Unit 8 Key Terms Flashcards
Harry S. Truman
33rd Democrat President, started CIA, fought Korean War in 1950, created Truman Doctrine to end Communism
Dwight D. Eisenhower
34th Republican President, signed Interstate Highway Act, fixed Suez Canal Crisis, and contained communism in Mid-East through covert operations
John F. Kennedy
35th Democrat President, “New Frontier” in space exploration, removing poverty, succesfully stopped the Cuban Missile Crisis, assassinated
Lyndon Baines Johnson
36th Democrat President, Great Society programs like Medicare, Medicaid, signed 1964 Civil Rights Act, sent troops to Viet and made draft
Richard Nixon
37th Republican President, promised to remove troops but instead expanded war into Cambodia and Laos, involvment in Watergate Scandal led to his resignment
Gerald Ford
38th Republican President, pardoned Nixon, cut inflation in half
Jimmy Carter
39th Democratic President, pardoned all Vietnam War draft dodgers
Ronald Reagan
40th Republican President, arguably led to fall of Soviet Union and end of Cold War, reduced nuclear stockpiles, conservative “Reagonomic” policies
George Kennan
major advocate for containment of Communism and Soviet Union from spreading during Cold War
The Dulles Brothers
Eisenhower’s Sec of State John Dulles and CIA Director Allen Dulles, believed in agressive anti-Communism, toppled governments
Robert McNamara
Johnson’s Sec of Defense, helped escalate American involvement in Vietnam War
Barry Goldwater
Conservative Arizona senator, lost to LBJ in 1964
Hubert Humphrey
Vice President to LBJ, supported civil rights legislation
Eugene McCarthy
Minnesota senator, heavily opposed Vietnam War
Henry Kissinger
National Security Advisor under Nixon, known for his “shuttle diplomacy”
Military Industrial Complex
relationship between military and defense industry and its effect on government policy
Cold War
Political and military tensions primarily between US and USSR, started after WWII, ended after USSR fell
containment
US foreign policy to contain Communism from spreading
domino theory
theory that if one country falls to Communism, countries nearby can also follow
Truman Doctrine
provided military and economic support to countries threatened by Communism
Marshall Plan
provided economic assistance to stabilize democratic Western European countries
NATO
North American Treaty Organization, formed by Western European countries and US to counter threat of Soviet Union
Warsaw Pact
Military alliance between USSR and Eastern European satellite states against NATO
Second Red Scare
anti-communist sentiments during the mid-1900s due to communist infiltrations of American institutions
Joseph McCarthy
Wisconsin senator, made accusaations of Communist infiltritation in US govt and entertainment industry
Rosenbergs
Husband and wife who allegedly gave Russia atomic bomb secrets, executed by electric chair
Hollywood Ten
group of filmmakers and directors who were in contempt of Congress for not testifying about communist influence in film industry
Bracero Program
US labor program allowing millions of Mexicans to temporarily work in US
GI Bill
provided educational scholarships and housing assistance to veterans
Interstate Highway System
Network of highways built under Eisenhower for interstate travel, commerce, and military transport
Sputnik
first satellite in space, launched by USSR in 1957, started Space Race
Neil Armstrong
first man to walk on the moon during Apollo 11 mission in 1969
Pentagon Papers
leaked papers that revealed that war expanded into Cambodia and Laos and more that US public didn’t know
Watergate
Nixon Adminstration’s attempted cover-up of breaking into the Democratic National Committee Headquarters
Berlin Blockade/Airlift
Soviet blockade of West Berlin in 1948, countered by the Western Allies’ airlift of supplies to the city
Suez Canal Crisis
Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, leading to military intervention from Britain, France, Isreal, Eisenhower helped calm things down
Cuban Missile Crisis
1962 confrontation between US and USSR over presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba, brought world to brink of nuclear war, but Kennedy and Krushchev peacefully resolved it
Détente
Easing of strained relationships, US and USSR in 1970s had improved relations with arms control agreements and more diplomacy.
Korean War
conflictbetween North Korea, supported by China and the Soviet Union, and South Korea, supported by US and UN
Vietnam War
conflict between communist forces in North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States, only war US ever lost
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
alleged attacks on U.S. Navy ships by North Vietnamese, used as justification for increased American involvement in the Vietnam War, later found to be not true
Tet Offensive
major offensive by North Vietnam that turned the war in their favor, took US troops by surprise, and shook American confidence in the war
Students for a Democratic Society
Student activist organization advocating for social justice and political reform and opposed the Vietnam War
Berkeley Free Speech Movement
Student protest movement at the UC Berkeley in the 1960s, advocating for freedom of speech and academic freedom.
Muhammad Ali
American boxer and activist, known for refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military during Vietnam War
Rachael Carson
American marine biologist and conservationist, book “Silent Spring,” raised awareness about bad side of pesticides
Fair Deal
a Truman policy for national health insurance, civil rights legislation, and education reform.
New Frontier
Kennedy’s legislative agenda for civil rights, economic reform, and space exploration
Great Society
Johnson’s social welfare initiatives to remove poverty & racism and support civil rights
Civil Rights Act
1964 Legislation by Johnson prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin
Voting Rights Act
1965 legislation by Johnson to lift barriers preventing African Americans from voting
Immigration Act
1965 legislation by Johnson to removed quota system and preferred immigrants with useful skills
Camp David Accords
Peace agreement between Egypt and Israel brokered by President Carter in 1978
Iran Hostage Situation and Iran Contra Scandal
Iranian revolutionaries seized U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, holding American hostages for 444 days, and the Reagan administration’s scandalous covert arms sales to Iran.
MLK
advocate of non-violent protests who took part in many marches and known for his famous “I have a dream” speech
Malcolm X
African American Muslim minister, criticized non-violent approach, believed in Black Nationalism
Rosa Parks
known for not giving up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus, leading to Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Emmett Till
African American teenager murdered in Mississippi for allegedly flirting with a white woman
Little Rock Nine
African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School after Brown v. Board of Education and faced opposition and violence.
Greensboro Four
African college students who staged a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1960
Mississippi
Southern state known for its history of racial segregation
Cesar Chavez
civil rights activist, co-founder of the United Farm Workers union, fought for migrant farmworkers’ rights.
Dolores Huerta
co-founder of the United Farm Workers union with Cesar Chavez, advocating for the rights of farmworkers and Latinos.
UFW
United Farm Workers, founded by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, advocating for the rights of farmworkers
AIM
American Indian Movement, Native American activist organization advocating for indigenous rights and sovereignt
Alcatraz Occupation
Native American protested by occupying Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay to demand return of the land to Native Americans.
George Wallace
Alabama governor known segregationist views and opposition to civil rights movement
Southern Manifesto
Document by Southern Congressmembers to stop integration in public places and schools
Letter from Birmingham Jail
MLK’s letter from prison supporting nonviolence
UC Regents v. Bakke
ruled affirmative action is legal but racial quotas are not
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg
allowed using buses to desegregate schools
Roe v. Wade
1971, legalized abortion nationwide based on right to privacy
Title IX
banned gender discrimination in education and other things getting federal assistance
NOW
National Organization for Women, founded by Friedan for equal pay and legalizing abortions
ERA
Equal Rights Amendment, guaranteed equal rights under the law regardless of sex, failed to be ratified
Betty Friedan
her book “The Feminine Mystique” helped spark the second wave of feminism in the United States
Gloria Steinem
co-founder of Ms. magazine
Phyllis Schlafly
Conservative activist and opponent of the ERA, created the Eagle Forum
Shirley Chisholm
first African American woman elected to U.S. Congress
Sandra Day O’Connor
first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, nominated by President Reagan in 1981.
Freedom Summer
thousands of mostly white college students, traveled to Mississippi to register African American voters and set up freedom schools.
Selma to Montgomery
marches, some led by MLK, to protest voter registration discrimination
SCLC
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, founded by MLK for nonviolence protesting
SNCC
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, by college students wanting direct action
Nation of Islam
wanted black empowerment and separation from white society.
Black Panthers
militant black power organization fighting for black self-defense and revolutionary change
Mikhail Gorbachev
last leader of USSR, tried to help it from falling apart but didn’t work
Miracle on Ice
US ice hockey team won against USSR’s team, symbolizing US’s win on Cold War
Reaganomics
Reagan economic policy of tax cuts, deregulation, and a focus on free market principles
SDI
US proposed missile defense system, led to USSR overspending on technology and bankrupting themselves