History

Cold War Containment

The spread of communism during the Kennedy administration represented a grave threat to the Western world. Thus, a dominant premise during the Kennedy years was the need to contain communism at any cost. Kennedy felt that the spread of communism (the "hour of maximum danger") required the policy of containment. In his Inaugural Address on January 20, 1961, President Kennedy presented the American public with a blueprint upon which the future foreign policy initiatives of his administration would later follow and come to represent. In this Address, Kennedy warned "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty. " He also called upon the public to assist in "a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself. " Some of the most notable events that stemmed from tenets of JFK's foreign policy initiatives in regard to containing the threat of communism were the Kennedy Doctrine, the Berlin Crisis of 1961, the Bay of Pigs Invasion, and the ratification of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The Alliance for Progress, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the increased involvement in Vietnam were also major elements of Kennedy's foreign policy response to the threat of communism. Kennedy Doctrine Part of Kennedy's foreign policy of containment was the Kennedy Doctrine, which refers to Kennedy's foreign policy initiatives towards Latin America during his term in office between 1961 and 1963. In this policy, Kennedy voiced support for the containment of Communism, the reversal of Communist progress in the Western Hemisphere, and sought to prevent the spread of communism and Soviet influence in Latin America following the Cuban revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power in the 1950s. Berlin Crisis of 1961 On June 4, 1961, Kennedy met with USSR leader Khrushchev at the Vienna Summit. Kennedy conveyed to Khrushchev his stance on the most sensitive issue before them: a proposed treaty between the USSR and East Berlin. Kennedy made it clear that any treaty which interfered with U.S. access rights in West Berlin would be regarded as an act of war. Shortly after Kennedy returned home from the Vienna Summit, the USSR announced its intention to sign a treaty with East Berlin, abrogating any third-party occupation rights in either sector of the city. In the weeks immediately after the Vienna summit and the USSR treaty with East Berlin, more than 20,000 people fled from East Berlin to the western sector in reaction to statements from the USSR. The following month, the Soviet Union and East Berlin began blocking any further passage of East Berliners into West Berlin and erected barbed wire fences across the city, which were quickly upgraded to the Berlin Wall. John F. Kennedy meeting Nikita Khrushchev at the Vienna Summit in June, 1961. See Full Size Image Ratification of Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, July, 1963 Troubled by the long-term dangers of radioactive contamination and nuclear weapons proliferation, Kennedy and USSR leader Khrushchev agreed to negotiate a nuclear test ban treaty. In the Vienna summit meeting in June 1961, Khrushchev and Kennedy reached an informal understanding against nuclear testing, but the Soviet Union began testing nuclear weapons that September. The United States responded by conducting tests five days later. In July 1963, Kennedy sent Averell Harriman to Moscow to negotiate a treaty with the Soviets. The introductory sessions included Khrushchev, who later delegated Soviet representation to Andrei Gromyko. It quickly became clear that a comprehensive test ban would not be implemented, due largely to the reluctance of the Soviets to allow inspections that would verify compliance. Ultimately, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union were the initial signatories to a limited treaty, which prohibited atomic testing on the ground, in the atmosphere, or underwater, but not underground. The U.S. Senate ratified this and Kennedy signed it into law in October 1963.

Marshall Plan

a multi-billion dollar plan to rebuild Western Europe after World War II (named for US Secretary of State George Marshall).

10.3 vocab: the kennedy administration

Alliance for Progress: A plan and program initiated by U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1961 which aimed to establish economic cooperation between the U.S. and Latin America. Bay of Pigs Invasion: An unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles in 1961 to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the U.S. government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. Berlin Crisis of 1961 (June 4-November 9, 1961): the last major politico-military European incident of the Cold War. The U.S.S.R. provoked the Berlin Crisis with an ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of Western armed forces from West Berlin—culminating with the city's de facto partition with the East German erection of the Berlin Wall. Blockade: By extension, any form of formal isolation of something, especially with the force of law or arms. Containment: A United States policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. A component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge communist influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, and Vietnam. It represented a middle-ground position between détente and rollback. Cuban Missile Crisis: A thirteen-day confrontation between the Soviet Union and Cuba on one side and the United States on the other; the crisis occurred in October 1962, during the Cold War. It is generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict Foreign Assistance Act of 1962: A United States Act of Congress. The Act reorganized the structure of existing U.S. foreign assistance programs, separated military from non-military aid, and created a new agency, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to administer that non-military, economic assistance programs. Hotline Agreement: The Moscow-Washington hotline is a system that allows direct communication between the leaders of the United States and Russia. It was originally designed by Harris Corporation for communication between the United States and the Soviet Union. Also known as the "red telephone", the hotline linked the White House via the National Military Command Center with the Kremlin during the Cold War. Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965: A U.S. act that abolished the national origins quota system that had composed American immigration policy since the 1920s, replacing it with a preference system that focused on immigrants' skills and family relationships with citizens or U.S. residents. John F. Kennedy: John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (May 29, 1917 - November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Kennedy Doctrine: The foreign policy initiatives of JFK towards Latin America during his term in office between 1961 and 1963. Kennedy voiced support for the containment of Communism and the reversal of Communist progress in the Western Hemisphere. Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 - November 24, 1963) was, according to four government investigations, the sniper who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. New Frontier: A phrase used by liberal Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy at the 1960 United States Democratic National Convention as the Democratic slogan to inspire America to support him. The phrase developed into a label for his administration's domestic and foreign programs. Warren Commission: The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established on November 29, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. It concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, but these findings have since proven controversial and been both challenged and supported by later studies.

9.4 vocab

Armistice: a cessation of hostilities. In this case, it refers to the halting of the conflict on the Korean Peninsula, which did not end with a treaty or official end of the war. Communism (from Latin communis - common, universal) is a revolutionary socialist movement to create a classless, moneyless, and stateless social order structured upon common ownership of the means of production, as well as a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of this social order. This movement, in its Marxist-Leninist interpretations, significantly influenced the history of the 20th century, which saw intense rivalry between the "socialist world" (socialist states ruled by communist parties) and the "western world" (countries with capitalist economies). containment A United States policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. A component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge communist influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, and Vietnam. It represented a middle-ground position between détente and rollback. containment A United States policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. A component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge communist influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, and Vietnam. It represented a middle-ground position between détente and rollback. Demilitarized zone: the neutral territory established along the 38th Parallel and between North and South Korea. General Douglas MacArthur An American general who was Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He led the United Nations Command in the Korean War until he was removed from command by President Harry S. Truman on 11 April 1951. Inchon: a city on the western coast of the Korean Peninsula that was the site of an amphibious landing by US forces in 1950 that allowed the US to advance the war into North Korean territory. John Foster Dulles (February 25, 1888-May 24, 1959) served as US Secretary of State under 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. Joseph Stalin: the dictator of the Soviet Union. 38th parallel: the dividing line between North and South Korea. Kim Il Sung: the first communist leader and dictator of North Korea. Mao Zedong (December 26, 1893 - September 9, 1976), was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, anti-imperialist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution. He was the architect and founding father of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949, and held authoritarian control over the nation until his death in 1976. His theoretical contribution to Marxism-Leninism, along with his military strategies and brand of policies, are collectively known as Maoism. North Korea: this nation, under the sponsorship of communist China, was established as a communist state in 1948 under Kim il-Sung. proxy war A war where two powers use third parties as a supplement to, or a substitute for, fighting each other directly. rollback: The strategy of forcing change in the major policies of a state, usually by replacing its ruling regime. It contrasts with containment, which means preventing the expansion of that state; and with détente, which means a working relationship with that state. Most of the discussions of rollback in the scholarly literature deal with United States foreign policy toward Communist countries during the Cold War. The rollback strategy was tried, and failed, in Korea in 1950, and in Cuba in 1961. South Korea: sponsored and supplied by the US, South Korea was a democratic ally in Asia and the chief antagonist of North Korea. stalemate The state in which combatants cannot advance, resulting in a draw. United Nations: this international organization approved a multinational effort to resist North Korean aggression towards its southern neighbor in 1950.

9.4 the korean conflict Containment to Rollback

By attempting to push North Korean forces beyond the 38th parallel, the US pursued a policy of "rollback" rather than containment. Foreign Policy Options In American strategic language, rollback is the policy of totally annihilating an enemy army and occupying the country. The notion of military rollback against the Soviet Union was proposed by strategists in the late 1940s, and by the Truman Administration against North Korea in the Korean War. Rollback is the rival doctrine to containment, the policy of merely stemming the expansion of communism. The US frequently debated the possibility of pursuing a rollback of Communism in Eastern Europe in 1953-56, but ultimately decided against it. Instead, the US pursued containment in Eastern Europe. Containment is associated most strongly with the policies of U.S. President Harry Truman (1945-53) and the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a mutual defense pact. Although President Dwight Eisenhower (1953-61) toyed with the idea of rollback, he refused to intervene in the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. The US frequently debated the possibility of pursuing a rollback of Communism in Eastern Europe in 1953-56, but ultimately decided against it. Instead, the US pursued containment in Eastern Europe. Containment is associated most strongly with the policies of U.S. President Harry Truman (1945-53) and the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a mutual defense pact. Although President Dwight Eisenhower (1953-61) toyed with the idea of rollback, he refused to intervene in the Hungarian Uprising of 1956. Containment and Rollback Under Truman The U.S. entered the Korean War to defend South Korea from a communist invasion—following containment doctrine. However, the military success of the Inchon landing inspired the U.S. and the United Nations to adopt a Rollback strategy and overthrow the Communist North Korean regime, allowing nationwide elections under U.N. auspices. While U.S. foreign policy in Europe dictated a strict adherence to the strategy of containment, the UN forces' crossing of the 38th parallel in Korea led some to believe that a strategy of rollback could be successfully utilized in other areas to repel and delegitimize existing Communist regimes. Under the rollback strategy, UN troops under the direction of General Douglas MacArthur advanced across the 38th parallel into North Korea in October of 1950. However, this rollback strategy caused the Chinese to intervene and send in large armies. The Chinese troops defeated the U.N. forces, pushing them below the 38th parallel. The Communist forces were pushed back to the original border by 1951. The failure of the rollback policy, despite its advocacy by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, moved the United States toward a stronger commitment to the containment policy. Truman blamed MacArthur's focus on victory and adopted a "limited war" policy, shifting his focus to negotiating a settlement, which was finally reached in 1953. For his part, MacArthur denounced Truman's "no-win policy" and the abandonment of the policy of rollback. Rollback Under Eisenhower Republican spokesman John Foster Dulles took the lead in promoting a rollback policy. He wrote in 1949: We should make it clear to the tens of millions of restive subject people in Eastern Europe and Asia, that we do not accept the status quo of servitude and aggressive Soviet Communism has imposed on them, and eventual liberation is an essential and enduring part of our foreign policy. The 1952 Republican national platform reaffirmed this position; when Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected, he appointed Dulles as secretary of state. In addition to his desire to halt the advance of "creeping socialism" in U.S. domestic policy, Eisenhower also wanted to "roll back" the advances of Communism abroad. After taking office in 1953, he devised a new foreign policy tactic to contain the Soviet Union and win back territory that had already been lost. Devised primarily by Dulles, this so-called "New Look" at foreign policy proposed the use of nuclear weapons and new technology—rather than ground troops and conventional bombs—to threaten "massive retaliation" against the USSR for Communist advances abroad. However, Eisenhower's decision not to intervene during the Hungarian Uprising of 1956 made containment a bipartisan doctrine. President Eisenhower relied on clandestine CIA actions to undermine hostile governments and used economic and military foreign aid to strengthen governments supporting the American position in the Cold War. The Eisenhower Administration adopted containment through a National Security Council document in October 1953; this effectively abandoned the rollback efforts in Europe.

9.4 china and the bomb

China intervened in the Korean War on the side of communist North Korea, prolonging the conflict and increasing tensions with the U.S. The Korean War (25 June 1950 - 27 July 1953) was a war between the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). It was primarily the result of the political division of Korea by an agreement of the victorious Allies at the conclusion of the Pacific War at the end of World War II. The North established a communist government, while the South established a nominally democratic government. The 38th parallel increasingly became a political border between the two Korean states. The situation escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. It was the first significant armed conflict of the Cold War. BACKGROUND In 1950, the Soviet Union boycotted the United Nations security council, in protest at the representation of China by the Kuomintang (KMT), or Nationalist government, which had taken refuge in Taiwan following defeat in the Chinese Civil War. In the absence of a dissenting voice from the Soviet Union, who could have vetoed it, the United States and other countries passed a security council resolution authorizing military intervention in Korea. The United States of America provided 88% of international soldiers which aided South Korean forces in repelling the invasion, with twenty other countries of the United Nations offering assistance. While not directly committing forces to the conflict, the Soviet Union provided material aid to both the North Korean and Chinese armies. CHINA'S ENTRANCE INTO THE WAR Suffering severe casualties, within two months of the start of the war, U.N. and South Korean forces were pushed back to a small area in the south of the Korean Peninsula. Then, a rapid U.N. counter-offensive drove the North Koreans past the 38th Parallel and almost to the Yalu River. 38th Parallel. South Korean and UN troops withdraw behind the 38th parallel in the Korean War. See Full Size Image At this point, the Communist-governed People's Republic of China (PRC) entered the war on the side of North Korea. China's intervention in the Korean War is now largely considered by historians to be an attempt on the part of Mao Zedong, the Chinese Communist leader of the PRC, to rally the country behind his newly instated Communist regime as well as to raise his profile as a leader within the Soviet-dominated Communist bloc. Chinese forces enter Korea. Chinese forces crossed the Yalu River and joined the Korean War. Chinese entrance into the War prolonged the conflict and increased tensions between the US and China. China's intervention in the Korean conflict increased tensions between China and the US. First, China's intervention in the Korean conflict stirred up tensions between China and the U.S. over recognition of Taiwan's sovereignty, which remains a point of contention between the two countries. Second, Chinese intervention in the Korean War prolonged a conflict many Americans initially believed would be short-lived and led to polarizing debates over the strategies and aims of American intervention in the Far East theater of the Cold War. Chinese intervention forced the primarily American forces to once again retreat in bitter fighting behind the 38th Parallel. Commanded by General Matthew B. Ridgway, they eventually stopped the overextended Chinese, and slowly fought their way back to the 38th parallel. MACARTHUR AND CHINA As a result of early Chinese tactical successes, General Douglas MacArthur, who had been in command of U.N. forces in Korea, argued in favor of using nuclear weapons against China and/or the North Korean interior in order to disrupt Chinese supply lines and force negotiations. MacArthur attempted to orchestrate public support for bombing China, as well as for assisting an invasion of the mainland by KMT forces, led by Chiang Kai-shek. MacArthur's stance in this regard contributed to his controversial dismissal by President Truman. In April 1951, Truman relieved MacArthur of his duties and replaced him with Ridgway.

we like ike

Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States. His presidency lasted from 1953 until 1961. He had previously served as a five-star general in the United States Army during World War II and served as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO. After Harry Truman declined to run again for the presidency, the election of 1952 emerged as a contest between the Democratic nominee, Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson, and Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had directed American forces in Europe during World War II. Eisenhower campaigned largely on a promise to end the war in Korea, a conflict the public had grown weary of fighting. He also vowed to fight Communism both at home and abroad, a commitment he demonstrated by choosing as his running mate Richard M. Nixon, a congressman who had made a name for himself by pursuing Communists, notably former State Department employee and suspected Soviet agent Alger Hiss. See Full Size Image In 1952, Eisenhower supporters enthusiastically proclaimed "We Like Ike," and Eisenhower defeated Stevenson by winning 54 percent of the popular vote and 87 percent of the electoral vote. When he assumed office in 1953, Eisenhower employed a leadership style he had developed during his years of military service. He was calm and willing to delegate authority regarding domestic affairs to his cabinet members, allowing him to focus his own efforts on foreign policy. Unlike many earlier presidents, such as Harry Truman, Eisenhower was largely nonpartisan and consistently sought a middle ground between liberalism and conservatism. He strove to balance the federal budget, which appealed to conservative Republicans, but retained much of the New Deal and even expanded Social Security. He maintained high levels of defense spending but, in his farewell speech in 1961, warned about the growth of the military-industrial complex, the matrix of relationships between officials in the Department of Defense and executives in the defense industry who all benefited from increases in defense spending. He disliked the tactics of Joseph McCarthy but did not oppose him directly, preferring to remain above the fray. He saw himself as a leader called upon to do his best for his country, not as a politician engaged in a contest for advantage over rivals. In keeping with his goal of a balanced budget, Eisenhower switched the emphasis in defense from larger conventional forces to greater stockpiles of nuclear weapons. His New Look strategy embraced nuclear "massive retaliation," a plan for nuclear response to a first Soviet strike so devastating that the attackers would not be able to respond. Some labeled this approach "Mutually Assured Destruction" or MAD. Part of preparing for a possible war with the Soviet Union was informing the American public what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. The government provided instructions for building and equipping bomb shelters in the basement or backyard, and some cities constructed municipal shelters. Schools purchased dog tags to help identify students in the aftermath of an attack and showed children instructional films telling them what to do if atomic bombs were dropped on the city where they lived. "A GUIDE FOR SURVIVING NUCLEAR WAR" To prepare its citizens for the possibility of nuclear war, in 1950, the U.S. government published and distributed informative pamphlets such as "A Guide for Surviving Nuclear War" excerpted here. Just like fire bombs and ordinary high explosives, atomic weapons cause most of their death and damage by blast and heat. So first let's look at a few things you can do to escape these two dangers.Even if you have only a second's warning, there is one important thing you can do to lessen your chances of injury by blast: Fall flat on your face. More than half of all wounds are the result of being bodily tossed about or being struck by falling and flying objects. If you lie down flat, you are least likely to be thrown about. If you have time to pick a good spot, there is less chance of your being struck by flying glass and other things. If you are inside a building, the best place to flatten out is close against the cellar wall. If you haven't time to get down there, lie down along an inside wall, or duck under a bed or table. . . . If caught out-of-doors, either drop down alongside the base of a good substantial building—avoid flimsy, wooden ones likely to be blown over on top of you—or else jump in any handy ditch or gutter. When you fall flat to protect yourself from a bombing, don't look up to see what is coming. Even during the daylight hours, the flash from a bursting A-bomb can cause several moments of blindness, if you're facing that way. To prevent it, bury your face in your arms and hold it there for 10 to 12 seconds after the explosion. . . . If you work in the open, always wear full-length, loose-fitting, light-colored clothes in time of emergency. Never go around with your sleeves rolled up. Always wear a hat—the brim could save you a serious face burn. What do you think was the purpose of these directions? Do you think they could actually help people survive an atomic bomb blast? If not, why publish such booklets? Government and industry allocated enormous amounts of money to the research and development of more powerful weapons. This investment generated rapid strides in missile technology as well as increasingly sensitive radar. Computers that could react more quickly than humans and thereby shoot down speeding missiles were also investigated. Many scientists on both sides of the Cold War, including captured Germans such as rocket engineer Werner von Braun, worked on these devices. An early success for the West came in 1950, when Alan Turing, a British mathematician who had broken Germany's Enigma code during World War II, created a machine that mimicked human thought. His discoveries led scientists to consider the possibility of developing true artificial intelligence. See Full Size Image Space Race However, the United States often feared that the Soviets were making greater strides in developing technology with potential military applications. This was especially true following the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik, the first manmade satellite, in October 1957. In September 1958, Congress passed the National Defense Education Act, which pumped over $775 million into educational programs over four years, especially those programs that focused on math and science. Congressional appropriations to the National Science Foundation also increased by $100 million in a single year, from $34 million in 1958 to $134 million in 1959. One consequence of this increased funding was the growth of science and engineering programs at American universities. The launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik frightened many in the United States, who feared that Soviet technology had surpassed their own. To calm these fears, Americans domesticated Sputnik, creating children's games based on it and using its shape as a decorative motif. In the diplomatic sphere, Eisenhower pushed Secretary of State John Foster Dulles to take a firmer stance against the Soviets to reassure European allies of continued American support. At the same time, keenly sensing that the stalemate in Korea had cost Truman his popularity, Eisenhower worked to avoid being drawn into foreign wars. Thus, when the French found themselves fighting Vietnamese Communists for control of France's former colony of Indochina, Eisenhower provided money but not troops. Likewise, the United States took no steps when Hungary attempted to break away from Soviet domination in 1956. The United States also refused to be drawn in when Great Britain, France, and Israel invaded the Suez Canal Zone following Egypt's nationalization of the canal in 1956. Indeed, Eisenhower, wishing to avoid conflict with the Soviet Union, threatened to impose economic sanctions on the invading countries if they did not withdraw.

intro

Pop Goes the Culture, as the Culture Goes 'Pop Disneyland opened. Polyester appeared. Drive-ins debuted. There were radio-controlled lawnmowers and there were electronic brains. Volkswagen made a boom with its first Beetle and the sound barrier broke. Moms went hog wild over Tupperware and kids laid waste to supermarket shelves lined with brand new sweets like Oreos and Sugar Smacks. A televised Tarzan swung across living rooms as families peeled off the tops of their first heat-and-serve TV dinners. Louis Armstrong jazzed. Elvis Presley rocked. Billie Holiday blues 'd...and teenagers, threatening the moral fabric of society, popped coins into the jukebox and danced their way across America wearing poodle skirts and pompadours. It was 1950s post-war America and U.S. culture went "pop". Popular, that is. Having emerged from WWII as a world superpower and a socio-political rival to the communist Soviet Union, the US was neck-high in desire to make its capitalist model shine. The national economy fell into full force post-war production and miners and steelworkers sweated to provide a hungry public with all the necessities and luxuries in life. At the same time, real-estate developer William Levitt was stamping out cookie-cutter homes just as fast as World War II veterans could pack their bags and park them in suburbia. In the midst of a population boom and a housing crisis, the US could not market itself until it could provide decent homes for its people. For that reason, building and moving into suburban homes fully equipped with the latest and greatest appliances became a patriotic mission. Levitt built tens of thousands of nearly identical, inexpensive homes, organized them into neighborhoods connected by village centers and commercial districts, and marketed them to struggling war veterans as the ideal American community. These new instant neighborhoods became a nationwide overnight success, and suburban America as we know it was born. For the five long years of WWII, there was little to no stimulus for consumer spending, but with a pumped-up domestic-centered economy, the new suburban public became fascinated with fads like collecting electronic appliances, playing with hula hoops, and buying newly-designed cars. There, in 1950s suburbia, modern American culture was fed to the ideal US citizen. New gadgets demonstrated technological progress and innovation. Music revealed liveliness and youth. Recreation showed wealth and prosperity. By this time in the 1950s, the US and the Soviet Union were heavily involved in the Cold War, a period of about forty years during which the two nations competed for international influence and economic control. The US found in American suburbia a battlefront in which to combat Soviet communism. With all of its popularity, trend setting, and progress, suburban America sent a message to the world that the promises of capitalist democracy were strong and thriving.

Suburbia

Prior to the 19th century, the term suburb often referred to the outlying areas of cities where work was most inaccessible—implicitly, where the poorest people had to live. The modern American usage of the term came about during the course of the 19th century, as improvements in transportation and sanitation made it possible for wealthy developments to exist on the outskirts of cities, for example in Brooklyn Heights. The growth of suburbs was facilitated by the development of zoning laws, redlining, and numerous innovations in transport. After World War II availability of FHA loans stimulated a housing boom in American suburbs. In the older cities of the northeast U.S., streetcar suburbs originally developed along train or trolly lines that could shuttle workers into and out of city centers where the jobs were located. This practice gave rise to the term bedroom community, meaning that most daytime business activity took place in the city, with the working population leaving the city at night for the purpose of going home to sleep in the suburbs. Economic growth in the United States encouraged the suburbanization of American cities that required massive investments for the new infrastructure and homes. Consumer patterns were also shifting at this time, as purchasing power was becoming stronger and more accessible to a wider range of families. Suburban houses also brought about needs for products that were not needed in urban neighborhoods, such as lawnmowers and automobiles. During this time commercial shopping malls were being developed near suburbs to satisfy consumers' needs and their car-dependent lifestyle. Long Island, New York in the United States became the first large-scale suburban area in the world to develop, thanks to William Levitt's Levittown, New York, which is widely considered to be the archetype of post-World War II suburbia. Long Island's significance as a suburb derived mostly from the upper-middle-class development of entire communities in the late 19th century, and the rapid population growth that occurred as a result. As car ownership rose and wider roads were built, the commuting trend accelerated in North America. This trend toward living away from cities has been termed the urban exodus. Zoning laws also contributed to the location of residential areas outside of the city center by creating wide areas or "zones" where only residential buildings were permitted. These suburban residences are built on larger lots of land than in the central city. For example, the lot size for a residence in Chicago is usually 125 feet (38 m) deep, while the width can vary from 14 feet (4.3 m) wide for a row house to 45 feet (14 m) wide for a large stand-alone house. In the suburbs, where stand-alone houses are the rule, lots may be 85 feet (26 m) wide by 115 feet (35 m) deep, as in the Chicago suburb of Naperville. Manufacturing and commercial buildings were segregated in other areas of the city. Increasingly, more people moved out to the suburbs, in a trend known as suburbanization. Moving along with the population, many companies also located their offices and other facilities in the outer areas of the cities. This has resulted in increased density in older suburbs and, often, the growth of lower density suburbs even further from city centers. An alternative strategy is the deliberate design of "new towns" and the protection of green belts around cities. Some social reformers attempted to combine the best of both concepts in the garden city movement.

assassination

Route to Dealey Plaza President Kennedy's motorcade route through Dallas on November 22, 1963, was planned to give him maximal exposure to Dallas crowds before his arrival at a luncheon with civic and business leaders in the city. The actual route through Dallas was chosen to be a meandering 10-miles, which could be driven slowly in the allotted time. The planned route was widely reported in Dallas newspapers several days before the event, for the benefit of people who wished to view the motorcade. At about 11:40, the presidential motorcade left for the trip through Dallas. By the time the motorcade reached Dealey Plaza, Kennedy was only 5 minutes away from the planned destination. At 12:30 p.m., as Kennedy's uncovered limousine entered Dealey Plaza, shots were fired at Kennedy. A clear majority of witnesses recalled hearing three shots. According to the Warren Commission and the House Select Committee on Assassinations, as President Kennedy waved to the crowds on his right with his right arm upraised on the side of the limo, a shot entered his upper back and exited his neck. According to this same Commission, a second shot struck the president; this shot entered the rear of President Kennedy's head. The staff at Parkland Hospital who treated Kennedy observed that his condition was "moribund", meaning that he had no chance of survival upon arriving at the hospital. At 1:00 p.m., the President was pronounced dead. A few minutes after 2:00 p.m. CST, Kennedy's body was placed in a casket and taken from Parkland Hospital and driven to Air Force One. Vice-President Johnson (who had been riding two cars behind Kennedy in the motorcade through Dallas and was not injured) became President of the United States upon Kennedy's death. At 2:38 p.m., Johnson took the oath of office on board Air Force One just before it departed. Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald reported missing to the Dallas police by Roy Truly, his supervisor at the Depository, was arrested approximately 70 minutes after the assassination for the murder of a Dallas police officer, J. D. Tippit. Officer Tippit had earlier received a radio message which gave a description of the suspect being sought in the assassination and called Oswald over to the patrol car. Oswald was captured in a nearby movie theater after he was seen sneaking into the theater without buying a ticket. He was charged with the murders of Kennedy and Tippit later that night. Oswald denied shooting anyone and claimed he was a patsy who was arrested because he had lived in the Soviet Union. Oswald's case never came to trial because he was shot and killed by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby two days later while Oswald was being escorted to a car for transfer from Dallas Police Headquarters to the Dallas County Jail. Arrested immediately after the shooting, Ruby later said that he had been distraught over the Kennedy assassination. Kennedy's Funeral The state funeral took place in Washington, D.C. during the three days that followed the assassination. The body of President Kennedy was brought back to Washington, D.C. and placed in the East Room of the White House for 24 hours. On the Sunday after the assassination, his coffin was carried on a horse-drawn caisson to the U.S. Capitol to lie in state. Throughout the day and night, hundreds of thousands lined up to view the guarded casket. Representatives from over 90 countries attended the state funeral on Monday, November 25. After the Requiem Mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral, the late president was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. The news shocked the nation. Men and women wept openly. People gathered in department stores to watch the television coverage, while others prayed. Traffic in some areas came to a halt as the news spread from car to car. Schools across the U.S. dismissed their students early. An honor guard folds the flag of the United States at Arlington National Cemetery in preparation for flag presentation to Jacqueline Kennedy on November 25, 1963. See Full Size Image Investigations and Conspiracies President Johnson created the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination, which concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin. The ten-month investigation by the Warren Commission concluded that the President was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald acting alone and that Jack Ruby acted alone when he killed Oswald before he could stand trial. These conclusions were initially supported by the American public; however, polls conducted from 1966 to 2004 found that as many as 80 percent of Americans have suspected that there was a plot or cover-up. The assassination is still the subject of widespread debate and has spawned numerous conspiracy theories and alternative scenarios.

Consumerism

The 1950s were a time of expanded consumption of household goods, spurred by a rise in overall prosperity within America. In the 20th century, the significant improvement of the standard of living of a society, and the consequent emergence of the middle class, broadly applied the term "conspicuous consumption" to the men, women, and households who possessed the discretionary income that allowed them to practice the patterns of economic consumption—of goods and services—which were motivated by the desire for prestige and the public display of social status, rather than by the intrinsic, practical utility of the goods and the services proper. In the 1920s, economists such as Paul Nystrom proposed that changes in the style of life, made feasible by the economics of the industrial age, had induced to the mass of society a "philosophy of futility" that would increase the consumption of goods and services as a social fashion—an activity done for its own sake. The immediate years unfolding after World War II were generally ones of stability and prosperity for Americans. The nation reconverted its war machine back into a consumer culture almost overnight and found jobs for 12 million returning veterans. Increasing numbers enjoyed high wages, larger houses, better schools, more cars and home comforts like vacuum cleaners, washing machines—which were all made for labor-saving and to make housework easier. Inventions familiar in the early 21st century made their first appearance during this era. The American economy grew dramatically in the post-war period, expanding at a rate of 3.5% per annum between 1945 and 1970. During this period of prosperity, many incomes doubled in a generation, described by economist Frank Levy as "upward mobility on a rocket ship. " The substantial increase in average family income within a generation resulted in millions of office and factory workers being lifted into a growing middle class, enabling them to sustain a standard of living once considered to be reserved for the wealthy. By the end of the Fifties, 87% of all American families owned at least one T.V., 75% owned cars, and 60% owned their homes. By 1960, blue-collar workers had become the biggest buyers of many luxury goods and services. In addition, by the early seventies, post-World War II American consumers enjoyed higher levels of disposable income than those in any other country. Between 1946 and 1960, the United States witnessed a significant expansion in the consumption of goods and services. GNP rose by 36% and personal consumption expenditures by 42%, cumulative gains which were reflected in the incomes of families and unrelated individuals. More than 21 million housing units were constructed between 1946 and 1960, and in the latter year 52% of consumer units in the metropolitan areas owned their own homes. In 1957, out of all the wired homes throughout the country, 96% had a refrigerator, 87% an electric washer, 81% a television, 67% a vacuum cleaner, 18% a freezer, 12% an electric or gas dryer, and 8% air conditioning. Car ownership also soared, with 72% of consumer units owning an automobile by 1960. The period from 1946 to 1960 also witnessed a significant increase in the paid leisure time of working people. The forty-hour workweek established by the Fair Labor Standards Act in covered industries became the actual schedule in most workplaces by 1960. Paid vacations also became to be enjoyed by the vast majority of workers. Industries catering to leisure activities blossomed as a result of most Americans enjoying significant paid leisure time by 1960. Educational outlays were also greater than in other countries while a higher proportion of young people were graduating from high schools and universities than elsewhere in the world, as hundreds of new colleges and universities opened every year. At the center of middle-class culture in the 1950s was a growing demand for consumer goods, a result of the postwar prosperity, the increase in variety and availability of consumer products, and television advertising. America generated a steadily growing demand for better automobiles, clothing, appliances, family vacations, and higher education. With Detroit turning out automobiles as fast as possible, city dwellers gave up cramped apartments for a suburban lifestyle centered around children and housewives, with the male breadwinner commuting to work. Suburbia encompassed a third of the nation's population by 1960. The growth of suburbs was not only a result of postwar prosperity, but innovations of the single-family housing market with low-interest rates on 20- and 30-year mortgages, and low down payments, especially for veterans. William Levitt began a national trend with his use of mass-production techniques to construct a large "Levittown" housing development on Long Island. Meanwhile, the suburban population swelled because of the baby boom. Suburbs provided larger homes for larger families, security from urban living, privacy, and space for consumer goods.

Baby Boom

The Baby Boom is generally defined as the increase in births between 1946 and 1957, following the end of World War II. The end of World War II in 1945 brought a baby boom to many countries, especially Western ones. There is some disagreement as to the precise beginning and ending dates of the post-war boom, but most agree that it began in the years immediately after the war ceased and ended more than a decade later—birth rates in the United States started to decline in 1957. In countries that suffered heavy war damage, displacement of people and post-war economic hardship—Poland and Germany, for example—the boom began some years later. In 1946, live births in the United States surged from 222,721 in January to 339,499 in October. By the end of the 1940s, about 32 million babies had been born, compared with 24 million in the 1930s. Sylvia Porter, a columnist for the New York Post, first used the term "boom" to refer to the phenomenon of increased births in post-war America in May of 1951. Annual births first topped four million in 1954 and did not drop below that figure until 1965, by which time four out of ten Americans were under the age of 20. There are many factors that contributed to the baby boom. When the war ended, millions of veterans returned home and were forced to reintegrate into society. To facilitate the integration process, Congress passed the G.I. Bill of Rights. This bill encouraged homeownership and investment in higher education through the distribution of loans to veterans at low or no interest rates. Benefits were available to every veteran who had been on active duty for at least 90 days during the war and who had not been dishonorably discharged. Having seen combat was not required. By the time of the program's end in 1956, roughly 2.2 million veterans had used the G.I. Bill benefits to attend college, and 6.6 million had used them for some kind of training program, which led to an increase in skills and therefore higher family incomes. Couples who could not afford to have families during the Great Depression made up for lost time; the mood was optimistic. Life was simple, jobs were plentiful, and a record number of babies were born. The country was living the American dream. Following the end of World War II, the United States experienced vigorous economic growth that lasted until the 1970s as consumer demand fueled economic growth. The baby boom triggered booms in housing, consumption, and the labor force. Between 1940 and 1960, the nation's GDP jumped more than $300 million. The middle class grew, and the majority of America's labor force held white-collar jobs. This increase led to urbanization and increased the demand for ownership in cars and other 1950s and 1960s inventions. An estimated 77.3 million Americans were born during this demographic boom in births. These days, baby boomers are now of late middle age and early senior years. Many are now retiring and leaving the labor force. The following table shows the U.S. population before, during, and after World War II, based on census information. The "birth boom" of the post-war period is as much defined by the deaths that preceded and followed it as it is by an exceptionally high fertility rate. Compared to birth rates from 1946 to 1964, the birth rates prior to World War I (which began in 1914) were much lower, although they were still higher than the rates immediately preceding and following the 1946-1964 period.

"Hour of Maximum Danger"

The Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1961 On April 17, 1961, Kennedy ordered what became known as the "Bay of Pigs Invasion:" 1,500 U.S.-trained Cubans, called "Brigade 2506," landed on the island. No U.S. air support was provided. Within two days, the Cuban government had captured or killed the invading exiles, and Kennedy was forced to negotiate for the release of the 1,189 survivors. After 20 months, Cuba released the captured exiles in exchange for $53 million worth of food and medicine. The incident reflected poorly on Kennedy's strength against the communist threat, and also made Castro wary of the U.S. The Cuban Missile Crisis In August 1962, after some unsuccessful operations by the U.S. to overthrow the Cuban regime, such as Bay of Pigs, Operation Mongoose, the Cuban and Soviet governments secretly began to build bases in Cuba for a number of medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles that would have the ability to strike most of the continental United States. This action followed the U.S.' s 1958 deployment of intermediate-range ballistic missiles to Italy and Turkey in 1961, which meant that more than 100 US-built missiles had the capability to strike Moscow with nuclear warheads. On October 14, 1962, a United States Air Force U-2 plane on a photo-reconnaissance mission captured photographic proof of Soviet missile bases under construction in Cuba. The ensuing crisis is generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict. It also marks the first documented instance of the threat of mutual assured destruction (MAD) being discussed as a determining factor in a major international arms agreement. The United States considered attacking Cuba via air and sea, but decided on a military blockade instead, calling it a "quarantine" for legal and other reasons. The U.S. announced that it would not permit offensive weapons to be delivered to Cuba and demanded that the Soviets dismantle the missile bases already under construction or completed in Cuba and remove all offensive weapons. The Kennedy administration held only a slim hope that the Kremlin would agree to their demands and expected a military confrontation. The Soviets publicly balked at the U.S. demands, but in secret back-channel, communications initiated a proposal to resolve the crisis. The confrontation ended on October 28, 1962, when President John F. Kennedy and United Nations Secretary-General U Thant reached a public and secret agreement with Khrushchev. Publicly, the Soviets would dismantle their offensive weapons in Cuba and return them to the Soviet Union, subject to United Nations verification, in exchange for a U.S. public declaration and agreement never to invade Cuba. Secretly, the U.S. agreed that it would also dismantle all U.S.-built missiles currently deployed in Turkey and Italy. Only two weeks after the agreement, the Soviets had removed the missile systems and their support equipment, loading them onto eight Soviet ships. A month later, on December 5 and 6, the Soviet Il-28 bombers were loaded onto three Soviet ships and shipped back to Russia. Eleven months after the agreement, all American weapons were deactivated, by September 1963. An additional outcome of this Kennedy-Khrushchev Pact that ended the Cuban Missile Crisis was that it effectively strengthened Castro's position by guaranteeing that the U.S. would not invade Cuba. Furthermore, because the withdrawal of the missiles in Italy and Turkey was not made public at the time, Khrushchev appeared to have lost the conflict. The Cuban Missile Crisis spurred the Hotline Agreement, which created the Moscow-Washington hotline, a direct communications link between Moscow and Washington, D.C. The purpose was to have a way that the leaders of the two Cold War countries could communicate directly to solve such a crisis.

the great society

The Great Society was a set of domestic programs promoted by President Lyndon B. Johnson and Democrats in Congress. Some of the programs were designed to eliminate poverty and racial injustice. Others provided for federal involvement in education, medical care, environmental protection, as well as arts and culture. Some historians consider the Great Society to be the peak of liberalism in the United States and the high-watermark of governmental expansion in the nation's history. TASK FORCES 14 task forces composed of academics and experts were appointed by President Johnson to craft New Frontier legislation and develop foreign policy, each studying one aspect of United States society. Domestic issues were the predominant focus, with only task force dedicated to foreign policy. Some other policy areas addressed were agriculture, civil rights, education, efficiency and economy, health, income maintenance policy, preservation of natural beauty, transportation, and urban problems. PUBLIC EDUCATION The Great Society included federal educational programs, including several programs directed at primary and secondary education. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, designed by Commissioner of Education Francis Keppel, allotted more than $1 billion to help schools purchase materials and start special education programs at schools with high concentrations of low-income children. The Act established Head Start as a permanent program. The Higher Education Facilities Act of 1963 authorized more federal aid for universities in 5 years than the Land Grant College had in the previous century. This act was followed by the Higher Education Act of 1965, which increased federal money to universities, created scholarships and low-interest loans for students, and established a national Teacher Corps to provide teachers to poverty-stricken areas of the United States. LBJ, at the University of Michigan Commencement Ceremony, 1964. In his commencement address at the University of Michigan, Johnson proclaimed his vision of a "Great Society. " HEALTHCARE The Great Society left an enduring legacy in its healthcare programs. The Social Security Act of 1965 authorized Medicare, which provided federal funding for the medical treatment of elderly and disabled Americans. The program made benefits available to all Americans over sixty-five, regardless of need, and linked payments to the existing private insurance system. The Social Security Act also created Medicaid, a program funding health care for low-income Americans. In 1966, all welfare recipients began receiving medical care through Medicaid. THE ARTS The Great Society created programs to benefit the arts. In 1964, the National Commission on the Humanities released a report arguing that the nation's emphasis on science endangered the study of the humanities. In September 1965, Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities Act, creating both the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities. Richard Nixon dramatically expanded funding for NEH and NEA. The Great Society also first established public television. The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 chartered the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as a private, non-profit corporation and provided federal aid. The CPB initially collaborated with the pre-existing National Educational Television system, but in 1969 started the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The CPB soon undertook a study of public radio, which led to the establishment of National Public Radio, a public radio system under the terms of the amended Public Broadcasting Act. THE ENVIRONMENT Discussing his administration's environmental policies, Lyndon Johnson argued that: "The air we breathe, our water, our soil and wildlife, are being blighted by poisons and chemicals which are the by-products of technology and industry. The society that receives the rewards of technology, must, as a cooperating whole, take responsibility for [their] control. To deal with these new problems will require a new conservation. We must not only protect the countryside and save it from destruction, we must restore what has been destroyed and salvage the beauty and charm of our cities. Our conservation must be not just the classic conservation of protection and development, but a creative conservation of restoration and innovation. " This was a novel way of looking at environmental protection, as previous measures had been restricted to merely conserving untouched resources, rather than considering pollution of nature as a whole. Environmental legislation enacted included: Clear Air, Water Quality and Clean Water Restoration Acts and Amendments Wilderness Act of 1964 Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966 National Trails System Act of 1968 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965 Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965 Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act of 1965 National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 Aircraft Noise Abatement Act of 1968 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 LABOR The Great Society also included policies related to labor. Amendments made to the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act in 1964 extended the prevailing wage provisions to cover fringe benefits, and several increases were made to the federal minimum wage. While poverty rates declined during the Great Society initiative, critics argue the program turned the U.S. into a welfare state. Since the launch of the Great Society and the War on Poverty, there has been a contentious debate over its impact. Historians and economists try to assess the effects on poverty rates and the economy, with many competing analyses put forward. Some argue that Johnson's policies succeeded, significantly reduced poverty rates. Others argue that the policies had negative effects on the economy and led to more poverty in the long-term. The poverty rate is defined as the percentage of Americans living below the 'absolute poverty line. ' The absolute poverty line is defined by the Office of Health and Human Services as the threshold at which families can afford the basic necessities of food, shelter, and clothing. For example, the 2011 poverty line was a yearly income of $22,350 for a family of four. In 2004, more than 35.9 million, or 12% of Americans, including 12.1 million children, were considered to be living in poverty, with an average growth of almost one million per year. The War on Poverty coincided with a reduction in poverty rates. The United States government began keeping comprehensive records of the poverty rate in 1958, and the poverty rate had been declining when the War on Poverty was launched in 1964 - it fell from 22.4% in 1959 to 19% in 1964. The poverty rate declined further after the implementation of the War on Poverty, hitting a low point of 11.1% in 1973. That year, President Nixon dismantled the Office of Economic Opportunity (the agency in charge of the War on Poverty's key programs), transferring many of its programs to other agencies. The poverty rate has fluctuated between 11% and 15.2% since then. Even noting the decline in poverty rates, there is still disagreement about the effects of the War on Poverty and the Great Society. From President Johnson's first speeches about the Great Society, critics charged the policies were an attempt to institute socialism. Some economists, including Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman, have argued that Johnson's policies actually had a negative impact on the economy because of their interventionist nature. Adherents of this school of thought recommend that the best way to fight poverty is not through government spending but through economic growth. They would explain the reduction in the poverty rate as caused by the economic growth of the 1950s and '60s, or as a short-term effect of policies, later counter-balanced by negative long-term effects of the policies. Some critics of the Great Society point out that the War on Poverty's outsized attention to African-Americans led to a backlash among white Americans. The policies created the perception of favoritism, with middle-class taxpayers footing the bill for ever-increasing services to the poor. This led to diminished support for welfare programs, especially those targeted to specific groups and neighborhoods. These criticisms are answered thusly by proponents of Johnson's programs: anti-poverty programs are necessary not for the well-being of the poor, but for the highest American principle of justice. In this argument, economic inequality leads to inequality of opportunity so severe that Americans cannot ignore it and still claim to be a free and equal society. Another criticism of the Great Society is made by Libertarian economist Thomas Sowell, and his view is echoed by many. Sowell argues that the Great Society programs only contributed to the destruction of African-American families, saying "the black family, which had survived centuries of slavery and discrimination, began rapidly disintegrating in the liberal welfare state that subsidized unwed pregnancy and changed welfare from an emergency rescue to a way of life. " Others disagree with this theory, arguing that Sowell discounts the long-term, cumulative damage of generations of slavery, discrimination, and poverty on black culture. Sociologists such as Douglass Massey argue that the living conditions associated with very-low income neighborhoods cause the cultural changes Sowell observes.

sunbelt

The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the South and Southwest (the geographic southern United States). Another rough boundary of the region is the area south of the 36th parallel, north latitude. It is the largest region which the U.S government does not recognize officially (in its postal regions and census).The main defining feature of the Sun Belt is its warm-temperate climate with extended summers and brief, relatively mild winters; Florida, the Gulf Coast, and southern Texas, however, have a true subtropical climate. Growth The Belt has seen substantial population growth in recent decades (1960s to recent) fueled by milder winters; a surge in retiring baby boomers who migrate domestically; and the influx of immigrants, both legal and illegal. This population boom has been less substantial in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama compared with their western and eastern neighbor states. Also, over the past several decades, air conditioning has made it easier for people to deal with the heat in portions of the region during the summertime. However, water shortages are becoming a common problem in the region. Geography The Belt comprises the southern tier of the United States and is usually considered to include the states of Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, roughly half of California (up to Greater Sacramento), and at least parts of Arkansas, North Carolina, and southern Nevada; more expansively, Colorado, Oklahoma, Virginia and Utah (and all of California and Nevada) are sometimes considered as Sun Belt states. Demographic The term "Sun Belt" became synonymous with the southern third of the nation in the early 1970s. There was a shift in this period from the previously economically and politically important northeast to the south and west. Events such as the huge migration of immigrant workers from Mexico, warmer climate, and a boom in the agriculture industry allowed for the southern third of the U.S.A. to grow economically. The climate spurred not only agricultural growth, but also saw many retirees move into retirement communities in the region, especially in Florida and Arizona. See Full Size Image Industry Industries such as aerospace, defense, and oil boomed in the Sun Belt as companies took advantage of the low involvement of labor unions in the South (due to more recent industrialization in the 1930s through 1950s) and enjoyed the proximity to many U.S. military installations who were the major consumers of their products. The oil industry helped propel southern states such as Texas and Louisiana forward, and tourism grew in Florida and southern California as well. In more recent decades high tech and new economy industries have been major drivers of growth in California, Florida and some other parts of the Sun Belt. Texas and California rank among the top five states in the nation with the most number of Fortune 500 companies, with New York, Illinois, and Pennsylvania rounding out the top five. Politics Since 1970, the Belt states have gained 25 electoral votes. Since Lyndon B. Johnson's election in 1964, every elected United States President, with the exception of Barack Obama from Illinois, has been from the Sun Belt. (Gerald Ford, who was from Michigan, became president following Richard Nixon's resignation, but was not elected as president, and lost to Georgia's Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election. )

9.2 the united nations

The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue. It contains multiple subsidiary organizations to carry out its missions. Replacing the League of Nations The League of Nations failed to prevent World War II (1939-1945). Because of the widespread recognition that humankind could not afford a third world war, the United Nations was established to replace the flawed League of Nations in 1945. The League of Nations formally dissolved itself on April 18, 1946, and transferred its mission to the United Nations: a mission to maintain international peace and promote cooperation in solving international economic, social, and humanitarian problems. Headquarters In December 1945, the U.S. Congress requested that the UN make its headquarters in the United States. The UN accepted this suggestion and, after considering different sites, constructed the United Nations headquarters building in New York City in 1949-1950. The UN headquarters officially opened on January 9, 1951, although construction was not formally completed until October 9, 1952. While the principal headquarters of the UN remains in New York City, major agencies base themselves in Geneva, The Hague, Vienna, Nairobi, and elsewhere. Creation of the UN The earliest concrete plan for a new world organization was begun under the aegis of the U.S. State Department in 1939. Franklin D. Roosevelt first coined the term 'United Nations' as a term to describe the Allied countries. The term was first officially used on January 1, 1942, when 26 governments signed the Atlantic Charter, pledging to continue the war effort. On April 25, 1945, the UN Conference on International Organization began in San Francisco, attended by 50 governments and a number of non-governmental organizations involved in drafting the United Nations Charter. The UN officially came into existence on October 24, 1945, upon ratification of the Charter by the five then-permanent members of the Security Council—France, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States—and by a majority of the other 46 signatories. The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, and the Security Council, took place in London on January 1946. Since then, the UN's aims and activities have expanded to make it the archetypal international body in the early 21st century. UN Map. A map of the world showing when countries joined the United Nations. The UN's Activities During the Cold War The leaders of the UN had high hopes that it would act to prevent conflicts between nations and make future wars impossible. Those hopes have obviously not fully come to pass. From about 1947 until 1991, the division of the world into hostile camps during the Cold War made an agreement on peacekeeping matters extremely difficult. After the Cold War Following the end of the Cold War, renewed calls arose for the UN to become the agency for achieving world peace and cooperation, as several dozen active military conflicts continued to rage across the globe. The breakup of the Soviet Union has also left the United States in a unique position of global dominance, creating a variety of new problems for the UN. However, despite these challenges, the United Nations has achieved considerable prominence in the social arena, fostering human rights, economic development, decolonization, and health and education, for example, and interesting itself in refugees and trade.

Berlin Airlift, 1948

a US-led attempt to supply the city of Berlin by air in 1947-1948 after Soviet forces blockaded access.

The Organization Man

As the government poured money into the defense industry and into universities that conducted research for the government, the economy boomed. The construction and automobile industries employed thousands, as did the industries they relied upon: steel, oil and gasoline refining, rubber, and lumber. As people moved into new homes, their purchases of appliances, carpeting, furniture, and home decorations spurred growth in other industries. The building of miles of roads also employed thousands. Unemployment was low, and wages for members of both the working and middle classes were high. Following World War II, the majority of white Americans were members of the middle class, based on such criteria as education, income, and homeownership. Even most blue-collar families could afford such elements of a middle-class lifestyle as new cars, suburban homes, and regular vacations. Most African Americans, however, were not members of the middle class. In 1950, the median income for white families was $20,656, whereas for black families it was $11,203. By 1960, when the average white family earned $28,485 a year, blacks still lagged behind at $15,786; nevertheless, this represented a more than 40 percent increase in African American income in the space of a decade. While working-class men found jobs in factories and on construction crews, those in the middle class often worked for corporations that, as a result of government spending, had grown substantially during World War II and were still getting larger. Such corporations, far too large to allow managers to form personal relationships with all of their subordinates, valued conformity to company rules and standards above all else. In his best-selling book The Organization Man, however, William H. Whyte criticized the notion that conformity was the best path to success and self-fulfillment. Conformity was still the watchword of suburban life: Many neighborhoods had rules mandating what types of clotheslines could be used and prohibited residents from parking their cars on the street. Above all, conforming to societal norms meant marrying young and having children. In the post-World War II period, marriage rates rose; the average age at first marriage dropped to twenty-three for men and twenty for women. Between 1946 and 1964, married couples also gave birth to the largest generation in U.S. history to date; this baby boom resulted in the cohort known as the baby boomers. Conformity also required that the wives of both working- and middle-class men stay home and raise children instead of working for wages outside the home. Most conformed to this norm, at least while their children were young. Nevertheless, 40 percent of women with young children and half of women with older children sought at least part-time employment. They did so partly out of necessity and partly to pay for the new elements of "the good life"—second cars, vacations, and college education for their children. The children born during the baby boom were members of a more privileged generation than their parents had been. Entire industries sprang up to cater to their need for clothing, toys, games, books, and breakfast cereals. For the first time in U.S. history, attending high school was an experience shared by the majority, regardless of race or region. As the baby boomers grew into adolescence, marketers realized that they not only controlled large amounts of disposable income earned at part-time jobs, but they exerted a great deal of influence over their parents' purchases as well. Madison Avenue began to appeal to teenage interests. Boys yearned for cars, and girls of all ethnicities wanted boyfriends who had them. New fashion magazines for adolescent girls, such as Seventeen, advertised the latest clothing and cosmetics, and teen romance magazines, like Copper Romance, a publication for young African American women, filled drugstore racks. The music and movie industries also altered their products to appeal to affluent adolescents who were growing tired of parental constraints. Corporate America The year 1950 ushered in an era in business marked by the consolidation of large companies. Businesses combined to create bigger, greater ones. For example, International Telephone and Telegraph bought Sheraton Hotels, Continental Banking, Hartford Fire Insurance, Avis Rent-a-Car, and other companies. Coca-Cola The year 1950 ushered in an era marked by the consolidation of large companies, including Coca-Cola. Industries that experienced a surge in growth in the 1950s included the automobile industry and the housing industry. New industries, such as aviation and electronics, experienced fantastic births as well. Many of the military industries that arose during World War II continued to conduct big business after its conclusion. As communist block emerged as a military power in Europe, America was forced to arm itself against what it considered to be a threat and made major investments in the defense of the country. Such investments entailed an increase in jobs, factories, and spending - all of which contributed to the boom of the 1950s. Additionally, 1950 saw the emergence of new industries that were anchored by new technologies. One example includes the aerospace industry. The great success of the heavy bombers during the war emphasized the importance of innovation. Improvements in engine design, metallurgy and arms technology advanced the industry and improved manufacturing procedures. The growth of industries were affected as well. As the demand for homes and cars increased, many Americans were lured out of central cities and into the suburbs. The construction of better highways also contributed to these phenomena. Farmers, however, faced tough times. As people left farmlands, less experienced people were left behind to perform farm work. As a result, productivity in farming dropped considerably.

9.2 Containment

Containment was a United States policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. This policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge communist influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, and Vietnam. The basis of the doctrine was articulated in a 1946 cable by U.S. diplomat George F. Kennan, and the term is a translation of the French cordon sanitaire, used to describe Western policy toward the Soviet Union in the 1920s. Containment is associated most strongly with the policies of U.S. President Harry Truman (1945-53), including the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a mutual defense pact. Further, President Lyndon Johnson (1963-69) cited containment as a justification for his policies in Vietnam, while President Richard Nixon (1969-74), working with his top adviser Henry Kissinger, rejected containment in favor of friendly relations with the Soviet Union and China. This détente, or relaxation of tensions, involved expanded trade and cultural contacts. Central programs under containment, including NATO and nuclear deterrence, remained in effect even after the end of the war. Following the 1917 communist revolution in Russia, there were calls by Western leaders to isolate the Bolshevik government, which seemed intent on promoting worldwide revolution. In March 1919, French Premier Georges Clemenceau called for a cordon sanitaire, or ring of non-communist states, to isolate the Soviet Union. Translating this phrase, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson called for a "quarantine. " Both phrases compare communism to a contagious disease. Nonetheless, during World War II, the U.S. and the Soviet Union found themselves allied in opposition to the Axis powers. Key State Department personnel grew increasingly frustrated with and suspicious of the Soviets as the war drew to a close. Averell Harriman, U.S. ambassador in Moscow, once a "confirmed optimist" regarding U.S.-Soviet relations, was disillusioned by what he saw as the Soviet betrayal of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising as well as by violations of the February 1945 Yalta Agreement concerning Poland. Harriman would later have a significant influence in forming Truman's views on the Soviet Union. In February 1946, the U.S. State Department asked George F. Kennan, then at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, why the Russians opposed the creation of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. He responded with a wide-ranging analysis of Russian policy now called the "Long Telegram". According to Kennan: The Soviets perceived themselves to be in a state of perpetual war with capitalism; The Soviets would use controllable Marxists in the capitalist world as allies; Soviet aggression was not aligned with the views of the Russian people or with economic reality, but with historic Russian xenophobia and paranoia; The Soviet government's structure prevented objective or accurate pictures of internal and external reality. Clark Clifford and George Elsey produced a report elaborating on the Long Telegram and proposing concrete policy recommendations based on its analysis. This report, which recommended "restraining and confining" Soviet influence, was presented to Truman on September 24, 1946. In March 1947, President Truman, a Democrat, asked the Republican-controlled Congress to appropriate $400 million in aid to the Greek and Turkish governments, then fighting Communist subversion. Truman pledged to, "support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. " This pledge became known as the Truman Doctrine. Portraying the issue as a mighty clash between "totalitarian regimes" and "free peoples", the speech marks the onset of the Cold War and the adoption of containment as official U.S. policy. Truman followed up his speech with a series of measures to contain Soviet influence in Europe, including the Marshall Plan, or European Recovery Program, and NATO, a military alliance between the U.S. and Western European nations created in 1949. Because containment required detailed information about Communist moves, the government relied increasingly on the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Established by the National Security Act of 1947, the CIA conducted espionage in foreign lands, some of it visible, more of it secret. Truman approved a classified statement of containment policy called NSC 20/4 on November 1948, the first comprehensive statement of security policy ever created by the United States. The Soviet Union first nuclear test in 1949 prompted the National Security Council to formulate a revised security doctrine. Completed in April 1950, it became known as NSC 68. It concluded that a massive military buildup was necessary to the deal with the Soviet threat. Many Republicans, including John Foster Dulles, concluded that Truman had been too timid. In 1952, Dulles called for rollback and the eventual "liberation" of eastern Europe. Dulles was named Secretary of State by incoming President Dwight Eisenhower, but Eisenhower's decision not to intervene during the Hungarian Uprising of 1956 made containment a bipartisan doctrine. President Eisenhower relied on clandestine CIA actions to undermine hostile governments and used economic and military foreign aid to strengthen governments supporting the American position in the Cold War. Senator Barry Goldwater, the Republican candidate for president in 1964, challenged containment and asked, "Why not victory? " President Johnson, the Democratic nominee, answered that rollback risked nuclear war. Goldwater lost to Johnson in the general election by a wide margin. Johnson adhered closely to containment during the Vietnam War. Nixon, who replaced Johnson in 1969, referred to his foreign policy as détente, or a relaxation of tension. Although it continued to aim at restraining the Soviet Union, it was based on political realism, or thinking in terms of national interest, as opposed to crusades against communism or for democracy.

Eisenhower's foreign and domestic policy

Foreign Affairs Eisenhower's presidency was dominated by the Cold War, the prolonged confrontation with the Soviet Union, which had begun during Truman's term of office. When Joseph Stalin died, Eisenhower sought to extend an olive branch to the new Soviet regime in his "Chance for Peace," speech but continued turmoil in Moscow prevented a meaningful response and the Cold War deepened. During his campaign, Eisenhower had promised to end the stalemated Korean War. This promise was fulfilled on July 27, 1953, by the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement. Defense treaties with South Korea and the Republic of China were signed, and the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) alliance was formed, in an effort to halt the spread of Communism in Asia. In the newly independent but chaotic Republic of Congo, the Soviet Union and the KGB had intervened in favor of popularly elected Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. Anti-Communism had become an issue and the U.S. and CIA gave weapons and covert support to pro-Western and Democratic CIA assets Joseph Kasavubu and his subordinate, Colonel Joseph Mobutu. The initial struggle came to a close in December 1960, after Kasavubu and Mobutu overthrew Lumumba and proceeded to turn the country (later known as Zaire) into an autocracy, which was unstable long after the end of Eisenhower's term. Eisenhower also increased U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia, a process which had begun under his predecessor Truman. In 1954, he sent his Director of the C.I.A., Allen Welsh Dulles, to Geneva as a delegate to the Geneva Conference, which ended the First Indochina War and temporarily partitioned Vietnam into a Communist northern half (under Ho Chi Minh) and a non-Communist southern half (under Ngo Dinh Diem). The U.S. strongly rejected the Geneva Agreement. In February 1955, Eisenhower dispatched the first American soldiers to Vietnam as military advisors to Diem's army. After Diem announced the formation of the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, commonly known as South Vietnam) in October, Eisenhower immediately recognized the new state and offered military, economic, and technical assistance. In 1956, Eisenhower warned Britain repeatedly not to use force to regain control of the Suez Canal, which Egypt had nationalized. Regardless, Britain, France, and Israel made war on Egypt and seized the canal. He used the economic power of the U.S. to force his European allies to back down and withdraw from Egypt. It marked the end of British imperial dominance in the Middle East and opened the way for greater American involvement in the region. During his second term, he became increasingly involved in Middle Eastern affairs, sending troops to Lebanon in 1958 and promoting the creation of the Baghdad Pact between Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, and Iran, as well as Britain. Domestic Affairs Eisenhower was a conservative whose policy views were close to Taft. They agreed that a free enterprise economy should run itself. He did not attempt to roll back the New Deal—he expanded Social Security. His major project was building the Interstate Highway System using federal gasoline taxes. While his 1952 landslide victory gave the Republicans control of both houses of the Congress, Eisenhower believed that taxes could not be cut until the budget was balanced. On June 17, 1954, Eisenhower launched Operation Wetback in response to increasing illegal immigration to the United States. As many as three million illegal immigrants had crossed the U.S. Mexican border to work in California, Arizona, Texas, and other states. Eisenhower opposed this movement, believing that it lowered the wages of American workers and led to corruption. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) sent about 80,000 immigrants back to Mexico. Eisenhower retained his popularity throughout his presidency. In 1956, he was reelected by an even wider margin than in 1952, again defeating Stevenson, and carrying such traditionally Democratic states (at the time) as Texas and Tennessee. Social Policy He sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas for the first time since the Reconstruction to enforce federal court orders to desegregate public schools. Eisenhower signed civil rights legislation in 1957 and 1960 to protect the right to vote. He implemented desegregation of the armed forces in two years and made five appointments to the Supreme Court. He was the first president to face term limits, in accordance with the new 22nd Amendment., which set a limit of no more than two terms as President. Eisenhower's two terms were mostly peaceful ones. The country experienced considerable economic prosperity, except for a sharp recession in 1958 to 1959. Eisenhower is now often ranked as one of the top 10 U.S. Presidents.

rocking around the clock

In the late 1940s, some white country musicians began to experiment with the rhythms of the blues, a decades-old musical genre of rural southern blacks. This experimentation led to the creation of a new musical form known as rockabilly, and by the 1950s, rockabilly had developed into rock and roll. Rock and roll music celebrated themes such as young love and freedom from the oppression of middle-class society. It quickly grew in favor among American teens, thanks largely to the efforts of disc jockey Alan Freed, who named and popularized the music by playing it on the radio in Cleveland, where he also organized the first rock and roll concert, and later in New York. The theme of rebellion against authority, present in many rock and roll songs, appealed to teens. In 1954, Bill Haley and His Comets provided youth with an anthem for their rebellion—"Rock Around the Clock" (. The song, used in the 1955 movie Blackboard Jungle about a white teacher at a troubled inner-city high school, seemed to be calling for teens to declare their independence from adult control. The band Bill Haley and His Comets (a) was among the first to launch the new genre of rock and roll. Their hit song "Rock Around the Clock" supposedly caused some teens to break into violent behavior when they heard it. Chuck Berry (b) was a performer who combined rhythm and blues and rock and roll. He dazzled crowds with guitar solos and electrifying performances. Haley illustrated how white artists could take musical motifs from the African American community and achieve mainstream success. Teen heartthrob Elvis Presley rose to stardom doing the same. Thus, besides encouraging a feeling of youthful rebellion, rock and roll also began to tear down color barriers, as white youths sought out African American musicians such as Chuck Berry and Little Richard. While youth had found an outlet for their feelings and concerns, parents were much less enthused about rock and roll and the values it seemed to promote. Many regarded the music as a threat to American values. When Elvis Presley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, a popular television variety program, the camera deliberately focused on his torso and did not show his swiveling hips or legs shaking in time to the music. Despite adults' dislike of the genre, or perhaps because of it, more than 68 percent of the music played on the radio in 1956 was rock and roll. Hollywood reacted aggressively to these various challenges. Filmmakers tried new techniques, like CinemaScope and Cinerama, which allowed movies to be shown on large screens and in 3-D. Audiences were drawn to movies not because of gimmicks, however, but because of the stories, they told. Dramas and romantic comedies continued to be popular fare for adults, and, to appeal to teens, studios produced large numbers of horror films and movies starring music idols such as Elvis. Many films took espionage, a timely topic, as their subject matter, and science fiction hits such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, about a small town whose inhabitants fall prey to space aliens, played on audience fears of both Communist invasion and nuclear technology. The Triumph of Television By far the greatest challenge to Hollywood, however, came from the relatively new medium of television. Although the technology had been developed in the late 1920s, through much of the 1940s, only a fairly small audience of the wealthy had access to it. As a result, programming was limited. With the post-World War II economic boom, all this changed. Where there had been only 178,000 televisions in homes in 1948, by 1955, over three-quarters of a million U.S. households, about half of all homes, had television. Types of Programming Sales of television sets boomed in the 1950s. Sitcoms offered a romanticized view of middle-class American life with The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952-1966), Father Knows Best (1954-1960), and ABC's The Donna Reed Show (1958-1966) exemplifying the genre. Emmy-winning comedy I Love Lucy (1951-1960) starred husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball and enjoyed such popularity that some businesses closed early on Monday nights in order to allow employees to hurry home for the show. Musical programs distinguished the decade. Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, the first opera written for television, was performed on December 24, 1951, at the NBC studios in New York City, where it was telecast as the debut production of the Hallmark Hall of Fame. The opera was performed live on or near Christmas Eve annually until the mid-sixties when a production starring Teresa Stratas was filmed and telecast for several years. The Broadway musical Peter Pan was televised in 1955 on NBC with Mary Martin and Cyril Richard in their original roles as Peter Pan and Captain Hook. Comedy and variety shows were popular. Comedy stars with their own shows included: Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Burns and Allen, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Jackie Gleason, Red Skelton, Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, and Groucho Marx who starred in his quiz show You Bet Your Life. Dinah Shore, Perry Como, Eddie Fisher, Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Lawrence Welk, as well as other stars, had popular weekly musical variety shows. The Ed Sullivan Show showcased many famous acts during the decade. Children's programs included the 19-season, Emmy-winning CBS dramatic series Lassie (1954-1973), sci-fi series Adventures of Superman (1952), variety show The Mickey Mouse Club (1955), anthology series Disneyland (1955), and live-action fairy tale anthology series Shirley Temple's Storybook (1958). Bozo the Clown enjoyed widespread franchising in early television, making him the best-known clown character in the United States. Quiz and panel shows included The $64,000 Question, What's My Line, I've Got a Secret, The Price is Right, Beat the Clock, Truth or Consequences, Queen for a Day, and Name That Tune. The quiz show scandals of the period rocked the nation and were the result of the revelation that contestants were secretly given assistance by the producers to arrange the outcome of a supposedly fair competition. Current events, Newscasting, and journalism were distinguished by several broadcasting programs by Edward R. Murrow of CBS. Murrow's 1951 See It Now and Person to Person showcased important events, places and people in the news. NBC's Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, and CBS' Walter Cronkite also pioneered important news programming. On July 7, 1952, the term "anchor" was coined to describe Cronkite's role at both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, which marked the first nationally televised convention coverage. Talk shows had their genesis in the decade with NBC's Today hosted by Dave Garroway creating the much-copied genre format. The Tonight Show debuted in 1954 with Steve Allen as host. The coronation of Elizabeth II was televised on June 2, 1953, highlighting the start of pan-European cooperation with regards to the exchange of TV programs. Watch this clip of famous TV show's from the '50s, Can You Name That 50's TV Show. While most of you will not recognize these, it does give you a sense of the culture and entertainment during that time period.

Domestic and foreign Policy

Kennedy called his domestic program the "New Frontier. " It ambitiously promised federal funding for education, medical care for the elderly, economic aid to rural regions, and government intervention to halt the recession. In his 1963 State of the Union address, he proposed substantial tax reform and a reduction in income tax rates. Congress passed few of Kennedy's major programs during his lifetime, but did vote them through in 1964-65 under his successor Johnson. Kennedy ended a period of tight fiscal policies, loosening monetary policy to keep interest rates down and encourage economic growth. The economy, which had been through two recessions in three years and was currently in a recession when Kennedy took office, turned around and prospered. GDP expanded, inflation remained steady, unemployment eased, industrial production rose, and motor vehicle sales rose. Kennedy and Civil Rights John F. Kennedy initially proposed an overhaul of American immigration policy that later became the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. It dramatically shifted the source of immigration from Northern and Western European countries towards immigration from Latin America and Asia, and also shifted the emphasized family reunification. Kennedy wanted to dismantle the selection of immigrants based on country of origin and saw this as an extension of his civil rights policies. Kennedy supported African-American civil rights as well as the rights of other marginalized groups, such as women. Kennedy signed the executive order creating the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women on December 14, 1961. Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt led the commission. On June 10, 1963, Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act of 1963, a federal law amending the Fair Labor Standards Act, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex. Kennedy and the Space Program Kennedy also saw the expansion of the U.S. space program. On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to fly in space, which reinforced American fears about being left behind in a technological competition with the Soviet Union. Kennedy wanted the U.S. to take the lead in the Space Race for reasons of strategy and prestige. On November 21, 1962, in a cabinet meeting with NASA administrator James E. Webb and other officials, Kennedy explained that the moon was important for reasons of international prestige and that the expense was justified. Vice-President Johnson assured him that lessons learned from the space program had military value as well, and so the space program under Kennedy began. Costs for the Apollo program were expected to reach $40 billion. On July 20, 1969, almost six years after Kennedy's death, Apollo 11 landed the first manned spacecraft on the Moon. Kennedy's foreign policy was dominated by American confrontations with the Soviet Union, manifested by proxy wars in the early stage of the Cold War. The Kennedy administration's foreign policy was characterized by a policy of containment. It was also dominated by a new support for third world countries' and their nationalist movements. During the Kennedy administration, the world came to the brink of nuclear war with the Cuban Missile Crisis. As one of his first presidential acts, Kennedy asked Congress to create the Peace Corps. Through this program, still in existence today, Americans volunteer to help underdeveloped nations in areas such as education, farming, health care, and construction. The organization grew to 5,000 members by March 1963 and 10,000 the following year. Since 1961, over 200,000 Americans have joined the Peace Corps, serving in 139 countries.

Immigration Act of 1965

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (also known as the Hart-Celler Act) changed the nation's laws regulating immigration. The act had a profound and long-term effect on immigration into the United States and, thus, on American demographics. The act was co-sponsored by Representative Emanuel Celler of New York and Senator Philip Hart of Michigan and was strongly supported by United States Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. The Hart-Celler Act abolished the National Origins Formula, which had been in place since the Immigration Act of 1924. The National Origins Formula had set immigration quotas for specific countries, effectively giving preference to Northern and Western Europe, over Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. This national origins quota system was viewed as an embarrassment by, among others, President John F. Kennedy, who called it "nearly intolerable. " Many argued that the unequal policy hampered American attempts to compete ideologically with the Soviet Union. The National Origins Formula was replaced with a preference system based on immigrants' skills and family relationships with U.S. citizens or residents. Numerical restrictions on visas were set at 170,000 per year, per-country-of-origin, not including immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, or "special immigrants" (including those born in "independent" nations in the Western Hemisphere; former citizens; ministers; employees of the U.S. government abroad). President Lyndon Johnson signed the bill at the foot of the Statue of Liberty as a symbolic gesture. The majority of the American people were opposed to the Immigration and Nationality Act. To convince people of the legislation's merits, the act's proponents asserted that the act would not significantly influence American culture. President Johnson minimized the act's significance, calling it "not revolutionary. " Secretary of State Dean Rusk estimated that only a few thousand Indian immigrants would enter the country over the next five years and other politicians, including Edward Kennedy, hastened to reassure the public that the demographic mix would not be affected. In fact, these assertions would prove highly inaccurate. Nevertheless, the House of Representatives voted 326 to 70 (82.5%) in favor of the act, while the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 76 to 18. The act had bipartisan support in the Senate, with 52 of 67 Democrats and 24 of 28 Republicans voting "yes." Most of the "no" votes were from the southern belt, then strongly Democratic. On October 3, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the legislation into law, saying "This [old] system violates the basic principle of American democracy, the principle that values and rewards each man on the basis of his merit as a man. It has been un-American in the highest sense because it has been untrue to the faith that brought thousands to these shores even before we were a country. " The Immigration and Nationality Act did change American demographics, leading to increases in immigration from Mediterranean Europe, Latin America, and Asia. By the 1990s, America's population growth was more than one-third driven by legal immigration, as opposed to one-tenth before the act. Ethnic and racial minorities, as defined by the census bureau, rose from 25% in 1990 to 30% in 2000. Per the 2000 census, roughly 11.1% of Americans were foreign-born, a major increase from the low of 4.7% in 1970. One-third of the foreign-born were from Latin America and one-fourth from Asia. As a result of these changes in legal immigration among other factors, America is expected to have less than 50% of whites in the total population by the year 2042. Some argue that the act also increased illegal immigration from Latin America, and especially from Mexico because the unlimited legal "bracero" system previously in-place was cut. The waves of immigration enabled by the Immigration and Nationality Act carry benefits and problems. Immigrants have made significant contributions to American society, for example, helping to stimulate the Sunbelt boom. The number of immigrant groups with above-average socioeconomic status is a testament to the ability of immigrants to make the most of opportunities to contribute to American society. However, as it has many other times in American history, the arrival of new groups heightens anxieties about cultural change, raises questions of identity, and causes conflicts of interest. Thus, the demographic change in America creates cultural and political problems. Some critics of immigration argue that immigrants fail to assimilate into the American melting pot; others defend this phenomenon as multiculturalism, the idea that groups should retain their distinctive identities and pursue political representation as groups. Other debates focus on the economic impact of immigration, the impact of illegal immigration, and the role of languages other than English in public life.

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an international alliance between the US and nations of Western Europe for mutual defense against possible Soviet aggression.

9.3 Korea and the Military Implementation of Containment

The Korean War was the first militarized instance of containment, as U.S. and South Korea fought against communist North Korea. After World War II, the US attempted to curb Soviet influence on the Korean Peninsula by occupying the southern part of that area. The area occupied by the US became South Korea, while the other part became North Korea. North Korea soon passed into the control of the Communist Party. In May 1949, fighting between North and South Korean troops broke out near the border between the two nations. In an attempt to add South Korea to the Communist World, North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950. The People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union lent their support to North Korea, while the United States did the same to South Korea. On June 25, 1950, a large military force moved across the 38th parallel in the Republic of Korea. On Saturday, 24 June 1950, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson informed President Truman by telephone, "Mr. President, I have very serious news. The North Koreans have invaded South Korea. " Truman and Acheson discussed a U.S. invasion response with defense department principals, who agreed that the United States was obligated to repel military aggression, paralleling it with Adolf Hitler's aggressions in the 1930s, and said that the mistake of appeasement must not be repeated. In his autobiography, President Truman acknowledged that fighting the invasion was essential to the American goal of the global containment of communism as outlined in the National Security Council Report 68 (NSC-68). The Korean War was the first militarized instance of containment, as U.S. and South Korea fought against communist North Korea. On June 27, 1950, the United Nations Security Council first adopted a ceasefire resolution. When the United Nations Security Council voted to aid South Korea in stopping North Korean aggression, the United States agreed to send troops to the Korean Peninsula. General Douglas MacArthur was given the command of UN troops in Korea. The United States agreed to send troops over on June 30 along with increasing aid to the French fight against Communists rebels in Indochina. MacArthur was placed in command on July 8. At the beginning, the U.S. troops were lacking training and were out of shape. In the first few weeks of fighting the U.S. troops were pushed back to a defensive perimeter at Pusan. Incheon. US success at Incheon encouraged UN and US forces to pursue a policy of rollback in Korea. This photograph depicts General MacArthur observing the Incheon Landing. See Full Size Image However, A rapid U.N. counter-offensive then drove the North Koreans past the 38th Parallel and almost to the Yalu River, when the People's Republic of China (PRC) entered the war on the side of North Korea. Chinese intervention forced the Southern-allied forces to retreat behind the 38th Parallel. While not directly committing forces to the conflict, the Soviet Union provided material aid to both the North Korean and Chinese armies. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when the armistice agreement was signed. The agreement restored the border between the Koreas near the 38th Parallel and created the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a 2.5-mile (4.0 km)-wide fortified buffer zone between the two Korean nations. Minor incidents still continue today.

Nato

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. NATO's headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, one of the 28 member states across North America and Europe. An additional 22 countries participate in NATO's Partnership for Peace, with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programs. The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the world's defense spending. Beginning of NATO The Treaty of Brussels, signed on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and the United Kingdom, is considered the precursor to the NATO agreement. This treaty and the Soviet Berlin Blockade led to the creation of the Western European Union's Defence Organization in September 1948. However, participation of the United States was thought necessary both to counter the military power of the USSR and to prevent the revival of nationalist militarism, so talks for a new military alliance began almost immediately. These new negotiations resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty, which was signed in Washington, D.C. on 4 April 1949. It included the five Treaty of Brussels states plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland. This Treaty formally created NATO. NATO's Purpose In Article 5 of the charter, the members agreed that an armed attack against any one of them in Europe or North America would be considered an attack against them all. Consequently, they agreed that, if an armed attack occurred, each of them would assist the member being attacked, taking such action as it deemed necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area. The treaty does not require members to respond with military action against an aggressor. Although obliged to respond, they maintain the freedom to choose the method by which they do so, although it is assumed that NATO members will aid the attacked member militarily. NATO and the Cold War During the Cold War, doubts over the strength of the relationship between Europe and the U.S. ebbed and flowed, along with doubts over the credibility of the NATO defense against a prospective Soviet invasion. These doubts led to the development of the independent French nuclear deterrent and the withdrawal of the French from NATO's military structure in 1966. For its first few years, NATO was not much more than a political association; the first NATO Secretary-General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949 that the organization's goal was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down. " However, the Korean War galvanized the member states, and an integrated military structure was built up under the direction of two U.S. supreme commanders. New Members Greece and Turkey joined the alliance in 1952, forcing a series of controversial negotiations over how to bring the two countries into the military command structure. In 1954, the Soviet Union suggested that it should join NATO to preserve peace in Europe. NATO countries, fearing that the Soviet Union's motive was to weaken the alliance, ultimately rejected this proposal. The incorporation of West Germany into the organization on 9 May 1955 was described as "a decisive turning point" in the history of Europe. A major reason for Germany's entry into the alliance was that without German manpower, it would have been impossible to field enough conventional forces to resist a Soviet invasion.

politics of abundance

The immediate years unfolding after World War II were generally ones of stability and prosperity for Americans. The nation reconverted its war machine back into a consumer culture almost overnight and found jobs for 12 million returning veterans. Increasing numbers enjoyed high wages, larger houses, better schools, more cars and home comforts like vacuum cleaners, washing machines—which were all made for labor-saving and to make housework easier. Inventions familiar in the early 21st century made their first appearance during this era. The American economy grew dramatically in the post-war period, expanding at a rate of 3.5% per annum between 1945 and 1970. During this period of prosperity, many incomes doubled in a generation, described by economist Frank Levy as "upward mobility on a rocket ship. " The substantial increase in average family income within a generation resulted in millions of office and factory workers being lifted into a growing middle class, enabling them to sustain a standard of living once considered to be reserved for the wealthy. As noted by Deone Zell, assembly line work paid well, while unionized factory jobs served as "stepping-stones to the middle class. " By the end of the Fifties, 87% of all American families owned at least one T.V., 75% owned cars, and 60% owned their homes. By 1960, blue-collar workers had become the biggest buyers of many luxury goods and services. In addition, by the early seventies, post-World War II American consumers enjoyed higher levels of disposable income than those in any other country. Between 1946 and 1960, the United States witnessed a significant expansion in the consumption of goods and services. GNP rose by 36% and personal consumption expenditures by 42%, cumulative gains which were reflected in the incomes of families and unrelated individuals. While the number of these units rose sharply from 43.3 million to 56.1 million in 1960, a rise of almost 23%, their average incomes grew even faster, from $3940 in 1946 to $6900 in 1960, an increase of 43%. After taking inflation into account, the real advance was 16%. More than 21 million housing units were constructed between 1946 and 1960, and in the latter year, 52% of consumer units in the metropolitan areas owned their own homes. In 1957, out of all the wired homes throughout the country, 96% had a refrigerator, 87% an electric washer, 81% a television, 67% a vacuum cleaner, 18% a freezer, 12% an electric or gas dryer, and 8% air conditioning. Car ownership also soared, with 72% of consumer units owning an automobile by 1960. The period from 1946 to 1960 also witnessed a significant increase in the paid leisure time of working people. The forty-hour workweek established by the Fair Labor Standards Act in covered industries became the actual schedule in most workplaces by 1960. Paid vacations also became to be enjoyed by the vast majority of workers. Industries catering to leisure activities blossomed as a result of most Americans enjoying significant paid leisure time by 1960. Educational outlays were also greater than in other countries while a higher proportion of young people were graduating from high schools and universities than elsewhere in the world, as hundreds of new colleges and universities opened every year. At the advanced level, American science, engineering, and medicine was world-famous. In regards to social welfare, the postwar era saw a considerable improvement in insurance for workers and their dependents against the risks of illness, as private insurance programs like Blue Cross and Blue Shield expanded. With the exception of farm and domestic workers, virtually all members of the labor force were covered by Social Security. In 1959 that about two-thirds of factory workers and three-fourths of office workers were provided with supplemental private pension plans. Many city dwellers gave up cramped apartments for a suburban lifestyle centered around children and housewives, with the male breadwinner commuting to work. Suburbia encompassed a third of the nation's population by 1960. The growth of suburbs was not only a result of postwar prosperity, but innovations of the single-family housing market with low-interest rates on 20 and 30 year mortgages, and low down payments, especially for veterans. William Levitt began a national trend with his use of mass-production techniques to construct a large "Levittown" housing development on Long Island. Meanwhile, the suburban population swelled because of the baby boom, a dramatic increase in fertility in the period 1942-1957. The new prosperity did not extend to everyone. Many Americans continued to live in poverty throughout the 1950s, especially older people and blacks, the latter of whom continued to earn far less than whites on average in the two decades following the end of the Second World War.

cold war

The term for the post-World War II competition between the U.S. and the USSR for global domination.

Truman Docterine (1947) & Marshall Plan

Truman Doctrine The Truman Doctrine was the American policy in 1947 of providing economic and military aid to Greece and Turkey because they were threatened by communism. It was the start of the containment policy to stop Soviet expansion; it was also a major step in beginning the Cold War. Greek Civil War (1946-1949) President Truman told Congress the Truman Doctrine was to "to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation. " Truman asked Congress for aid for Greece and Turkey amid the crisis of the Greek Civil War (1946-1949). He argued that if Greece and Turkey did not receive the aid that they urgently needed, they would inevitably fall to communism, with grave consequences throughout the region. The policy won the support of Republicans who controlled Congress and sent $400 million in American money, but no military forces, to the region. The effect was to end the Communist threat, and in 1952 both countries (Greece and Turkey) joined NATO, a military alliance that guaranteed their protection. Basis for the Policy of Containment The Truman Doctrine was informally extended to become the basis of American Cold War policy throughout Europe and around the world. It shifted American foreign policy toward the Soviet Union from détente (a relaxation of tension) to a policy of containment of Soviet expansion. The Truman Doctrine underpinned American Cold War policy in Europe and around the world and endured because it addressed broader cultural insecurity regarding modern life in a globalized world. It dealt with U.S. concern over communism's domino effect and it mobilized American economic power to modernize and stabilize unstable regions without direct military intervention. It brought nation-building activities and modernization programs to the forefront of foreign policy. The Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program) was a large-scale American program to aid Europe. The initiative was named after Secretary of State George Marshall. The Plan was largely the creation of State Department officials such as George F. Kennan. The plan was established on June 5, 1947, and was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948. Goals of the Plan The Marshall Plan sought to rebuild a war-devastated region, modernize industry, bolster European currency, and facilitate international trade, especially with the United States, whose economic interest required Europe to become wealthy enough to import U.S. goods. One of the main goals, however, was to contain the growing Soviet influence in Europe and prevent the spread of communism.

Truman Doctrine

the policy of containment, in which the US would lend aid to nations resisting communist insurgencies. In its first form, the doctrine was implemented to support the Greek government in 1947.

Greek Civil War

the struggle between the Greek government and communist rebels which prompted the US to announce military aid in line with the Truman Doctrine/policy of containment.

George Kennan

this State Department employee wrote "The Long Telegram," which described the postwar policy of containment. the "Long Telegram": a document written by George Kennan which described the policy of containment. containment: the policy adopted by the US to present the spread of Soviet-sponsored communism. The US would support other nations militarily and financially to "contain" the USSR until the Soviet system eventually collapsed. domino theory: the popular idea that allowing a nation to surrender to a communist insurgent movement would cause a collapse of neighboring nations, toppling over like a row of dominoes.

Vietnam War

Lyndon B. Johnson was committed to the Domino Theory—the belief that communism in one nation would quickly spread to surrounding countries. When Lyndon B. Johnson assumed the U.S. Presidency, after the death of John F. Kennedy, he did not consider the turbulent situation in South Vietnam a priority. Progressive social reforms of the "Great Society" and "War on Poverty" were of greater concern to Johnson. He did believe, however, in the Domino Theory: If one country came under Communist rule, neighboring countries would soon follow. Soon after taking office, Johnson issued National Security Action Memorandum No. 273, establishing his administration's commitment to containing North Vietnam's aggression through military means—thus reversing Kennedy's policy to withdraw U.S. military presence from Vietnam. In effect, Johnson escalated the war, following the controversial Gulf of Tonkin incident. Robert McNamara discusses the Gulf of Tonkin Incident Robert McNamara recounts the confusion and uncertainty surrounding the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, ultimately reporting that "It didn't happen. " As the time Johnson took office in 1963, there were 16,000 American military advisors in South Vietnam, in the midst of the deteriorating political and military situation that existed in the region, particularly in the Mekong Delta. The South Vietnamese war effort was hindered by widespread corruption in the government of Ngo Dinh Diem, the first president of South Vietnam (in power since 1955). The South Vietnamese Army, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), proved ineffective against the Viet Cong. In 1961, the newly elected Kennedy Administration promised more aid to the war effort (money, weapons, supplies, etc. ), but these were of little effect. Doubt arose among Washington D.D. policy-makers that Diem was capable of defeating the opposing Chinese Communist regime; some feared Diem might negotiate with Ho Chi Minh. Discussions about South Vietnamese regime change began in Washington and were concluded on November 2, 1963, when the CIA aided a group of ARVN officers in the overthrew of Diem. To help contain the post-coup chaos, Kennedy increased the number of US advisors in South Vietnam to 16,000. The South Vietnamese government was run by a twelve-member military revolutionary council, headed by General Duong Van Minh—whom journalist Stanley Karnow later recalled as "a model of lethargy. " There was chronic instability in the ARVN, as several coups—not all successful—occurred within a short period of time. Johnson was assuming the presidency at a tenuous time of military setbacks and political instability in South Vietnam. The Gulf of Tonkin Incident proved an escalating factor of the war, and justification of continued American presence in Vietnam. During this incident, the destroyer USS Maddox engaged 3 North Vietnamese Navy torpedo boats in a sea battle resulting in several North Vietnamese casualties. In response, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which served as Johnson's legal justification for deploying U.S. forces and the commencement of open warfare against North Vietnam. While the Johnson administration claimed Vietnamese boats had fired first, subsequent investigations suggest that the battle was initiated by the Maddox. Some historians believe that Johnson knowingly used the Gulf of Tonkin incident to gain the support of the American people to enter into the Vietnam War.

poverty

The War on Poverty continued the plan of the Kennedy administration, with the goal of eliminating hunger and deprivation from American life. The most ambitious and controversial part of the Great Society was its initiative to end poverty. The Kennedy Administration had been contemplating a federal effort against poverty. Johnson, who had observed extreme poverty as a school-teacher in Texas, adopted Kennedy's program. In the first months of his presidency, Johnson declared an "unconditional war on poverty," with the lofty goal of eliminating hunger and deprivation from American life. The War on Poverty's programs reflected a consensus among the Johnson administration that poverty was best addressed through the creation of economic opportunity, rather than by simply raising incomes, as Johnson emphasized in speeches around the country. The War thus focused on education, job training, and community development. Programs The War on Poverty began with a $1 billion appropriation in 1964 and spent another $2 billion in the following two years. It spawned dozens of programs, among them: the Job Corps, whose purpose was to help disadvantaged youth develop marketable skills the Neighborhood Youth Corps, established to give poor urban youths work experience and to encourage them to stay in school Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), a domestic version of the Peace Corps, which placed concerned citizens with community-based agencies to work towards empowerment of the poor the Model Cities Program for urban redevelopment Upward Bound, which assisted poor high school students entering college legal services for the poor the Food Stamp Act of 1964 (which expanded the federal food stamp program) the Community Action Program, which initiated local Community Action Agencies charged with helping the poor become self-sufficient Project Head Start, which offered preschool education for poor children In addition, funding was provided for the establishment of community health centers to expand access to health care, while major amendments were made to Social Security in 1965 and 1967 which significantly increased benefits, expanded coverage, and established new programs to combat poverty and raise living standards. In addition, average AFDC payments were 35% higher in 1968 than in 1960 but remained insufficient and uneven. Economic Opportunity Act The centerpiece of the War on Poverty was the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, which created an Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) to oversee a variety of community-based anti-poverty programs. The OEO was responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs, including VISTA, Job Corps, Head Start, Legal Services and the Community Action Program. The OEO launched Project Head Start as an eight-week summer program in 1965. The project was designed to help end poverty by creating a program for preschool children from low-income families that addresses emotional, social, health, nutritional, and psychological needs. President Johnson also launched Project Follow Through, implemented in 1967, to follow up with graduates of the Head Start program. The policy trains disadvantaged and at-risk youth and has provided more than two million disadvantaged young people with integrated academic, vocational, and social skills training. Job Corps continues to help 70,000 youths annually at 122 Job Corps centers throughout the country. Besides vocational training, many Job Corps also offer GED programs as well as high school diplomas and programs to get students into college. Impact The impact of the War on Poverty is debated. In the decade following the program's introduction, poverty rates in the U.S. dropped to their lowest level since comprehensive records began in 1958, from 17.3% in 1964 to 11.1% in 1973. Since 1973, the rate has fluctuated between 11 and 15.2%. The 'absolute poverty line' is the threshold below which families or individuals are considered to be lacking the resources needed for healthy living, that is having insufficient income to provide the food, shelter, and clothing. Poverty among Americans between ages 18-64 has fallen only marginally since 1966, from 10.5% then to 10.1% today. Poverty has significantly fallen among Americans under 18 years old from 23% in 1964 down to less than 17%, although it rose to 20% in 2009. The most dramatic decrease in poverty was among Americans over 65, which fell from 28.5% in 1966 to 10.1% today. In 2004, more than 35.9 million, or 12% of Americans, including 12.1 million children, were considered to be living in poverty with an average growth of almost one million per year. The popularity of the War on Poverty waned after the 1960s. The OEO was dismantled by President Nixon in 1973, though many of the agency's programs were transferred to other government agencies. Deregulation, growing criticism of the welfare state, and an ideological shift to conservatism in the 1980s and 1990s culminated in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996, which, in the words of President Clinton, "end[ed] welfare as we know it. "

demobilization and return to civilian life

The most immediate task to be completed after World War II was demobilizing the military and reintegrating the veterans into civilian life. In response to popular pressure and concerns over the budget, the United States sought to demobilize its armed forces as quickly as possible. Many servicemen, labeled the "Ohio boys" (Over the Hill in October), threatened to vote Republican if they were not home by Christmas 1946. Understandably, this placed a great deal of pressure on the still-inexperienced president to shrink the size of the U.S. military. Not everyone wanted the government to reduce America's military might, however. Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal and Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson warned Truman in October 1945 that an overly rapid demobilization jeopardized the nation's strategic position in the world. While Truman agreed with their assessment, he felt powerless to put a halt to demobilization. In response to mounting political pressure, the government reduced the size of the U.S. military from a high of 12 million in June 1945 to 1.5 million in June 1947—still more troops than the nation ever had in arms during peacetime. Soldiers and sailors were not the only ones dismissed from service. As the war drew to a close, millions of women working the jobs of men who had gone off to fight were dismissed by their employers, often because the demand for war materiel had declined and because government propaganda encouraged them to go home to make way for the returning troops. While most women workers surveyed at the end of the war wished to keep their jobs (75-90 percent, depending on the study), many did in fact leave them. Nevertheless, throughout the late 1940s and the 1950s, women continued to make up approximately one-third of the U.S. labor force. Readjustment to postwar life was difficult for the returning troops. The U.S. Army estimated that as many of 20 percent of its casualties were psychological. Although many eagerly awaited their return to civilian status, others feared that they would not be able to resume a humdrum existence after the experience of fighting on the front lines. Veterans also worried that they wouldn't find work and that civilian defense workers were better positioned to take advantage of the new jobs opening up in the peacetime economy. Some felt that their wives and children would not welcome their presence, and some children did indeed resent the return of fathers who threatened to disrupt the mother-child household. Those on the home front worried as well. Doctors warned fiancées, wives, and mothers that soldiers might return with psychological problems that would make them difficult to live with. The GI Bill of Rights Well before the end of the war, Congress had passed one of the most significant and far-reaching pieces of legislation to ease veterans' transition into civilian life: the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, also known as the GI Bill. Every honorably discharged veteran who had seen active duty, but not necessarily combat, was eligible to receive a year's worth of unemployment compensation. This provision not only calmed veterans' fears regarding their ability to support themselves, but it also prevented large numbers of men—as well as some women—from suddenly entering a job market that did not have enough positions for them. Another way that the GI Bill averted a glut in the labor market was by giving returning veterans the opportunity to pursue an education; it paid for tuition at a college or vocational school, and gave them a stipend to live on while they completed their studies. The result was a dramatic increase in the number of students—especially male ones—enrolled in American colleges and universities. In 1940, only 5.5 percent of American men had a college degree. By 1950, that percentage had increased to 7.3 percent, as more than two million servicemen took advantage of the benefits offered by the GI Bill to complete college. The numbers continued to grow throughout the 1950s. Upon graduation, these men were prepared for skilled blue-collar or white-collar jobs that paved the way for many to enter the middle class. The creation of a well-educated, skilled labor force helped the U.S. economy as well. Other benefits offered by the GI Bill included low-interest loans to purchase homes or start small businesses. However, not all veterans were able to take advantage of the GI Bill. African American veterans could use their educational benefits only to attend schools that accepted black students. The approximately nine thousand servicemen and women who were dishonorably discharged because they were gay or lesbian were ineligible for GI Bill benefits. Benefits for some Mexican American veterans, mainly in Texas, were also denied or delayed. Watch this video as he explains the GI Bill and what it did for the WWII veterans and their families as well as the American economy: The Return of the Japanese While most veterans received assistance to help in their adjustment to postwar life, others returned home to an uncertain future without the promise of government aid to help them resume their prewar lives. Japanese Americans from the West Coast who had been interned during the war also confronted the task of rebuilding their lives. In December 1944, Franklin Roosevelt had declared an end to the forced relocation of Japanese Americans, and as of January 1945, they were free to return to their homes. In many areas, however, neighbors clung to their prejudices and denounced those of Japanese descent as disloyal and dangerous. These feelings had been worsened by wartime propaganda, which often featured horrific accounts of Japanese mistreatment of prisoners, and by the statements of military officers to the effect that the Japanese were inherently savage. Facing such animosity, many Japanese American families chose to move elsewhere. Those who did return often found that in their absence, "friends" and neighbors had sold possessions that had been left with them for safekeeping. Many homes had been vandalized and farms destroyed. When Japanese Americans reopened their businesses, former customers sometimes boycotted them.

Soviet Union

formerly known as Russia, the USSR was the world's most powerful communist nation and the U.S.' chief rival after World War II.

Division of East/West Germany

originally split between the four victorious Allies after World War II into separate zones of influence, Germany and its capital, Berlin, were physically separated after 1960 between the democratic West and the Soviet-sponsored East.

9.4 the korean conflict the armistice

An armistice ceasefire in 1953 ended fighting in Korea and established a buffer zone between North and South Korea, but tensions remain. Stalemate in Korea After North Korean forces invaded South Korea in 1950, it only took two months for the South Korean and UN forces to be pushed back to a small area in the south. A rapid U.N. counter-offensive then drove the North Koreans past the 38th Parallel and almost to the Yalu River, when China entered the war on the side of North Korea. Chinese intervention forced the Southern-allied forces to retreat behind the 38th Parallel. Armistice and the DMZ The changes in territory stopped there, with both sides in their original positions near the 38th Parallel. For the rest of the war, both sides were dug in trenches and no side appeared to be winning. Almost as many bombs that had been dropped on Germany during the whole of World War II was dropped on the cities in North Korea. The need for an armistice agreement in Korea was informed by this territorial stalemate established by July 1951, as well as the heavy destruction inflicted during the war and the increasing U.S. desire to extract itself from the conflict. Peace negotiations started on July 10th, 1950 and it took over three years before a ceasefire was finally reached, on 27th July 1953. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when the armistice agreement was signed. The agreement restored the border between the Koreas near the 38th Parallel. It was agreed that a buffer zone, called the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) would be built between North and South Korea, running from the north-east of the 38th parallel to the south-west. It still stands today as the most heavily defended border in the world, defended by South Korean/US troops on one side and North Korean troops on the other. No peace treaty was signed between North and South—just a ceasefire—so technically they are still in a state of war. North Korea DMZ. A portion of the North Korean DMZ seen from the Joint Security Area on January 1976. This border is one of the most heavily fortified in the world. See Full Size Image Korean Outcome. A map of the Demilitarized Zone, established by the 1953 armistice agreement that ended the Korean War. See Full Size Image Results of the War The U.S. lost about 54,000 troops in the conflict and another 7,000 U.N. troops were killed. The casualty figures were even higher for the Chinese/North Koreans—an estimated 2 million to 4 million were killed or wounded. Millions of more Korean civilians died. The Korean war was the first time the Truman Doctrine, the containment of the spread of communism was put into action. It was also the first-ever time that the U.N. undertook a military operation. The war had mixed effects—it sent a clear message that the West would not tolerate any threat to its allies or sphere of influence no matter how far away they were on the map and were prepared to defend it using force if necessary. However, engaging in the Korean War also resulted in the U.S. making even more enemies (this time with China and North Korea), and doomed already strained relations with the Soviet Union.

Election of 1964: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Barry Goldwater

By the time of the United States Presidential Election of 1964, incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had held the office for nearly one year following the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy. Johnson, whose campaign had successfully tied him to Kennedy's popularity, won 61.1% of the popular vote— no such win since 1820. Republican candidate Senator Barry Goldwater (AZ) could not secure the complete support of own party due to his unpopular conservative political platform. Johnson's campaign successfully portrayed Goldwater as a dangerous extremist. Johnson spoke eloquently about two favorable social programs, known as the Great Society and War on Poverty. Although losing the election by a wide margin, Goldwater became influential to the modern conservative movement, and his so-called extremist views became central to the Republican party. The 1964 election campaigns proceeded against the backdrop of the tragic death of President Kennedy, assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. The loss of the charismatic Kennedy was notably shocking and upsetting to his supporters, while opposition candidates faced the awkward position of running against the policies of a slain president. So as not to appear disrespectful, Republican leaders called for a political moratorium during the subsequent period of mourning. As such, little campaigning took place by either major party until January 1964, when primary season officially began. It was the view of political pundits of the time that Kennedy's assassination left the nation politically unsettled. At the start of the election, the Republican Party was deeply divided between its conservative and moderate-liberal factions. Conservatives favored a low-tax, small federal government that supported individual rights and business interests while opposing social welfare programs. Conservatives also resented the dominance of the GOP's moderate wing (based at the time in the Northeastern U.S.). Since 1940, the Eastern moderates had successfully defeated conservative presidential candidates at the GOP's national conventions. Conservatives likened Eastern moderates to liberal Democrats, both in their philosophy and their approach to government. Goldwater's chief opponent for the Republican nomination was Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York and longtime leader of the GOP's liberal-moderate faction. Nelson Rockefeller, Governor of New York.Nelson Rockefeller was a the leader of the moderate wing of the Republican Party. He was was the front-runner to receive the Republican nomination until his divorce and remarriage alienated social conservatives. See Full Size Image Although Goldwater successfully rallied conservatives, he was unable to broaden his support base for the general election. Shortly before the Republican Convention, his vote against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which Johnson championed and signed into law) alienated most moderate Republicans. Despite the fact that Goldwater supported civil rights in general, and had actually voted in favor of the 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights Acts, the Johnson camp used Goldwater's vote against the 1964 Act to portray him as a racist. Goldwater argued it was a matter for individual states rather than federal legislation. Ironically, Johnson (as the then-Senate Majority Leader) had strongly opposed both the 1957 and 1960 bills and had helped to weaken them. In the end, Goldwater won only his native state of Arizona and five Deep South states that had been increasingly alienated by Democratic civil rights policies. Despite such a devastating loss, this was the best showing in the South for a GOP candidate since Reconstruction. Some political pundits and historians believe Goldwater laid the foundation for the conservative revolution to follow. The election also furthered the shift of the African-American voting electorate away from the Republican Party, a phenomenon that had begun with the New Deal. Since the 1964 election, Democratic presidential candidates have won almost consistently at least 80-90% of the African-American vote.

10.1 vocab postwar america

22nd Amendment: sets a term limit of no more than two terms, for election and overall time of service to the office of President of the United States. Congress passed the amendment on March 21, 1947. It was ratified by the requisite 36 of the then-48 states on February 27, 1951. Demobilization: the process of deactivating military units and returning drafted personnel to civilian life. Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower: the thirty-fourth President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. He was previously a five-star general in the United States Army during World War II, serving as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe. He had responsibility for planning and supervising the invasion of North Africa in Operation Torch in 1942-43 and the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944-45, from the Western Front. Fair Deal: the nickname for Harry Truman's economic program during his election campaign in 1948. included measures such as: aid to education, tax cuts for low-income earners, increased public housing, an immigration bill, the repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act, an increase in the minimum wage, national health insurance and expanded Social Security coverage. Most never passed. GI Bill: a federal law, passed in 1944, which provided a range of benefits to veterans of World War II, including unemployment compensation, low-interest loans, and free tuition at American universities and vocational schools. Minimum wage: first established in 1933, this refers to a mandatory hourly pay rate established by the federal government. Harry Truman: the thirty-third president. He was Franklin Roosevelt's vice-president, Truman was elevated to the White House after Roosevelt's death in 1945 and was re-elected in 1948. Interstate Highway System: A network of limited-access roads, including freeways, highways, and expressways, forming part of the National Highway System of the United States. The system is named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who championed its formation. Construction was authorized by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, and the original portion was completed 35 years later. space race: The informal competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to launch unmanned satellites, send people into space, and land them on the moon. Taft-Hartley Act: A federal law that monitors the activities and power of labor unions. The act became law by overriding U.S. President Harry S. Truman's veto on June 23, 1947. Nevertheless, Truman would subsequently use it twelve times during his presidency. The Taft-Hartley Act amended the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA; informally the Wagner Act), which Congress passed in 1935.

containment

A United States policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. A component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge communist influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, and Vietnam. It represented a middle-ground position between détente and rollback

Warsaw Pact

A pact (long-term alliance treaty) signed on May 14, 1955, in Warsaw by the Soviet Union and its Communist military allies in Europe; it was comparable and opposed to NATO

satellite states

A satellite state is a political term for a country that is formally independent but under the heavy political and economic influence or control by another country. The term is used mainly to refer to Central and Eastern European countries during the Cold War, who were "satellites" under the hegemony of the Soviet Union.

technology and agriculture

After 1945, a continued increase in productivity that led to further increases in farm size, and corresponding reductions in the number of farms. Many farmers sold out and moved to nearby towns and cities. Others moved to a part-time operation, supported by off-farm employment. Finally, there were great advances in plant and animal breeding, such as crop hybridization, artificial insemination of livestock, and GMOs (genetically modified organisms). Further down the food change came innovations in food processing and distribution (e.g. frozen foods). American Robert Goddard was one of the first scientists to experiment with rocket propulsion systems. In his small laboratory in Worcester, Massachusetts, Goddard worked with liquid oxygen and gasoline to propel rockets into the atmosphere, and in 1926 successfully fired the world's first liquid-fuel rocket which reached a height of 12.5 meters. Over the next 10 years, Goddard's rockets achieved modest altitudes of nearly two kilometers, and interest in rocketry increased in the United States, Britain, Germany, and the Soviet Union. At the close of World War II, both the American and Russian forces recruited or smuggled top German scientists like Wernher von Braun back to their respective countries to continue defense-related work. Expendable rockets provided the means for launching artificial satellites, as well as manned spacecraft. In 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik I, and the United States followed with Explorer I in 1958. The first manned space flights were made in early 1961, first by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and then by American astronaut Alan Shepard. From those first tentative steps, to the 1969 Apollo program landing on the Moon, to today's reusable Space Shuttle, the American space program has brought forth a breathtaking display of applied science. Communications satellites transmit computer data, telephone calls, and radio and television broadcasts. Weather satellites furnish the data necessary to provide early warnings of severe storms. As in physics and chemistry, Americans have dominated the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine since World War II. The private sector has been the focal point for biomedical research in the United States, and has played a key role in this achievement. As of 2000, for-profit industry-funded 57%, non-profit private organizations funded 7%, and the tax-funded National Institutes of Health-funded 36% of medical research in the U.S. Funding by private industry increased 102% from 1994 to 2003. The National Institutes of Health consists of 24 separate institutes supporting the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and disabilities. At any given time, grants from the NIH support the research of about 35,000 principal investigators, working in every US state and several foreign countries. Between 1971 and 1991, mortality from heart disease dropped 41 percent, strokes decreased by 59 percent. And today more than 70 percent of children who get cancer are cured. Molecular genetics and genomics research have revolutionized biomedical science. In the 1980s and 1990s, researchers performed the first trial of gene therapy in humans and are now able to locate, identify, and describe the function of many genes in the human genome. Research conducted by universities, hospitals, and corporations also contributes to improvement in diagnosis and treatment of disease. NIH funded the basic research on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), for example. Many of the drugs used to treat the disease have emerged from the laboratories of the American pharmaceutical industry.

Lyndon B. Johnson

Following Kennedy's assassination in 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson acceded to office, serving as president from 1963 to 1969. Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 - January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States, serving from 1963-1969. Johnson had served as Vice President in the Kennedy administration and assumed the presidency upon Kennedy's death on November 22nd, 1963. Johnson was reelected in a landslide in 1964 but did not seek reelection in 1968 on account of his declining popularity. Johnson was renowned for his domineering personality, and, relatedly, his great skill in persuading congressmen and other politicians to support him. Johnson accomplished an ambitious domestic agenda, enacting the "Great Society" and "War on Poverty," a collection of programs related to civil rights, economic opportunity, education, healthcare, environmental protection, and public broadcasting. Historians argue that the Great Society and War on Poverty mark the peak of liberal policy in the United States, the culmination of the New Deal era. Johnson is rated highly by many historians because of his success enacting domestic policies. Lyndon B. Johnson, in the Oval Office. Johnson escalated American involvement in the Vietnam War, reversing Kennedy's policy of disengagement. Under Johnson, American troop presence went from 16,000 American advisors/soldiers in 1963 to 550,000 combat troops in early 1968. American casualties soared during this time. The war stimulated a large, angry antiwar movement based especially on university campuses in the U.S. and abroad. At the same time, race riots broke out in many American cities, beginning in 1965. These riots, combined with rising crime rates, sapped support for Johnson's liberal civil rights and anti-poverty policies and strengthened right-wing calls for "law and order. " The Democratic Party split into four factions, and after an embarrassingly poor performance in the 1968 New Hampshire primary, Johnson ended his bid for reelection. Republican Richard Nixon was elected to succeed him. Republicans would dominate the presidency, winning five out of the next six presidential elections, until the election of Bill Clinton in 1992. LBJ'S INAUGURATION Johnson was sworn in as President on Air Force One at Love Field Airport in Dallas on November 22, 1963, two hours and eight minutes after President Kennedy was assassinated in Dealey Plaza in Dallas. He was sworn in by Federal Judge Sarah T. Hughes, a family friend, making him the first President sworn in by a woman. He is also the only President to have been sworn in on Texas soil. Johnson did not swear on a Bible, as there were none on Air Force One; a Roman Catholic missal was found in Kennedy's desk and was used for the swearing-in ceremony. Johnson being sworn in as president has become the most famous photo ever taken aboard a presidential aircraft. In the days following the assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson made an address to Congress: "No memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy's memory than the earliest possible passage of the Civil Rights Bill for which he fought so long. " The wave of national grief following the assassination gave enormous momentum to Johnson's promise to carry out Kennedy's programs. Johnson created a panel headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren, known as the Warren Commission, to investigate Kennedy's assassination. The commission conducted hearings and concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination. Not everyone agreed with the Warren Commission, and numerous public and private investigations continued for decades after Johnson left office. LBJ'S CABINET Johnson's cabinet included several members of Kennedy's cabinet. Johnson retained Dean Rusk as secretary of state, Robert McNamara as secretary of defense, as well as Kennedy's secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior, all for the duration of his presidency. Former presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson continued as Johnson's ambassador to the United Nations, until Stevenson's death in 1965. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, with whom Johnson had a notoriously difficult relationship, remained in office for a few months, leaving in 1964 to run for the Senate. Robert F. Kennedy called LBJ "mean, bitter, vicious—[an] animal in many ways...I think his reactions on a lot of things are correct... but I think he's got this other side of him and his relationship with human beings which makes it difficult unless you want to 'kiss his behind' all the time. That is what Bob McNamara suggested to me...if I wanted to get along. "

Vietnam War

Growing Involvement, Containment During the Kennedy administration, involvement in Vietnam deepened through the US supplying military advisors and overthrowing South Vietnamese leader, Diem. The Kennedy administration remained essentially committed to the Cold War foreign policy of containment practiced by the Truman and Eisenhower administrations. In 1961, Kennedy faced three events that made it appear as if the US was bending to communism: first, the failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion; second, the construction of the Berlin Wall; third, communist political movement in Laos, called Pathet Lao, received Soviet support in 1961. Ultimately, Kennedy proposed a plan for a neutral Laos that the Soviet Union endorsed. After this agreement, Kennedy believed that another failure to gain control and stop communist expansion would fatally damage U.S. credibility with its allies. In March 1961, when Kennedy voiced a change in policy from supporting a "free" Laos to a "neutral" Laos, he implied Vietnam, not Laos, would be deemed America's tripwire for communist spread in Southeast Asia. Kennedy was determined to "draw a line in the sand" and prevent a communist victory in Vietnam. In May 1961, Kennedy dispatched Lyndon Johnson to meet with South Vietnam's President Ngo Dinh Diem. Johnson assured Diem that the US would provide more aid that could be used to mold a fighting force that could resist the communists. Kennedy announced a change of policy from support to partnership with Diem in order to defeat communism in South Vietnam. Troops Under Kennedy In May 1961, Kennedy sent 400 United States Army Special Forces personnel to South Vietnam to train South Vietnamese soldiers. By the end of 1961, the American advisers in Vietnam numbered 3,205. In February 1962, Kennedy created The Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV), and on August 1962, Kennedy signed the Foreign Assistance Act of 1962, which provides "...military assistance to countries...on the rim of the Communist world and under direct attack. " When Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, the number of US military advisors in South Vietnam had reached 16,700. Kennedy's policy toward South Vietnam rested on the assumption that South Vietnamese leader Diem and his forces must ultimately defeat the guerrillas on their own. He was against the deployment of American combat troops and observed that "to introduce U.S. forces in large numbers there today, while it might have an initially favorable military impact, would almost certainly lead to adverse political and, in the long run, adverse military consequences. " The quality of the South Vietnamese military (ARVN), however, remained poor. Bad leadership, corruption, and political promotions all played a part in weakening the ARVN.

Containment

In February 1946, George Kennan, a State Department official stationed at the U.S. embassy in Moscow, sent an eight-thousand-word message to Washington, DC. In what became known as the "Long Telegram," Kennan maintained that Soviet leaders believed that the only way to protect the Soviet Union was to destroy "rival" nations and their influence over weaker nations. According to Kennan, the Soviet Union was not so much a revolutionary regime as a totalitarian bureaucracy that was unable to accept the prospect of a peaceful coexistence of the United States and itself. He advised that the best way to thwart Soviet plans for the world was to contain Soviet influence—primarily through economic policy—to those places where it already existed and prevent its political expansion into new areas. This strategy, which came to be known as the policy of containment, formed the basis for U.S. foreign policy and military decision making for more than thirty years. Domino Theory As Communist governments came to power elsewhere in the world, American policymakers extended their strategy of containment to what became known as the domino theory under the Eisenhower administration: Neighbors to Communist nations, so was the assumption, were likely to succumb to the same allegedly dangerous and infectious ideology. Like dominos toppling one another, entire regions would eventually be controlled by the Soviets. The demand for anti-Communist containment appeared as early as March 1946 in a speech by Winston Churchill, in which he referred to an Iron Curtain that divided Europe into the "free" West and the Communist East controlled by the Soviet Union. The commitment to containing Soviet expansion made necessary the ability to mount a strong military offense and defense. In pursuit of this goal, the U.S. military was reorganized under the National Security Act of 1947. This act streamlined the government in matters of security by creating the National Security Council and establishing the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to conduct surveillance and espionage in foreign nations. It also created the Department of the Air Force, which was combined with the Departments of the Army and Navy in 1949 to form one Department of Defense.

John F. Kennedy

In the 1950s, President Dwight D. Eisenhower presided over a United States that prized conformity over change. Although change naturally occurred, as it does in every era, it was slow and greeted warily. By the 1960s, however, the pace of change had quickened and its scope broadened, as restive and energetic waves of World War II veterans and baby boomers of both sexes and all ethnicities began to make their influence felt politically, economically, and culturally. No one symbolized the hopes and energies of the new decade more than John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the nation's new, young, and seemingly healthful, president. Kennedy had emphasized the country's aspirations and challenges as a "new frontier" when accepting his party's nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, California. John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th President on January 20, 1961. In his inaugural address, he spoke of the need for all Americans to "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. " He called upon the nations of the world to join fight what he called the "common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself. " In closing, he expanded on his desire for greater internationalism: "Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you." The address reflected Kennedy's confidence that his administration would chart a historically significant course in both domestic policy and foreign affairs. The contrast between this optimistic vision and the pressures of managing daily political realities at home and abroad would be one of the main tensions running through the early years of his administration. Despite the challenges he faced while in office, Kennedy consistently ranks high in public opinion ratings of U.S. presidents. He was assassinated before the end of his term on November 22, 1963.

10.4 vocab: the johnson administration

New Frontier: the nickname for President Kennedy's domestic and international program and policies. Great Society: a set of domestic programs in the United States announced by President Lyndon B. Johnson at Ohio University and subsequently promoted by him and fellow Democrats in Congress in the 1960s. Two main goals of the Great Society social reforms were the elimination of poverty and racial injustice. John Kennedy: President of the United States from 1969-1963, succeeded after his assassination by Lyndon Johnson. Lyndon Johnson: President of the United States from 1963-1968, who oversaw major growth in American social programs, advances in civil rights legislation, and the growth of war in Vietnam. Economic Opportunity Act of 1964: Signed by Lyndon B. Johnson on August 20, 1964, it was central to Johnson's Great Society campaign and its War on Poverty. Implemented by the since-disbanded Office of Economic Opportunity, the Act included several social programs to promote the health, education, and general welfare of the impoverished. Job Corps is a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers free-of-charge education and vocational training to youths aged 16 to 24. "War on Poverty": the unofficial name for legislation first introduced by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964. This legislation was proposed by Johnson in response to a national poverty rate of around nineteen percent. Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965: A U.S. act that abolished the national origins quota system that had composed American immigration policy since the 1920s, replacing it with a preference system that focused on immigrants' skills and family relationships with citizens or U.S. residents. Medicaid: a social health care program for low-income families and individuals created under the Johnson administration. Medicare: a national social insurance program covering American senior citizens, created under the Johnson administration. socialism: The intermediate phase of social development between capitalism and full communism. This is a strategy whereby the state has control of all key resource-producing industries and manages most aspects of the economy, in contrast to laissez-faire capitalism. welfare state: A social system in which the state takes overall responsibility for the welfare of its citizens, providing health care, education, unemployment compensation, and social security. Peace Corps: a national volunteer organization dedicated to international assistance and the establishment of peaceful relations, founded by President Kennedy. Voting rights act: a major civil rights law passed under the Johnson Administration which clocked many segregationist practices in US southern states. Elementary and Secondary Education Act: a major education overhaul passed into law under the Johnson administration.

Truman Fair Deal

The Fair Deal was the term given to United States President Harry S. Truman's ambitious set of proposals to Congress that he introduced in his January 1949 State of the Union address. The term has also been used to describe the domestic reform agenda of the Truman Administration, which governed the United States from 1945 to 1953, and marked a new stage in modern liberalism in the United States. Because Congress was dominated by conservatives during the Truman administration, however, major Fair Deal initiatives did not become law. The most important proposals of the Fair Deal were aid to education, universal health insurance, legislation on fair employment and repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act. All were debated at length but ultimately voted down. Nevertheless, some smaller and less controversial items passed. Additionally, Lyndon B. Johnson credited Truman's unfulfilled program as influencing Great Society measures such as Medicare, which Johnson successfully enacted during the 1960s. Philosophies of the Fair Deal A liberal Democrat, Truman was determined both to continue the legacy of the New Deal and make his own mark in social policy. The liberal task of the Fair Deal was to spread the abundant benefits throughout society by stimulating economic growth. In September 1945, Truman presented to Congress a 21 point program of domestic legislation that outlined a series of proposed actions involving economic development and social welfare. Partisan Conflict The Fair Deal was greatly opposed by the many conservative politicians (Republicans and predominately Southern conservative Democrats) who wanted the federal government's role to be reduced. After World War II, Americans were steadily becoming more conservative, as they were eager to enjoy prosperity not seen in the country since before The Great Depression. Therefore, many of Truman's proposed reforms were never realized. In the 1946 congressional elections, Republicans gained majorities in both houses of Congress for the first time since 1928 and set their sights on reversing the liberal direction of the Roosevelt years. Despite this major momentum shift for Republicans, Truman was not discouraged, and his proposals to Congress became more and more abundant over the course of his presidency. By 1948, his legislative program became known as the "Fair Deal". Truman's Second Term Truman sought re-election in 1948, even though polls indicated that he had little chance of succeeding. After a vigorous campaign, Truman scored one of the great upsets in the history of American politics, defeating Republican nominee Thomas Dewey. Reviving the old New Deal coalition, Truman held on to laborers, farmers and African-American voters. In his 1949 State of the Union address, Truman stated that "every segment of our population, and every individual, has a right to expect from his government a fair deal. " Truman's multitudinous proposed measures included federal aid to education, a large tax cut for low-income earners, the abolition of poll taxes, an anti-lynching law, a permanent FEPC, a farm aid program, increased public housing, an immigration bill, new TVA-style public works projects, the establishment of a new Department of Welfare, the repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act, an increase in the minimum wage from 40 to 75 cents an hour, national health insurance, expanded Social Security coverage and a $4 billion tax increase to reduce the national debt and finance these programs. However, most of the major reforms did not pass due to opposition in Congress Legacy of the Fair Deal Economic Prosperity Although Truman was unable to implement his Fair Deal program, a great deal of social and economic progress took place during his second term. Improvements made in housing, education, living standards and income under the Truman administration were unparalleled up to that point in American history. Millions of homes had been financed through previous government programs, enabling the beginning of slum clearance. Poverty was also significantly reduced. Civil Rights Achievements Additionally, the desegregation of both the federal civil service and the armed forces, as well as the creation of the Commission on Civil Rights spurred momentous civil rights progress. In fact, according to one historian, Truman had "done more than any President since Lincoln to awaken American conscience to the issues of civil rights. " Although, when a Senator, Harry S. Truman did not support the nascent Civil Rights Movement, he included many civil rights initiatives and programs into his domestic reform agenda upon becoming President. This agenda was called the "Fair Deal. " As shown See Full Size Image Other Policy Areas Under Truman, many improvements were also made to the social welfare system. Although he failed to accomplish some of his key aims, such as the extension of Social security coverage to 25 million Americans, the repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act and the implementation of the main program of universal health care, he did achieve a number of other social welfare successes. During the Truman years, the role of the federal government in the field of housing provision was extended. Additionally, the Housing Act of 1949 and 1950 was passed. Mixed Success of the Fair Deal When Truman finally left office in 1953, his Fair Deal was a mixed success. In July 1948, he banned racial discrimination in federal government hiring practices and ordered an end to segregation in the military. The minimum wage had risen, and social security programs had expanded. A housing program brought some gains but left many needs unmet. National health insurance and aid-to-education measures never made it through Congress. Truman's preoccupation with Cold War affairs hampered his effectiveness at home, particularly in the face of intense opposition.

9.2 the truman presidency

The Truman presidency was characterized by an internationalist foreign policy, the Cold War, and domestic unrest. Truman's First Term Democrat Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 - December 26, 1972) was the 33rd President of the United States (1945-1953). The running mate of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, Truman succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when Roosevelt died after months of declining health. Internationalist Foreign Policy Truman's presidency was a turning point in foreign affairs, as the nation supported an internationalist foreign policy in conjunction with European allies. As a Wilsonian internationalist, Truman strongly supported the creation of the United Nations. With the Soviet Union expanding its sphere of influence throughout Eastern Europe, and U.S. public opinion firmly against communism, Truman and his foreign policy advisors took a hard line against Soviet expansion. Although he claimed no personal expertise on foreign matters, Truman won bipartisan support for both the Truman Doctrine, which formalized a policy of Soviet containment, and the Marshall Plan, which aimed to help rebuild postwar Europe. As part of his US. Cold War strategy, Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which reorganized the military and also created the CIA and the National Security Council. Truman also oversaw the Berlin Blockade and the Berlin Airlift. The Berlin Airlift was one of Truman's great foreign policy successes. Truman also extended diplomatic recognition to the state of Israel, a controversial decision due to fears that it would hurt relations with the Arab states. Truman's Second Term Truman's second term was grueling, primarily because of foreign policy challenges connected directly or indirectly to his policy of containment. He quickly had to come to terms with the end of the American nuclear monopoly; the Soviet Union's atomic bomb project progressed much faster than had been expected. His second term was also marred by numerous charges of corruption among senior administration officials. NATO Truman was a strong supporter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which established a formal peacetime military alliance with Canada and many of the democratic European nations. The treaty establishing NATO was widely popular and easily passed the Senate in 1949; Truman appointed General Eisenhower as commander. NATO's goals were to contain Soviet expansion in Europe and to send a clear message to communist leaders that the world's democracies were willing and able to build new security structures in support of democratic ideals. The alliance prompted the Soviets to establish a similar alliance, called the Warsaw Pact.

intro

The death of John F. Kennedy, in November 1963, stunned the nation in a way that is hard to imagine today. To get a sense of it, watch the official announcement, read on CBS News by Walter Cronkite. As you watch, consider: what was the impact of this assassination in both American history and contemporary society? When John Kennedy was pronounced dead, the nation turned to its new chief executive, Lyndon Johnson. Johnson, who has spent years as the leader of the Democratic Party in the U.S. Senate, had legislative skills that few presidents could match, before or since. In the wake of Kennedy's death, Johnson turned to the U.S. Congress, urging them to enact the policy supported by the late President.

3rd world approach

Under the banner of the Kennedy Doctrine, the Alliance for Progress aimed for economic cooperation between the U.S. and Latin America. Diversity in Foreign Policy The foreign policy of the John F. Kennedy administration in 1961-1963 saw diplomatic and military initiatives in Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and other regions amid considerable Cold War tensions. Kennedy deployed a new generation of foreign policy experts, dubbed "the best and the brightest. " Kennedy was praised for having a less rigid view of the world than his predecessor, Dwight Eisenhower, and for accepting the world's diversity, as well as for improving the United States' standing in the Third World. Foreign Policy for Latin America: The Alliance for Progress Kennedy's main achievements regarding Latin America were the Kennedy Doctrine and the Alliance for Progress. The Alliance for Progress aimed to establish economic cooperation between the U.S. and Latin America. In March 1961, President Kennedy proposed a ten-year plan for Latin America, which called for an annual increase of 2.5% in per capita income; the establishment of democratic governments; the elimination of adult illiteracy by 1970; price stability to avoid inflation or deflation; more equitable income distribution; land reform; and economic and social planning. Economic assistance to Latin America nearly tripled between fiscal years 1960 and 1961. Between 1962 and 1967, the U.S. supplied $1.4 billion per year to Latin America. However, Latin American countries still had to pay off their debt to the U.S. and other first world countries. The Alliance for Progress achieved a short-lived public relations success. It also had real but limited economic advances. However, by the early 1970s, the program was widely viewed as a failure. It is often argued that the program failed for three reasons: (1) Latin American nations were unwilling to implement needed reforms, particularly in land reform, (2) presidents after Kennedy were less supportive of the program, and (3) the amount of money was not enough for an entire hemisphere: $20 billion averaged out to only $10 per Latin American. Foreign Policy for the Middle East Kennedy firmly believed in the U.S. commitment to Israeli security, and he recognized the ambitious Pan-Arabic initiatives of Egypt's leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser. In the summer of 1960, the U.S. embassy in Tel-Aviv, Israel, learned that France was helping Israel construct "a significant atomic installation. " Although Israel's Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion had publicly assured the United States that Israel did not plan to develop nuclear weapons, Kennedy tried to persuade Israel to permit some qualified expert to visit the site. Kennedy wished to work more closely with the modernizing forces of the Arab world. In June 1962, Nasser wrote Kennedy a letter, noting that though Egypt and the United States had their differences, they could still cooperate. Around this time, civil war broke out in North Yemen. Fearing that it would lead to a larger conflict between Egypt and Saudi Arabia (which might involve the United States as an ally of Saudi Arabia), Kennedy decided to recognize the revolutionary regime. Kennedy hoped that it could stabilize the situation in Yemen. Kennedy still tried to persuade Nasser to pull out his troops. Foreign Policy Towards Africa Kennedy's approach to African affairs contrasted sharply with that of his predecessor. By naming young appointees to several embassies, Kennedy broke with Eisenhower's pattern. Other appointees included scholars and liberal Democrats with government experience. Under Kennedy, a civil rights activist was tasked with management of the African affairs. According to Nigerian diplomat Samuel Ibe, "with Kennedy there were sparks;" the Prime Minister of Sudan Ibrahim Abboud, cherishing a hunting rifle Kennedy gave him, expressed the wish to go on safari with Kennedy. John and Jackie Kennedy, along with Côte d'Ivoire President Félix Houphouët-Boigny and his wife, at a state dinner in the White House, 1962 See Full Size Image The Kennedy administration believed that the British African colonies would soon achieve independence through what the Kennedy team termed middle-class revolution, and would grow to economic and political maturity. By the spring of 1962, American aid made its way to Guinea. On his return from Washington, leader of Guinea Ahmed Sékou Touré reported to his people that he and Guinean delegation found in Kennedy "a man quite open to African problems and determined to promote the American contribution to their happy solution". Touré also expressed his satisfaction about the "firmness with which the United States struggles against racial discrimination. " Kennedy gave a speech at Saint Anselm College on May 5, 1960, regarding America's conduct in the emerging Cold War. The address detailed how American foreign policy should be conducted towards African nations, noting a hint of support for modern African nationalism by saying that "For we, too, founded a new nation on revolt from colonial rule. "

cold war

When World War II finally came to an end on August 1945, people around the world hoped for a return to the peace and prosperity they had known before the conflict began. However, it was hard to imagine a return to that, when one observed the level of destruction around the globe. Europe, in particular, was shattered, and no nation more so than Germany. With the ending of the war also came the end of traditional alliances and the balance of power around the world. With great powers diminished or destroyed, there are really only two " superpowers" left--allies during the war, now competitors, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Within a few years after the war's end, the Soviet Union had extended its dominance throughout Eastern Europe, and a new sort of war had begun--a "cold war," an intense international contest between America, its allies, and the Soviets and theirs. This lesson explores how that contest began, and the stakes involved. The Cold War (1945-1991) was a sustained state of political and military tension between the U.S. and Soviet Union. The Cold War began after the nations' temporary wartime alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the USSR and U.S. as two superpowers with profound economic and political differences. The Cold War was so named as it never featured direct military action between the two nations. However, both countries repeatedly engaged in indirect confrontations through proxy wars and political struggles in such theaters as Germany, Korea, the Middle East, the United Nations, Vietnam, Cuba, and Afghanistan. Conflicting Post-War Goals Several postwar disagreements between western and Soviet leaders were related to their differing interpretations of wartime and immediate post-war conferences. At the February 1945 Yalta Conference, they could not reach firm agreements on crucial postwar questions like the occupation of Germany and postwar reparations from Germany. Given Russia's historical experience of frequent invasions and the immense death toll of the war (estimated at 27 million), the Soviet Union sought to increase security by dominating the internal affairs of countries that bordered it. On the other hand, the United States sought military victory, the achievement of global American economic supremacy, and the creation of an intergovernmental body to promote international cooperation. At the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, the Allies met to decide how to administer defeated Nazi Germany. Serious differences emerged over the future development of Germany and Eastern Europe. At Potsdam, the U.S. was represented by President Harry S. Truman, who relied on a set of advisers who took a harder line toward Moscow than his predecessor Franklin Roosevelt. Under Truman's administration, officials favoring cooperation with the Soviet Union and the incorporation of socialist economies into a world trade system were marginalized. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were, in part, a calculated effort on the part of Truman toward intimidating the Soviet Union, limiting its influence in post-war Asia. Indeed, the bombings served to fuel Soviet distrust of the United States and are regarded by some historians not as only as of the closing act of World War II, but as the opening salvo of the Cold War. Potsdam Conference 1945. UK Prime Minister Clement Attlee, U.S. President Harry Truman and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin at the Potsdam Conference, July 1945 See Full Size Image Conflicting Ideologies Relations between the Soviet Union and the United States were driven by a complex interplay of ideological, political, and economic factors, which led to shifts between cautious cooperation and often bitter superpower rivalry over the years. Although the United States and the Soviet Union did finally reach an agreement at Potsdam, this was the final occasion on which they cooperated for quite some time. Each remained convinced that its own economic and political systems were superior to the other's, and the two superpowers quickly found themselves drawn into conflict. The decades-long struggle between them for technological and ideological supremacy became known as the Cold War. So-called because it did not include direct military confrontation between Soviet and U.S. troops, the Cold War was fought with a variety of other weapons: espionage and surveillance, political assassinations, propaganda, and the formation of alliances with other nations. It also became an arms race, as both countries competed to build the greatest stockpile of nuclear weapons, and proxy wars were fought on their behalf, primarily by the citizens of poorer nations, such as Korea and Vietnam. A few mutually exclusive values prevented the U.S. and Soviets from coexisting peacefully: The US believed a world with communism was not safe for democracy, and the Soviets similarly feared "capitalist encirclement. " The US believed deeply in the ideology of liberalism, democracy, and free markets; the Soviets believed equally as deeply in ideology of communism, a one-party state, and a centrally planned economy. The U.S. advocated human rights and individual freedoms; the Soviet system (especially under Stalin) operated as a totalitarian system, devoid of respect for freedom or rights. U.S.: Prosperity Based in Open Markets U.S. leaders hoped to shape the postwar world by opening up markets to international trade. The U.S., as the world's greatest industrial power and as one of the few countries physically unscathed by the war, stood to gain enormously from opening the entire world to unfettered trade. The U.S. would have a global market for its exports, as well as unrestricted access to vital raw materials. Determined to avoid another economic catastrophe like that of the 1930s, U.S. leaders saw the creation of the postwar order as a way to ensure continuing prosperity. Soviets: Prosperity Based in Security The American vision of the postwar world conflicted with the goals of Soviet leaders who were also motivated to shape postwar Europe. Since 1924, the Soviet Union had placed a high priority on its own security and internal development. After the war, Stalin sought to secure the Soviet Union's western border by installing communist-dominated regimes under Soviet influence in bordering countries. During and immediately after the war, the Soviet Union annexed several Eastern European countries as satellite states, a move viewed as expansionist and aggressive by Western powers. Forming the Eastern Bloc During the opening stages of World War II, the Soviet Union laid the foundation for the Eastern Bloc by directly annexing several countries as Soviet Socialist Republics that were initially (and effectively) ceded to it by Nazi Germany in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. These included eastern Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, part of eastern Finland, and eastern Romania. In Asia, the Red Army had overrun Manchuria in the last month of the war and went on to occupy the large swathe of Korean territory located north of the 38th parallel. The Eastern European territories liberated from the Nazis and occupied by the Soviet armed forces were added to the Eastern Bloc by converting them into satellite states. The Soviet-style regimes that arose in the satellite states not only reproduced Soviet command economies but also adopted the brutal methods employed by Joseph Stalin and Soviet secret police to suppress real and potential opposition. Following the Allies' May 1945 victory, the Soviets effectively occupied Eastern Europe, while strong US and Western-allied forces remained in Western Europe. In Allied-occupied Germany, the Soviet Union, United States, Britain and France established zones of occupation and a loose framework for four-power control. Soviet occupation of Eastern bloc states was viewed with suspicion by Western powers, as they saw this occupation as a sign of Soviet willingness to use aggression to spread the ideology of communism. Post-War Allied Occupation Zones in Germany. Occupation zone borders in Germany, 1947. The main Allied powers established zones of occupation in Germany after World War II. See Full Size Image The Berlin Blockade The lack of consensus with the Soviets on the future of Germany led the United States, Great Britain, and France to support joining their respective occupation zones into a single, independent state. In December 1946, they took steps to do so, but the Soviet Union did not wish the western zones of the country to unify under a democratic, pro-capitalist government. The Soviet Union also feared the possibility of a unified West Berlin, located entirely within the Soviet sector. Three days after the western allies authorized the introduction of a new currency in Western Germany—the Deutsche Mark—Stalin ordered all land and water routes to the western zones of the city Berlin to be cut off in June 1948. Hoping to starve the western parts of the city into submission, the Berlin blockade was also a test of the emerging U.S. policy of containment. Unwilling to abandon Berlin, the United States, Great Britain, and France began to deliver all needed supplies to West Berlin by air. In April 1949, the three countries joined Canada and eight Western European nations to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an alliance pledging its members to mutual defense in the event of attack. On May 12, 1949, a year and approximately two million tons of supplies later, the Soviets admitted defeat and ended the blockade of Berlin. On May 23, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), consisting of the unified western zones and commonly referred to as West Germany, was formed. The Soviets responded by creating the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, on October 1949.

Iron Curtain

a phrase coined by Winston Churchill, referring to Soviet occupation and domination of Eastern Europe after World War II.

Communism

a way of organizing a society in which the government owns the things that are used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) and there is no privately owned property

10.2 vocab: the american dream

agribusiness: Big business connected to agriculture, either owning or operating large scale farms, or catering to those who do. Discretionary Income Money remaining after all bills are paid off. It is income after subtracting taxes and normal expenses (such as rent or mortgage, utilities, insurance, medical, transportation, property maintenance, child support, inflation, food and sundries, etc. ) to maintain a certain standard of living. conspicuous consumption A public display of acquisition of possessions with the intention of gaining social prestige; excessive consumerism in order to flaunt one's purchasing power. baby boom a marked increase in the U.S. birthrate during 1946-1964 economy: The system by which goods and services are produced, sold and purchased in a country or region. Levittowns: suburban housing developments consisting of acres of mass-produced homes Redlining: The practice of denying, or increasing the cost of services such as banking, insurance, access to jobs, access to health care, or even supermarkets to residents in particular areas. The term "redlining" was coined in the late 1960s by John McKnight, a Northwestern University sociologist and community activist. It describes the practice of marking a red line on a map to delineate the area where banks would not invest; later the term was applied to discrimination against a particular group of people (usually by race or sex) no matter the geography. Zoning Laws: A device of land use planning utilized by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another. Zoning may be use-based (regulating the uses to which land may be put), or it may regulate building height, lot coverage, and similar characteristics, or some combination of these. Similar urban planning methods have dictated the use of various areas for particular purposes in many cities since ancient times. Levittown: The name of four large suburban developments created in the United States of America by William Levitt and his company Levitt & Sons. Built-in the post-WWII era for returning veterans and their new families, the communities offered attractive alternatives to cramped, central city locations and apartments. He and other builders were guaranteed by the Veterans Administration and the Federal Housing Association (FHA) that qualified veterans could receive housing for a fraction of rental costs. Production was modeled in an assembly line manner and thousands of identical homes were produced. Sputnik the first manmade orbital satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in October 1957 Sunbelt: region of the US generally considered to stretch across the South and Southwest.

Lesson 9.2 Vocab

arms race: a competition between nations for superiority in the development and accumulation of weapons, especially between the US and the former Soviet Union during the Cold War. NSC 68 National Security Council Report 68 (NSC-68) was a 58-page top-secret policy paper issued by the United States National Security Council on April 14, 1950, during the presidency of Harry S. Truman. It was one of the most significant statements of American policy in the Cold War. NSC-68 largely shaped U.S. foreign policy in the Cold War for the next 20 years and involved a decision to make containment of Communist expansion a high priority. The strategy outlined in NSC-68 achieved ultimate victory, according to this view, with the collapse of the Soviet power and the emergence of a "new world order" centered on American liberal-capitalist values. Truman officially signed NSC-68 on September 30, 1950. Containment: A United States policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism abroad. A component of the Cold War, this policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge communist influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, and Vietnam. It represented a middle-ground position between détente and rollback. domino theory: the belief that, if a nation fell to internal communist subversion, neighboring nations would become more likely to fall as well, akin to a row of dominoes George Kennan (1904 - 2005) an American adviser, diplomat, political scientist and historian, best known as "the father of containment" and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War. Long Telegram: a memo composed by George Kennan which outlined the policy of containment, which became U.S. foreign policy towards the Soviet Union. proxy war: A war where two powers use third parties as a supplement to, or a substitute for, fighting each other directly.

Potsdam Conference

held after Germany's surrender in May 1945, this conference between the "Big Three" (the U.S., the USSR, and Great Britain) solidified postwar plans and ensured that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan.

Domino Theory

was a theory prominent from the 1950s to the 1980s, that speculated that if one country in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect