.
Camp David Accords (1979)
proposed by John Kennedy and signed by Lyndon Johnson; it desegregated public accommodations, libraries, parks, and amusements and broadened the powers of federal government to protect individual rights and prevent job discrimination.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
document drafted under the leadership of Republican congressman Newt Gingrich that promised to enact ten items if they won control of Congress. They included congressional term limits, a balanced budget amendment, tax cuts, tougher crime laws, and welfare reform.
Contract with America
Televised national address by President Carter in which he complained that a weak national spirit struck “at the very heart and soul of our national will.” Carter’s address made many Americans feel that their president had given up.
Crisis of Confidence (Malaise) Speech
the cutting back of federal regulation of industry. In the 1980s, Reagan removed price controls on oil, eliminated federal health and safety inspections for nursing homes, reduced rules governing the airline industry and the savings and loan industry.
Deregulation
controversial Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1953–1969); he led the court in far- reaching racial, social, and political rulings; including school desegregation and protecting rights of persons accused of crimes.
Earl Warren
President of the United States, 1989-1993. He ran his 1988 campaign building on President’s Reagan’s legacy with the promise, “Read my lips: no new taxes.” Despite a swift and successful military campaign against Saddam Hussein in the Person Gulf War, the 1990s economic recession and his ultimate reversal of that promise cost him his bid for re-election in 1992.
George H.W. Bush
unsuccessful Democratic candidate for president in 1972; he called for immediate withdrawal from Vietnam and a guaranteed income for the poor. When his vice presidential choice got into trouble, he waffled in his defense, which cost him further with the electorate.
George McGovern
President of the United States, 2001-2009. Member of the Republican Party who espoused a more “compassionate conservatism” whose policies included tax cuts and education reform. His presidency was largely defined by a “War on Terror” following the September 11 terrorist attacks, which included the Patriot Act, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, War in Afghanistan, and the controversial War in Iraq.
George W. Bush
Alabama governor and third-party candidate for president in 1968 and 1972; he ran on a segregation and law-and-order platform. Paralyzed by an attempted assassination in 1972, he never recovered politically.
George Wallace
president, 1974–1977, who served without being elected either president or vice president; appointed vice president under the terms of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment when Spiro Agnew resigned, he assumed the presidency when Nixon resigned.
Gerald Ford
House Representative from New York chosen by Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Walter Mondale to be his Vice-Presidential running mate in 1984. She became the first woman on a major political party’s presidential ticket.
Geraldine Ferraro
President Lyndon Johnson’s social and economic program that helped the poor, the aged, and the young. The program of civil rights and a “war on poverty” included the passage of Medicare, Medicaid, Immigration Act of 1965, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Great Society
advisor to Presidents Nixon and Ford; he was architect of the Vietnam settlement, the diplomatic opening to China, and détente with the Soviet Union.
Henry Kissinger
a law that opened the door for many non-European immigrants to settle in the United States by ending quotas based on nationality.
Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965
incident in which Iranian radicals, with government support, seized 52 Americans from the U.S. embassy and held them for 444 days; ostensibly demanding the return of the deposed Shah to stand trial, the fundamentalist clerics behind the seizure also hoped to punish the United States for other perceived past wrongs.
Iran Hostage Crisis (1979–1981
scandal that erupted after the Reagan administration sold weapons to Iran in hopes of freeing American hostages in Lebanon; money from the arms sales was used to aid the Contras (anti-Communist insurgents) in Nicaragua, even though Congress had prohibited this assistance. Talk of Reagan’s impeachment ended when presidential aides took the blame for the illegal activity.
Iran–Contra Affair (1986–1987
president, 1977–1981; he aimed for a foreign policy “as good and great as the American people.” His highlight was the Camp David Accords; his low point, the Iran Hostage Crisis. Defeated for reelection after one term, he became very successful as an ex-president.
Jimmy Carter
president, 1963–1969; his escalation of the Vietnam War cost him political support and destroyed his presidency. He increased the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam from 16,000 in 1963 to 540,000 in 1968. After the Tet Offensive, he decided to not seek reelection.
Lyndon Johnson
label for the political radicals of the 1960s; influenced by “Old Left” of the 1930s, which had criticized capitalism and supported successes of Communism, the New Left supported civil rights and opposed American foreign policy, especially in Vietnam.
New Left
Education reform plan that called for more accountability by states for students’ success, mandatory achievement testing, and more school options available for parents.
No Child Left Behind
