Unit 8/9 Vocab Flashcards
1
Q
GI Bill
A
bill providing benefits for returning WW2 soldiers
2
Q
Baby boom
A
The explosion of marriages and births after the end of WWII that resulted in 50 million babies entering the U.S population between 1946 and 1964 due to younger marriages and larger families.
3
Q
Suburban Growth
A
The desperate need for housing after WWII resulted in a construction boom developers such as William J. Levitt build mass-produced low-priced family homes outside of the city which became coveted wants of families, and assisted by the construction of highways.
4
Q
Sunbelt
A
States in the South from Florida to California that became attractive places for families to move after WWII because of the warmer climate, lower taxes, and economic opportunities that developed when tax dollars shifted to the region for industry during the Cold War. It shifted the industry, people, and ultimately political power from the Northeast and Midwest to the South and West.
5
Q
22nd Amendment
A
Ratified in 1951, this amendment placed a limit of a person to two presidential terms, or no more than ten years of office (If a vice-president served as president for less than half the president’s term, he could be elected two more times.)
6
Q
Taft-Hartley Act (1947)
A
A pro-business Act that Congress passed over Truman’s veto that was to check the growing power of unions. The provisions of this law included: outlawing the closed shop (requiring workers to join union before they were hired), and permitting states to pass “right to work” laws outlawing the union ship.
7
Q
Dixiecrats
A
The conservative faction of the Democratic Party that split and abandoned support for Truman during his run for reelection due to his support for civil rights, led by J. Strom Thurmond.
8
Q
Cold War
A
The state of political tension that existed between Free World Countries and Communist countries that lasted from the end of WWII to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It centered around the rival superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union.
9
Q
Joseph Stalin
A
Soviet dictator from 1924-1953
10
Q
World Bank
A
Also known was the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, this was created at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. The U.S offered the Soviet Union membership, but the Soviets declined because they viewed the bank as an instrument of capitalism. The bank was supposed to fund the rebuilding of a war-torn world. This was an example of how the ideologies of democracy and communism were generally incompatible.
11
Q
Satellite countries
A
Eastern European countries that came under the control of the Soviet Union after WWII as Communist dictators came into power of the territories once controlled by the Nazis. Soviet Russia said it needed control of these territories as a buffer to protect Russia from invasion. The Soviet takeover of the countries alarmed Great Britain and the United States.
12
Q
Iron Curtain
A
The term coined by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in a March 1946 speech in Fulton, Missouri where Churchill proclaimed that the Soviet Union was establishing an Iron Curtain between the free countries of Western Europe and the communist-controlled countries of Eastern Europe. This metaphor was used throughout the Cold War to refer to the Soviet Union’s satellite states. It also implied the partnership of Western democracies to halt the expansion of communism.
13
Q
George Kennan
A
An expert on Soviet affairs who is credited for coming up with the “containment policy” the United States applied to the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. He wrote an article explaining that stopping communism from expanding would eventually cause the Soviet Union to collapse or back off their Communist ideology of world denomination.
14
Q
Containment policy
A
The policy that the U.S applied to the Soviet Union and the spread of communism during the Cold War that was formulated by George Kennan, Dean Acheson, and General George MacArthur. The United States needed to implement long-term military, economic, and diplomatic strategies in order to stop the spread of communism. According to Kennan, the Soviet Union would collapse under its own weight to have to become content to give up its ideology of world denomination.
15
Q
Truman Doctrine
A
When there was a Communist-led uprising against the government in Greece and the Soviet Union wanted some control of Turkey’s Dardanelles, Truman asked Congress to give $400 million to assist the “free people” in the countries against the “totalitarian” regimes. His actions became known as the Truman Doctrine, in which the US would support any democratic nation that resisted communism.
16
Q
Marshall Plan
A
Outlined by George Marshall in June 1947, this extensive program of U.S economic aid would help nations of Europe revive their economies and strengthen democratic governments. In December, Truman submitted the $17 billion dollar plan, also known as the European Recovery Program. $12 billion in aid was approved for distribution to countries in Western Europe over a four-year period. With this plan, the countries’ economies greatly recovered, ending the chance of communist takeover.
17
Q
Berlin Airlift
A
In June 1948, the Soviets cut off all access by land to West Berlin. Truman ordered U.S planes to fly in supplies to the people within the blockade. The supplies was flown in until the blockade ended. Seeing that their blockade was useless, the Soviets opened the highways to Berlin in May 1949 as not to escalate the situation into war.
18
Q
Partition of Germany
A
After the Berlin Airlift lasting from 1948-1949, the French, English, and American zones of occupation were joined together into the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) while the German Democratic Republic, also known as East Germany. This division lasted for the remainder of the Cold War until the Berlin Wall was broken down.
19
Q
NATO
A
1949, Truman proposed that the United States join a military alliance to protect Western Europe. The Senate agreed, and ten European nations along with the U.S and Canada created NATO, a military alliance for defending all members from outside attack.
20
Q
NSC-68
A
In 1950, the National Security Council produced this secret report that said to fight the Cold War, the U.S needed: (1) quadruple U.S government defense spending to 20 percent of GNP (2) form alliances with non-Communist countries around the world, (3) convince the American public that a costly arms buildup was imperative for the nation’s defense.
21
Q
Firing of MacArthur
A
The U.S General who led the U.N forces during the Korean War. After he managed to stabilize the fighting near the 38th parallel, he called for an expanded war, including bombing and invasion of mainland China. Truman warned him not to speak out badly against official U.S policy, but he spoke out anyways. In April 1951, Truman with the support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff recalled MacArthur for insubordination. He returned a hero as most Americans as Truman’s “limited war” was viewed by many was a weak act of appeasement.
22
Q
Chinese Civil War
A
This civil war from the 1930s was renewed after the end of WWII between Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists and Chinese Communists led by Mao Zedong. The U.S had supported the Nationalists in WWII, but they were losing popularity because of runaway inflation and widespread corruption while the Communists appealed to poor landless peasants. Truman sent George Marshall to negotiate an end to the civil war, but it fell apart. The U.S gave the Nationalist government $400 million, but most of it ended up with the Communists do to corruption. Thus, mainland China fell to the Communists in 1949 and the Nationalists resided on an island (Taiwan).
23
Q
Korean War
A
The war began with an unexpected invasion of South Korea on June 25, 1950. Truman called a special session of the U.N Security Council, where it was voted that a U.N force would defend South Korea. U.S troops made up most of the U.N forces and were led by General Douglas MacArthur. War was never officially declared. At first, the North Koreans were able to push its opponents to the tip of the peninsula, but MacArthur reversed the war by leading a amphibious assault at Inchon. However, in November 1950, Chinese troops crossed into Korea and drove troops out of North Korea. Peace talks began at Panmunjom in July 1951 and an armistice as signed in 1953 where it was decided to divide into North and South Korea along the 38th parallel.
24
Q
HUAAC
A
Originally established in 1939 to seek out Nazis but was reactivated during WWII to find Communists. It investigated government officials as well as looked for Communist influence in such organizations as the Boy Scouts and in the Hollywood film industry. Actors, directors, and writers were called before the committee to testify, and those who refused to testify were tried for contempt of Congress and other were blacklisted from the industry.
25
Alger Hiss Pumpkin Papers
A prominent official in the state department who had assisted Roosevelt at the Yalta Conference who in 1950 was convicted of perjury and sent to prison due to accusations that he was Communist and had given secret documents to Chambers. He claimed that he was innocent. The trial was carried out by the HUAC and the testimony of Whittaker Chambers, a confessed Communist, and the investigative work of Richard M. Nixon, led to his incrimination.
26
Rosenburg Case
The trial in 1951 that accused Julius and Ethel Rosenberg of spying for the Soviet Union to get nuclear weapons secrets. The FBI had found them at the center of a Soviet Spy ring. They were found guilty of treason and were executed in 1953. Civil rights groups raised questions about whether anti-Communist hysteria had played a role in their conviction and punishment.
27
Joseph McCarthy / McCarthyism
A Republican senator from Wisconsin who used the growing concern over communism in his reelection campaign. He announced in a speech in 1950 that 205 Communists were still working in the State Department. This sensational accusation was publicized in the American press, and he became one of the most powerful men in America. People feared the damage he could do if his accusing finger pointed their way. He lost credibility in 1954 when a Senate committee held televised hearing on Communist infiltration in the Army, and McCarthy was seen as a bully.
28
Dwight D. Eisenhower
an American politician and Army general who served as the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961.
29
Richard Nixon
President of the United States from 1969-1974, he rose to national prominence as a "communist hutner" and member of HUAC in the 1950s. He was vice president under Eisenhower from 1953-1961 and defended American capitalism in the 1959 Kitchen Debate with Khrushchev. He ran unsuccessfully for president against JFK in 1960 but was elected in 1968, resigning amid the Watergate scandal in 1974
30
Federal Highway Act of 1956
federal legislation signed by Eisenhower to construct thousands of miles of modern highways in the name of national defense. Offically called the National Interstate and Defense of Highways Act, this bill dramatically increased the move to the suburbs, as white middle-class people could more easily commute to urban jobs.
31
John Foster Dulles
served as U.S. Secretary of State under Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against Communism throughout the world.
32
Brinkmanship
the art or practice of pursuing a dangerous policy to the limits of safety before stopping. Especially associated with Dulles and using the threat of nuclear weapons.
33
CIA covert operations
a covert operation (also as CoveOps or covert ops) is "an operation that is so planned and executed as to conceal the identity of or permit plausible denial by the sponsor."
34
Korean Armistice
the armistice which ended the Korean War. It was signed by U.S. Army Lieutenant General William Harrison, Jr. representing the United Nations Command (UNC), North Korean General Nam Il representing the Korean People's Army, and the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, and effectively split Korea into a northern communist country, and a southern free country.
35
Ho Chi Minh
Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
36
State of Israel
Founded in 1948 when the UN split Palestine between Arabs and Jews, which created fighting that still persists. It is a Jewish state based on the beliefs of Zionism.
37
Arab Nationalism
a nationalist ideology celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and literature of the Arabs, calling for rejuvenation and political union in the Arab world, particularly as it pertains to the plight of the Palestinians.
38
Suez Canal Crisis
International crisis launched when Egyptian President Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, which had been owned mostly by French and British stockholders, and denied Israel access to the Suez Canal. It also named the Tripartite Aggression and the Kadesh Operation or Sinai War, was an invasion of Egypt in late 1956 by Israel with the assistance of Britain and France.
39
Eisenhower Doctrine
U.S. foreign-policy pronouncement by President Dwight D. Eisenhower promising military or economic aid to any Middle Eastern country needing help in resisting communist aggression.
40
OPEC
(The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) a group consisting of 12 of the world's major oil-exporting nations, founded in 1960 to coordinate the petroleum policies of its members, and to provide member states with technical and economic aid.
41
Nikita Khrushchev
Premier of the Soviet Union from 1958-1964, he was a communist party offical who emerge from the power struggle after Stalin's death in 1953 to lead the USSR. He crushed a pro-Western uprising of Hngary in 1956, and, in 1958, issued an ultimatum for Western evacuation of Berline. Defended Soviet-style economic planning in the Kitchen Debate with Richard Nixon in 1959 and attempted to send missiles to Cuba in 1962 but backed down when comfronted by JFK.
42
Hungarian Revolt
The Hungarian Uprising of 1956 was a nationwide revolt against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956. Crushed by the Soviet Army.
43
Warsaw Pact
formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation, and Mutual Assistance and sometimes, informally, WarPac. was a collective defense treaty among the Soviet Union and seven other Soviet satellites.
44
Sputnik (1957)
a series of Soviet artificial satellites, the first of which (launched on October 4, 1957) was the first satellite to be placed in orbit. This caused a panic amongst Americans that the Soviets were pulling ahead in technology.
45
NDEA/NASA
National Defense Education Act was a science initiative to make American schools more geared towards math and science, while the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was formed to advance the US in its space program. Both were a reaction to Sputnik.
46
U-2 Incident
when a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down while in Soviet airspace. The aircraft, flown by Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) pilot Francis Gary Powers, was performing photographic aerial reconnaissance when it was hit by a surface-to-air missile.
47
Fidel Castro
Cuban revolutionary who overthrew Batista dictatorship in 1958 and assumed control of the island country. His connections with the Soviet Union led to a cessation of diplomatic relations with the United States in such internationl affairs as the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Oversaw his country through the end of the Cold War and through nearly a half-century of trade embargo with the US.
48
Military Industrial Complex
The military–industrial complex is an informal alliance between a nation's military and the arms industry which supplies it, seen together as a vested interest which influences public policy.
49
Jackie Robinson
an American professional baseball second baseman who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era.
50
Thurgood Marshall
a lawyer who was best known for his high success rate in arguing before the Supreme Court and for the victory in Brown v. Board of Education. President Johnson nominated him to the United States Supreme Court in 1967 and he was approved by the Senate, becoming the first black Supreme Court Justice.
51
Brown v. The Board of Education Topeka
landmark Supreme Court decision that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson and abolished racial segregation in public schools. This decision was the first major step toward the legal end of racial discrimination and a major accomplishment for the Civil Rights Movement.
52
Earl Warren
Liberal Californian politician appointed Chief Justice the Supreme Court by Eisenhowerin 1953, he was principally known for moving the Court to the left in defense of civil and individual rights in such cases as Brown v. Board of Education (1954), Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), and Miranda v. Arizona (1966).
53
Little Rock Crisis
when a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The students were initially prevented from entering the racially segregated school by Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas. They attended after President Dwight D. Eisenhower intervened with the Army.
54
Rosa Parks
NAACP leader in Montgomery, Alabama, who inaugurate the city's famous bus boycott in 1955 by refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white passenger. She became a leading symbol of the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement and the cause of racial equality throughout her long life.
55
Montgomery Bus Boycott
a protest sparked by Rosa Park's defiant refusal to move to the back of the bus of black Alabamians against segregated seating on city buses. It lasted from December 1, 1955 until December 26, 1956, and became one of the foundational moments of the Civil Rights Movements. It led to the rise of Martin Luther King Jr., and ultimately to a Supreme Court decision opposing segregated busing.
56
Martin Luther King Junior
civil rights leader and Baptist preacher who rose to prominence with the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957. He was an outspoken advocate for black rights throughout the 1960s, most famously during the 1963 March on Washington where he delivered the "I Have a Dream Speech." He was assasinated in Memphis in 1968 while supporting a sanitation workers' strike
57
SCLC
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC, which is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr, had a large role in the American Civil Rights Movement
58
Nonviolent protest
the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, or other methods, without using violence. Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience is often cited as starting the doctrine, and it was successfully implemented by first Mahatma Ghandi, and then MLK.
59
Sit-in movement
Students from across the country came together to form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and organize sit-ins at segregated counters throughout the South.
60
SNCC
youth organization founded by southern black students in 1960 to promote civil rights. drawing on its members' youthful energies, it helped coordinate demonstrations, sit-ins, and voter registration drives
61
Consumer culture
a form of capitalism in which the economy is focused on the selling of consumer goods and the spending of consumer money; especially noticeable in the culture of the United States.
62
Beatniks
a young person in the 1950s and early 1960s belonging to a subculture associated with the beat generation that tended to be more anti-materialism. They stressed artistic self-expression and the rejection of the mores of conventional society; broadly : a usually young and artistic person who rejects the mores of conventional society.
63
John F. Kennedy
43 year old senator from MA who became president after appearing more vigorous and comfortable on the first televised debates than his republican counterpart. His wife, Jacqueline Kennedy- brought style, glamor and appreciation of the arts to the White House.
64
New Frontier
domestic policy advocated by JFK in 1960 election; promised to revitalize the stagnant economy & enact reform legislation in education, health care, and civil rights.
65
Peace Corps
an organization set up in the JFK administration that recruited young American volunteers to give technical aid to developing countries.
66
Bay of Pigs
April 1961- CIA sponsored Cuban exiles try to over through Castro; Eisenhower started it but decided not to do it; JFK took full responsibility for the failure.
67
Berlin Wall
The East Germans, with Soviet backing, built this around West Berlin to stop east communist Germans from escaping to West Germany.
68
Cuban Missile Crisis
The US discovered that the Russians were building missile sites in Cuba for the launching of offensive missiles that could reach the US in minutes; Kennedy responded by announcing to the world that he was setting up a naval blockade of Cuba until the weapons were removed ; Khrushchev agreed to remove missiles from Cuba after Kennedy pledged not to invade the island nation, and remove US missiles from Turkey.
69
Flexible Response
JFK policy to increase spending on conventional arms and mobile military forces to reduce the risk of using nuclear weapons, and also increased sending elite special forces into combat; moving away from idea of massive retaliation.
70
Warren Commission
Headed by Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren, it concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin in Kennedy's Murder.
71
Lyndon Johnson
took oath of office as president abruptly after JFK was assassinated aboard the Air Force One airplane at the Dallas airport.
72
Great Society
Johnson's domestic agenda to create the world’s “greatest society”, it was a set of New Deal like economic and welfare measure aimed at transforming US way of life.
73
War on Poverty
Johnson responded to Harrington's "The other America" by declaring an unconditional war on poverty.
74
Barry Goldwater
senator of Arizona who ran for president in 1964, and advocated ending the welfare state, including TVA and social security.
75
Rachel Carson
author of Silent Spring- clean air and water laws were enacted in part as a response to this book about the environment.
76
Civil Rights Act of 1964
made segregation illegal in all public facilities and gave the federal government additional powers to enforce school desegregation.
77
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
set up in the wake of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to end racial discrimination in employment.
78
Twenty Fourth Amendment
abolished the practice of collecting a poll tax; one of the measures that discouraged poor persons from voting.
79
Voting Rights Act of 1965
ended Jim Crow tactics to prevent blacks from voting and provided federal registers to ensure voter registration was fair.
80
James Meredith
young African American Air Force veteran who broke university segregation by enrolling at the University of Mississippi. He had to be escorted by Federal Marshalls.
81
March on Washington
MLK led one of the largest and most the successful demonstrations in US history, and about 200,000 blacks and whites took part in this successful march where MLK gave the "I Have a Dream" Speech- appealed for the end of racial prejudice and ended with everyone in the crowd singing "We Shall Overcome"
82
Malcolm X
- acquired a reputation as the Black Muslim movement / Nation of Islam’s most controversial voice. The Black Muslim’s leader, Elijah Muhammad, preached black nationalism, separatism, and self-improvement. Although Malcolm X initially criticized MLK as "an uncle tom" and advocated self-defense, he later disavowed the Nation of Islam and became a regular Muslim prior to his assassination.
83
Black Power
thinking influenced by the radicalism of Malcom X; formed by young blacks; advocating black power; scornful of integration and interracial cooperation, broke with MLK Jr., to advocate greater militancy and acts of violence.
84
Congress of Racial Equality
famous for freedom rides which drew attention to Southern barbarity, leading to the passing of civil rights legislation.
85
Stokely Carmichael
chairman of SNCC who later repudiated nonviolence and advocated "black power" and racial separatism
86
Black Panthers
organized by Huey Newton, Bobby Seale and other militants as a revolutionary socialist movement advocating self-rule for American blacks.
87
Watts Riots
in the summer of 1965, LA; resulted in the deaths of 34 people and the destruction of 700 buildings.
88
Kerner Commission
federal investigation of race riots; conclude in late 1968 that racism and segregation were chiefly responsible and that the US was becoming "two societies, one black, one white--separate and unequal"
89
Warren Court
Supreme Court under Earl Warren; had an impact on the nation comparable to that of John Marshall- especially with cases that dealt with states upholding the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments.
90
Gideon v. Illinois
required that state courts provide counsel for indigent defendants
91
Escobedo v. Illinois
required the police to inform an arrested person of his or her right to remain silent
92
Miranda v. Arizona
extended the ruling in Escobedo to include the right to a lawyer being present during questioning by the police
93
Reapportionment
the process of reallocating seats in the House of Representatives every 10 years on the basis of the results of the census
94
Baker v. Carr
declared practices like for one house of a state legislature to be based upon the drawing of district lines that strongly favored rural areas to the disadvantage of large cities unconstitutional: "one man, one vote" meant that election districts would have to be redrawn to provide equal representation for all of a state's citizens
95
Yates v. United States
said that the first amendment protected radical and revolutionary speech, even by Communists unless it was a "clear and present danger" to the safety of the country
96
Engel v. Vitale
ruled that state laws requiring prayers and Bible readings in the public schools violated the first amendments provision for not establishing a state religion; separation of church and state
97
SDS (Students for a Democratic Society)
was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main representations of the anti-war movement.
98
Counterculture
expressed in young people in rebellious styles of dress, music, drug use, and for some, communal living
99
Sexual Revolution
one aspect of counterculture that continued beyond the 1960s was a change in many Americans' attitudes toward sexual expressions
100
Betty Friedan
author of The Feminine Mystique- gave the women's movement a new direction by encouraging middle-class women to seek fulfillment in professional careers rather than confining themselves to the roles of wife, mother, and homemaker.
101
National Organization for Women
adopted activist tactics of other civil rights movements to secure an amendment that defined men and women as the same, despite physical differences
102
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
proposed constitutional amendment that stated "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any state on account of sex" - NOT PASSED, needed 38 sates to ratify, but only 35 approved due largely to a feminine organization named “STOP ERA” headed by Phyllis Schlafly
103
Vietnam War
2.7 million Americans served in the conflict and 58000 died in an increasingly costly and hopeless effort to prevent South Vietnam from falling to Communism
104
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
gave the president, as commander in chief a blank check to take "all necessary measures" to protect US interests in Vietnam
105
Tet Offensive
the Vietcong launched an all out surprise attack on almost every provincial capital and American base in South Vietnam; US military counterattacked and effectively put down the Vietcong, but this event caused the US public to turn against the war
106
Robert Kennedy
JFK’s brother who served as his Attorney General, and later became a Senator from NY. Decided to enter the presidential race after McCarthy's strong showing in NH, but was shot after his major victory in CA’s primary.
107
Medicare
government health care for those 65 and over (raised to 67)
108
Medicaid
government paid health care for the poor and the disabled
109
Henry Kissinger
Nixon's national security adviser, he later become secretary of state during Nixon's second term. He helped Nixon to fashion a real-politic approach to foreign policy that promoted American interests over ideals of American values.
110
Vietnamization
President Nixon announced that he would gradually withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam and give the South Vietnamese the money, the weapons, and the training that they needed to take over the full conduct of the war. Under this policy, U.S. troops in South Vietnam went from over 540,000 in 1969 to under 30,000 in 1972
111
Kent State
In April 1970, President Nixon expanded the war by using U.S. forces to invade Cambodia. A nationwide protest against this action on U.S. college campuses expanded, and at Kent State University in Ohio National Guard troops killed 4 students which expanded hostility against the war.
112
My Lai
The American public was shocked when pictures were published in LIFE Magazine of a 1968 massacre of women and children by U.S. troops in the Vietnamese village of My Lai
113
Pentagon Papers
The New York Times published the Pentagon Papers, a secret government history documenting the mistakes and deceptions of government policy-makers in dealing with Vietnam
114
Paris Accords of 1973
In January 1973, the North Vietnamese agreed to an armistice, in which the United States would withdraw the last of its troops and get back over 500 prisoners of war (POWs). The agreement also promised a cease-fire and free elections. However, after the US exited, Communists took over the country by force.
115
Détente
the easing of hostility or strained relations during the Cold War. President Nixon and Kissinger strengthened the U.S. position in the world by taking advantage of the rivalry between the two Communist giants, China and the Soviet Union. Their diplomacy was praised for bringing about detente, a reduction of Cold War tensions
116
China visit
After a series of secret negotiations with Chinese leaders, in February of 1972 Nixon astonished the world by traveling to Communist China. His visit initiated diplomatic exchanges that ultimately led to U.S. recognition of the Communist government
117
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
President Nixon used his new relationship with China to put pressure on the Soviets to agree to a treaty limiting antiballistic missiles (ABMs), a new technology that would have expanded the arms race. After the first round of Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT I), U.S. diplomats secured Soviet consent to a freeze on the number of ballistic missiles carrying nuclear warheads. While this agreement did not end the arms race, it was a significant step toward reducing Cold War tensions and bringing about detente.
118
Six Day War of 1967
Israeli preemptive strike where the Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian armies were decisively defeated, and Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan, the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and the Golan Heights from Syria, and expelled the UN from Jerusalem. The 1967 war, which lasted only six days, established Israel as the dominant regional military power.
119
Arab Israel War / Yom Kippur War (1973)
On October 6, 1973, the Syrians and Egyptians launched a surprise attack on Israel in an attempt to recover the lands lost in the Six-Day War of 1967. President Nixon ordered the U.S. nuclear forces on alert and airlifted almost $2 billion in arms to Israel to stem their retreat. The tide of battle quickly shifted in favor of the Israelis, and angered Arab nations.
120
OPEC oil embargo
After the October 1973 Arab Israel War, angered Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) placed an embargo on oil sold to Israel's supporters. The embargo caused a worldwide oil shortage and long lines at gas stations in the United States
121
Stagflation
The U.S. economy in the 1970s faced an unusual combination of economic slowdown and high inflation. To slow inflation, President Nixon at first tried to cut federal spending. When this policy contributed to a recession and unemployment, he adopted Keynesian economics and deficit spending. He surprised the nation by imposing a 90-day wage and price freeze. Next, he took the dollar off the gold standard, which helped to devalue it relative to foreign currencies.
122
Southern Strategy
Having received just 43 percent of the popular vote in 1968, President Nixon was well aware of being a minority president. To win over the South, he asked the federal courts in that region to delay integration plans and busing orders. He also nominated two southern conservatives to the Supreme Court. The Senate refused to confirm them, and the courts rejected his requests for delayed integration. Nevertheless, his strategy played well with southern white voters who would shift to the Republican Party
123
US going off the gold standard
In response to nations losing faith in America as a result of the war in Vietnam, many started to cash in their reserves for gold, but there was actually more US dollars outside of the US than the government had in reserve. So 1971, President Nixon took the U.S. off the gold standard, which helped to devalue the U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies, and the US went on a purely FIAT money system.
124
Title IX
In 1972, Congress passed this statue to end sex discrimination in schools that received federal funding.
125
Roe v. Wade
In 1973, the Supreme Court struck down many state laws prohibiting abortions as a violation of a women's right to privacy
126
Watergate Scandal
In June 1972, a group of men hired by Nixon's reelection committee were caught breaking into the offices of the Democratic national headquarters in the Watergate complex. This break-in and attempted bugging were only part of a series of illegal activities. No proof demonstrated that Nixon had ordered the illegal activities. However, it was shown that Nixon participated in the illegal cover up of the scandal. Investigation of the president revealed that his aides created a group called the plumbers to stop leaks to the press as well as to discredit opponents, and it was also revealed that the White House created this list of prominent Americans who opposed Nixon or the Vietnam War.
127
United States v. Nixon
In the last days of the Watergate scandal, the Supreme Court denied Nixon's claims to executive privilege and ordered him to turn over the Watergate tapes
128
War Powers Act
It was found that President Nixon had authorized 3,500 secret bombing raids in Cambodia, a neutral county. In November 1973, after a long struggle, Congress finally passed this act over Nixon's veto. This law required Nixon and any future president to report to Congress within 48 hours after taking military action and to obtain Congressional approval for any military action lasting more than 60 days. This was also supported in wake of the disastrous results of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which gave the president full-reign to conduct war
129
Nixon's impeachment and resignation
The start of impeachment hearings in the House forced Nixon to eventually turn over the Watergate tapes, tape recordings of Nixon in his office. The tapes clearly implicated Nixon in the cover-up. The House Judiciary Committee voted three articles of impeachment: (1) obstruction of justice, (2) abuse of power, and (3) contempt of Congress. On August 9, 1974 Nixon resigned
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Gerald Ford
As vice president, he became president when Richard Nixon resigned on August 1, 1974. He was a likeable and unpretentious man, but his ability to be president was questioned by many in the media
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Pardon of Nixon
In his first month in office President Gerald Ford granted Richard Nixon a full and unconditional pardon for any crime he might have committed in office
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Reform of the CIA
Former Congressman George H. W. Bush was appointed by President Ford to reform this agency after it had been accused of assassinating foreign leaders
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Fall of Saigon
In April 1975, the U.S supported government in Saigon fell and Vietnam became one country under Communist rule. The feared “Domino Theory” proved partially true when in 1975, the U.S. supported government in next door Cambodia fell to the Khmer Rouge, a radical Communist faction that killed over one million of its people in an effort to rid the country of western influence
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James Earl (Jimmy) Carter
He was elected president in 1976. He was a former Democratic governor of Georgia. He was helped by running as an outsider and the voters memory of Watergate.
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Panama Canal Treaty
In 1978, the Senate ratified a treaty that would gradually transfer control of the Panama Canal from the U.S. to Panama.
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Camp David Accords
In September 1978, President Carter arranged for leader of Egypt and Israel to met at the Camp David presidential retreat to provide a framework for a peace settlement between the two countries. In response, Anwar Sadat of Egypt was killed by his own military
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Iranian Hostage Situation
In November 1979, Iranian students from the University of Tehran seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran and held more than 50 of the U.S. staff as hostages. The hostage crisis dragged on for the rest of Carter's presidency
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Soviet Afghanistan Invasion
In December 1979, Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan, an action that ended a decade of improving U.S.-Soviet relations. The US backed Osama bin Laden to fight the Russians
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Cesar Chavez
In 1975, as leader of the United Farm Workers Organization he organized boycotts and eventually gained collective bargaining rights for farm workers
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Gay Liberation Movement
By the mid 1970s, homosexuality was no longer classified as a mental illness and the federal Civil Service ended its ban on unemployment of homosexuals
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Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
In 1970, Congress created this agency to protect the environment. Congress also passed the Clean Air Act in 1970, and the Clean Water Act in 1972. The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident in Pennsylvania also turned public opinion against nuclear power and strengthened the rising environmental movement.
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Conservative Movement
a term that describes the process through which control of the Republican Party has been taken by people with strong feelings in favor of robust national defense, low taxes, minimum government regulation, and traditional social values. The conservative movement has resulted in a shift in the ideological base of the Republican Party, while becoming the home to lower-class whites in the Deep South
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Republican / Reagan Revolution
strongly conservative values that appealed to moderates and conservatives anxious about social change and the seeming loss of American power and influence on the world stage. Leading the so-called Revolution, Reagan appealed to voters with the promise that the principles of conservatism could halt and revert the social and economic changes of the last generation. Reagan won the White House by citing big government and attempts at social reform as the problem, not the solution
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Moral Majority
a prominent American political organization associated with the Christian right and Republican Party. It was founded in 1979 by Baptist minister Jerry Falwell and associates, and dissolved in the late 1980s
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Religious Right
Christian right or religious right is a term used mainly in the United States to label right-wing Christian political factions that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies.
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Reverse Discrimination
in the context of a misallocation of resources or employment) the practice or policy of favoring individuals belonging to groups known to have been discriminated against previously (affirmative action), whereby a decision is made on the basis of a demographic, not merit.
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California v. Bakke
the Court ruled unconstitutional a university's use of racial "quotas" in its admissions process but held that affirmative action programs could be constitutional in some circumstances
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Supply Side Economics
a macroeconomic theory that argues economic growth can be most effectively created by investing in capital and by lowering barriers to economic growth, like taxes. During this era it was also refered to as "Trickle-down economics", also "trickle-down theory."
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Sandra Day O'Connor
First female Supreme Court justice, appointed by Ronald Reagan
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SDI (Stars Wars)
was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons, combining ground-based units and orbital deployment platforms. The ambitious initiative was criticized for allegedly threatening to destabilize the MAD-approach to re-ignite "an offensive arms race" to bankrupt the Soviets.
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Iran Contra Affair
A political scandal in the United States that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration, whereby the US illegally sold arms to Iran, and used the proceeds to pay for the illegal support of combat forces (the Contras) in Nicaragua.
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Glasnost and Perestroika
widely associated with the reforms of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Glasnost meant to more political "openness", and perestroika was an economic reform aimed at making the Soviet economy more open; not to entirely end the command economy, but rather to make socialism work more efficiently to better meet the needs of Soviet citizens.
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Panama Invasion
The United States military Invasion of Panama during the administration of President George H. W. Bush. During the invasion, de facto Panamanian leader, general, and dictator Manuel Noriega was deposed, and the Panamanian Defense Force dissolved
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Persian Gulf War
The United States military Invasion of Iraq during the administration of President George H. W. Bush to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. While Kuwait was freed, Iraqi dictator Sadaam Hussein remained in power.
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NAFTA
The North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, is a three-country accord negotiated by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States that entered into force in January 1994 during the presidency of Bill Clinton, whereby trade barrier taxes (tariffs) and polices would be removed to promote more integrated economies.
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EU
the European Union, often called the EU, was formed in 1993 and is comprised of European member states with the vision of promoting integrated common economic, foreign, security, and justice policies
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WTO
The World Trade Organization is an intergovernmental organization formed in 1995 to regulate international trade, and provide for a more integrated world economy.
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World Bank
G-8- The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to countries of the world for capital programs, while the G-8 is an inter-governmental political forum of the world′s major highly industrialized economies.
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Bush v. Gore
United States Supreme Court decision that resolved the dispute surrounding the counting of votes in the 2000 presidential election. The conservative majority court ruled that the recount underway in the closely contested state of Florida be halted, thereby calling Bush the winner in Florida, and deciding the election. While Gore had won the popular vote, Bush won the election with electoral college.
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9-11
A series of four coordinated airplane attacks on the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, which prompted the beginning of the US War on Terror
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Iraq and Afghanistan Wars (War on Terror)
President George W. Bush first used the term "War on Terror" on 20 September 2001, and it has since been used to argue for a global military, political, legal, and conceptual struggle against both terrorist organizations and against the regimes accused of supporting them. In the wake of the 9-11 attacks, the US has been involved in wars in Afghanistan (2001-present) and Iraq (2003-2001), under the pretext that both nations aided global terrorism.
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Barack Obama
44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017. He is the first African American to have served as president, as well as the first born outside the contiguous United States
