Unit 10: Important Concepts Flashcards
War on Poverty
Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty in his 1964 State of the Union address. The Office of Economic Opportunity oversaw a variety of programs to help the poor, including the Job Corps and Head Start.
Black Power
Racial slogan that signaled a growing challenge to King’s non-violent civil rights movement by militant younger blacks
Credibility Gap
A lack of popular confidence in the truth of the claims or public statements made by the federal government, large corporations, politicians, etc.
Inflation
A decrease in the value of money in relation to goods, causes prices to rise. A cause was from the increase and scarcity of oil/gas.
Wage & Price Freeze
Nixon imposed a 90 day wage and price freeze to stimulate exports he took U.S. off gold standard and devaluing the $.
Enemies List
the nickname given to the group of people singled out by the Nixon administration in the early 1970s for harassment and prosecution by government agencies
Detente
Nixon-Ford-Kissinger policy of seeking relaxed tensions with the Soviet Union through trade and arms limitation.
Energy Crisis
When Carter entered office inflation soared, due to the increases in energy prices by OPEC. Instability in the Middle East produced a major fuel shortage in the US, and OPEC announced a major price increase. Carter retreated to Camp David & Carter emerged with a speech including a series of proposals for resolving the energy crisis.
“Supply-Side” economics
The economic theory of “Reaganomics” that emphasized cutting taxes and government spending in order to stimulate investment, productivity, and economic growth by private enterprise
International Economy
Mass consumer economy with heavy machinery and automobile corporations. Technology has become and industry in itself. Business transactions in different areas of the world much easier. More involved with foreign trade.
Anti-war movement
The Anti-War Movement was a student protest that started as the Free Speech movement in California and spread around the world. Opposition to war in Vietnam and condemned U.S. presence there. They claimed this was violating Vietnam’s rights. This movement resulted in growing activism on campuses aimed at social reform etc. Primarily a middle-class movement.
Great Society
President Johnson called his version of the Democratic reform program the Great Society. In 1965, Congress passed many Great Society measures, including Medicare, civil rights legislation, and federal aid to education.
Flexible Response
the buildup of conventional troops and weapons to allow a nation to fight a limited war without using nuclear weapons
Dirty Tricks
CREEP raised money in secretive, unethical, or unlawful ways. “Dirty tricks” were a party of the campaign which included espionage, sabotage, and fake documents against Democratic candidates in 1972.
Affirmative Action
Policies of the government aimed at increasing access to jobs, schooling, and oppurtunities to people previously discriminated against…Bakke vs. Board of Regents
Recession of 1982
economic downturn in the early 1980s that led to “Reaganomics”
“Glass Ceiling”
The invisible barrier that prevents women and minorities from advancing to the top jobs in organizations
Executive Privilege
This policy came into effect during the Nixon administration when members of the executive branch were being questioned by authorities. The policy stated that Congress could not question any of the past or present employees about any topic without the president’s approval.
Combodian Incursion
The Cambodian Campaign (also known as the Cambodian Incursion and the Cambodian Invasion) was a series of military operations conducted in eastern Cambodia during mid-1970 by the United States and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) during the Vietnam War. These invasions were a result of the policy of President Richard Nixon. A total of 13 major operations were conducted by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) between 29 April and 22 July and by US forces between 1 May and 30 June.
Republican Resurgence
The unpopularity of President Johnson’s Great Society, rising crime, radical campus protests, and racial riots coupled with the coattail effect of popular Governor George W. Romney at the top of the state ticket all led to a downturn for the Democratic Party. The Republicans succeeded in recapturing the five districts they lost. Nationally the Republicans gained 47 seats from the Democrats in the House.
Deficit Spending
The English economist John Maynard Keynes proposed that governments cut taxes and
increase spending in order to stimulate investment and consumption. The effect was to
increase the deficit because more money was spent than was taken in.
Counterculture
A rebellion of teens and young adults against mainstream American society in the 1960s
LSD
Timothy Leary, Harvard psychologist who experimented with psychoactive drugs (including LSD) and became a well-known advocate of their use as a way to open and expand the mind, became a well-known advocate of their use
Peaceful Conexistence
foreign policy and was adopted by Soviet-influenced “Communist states” that they could peacefully coexist with the capitalist
Nixon Doctrine
Created during the Vietnam War. Stated that the US would honor its existing defense commitments, but in the future other countries would have to fight their own wars without support of American troops.
Reverse Deicrimiantion
The assertion that affirmative action programs that require preferential treatment for minorities discriminate against those who have no minority status., Giving preference to members of certain groups such that others feel they are the subjects of discrimination, The act of giving preference to members of protected classes to the extent that unprotected individuals believe they are suffering discrimination.
AIDS
Huge deadly outbreak in the ’70s started with gay men and was labeled the “gay plague” but soon began to affect drug users, hemophiliacs, and minorities. Expensive to treat, no cure. C Everett Koop caused government to spend 1.3 billion on AIDS assistance.
Vietnamization
Vietnamization was a policy of the Richard Nixon administration during the Vietnam War to end the U.S.’ involvement in the war and “expand, equip, and train South Vietnam’s forces and assign to them an ever-increasing combat role, at the same time steadily reducing the number of U.S. combat troops”.
Reaganomics
Reagan’s theory that if you cut taxes, it will spur the growth of public spending and improve the economy. It included tax breaks for the rich, “supply-side economics,” and “trickle down” theory.
New immigration
Term for most post-1880 newcomers who came to America primarily from southern and eastern Europe
“Evil Empire”
“Evil Empire” was a term that president Ronald Reagan used to describe the Soviet Empire, it was a phrase he coined during one of the speeches of his presidency.
Arms for Hostages
His meetings with Gorbachev were the first steps to ending the Cold War. Ronald Reagan was also responsible for the Iran-contra Affair which bought hostages with guns.
War on Drugs
Started under President Nixon in 1971. campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade.
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
Popularly known as “Star Wars,” President Reagan’s SDI proposed the construction of an elaborate computer-controlled, anti-missile defense system capable of destroying enemy missiles in outer spaced. Critics claimed that SDI could never be perfected.
Sunbelt/Rustbelt
Sunbelt: This region consists of a broad band of states running across the South from Florida to Texas, extending west and north to include California and the Pacific Northwest. Beginning in the 1970s, this area experienced rapid economic growth and major gains in population.
Rustbelt: Urban areas in New England and Middle West characterized by concentrations of declining industries (steel or textiles).
Electronic Revolution
The information economy brought the large use of computers to America. The silicon chip, made in 1959, is a small one quarter of an inch square that can hold incredible amounts of information. This is called a microchip
