units 8 & 9

Counterculture / Hippies, late 1960s

A culture embracing values or lifestyles opposing those of the mainstream culture. In the United States during the late 1960s, many young people created a counterculture that opposed the conservative social norms of Middle America. • Hippies, people who opposed and rejected conventional standards of society and advocated extreme liberalism in their sociopolitical attitudes and lifestyles, became synonymous with 1960s countercultural youth. • The counterculture supported women's liberation, anti-materialism, and opposed the Vietnam War.

Tiananmen Square, China, 1989

A democratic movement gained momentum in the spring of 1989 and manifested itself in the thousands of students who demonstrated in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Hard-line leaders, in the meantime, seized control of the government • The government sent troops into the square on June 3 to arrest the students. Hundreds, if not thousands were killed as the result. • This destroyed the emerging democratic movement in China.

Deindustrialization, 1970s

A long period of decline in the industrial sector. This term refers specifically to the decline of manufacturing and growth of the service sector of the economy in post-World War II America. • The use of more efficient and automated production techniques, increased competition from foreign-made goods, and the use of cheap labor abroad by United States manufacturers brought about deindustrialization.

Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962

A major confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union following the discovery of nuclear missile sites in Cuba. Kennedy placed a blockade around the island and the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles rather than provoke a nuclear war. • The United States removed nuclear weapons from Turkey as part of the agreement with the Soviet Union to pull their missiles out of Cuba. • It was the most imminent threat of nuclear annihilation to date and thereafter, a hot line was established between the White House and the Kremlin to prevent accidental missile launches. • The Crisis led to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963) in which the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union agreed not to perform nuclear tests in atmosphere or underwater.

Têt Offensive, 1968

A major military operation by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong in 1968. The nationalists successfully penetrated Saigon and took the United States embassy. • Although the offensive was defeated, there were tremendous causalities and it shook American public confidence in the war effort since it plainly showed steady progress in winning the war was not being made. Popular support for the war vastly declined.

Theodore Roszak, The Making of a Counter Culture, 1969

A major work that gave an overview of the countercultural aesthetics, ideology, outlook, and thinking.

Somalia, 1992

A massive famine caused by warring factions of the Somalian government prompted George Bush to send troops (along with the UN) to protect relief efforts in December 1992. • The effort succeeded in ending the famine, but not the violence. Soon, the United States was sustaining casualties, and by 1994 the United States left leaving the UN in charge.

Counterinsurgency, early 1960s

A military operation using specially trained forces to defend against guerrilla warfare. The U.S. military created the Green Berets in the early 1960s to fight this type of nontraditional warfare, characteristic of the conflict in the Vietnam War.

Deregulation, 1981-1989

Deregulation referred to reducing the role of government in American economic life. Reagan's administration was fervently committed to this idea. • Secretary of the Interior James Watt opened up public lands and water to development. • The Environmental Protection Agency relaxed or eliminated enforcement of major environmental laws and regulations. • The Department of Transportation delayed implementation of new auto emissions standards. • The idea behind deregulation was clearing away government regulations would bring an economic revival.

Dien Bien Phu, 1954

Disastrous defeat of a French army by Vietnamese Communists led by Ho Chi Minh. The U.S. was already involved in Indochina even before the defeat - giving U.S. military aid to the French. • When the French then tried to convince the U.S. to send troops to Vietnam, Eisenhower refused. • After the defeat, the French agreed to give up Indochina at the Geneva Conference of 1954.

Medicare and Medicaid, 1965

Health care initiatives of President Lyndon Johnson. Medicare provided the elderly with universal compulsory medical insurance financed largely through Social Security taxes. Medicaid authorized federal grants to supplement state-paid medical care for low-income people under sixty-five. Both initiatives were passed as amendments to the Social Security Act of 1935.

SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) aka "Star Wars,"1983

SDI was a proposed space-based shield against any missile fired at the United States. Critics called it "Star Wars" Some appropriations for research were passed, but it was never developed or implemented.

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) 1961 / Stokely Carmichael, 1966

SNCC was originally a student branch of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. It ended up breaking with SCLC president Martin Luther King Jr. over his insistence on nonviolence. • Stokely Carmichael, SNCC's new leader, told members they should seize power in those parts of the South where blacks outnumbered whites. • Carmichael was one among several African American leaders who called for "black power.

Jonas Salk / Polio Vaccine, 1955

Saulk was responsible for the vaccine and the federal government provided it free to the public and it almost eliminated the disease in a few years.

Covert interventions / Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 1950s

Secret undertakings by a country or an organization in pursuit of foreign policy goals. The Central Intelligence Agency, begun in the 1950s, regularly undertook covert interventions that included the following. • Participation in the 1954 overthrow of a leftist Guatemalan government deemed potentially communist by the United Fruit Company, an American firm who was a major investor in Guatemala. • Participation in a 1953 coup in Iran that toppled Mossadegh, a nationalist prime minister, who started to resist the influence of Western corporations in the country. The coup shifted the Shah of Iran from a token constitutional monarch to a virtually absolute ruler. Knowledge of these acts was kept from the American people and most members of Congress.

Watergate Tapes, 1973

Senate investigators of Watergate learned that Nixon had a voice-activated taping machine that recorded every conversation in President Nixon's Oval Office. When the other branches of government petitioned the courts for the tapes, Nixon claimed "executive privilege" (that the release of the tapes would handicap Nixon's ability to effectively handle the duties of his office).

Bricker Amendment, 1954

Senator John W. Bricker proposed a constitutional amendment to limit the treaty-making power of the president. The amendment was co-sponsored by 63 senators and had so much initial success it received nationwide attention. • Initial support for the amendment signaled the misgivings many Senators had about the power the president had to negotiate "executive agreements" (often in lieu of a treaty) with the heads of other nations. • Eisenhower opposed the amendment and successfully worked to get it defeated.

Michael Harrington / The Other America, 1962

Social critic who pointed out in the affluent American society, that the "other America" still had thousands of people mired in poverty, and that this including many elderly who struggled to survive on fixed incomes and without medical insurance. • In 1960, over one-fifth of Americans lived below the poverty line and millions more lived just above it.

William Whyte / The Organization Man, 1956

Social scientist ____ argued corporations and government bureaucracies had stripped employees of their individuality. The ability to "be part of the team" and "get along" was valued more than self-reliance. • ____'s work was another critique of the conformity of the 1950s.

David Reisman / Lonely Crowd, 1950

Sociologist ___'s critique of the conformity of postwar America. _____ argued that in the past Americans had been "inner-directed" and judged themselves on how they measured up to their own values and the esteem of their family and it was being replaced by individuals who were "other-directed" conformists who were only eager to win approval from the larger organization or community.

Fall of Saigon, 1975

Soon after the Paris Peace Accords removed the last of the American troops from South Vietnam, the Vietnam War escalated, and a full-scale offensive launched in March 1975 brought the fall of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, a month later. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam was reunited under the rule of the North Vietnamese Communist government.

Ngo Dinh Diem Coup and Assassination, 1963

South Vietnamese leader Diem was losing support in South Vietnam and his decision to go after the Buddhists and make Catholicism the primary religion of the country brought violent demonstrations and a crisis. • Kennedy gave his tacit approval to a plan by a group of South Vietnamese generals to overthrow Diem. The group assassinated Diem and the United States was left to deal with a secession of South Vietnamese governments that had less stability than the one headed by Diem.

Second Berlin Crisis, 1958

Soviet Premier Khrushchev gave the U.S. six months to pull its troops out of West Berlin before turning the city over to the East Germans. • The U.S. refused to do so and Eisenhower invited Khrushchev to visit the U.S. in 1959 to defuse the crisis. The two men agreed to put off the crisis and scheduled another conference in Paris for 1960.

Berlin Wall, 1961

Soviet Premier Khrushchev had threatened war if the West did not turn over West Berlin to East Germany. When that bluff did not work, in the summer of 1961 East Germany built a wall between West Berlin and East Berlin. The purpose of the wall was to stop the mass exodus of East Germans to West Berlin. stood as a physical reminder of the hostility between the communists and noncommunists for the next thirty yea

Yuri Gagarin / Alan Shepard, 1961

Soviet cosmonaut who was the first human launched into space. Gagarin is followed several months later in May 1961 by astronaut Alan Shepard, who became the first American launched into space.

Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, 1989

Soviet leader Gorbachev announced the Soviet Union would no longer back the Communist governments of Eastern Europe with Soviet armed forces. Beginning with Poland in 1989, the Communist party fell out of power in one Eastern Europe country after another.

Twenty-third Amendment, 1961

The 23rd Amendment gave residents in the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) the right to vote in presidential elections.

Twenty-fourth Amendment, 1964

The 24th Amendment prohibited the use of the poll tax or any tax that denied the vote. The amendment gave Congress the power to enforce it with legislation.

United States - Japanese Security Treaty, 1951

This treaty ended the formal occupation of Japan but also provided for United States troops to stay on military bases in Japan as that country's protection against external threats (communism). Japan and the United States become strong allies and the Japanese economy flourished. The United States was interested in Japan becoming an economic powerhouse in Asia to offset the power of communist China

Agent Orange, 1969-1971

This was a defoliant used in South Vietnam to clear the jungle so the Vietcong and North Vietnamese would have less coverage. Agent Orange was linked to increased risk of various types of cancer and genetic defects. • In 1984 United States veterans obtained $180 million in compensation from companies who produced the herbicide such as Dow Chemical and Monsanto.

Equal Pay Act, 1963

This was an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act, which prohibited wage discrimination, based on sex, in public or private employment.

Race Riot in Los Angles / Rodney King / 1992

This was the worst civil disorder since the 1960s, costing 60 lives and $850 million in damages. The riot was set off by the acquittal (on all but one charge) of four white Los Angles police offices accused of using excessive force (kicking, clubbing, and beating) a black motorist named Rodney King. • The riot demonstrated the resentment of blacks toward recent immigrants, but Latinos accounted for most than half of those arrested - demonstrating it was not just black rage at white injustice, but that the riot contained an element of class-based protest.

Recession of 1982

This was the worst recession since the 1930s. Banks folded and unemployment hit 11 percent. The recession, in conjunction with a drop in oil prices, did end the double-digit inflation -- dropping it to less than 4 percent. The economy made a comeback under Reaganomics, although the recovery widened the income gap between rich and poor.

Bosnia / Dayton Accords, 1995

Through NATO, the United States sent troops into former Yugoslavia to stop Bosnian Serbs from massacring Bosnian Muslims. The U.S. military remained in Bosnia to oversee a cease-fire and peace-building process in the United States brokered Dayton (Ohio) accords of 1995.

Black Nationalism aka Black Power, late 1960s

Theory adopted by several African American movements that stressed racial pride, separation from whites and white institutions, and black autonomy. • gained in popularity in the 1920s with Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association • Later the Black Panther Party, Malcolm X, and other participants of the black power movements of the 1960s drew upon Garvey's ideas.

Helsinki Accords, 1975

Thirty-five nations signed these nonbinding accords. The Soviet Union received the international recognition that they desired of European borders as they were at the end of World War II. In return, all 35 nations pledged to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms and to cooperate in economic, scientific, humanitarian, and other areas. Helsinki Watch Groups were soon established.

National Security Act, 1947

This act created a centralized Department of Defense (which replaced the War Dept.) to coordinate the actions of the armed forces. It also created a National Security Council (NSC) to coordinate the development of foreign policy in the Cold War. Lastly, it created the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to employ spies and gather information on foreign countries.

Servicemen's Readjustment Act aka GI Bill, 1944

This act eased the transition of World War II veterans back into civil society. It gave veterans job training, education, unemployment compensation, and low-interest loans, resulting in upward mobility for many thousands of American families. • Truman's initiative was only partially successful in Congress and was soon sidelined by foreign policy concerns.

Smith Act, 1940

This act made it illegal to advocate or teach the overthrow of the government by force or to belong to an organization with this goal. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Smith Act in Dennis et al. v. United States in 1951.

Family Support Act, 1988

This act required states to start work-training programs and to move people off the welfare rolls.

Twenty-sixth Amendment, 1971

This amendment guaranteed the rights of those who were 18 years of age or older to vote as citizens of the United States. Strong support for the amendment among Americans came from the extensive numbers of eighteen year olds drafted in the army to fight in Vietnam.

Twenty-fifth Amendment, 1967

This amendment was an effort to resolve some of the continuing issues about secession to the office of the President; that is, what happens upon the death, removal, or resignation of the President and what is the course to follow if for some reason the President becomes disabled to such a degree that he cannot fulfill his responsibilities? • The 25th amendment detailed the procedure by which the Vice-President was to take over the presidency if the current president could not fulfill the duties of the office.

Twenty-second Amendment, 1951

This amendment was passed in reaction to Franklin Roosevelt running and serving as President for four terms. The amendment allows Presidents to serve for two terms (8 years). If the individual is Vice-President and then takes office to finish a Presidential term, he or she may serve up to two years of that term and then run for President in their own right for two full terms (serving a total of no more than ten years as President)

AFL-CIO merger, 1955

This brought 85% of all union members into a single administrative unit, which promised aggressive unionism under the leadership of AFL's George Meany as president and CIO's Walter Reuther as vice-president. However, the movement was unable to achieve its old level of success.

Office of Homeland Security, 2002

This combined twenty-two different government departments into a single cabinet-level agency operation with a budget of $40 billion, with about 170,000 employees. • It was given responsibility for protecting American life and property from terrorist activities and for controlling the nation's borders.

House Un-American Activities Committee aka HUAC, 1947-1950s

This committee, originally formed to unearth Nazis, was reactivated after the war to find Communists. In a search for front-page headlines, one of its first targets was Hollywood. HUAC was controlled by Republicans and the committee tried to prove that the federal government under Democratic administrations had tolerated if not actively encouraged communist subversion. • HUAC made headlines with its investigations of Hollywood (see the Hollywood Ten) and Alger Hiss, a highranking member of the State Department.

Indian Self-Determination Act, 1975

This gave reservations and Native American tribes' greater autonomy over internal programs, education, and law enforcement. The act helped tribes gain control over many of the programs supervised by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Peace Corps, 1961

A Kennedy volunteer program that recruited young Americans to give technical aid to developing countries. It had a small budget, but became one of Kennedy's greatest triumphs, showcasing American idealism and know-how throughout the world.

La Raza Unida, 1970s

A Mexican-American political party in the Southwest that advocated the creation of an autonomous Mexican- American state within a state.

NSC-68, 1950

A National Security Council paper, entitled "NSC-68" predicted the Soviet Union would continue to be aggressive in spreading communism throughout the world by direct expansion and by supporting indigent communist groups. The paper advocated increased military spending and a hard line approach by the United States to halt the spread of communism. • When North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950 it gave this position paper a great deal of creditability among United States policy makers.

Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) policy, 1950s

A U.S. nuclear policy that called for a massive and unstoppable nuclear attack if the Soviet Union were to launch an attack on the U.S. Such nuclear reciprocation would result in the total annihilation of both countries and was consequently viewed as a policy of nuclear deterrence.

Black Panthers / Bobby Seale / Huey Newton, 1966

A black rights political organization created in Oakland, California by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton. They urged black armament and direct confrontation with the police. In fact, the group was involved in a series of violent confrontations with the police. The group was internally divided and a major split in the leadership occurred in 1972. • By the late 1970s the Black Panthers had lost most of their influence in the African-American community.

Freedom Summer, 1964

A campaign by thousands of black and white civil rights workers to get black voter registration and participation. The campaign involved the entire South, but focused especially on Mississippi. • There was a violence response by some southern whites against the campaign and three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi by local police and other whites.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), 1957

A civil rights organization formed after the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders. The SCLC was an umbrella organization formed to coordinate civil rights activity in the South. • King was chosen as the first leader of the SCLC and remained its head until his assassination in 1968.

"The New Right," late 1970s-early 1980s

A conservative political movement that achieved considerable success beginning in the 1970s. The New Right helped to elect Ronald Reagan president in 1980 and enabled the Republicans to retake both houses of Congress in the 1994 elections. New Right activists mobilized thousands of followers and millions of dollars to combat federal activism and perceived declining social morality. Though commonly associated with Christian denominations, New Right activism reached well beyond the Christian community to draw from a wide range of American society.

Freedom Rides, 1961

A form of civil rights protest for which the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) organized racially mixed groups to travel by bus through the South to test compliance with federal laws banning racial segregation on interstate transportation, bus stations, hotels, and restaurants. • In several southern cities, these activists were attacked by white supremacists and this drew the Kennedy administration, albeit reluctantly, further into the struggle for equal rights.

Hollywood Ten, 1947

A group of Hollywood writers and producers, some of whom were former communists, who were jailed for contempt by the House Un-American Committee (HUAC) when they refused to answer questions about their political beliefs or the beliefs of their colleagues. • This widely publicized investigation was one of the opening events of the Second Red Scare.

PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) -Israel Peace Treaty / Yasser Arafat / Yitzhak Rabin, 1993 (under Bill Clinton's administration)

A historic treaty was signed between Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin that would allow Palestinian self-rule in parts of Israel, protect Israelis in Palestinian areas, and recognition of Israel and the PLO as legitimate entities. Radical Israelis and Palestinians denounced the treaty and violence ensued

Haight-Ashbury, late 1960s

A neighborhood in San Francisco known for its attraction to the counterculture / hippies.

Sit-in / Greensboro, North Carolina, 1960

A nonviolent protest tactic first popularized by African American college students seeking civil rights in the South. Four black students took seats at the whites-only lunch counter of a Woolworth's store, intending to "sit-in" until they were served and after 4-5 months their actions brought the desegregation of the lunch counter. As protests in the 1960s spread beyond civil rights, many radical groups adopted the sit-in as a tactic.

1946 Congressional Elections

A resurgence in conservatism and the slogan "Had Enough" won the Republican party both houses of Congress in 1946.

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), 1960 / Port Huron Statement, 1960 / Tom Hayden

A popular college student organization that protested shortcomings in American life, especially racism and the Vietnam War. The SDS gained strength from the Free Speech Movement at the University of California (see below). By 1968 some 100,000 young people around the nation belonged to SDS. It led thousands of campus protests before it split apart at the end of the 1960s. • The Weathermen were the most extreme fringe of the SDS and their endorsement of violence and vandalism discredited the early idealism of the New Left in many Americans' eyes

Contra Rebellion in Nicaragua, 1981

A pro-American dictatorship was overthrown in 1979 by a leftist Sandinista government that became increasingly anti-American and pro-Marxist in the 1980s. The Sandinista government tried to strengthen ties with Cuba and break Nicaragua's historic dependence on the U.S. • The Reagan administration opposed the Sandinista government with a campaign of economic pressure and giving arms and money to the "contras" (a guerilla movement made up of various antigovernment groups) trying to overthrow the Sandinista government. • Democrats who opposed Reagan's policy passed the Boland Amendment in 1985, which prohibited any further aid to the contras.

Beat Generation, 1950s

A small group of artists and writers based in New York City and San Franciso who rejected mainstream culture and instead celebrated personal freedom, which often included drug consumption and casual sex. • Members were influenced by psychedelic drugs and Eastern beliefs, such as Zen Buddhism. They rejected regular work and preferred communal living • Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg were two well-known Beatnik writers. (see below) • The rebelliousness of the Beat Generation provided a model for the much larger youth rebellion in the 1960s. • The significance of the Beat Generation was it demonstrated a challenge to the conformity of the 1950s.

Rock and roll, 1950s

A unique music genre that began in the United States. Rock was popular music that combined country-and-western music, rhythm and blues, gospel, and jazz. The term "rock and roll" was coined by Alan Freed, a Cleveland disc jockey, who produced the first rock and roll concert. • White rock and roll performers such as Elvis Presley dramatically increased its popularity with white audiences in the 1950s. Other early artists included Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 1990

ADA prohibited discrimination against citizens with physical and mental disabilities in hiring, transportation, and public accommodations. Some initial opposition surrounded the bill since it required business and government to make extensive structural changes

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), 1981 (under Ronald Reagan's administration)

AIDS, a fatal and contagious disease that attacked the body's immune system was identified in the United States in 1981. AIDS became a hotly contested medical and political issue. The disease was initially seen as being limited to gay men. • Controversy over the level of medical funding spurred gay and lesbian activists to voice their concern with more and more force. • Many public figures, even those who did not support other gay issues, supported anti-AIDS effort at home and abroad.

Alcatraz Island, 1969-1971

AIM occupied the abandoned prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay for two years in an effort to claim the island as Native American land. They claimed the island by "right of discovery."

American Indian Movement (AIM) / Indian Civil Rights Act, 1968

Activist group, with the purpose of redressing some of the many grievances of Native Americans. The initial support for the group came from urban areas, but it also soon struck a responsive chord on the reservations. Native Americans made up less than one percent of the population, but they were one of the poorest minority groups in the nation. The Native American unemployment rate was ten times that of the national rate and their life expectancy was over twenty years shorter than whites. • The group had some concrete achievements such as the Indian Civil Rights Act and President Nixon's pledge for more federal aid to the tribes and increased tribal self-determination. • Militants associated with the organization occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, arguing that treaties had been ignored.

New Left, 1960s-1970s

Adopted by radical students of the 1960s-1970s to refer to their activist movement. This label distinguished them from the Old Left—the communists and socialists of the 1930s-1940s who tended to focus on labor issues rather than cultural issues. • New Left students turned to grassroots organizing in cities and college campuses in their protest against the status quo and what they saw as the willingness of older generations to accommodate authority. • Leaders of the New Left included Tom Hayden and Jerry Rubin.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, 1964

After North Vietnamese gun boats assaulted American ships that were organizing air strikes and military moves, Johnson and his advisers drafted the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution that committed the United States in Vietnam. • It was passed by Congress and gave Johnson a "blank check," granting him full authority against North Vietnamese forces. This led to increased American involvement in Vietnam.

Central High School / Little Rock, Arkansas, 1957

After federal courts ordered the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Governor Orval Faubus sent the National Guard to bar nine black students from entering the school. • Eisenhower, who did not really support the Brown decision, was still determined this challenge to federal authority would not go unanswered. • To carry out the court ordered integration Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. Army flown into Little Rock and the Arkansas National Guard placed on Federal Duty. • On September 25, the nine black students were escorted into Central High School under military protection. • The military force was gradually cut in number and increasingly consisted of Arkansas Guardsmen. The last Federal troops were quietly withdrawn in late November.

French Indochina / North Vietnam / South Vietnam, 1954-1961

After the French agreed to give up French Indochina, the former French colony was divided into the independent nations of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. • Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel by the terms of the Geneva Convention and North Vietnam became a Communist dictatorship under Ho Chi Minh. • The South Vietnam government was headed by Ngo Dihn Diem, who drew support from anticommunist and Catholic Vietnamese. • The U.S. gave over $1 billion in economic and military aid to South Vietnam between 1955-1961. So the U.S. was heavily involved in French Indochina / South Vietnam before Lyndon Johnson became president in 1964.

NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), 1993

Agreement by the United States, Canada, and Mexico to make all of North America a free-trade zone. The business community strongly supported this, but labor unions bitterly opposed it because they were worried about the loss of jobs to lower-paid Mexican workers. Environmentalists also opposed it because of the weak enforcement of antipollution laws in Mexico.

Allen Ginsberg / Howl, 1956

American poet viewed as the spokesman of the Beat Generation. ___'s best-known book of poetry was Howl. It was initially seized by the government under obscenity charges, although the charges were eventually dropped. Howl was an indictment of America's false hopes and broken promises and was the first important poem of the Beatnik movement.

Jack Kerouac / On The Road, 1957

American writer, who was the first to use the term, Beat Generation (see above). His best-known book was On The Road, a largely autobiographical account of the Beat experience in America, which described the hitchhiking adventures of several characters who embraced drugs, sex, and music. • On The Road became a handbook for the Beatnik generation.

Rev. Martin Luther Ling Jr., 1955-1968

An African-American leader whose leadership in the Montgomery Bus Boycott brought him national prominence in the emerging civil rights movement. • King was elected Chairmen of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which was an umbrella organization for other African-American organizations. • He believed in nonviolence civil disobedience. King's tactics drew on the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Thoreau's doctrine of civil disobedience. He was a key member of the 1963 March on Washington. • His most famous speech was "I Have A Dream" which described an America untainted by racism and was given on the occasion of the 1963 March on Washington. • King was assassinated in 1968 by James Earl Ray.

Impeachment and Trial of Clinton, 1998-1999

An Arkansas state employee named Paula Jones had accused President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment. In early 1998, inquiries over the Jones case led to charges that Clinton had an affair with a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky and that Clinton had lied about it under oath and had encouraged Monica Lewinsky to lie as well. After additional investigations, the House of Representatives approved two articles of impeachment against Clinton (for perjury before a grand jury about his affair with Lewinsky and for obstruction of justice - encouraging others to lie on his behalf). • After a five-week trial in the Senate, Clinton was acquitted.

USA Patriot Act, 2001

An act which gave unparalleled powers to the federal government to investigate and detain immigrants, suspected of terrorist activity. The act was criticized for giving the federal government too far-reaching powers.

"Reagan Coalition," 1981-1989

An alliance between three conservative elements made up Reagan's powerbase: corporate conservatives, "neoconservatives," and the "New Right." • Corporate conservatives were the movers and shakers in the corporate world who had a deep commitment to capitalism and were hostile to government interference in the markets, and believed that corporations should get special consideration and privileges. • "Neoconservatives" were made up of intellectuals, many of whom had once been liberals or socialists, but had embraced conservatism in the turbulent 1960s - their primary goal was to support Western democracy against communism. • The "New Right" was set apart from the first two by its mistrust of the "eastern establishment" and its fear of a powerful federal government who threatened individual freedom and local autonomy.

Bombing of Laos and Cambodia, 1969

As Nixon began to withdraw American forces from Vietnam in 1969, he sent Henry Kissinger to negotiate with the Communists' foreign minister, Le Duc Tho. • In order to force a compromise, the president ordered massive bombings of Cambodia and Laos, the locations of communist supply lines • This, in tandem with the Cambodia invasion, set off a new wave of protest against the Vietnam War.

Bakke v. Board of Regents, 1978

Bakke involved the principle of affirmative action (employers and schools adopting measures to recruit minorities to compensate for past injustices). The Supreme Court did not strike down the use of affirmative action, but imposed new guidelines for the use of affirmative action in the future.

Bakke v. Regents of the University of California, 1978

Bakke, a white who had been refused admittance to the university's medical school, sued when he found out black applicants with lower qualifications were admitted. The Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional for the medical school to establish a rigid quota system by reserving a certain number of places in each class for minorities. However, the ruling upheld the right of schools to consider a variety of factors when evaluating applicants, including race, ethnicity, gender, and economic status. • Consequently, Bakke upheld the principle of affirmative action, but put restrictive new guidelines in place for such programs.

Benjamin Spock, Baby and Child Care, 1946

Best-selling self-help book on bringing up children, which reaffirmed the traditional view of a woman's role as a wife and mother caring for her home, and children. _____'a book redefined childcare after World War II and by 1998 sold over 50 million copies. • ____ encouraged parents to be flexible with their children and show them greater affection. • Conservative critics in the 1960s-1970s blamed ___ advice for the breakdown in traditional morality and argued his "permissive" approach to childcare created revolutionary attitudes among the baby boomers.

Election of 1996: Clinton (D) v. Dole (R)

Bill Clinton (D) v. Bob Dole (R). Dole, Senate majority leader, faced off with Clinton. Clinton had made a comeback and took credit for a rebounding economy and depicted the Republicans as extremists while Dole pinned his hope on the appeal of a promised 15% tax cut. • Voter turnout was low, but Clinton became the first Democrat since FDR to be elected for a second term. He garnered 49.2% of the popular vote.

Election of 1992: Clinton (D) v. George H. Bush (R) v. Perot (Independent)

Bill Clinton (D) v. George H. Bush (R) v. Ross Perot (Independent). Clinton campaigned as a moderate on most issues and focused on the economy and the need for health care and welfare reform. Ross Perot, a Texas billionaire, entered the race as an Independent and took an anti-Washington and anti-deficit stance. • Perot, with 20% of the popular vote, made the best third-party showing since Theodore Roosevelt. • Clinton won with 43% of the popular vote v. Bush's 37%. Clinton took 370 electoral votes v. Bush's 167 electoral votes. The Democrats won control of both houses of Congress.

Birmingham, August - September 1963

Birmingham had the reputation of being one of the most segregated places in America and Martin Luther King, Jr. put together a nonviolent campaign to challenge segregation. • Network news footage of peaceful protesters being knocked down with fire hoses and attacked by police dogs did much to create additional support among Northerners and the world for civil rights. • Martin Luther King was arrested and wrote his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail," in which he argued that people have the right to disobey unjust laws. • On September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, claiming the lives of four young black girls. Four members of the Ku Klux Klan were accused of the crime. Three men were eventually convicted. • Both the demonstrations and the bombing helped in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (see below)

Watts Riot, 1965

Black anger over police brutality during a routine traffic stop sparked a week of violence in Los Angeles. • Close to 10,000 people took part in the violence. Thirty-four people died and over $200 million worth of property damage resulted. • demonstrated to the nation that African-American grievances over racism were not confined to the South.

Branch Davidian Incident, 1993

Branch Davidian was a religious cult led by David Koresh. He and his followers lived at a compound outside Waco, Texas. • The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) planned a raid on the compound for illegal weapons and child abuse. The raid failed and brought the deaths of four federal agents. • A 51-day standoff ensued, ending with the burning of the compound and the death of Koresh and the rest of his followers.

George Bush, 1989-1993

Bush was Vice President under Reagan. As president, Bush was successful in areas of foreign relations. He eased relations with Russia, resisted the Russian military's attempted coup in 1991, and fought Saddam Hussein in the Persian Gulf. • He was not as successful in domestic affairs as the economy dwindled and the deficit rose; the effects of the era of Reaganomics. • Bush was defeated by Bill Clinton and Al Gore in the 1992 election.

Vietnam Moratorium, October 15, 1969

By 1969, the war seemed to be losing any sense of purpose or honor; people wondered whether a victory would be worth the killing and destruction. Hundreds of mainstream organizations opposed the war, ranging from Another Mother for Peace to Business Executives Move for A Vietnam Peace • Moderate anti-war activists organized a giant "teach-in" on October 15, 1969 to protest the war. 10 million Americans participated in the moratorium. `

Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 1989

By a 5-4 ruling the Supreme Court ruled states could set limits on the ability to obtain an abortion. Webster upheld the right of states to limit the use of public funds and institutions for abortions. • This was a significant limitation on the Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion in 1973.

My Lai Massacre / Lt. William Calley, 1971

Calley was charged and convicted with supervising the massacre of over 300 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in the hamlet of My Lai. • His trial attracted a great deal of public attention and to many people the tragedy symbolized the dehumanizing aspects of the Vietnam War both for the Vietnamese people and the American troops since many Americans believed that the My Lai massacre was not an isolated atrocity

Fidel Castro / Cuba, 1959

Castro, a revolutionary, overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. He then nationalized American owned businesses and property in Cuba. In retaliation, Eisenhower cut off U.S. trade with Cuba. At that point, Castro turned to the Soviet Union for aid and announced he was a Communist. • Eisenhower then approved a CIA mission to train Cuban exiles to retake Cuba, but the final decision to go ahead with the project was left up to the next president, John Kennedy

Cesar Chavez / United Farm Workers, early 1970s

Cesar Chavez founded this union of farm workers. The UFW sought to empower the mostly Hispanic migrant farm workers who faced discrimination and exploitative conditions, especially in the Southwest. • To publicize the workers' cause, Chavez started several grape and lettuce boycotts to pressure growers to negotiate with the UFW. • During the late 1970s-1980s the ground that the UFW had made was lost as growers took strong efforts against union organizing and a new group of immigrants eager for work helped the growers in this effort.

Chiang Kai-Shek / Formosa (Taiwan), 1949

Chiang and his nationalist forces retreated to Formosa, a large island off the southern coast of China, following the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War. • During the 1950s, the United States recognized and supported Ching's Formosa government as the legitimate government of China and withheld diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China until the 1970s.

The Warren Court, 1954 -1969

Chief Justice Earl Warren had an impact on the United States comparable to that of Chief Justice John Marshall. • The 1954 Brown decision was the pivotal case of the 20th century involving race relations. • In the 1960s the Warren Court made a series of decisions on the criminal justice system, the political system of states, and the definition of individual rights that had a pivotal effect on U.S. politics and society

"Gridlock," / Congress vs. Clinton, 1995-1996

Clinton and the Republican Congress were at odds over the budget. When the Republicans passed legislation to cut back on environmental spending and money for education, Clinton threatened to veto the bills. In June 1995, he did veto a Republican bill that cut over a billion dollars from education funding. From that point on there was a running battle between Clinton and Congress over the budget. • Republicans shut down the government twice in an effort to get Clinton to agree to the budget - briefly in November and a second time for twenty-one days in December and January. • The tactic backfired as the public put the blame on the Republicans rather than the President when public parks etc. were closed due to lack of funding. • In early 1996, Republicans reached a deal with Clinton to resolve the crisis.

Failure of Clinton's National Health Care Program, 1994

Clinton had campaigned on a promise to reform health care and Clinton gave his wife, Hillary Clinton, the job of heading the task force. The resulting proposal was based on the idea of managed competition: market forces rather than the government would control health-care costs and expand access to health care. • Opposition from pharmaceutical and insurance industries killed the proposal in 1994.

Intervention in Haiti, 1994

Clinton pledged to help restore ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power. In September 1994, United States troops, in cooperation with the UN, landed in Haiti. Ex-president Jimmy Carter's negotiations with the Haitian military persuaded them to step aside. • After six months, with Aristide back in office, the United States handed over responsibility for keeping civil order to UN forces.

Alaska, 1958 / Hawaii, 1959

Congress approved Alaska as the forty-ninth state of the Union in June and Eisenhower signed the Alaska statehood bill on July 7, 1958. Congress approved giving Hawaii statehood in March of 1959 and it was admitted to the Union on August 21, 1959. The entry of Alaska and Hawaii brought the total number of states to its present-day total of fifty.

Selective Service, 1948

Congress approved a new military draft and revived the Selective Service System. The new draft indicated a rise in tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States.

Taft-Hartley Act, 1947

Congress modified the Wagner Act to outlaw the practices of delaying a strike, closed shops, and permitted the president to call an eighty-day cooling period in labor disputes. The purpose was to reduce labor disputes and to reduce unfair labor practices. • Due to the fact it was detrimental to certain unions, Truman vetoed the measure, although Congress overrode it. • Taft-Hartley slowed unionization throughout the country, especially in the South.

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), 1972-1982

Congress passed this amendment prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender in 1972, but the campaign to get the necessary thirty-eight states to ratify it fell short despite the intensive lobbying of NOW to get it passed. • It lacked the necessary votes partially because of the conservative reaction of Americans to radical feminism.

Eisenhower Doctrine, 1957

Created as a partial response to the Suez Canal crisis, the doctrine pledged economic and military aid to any Middle Eastern country threatened by communism. Some Middle Eastern countries, including Egypt and Syria, denounced the doctrine.

Department of Housing and Urban Development, 1966

Created to give aid to needy families located in poor inner city areas, the Department of Housing and Urban Development passed bills allocating funds to housing development projects under the leadership of Robert Weaver.

"Sagebrush Rebellion," late 1970s

Demand by conservatives that environmental laws and restrictions on development be eased for the West. They argued that the Western economy had been stifled by excessive government control and that the federal government owned too much land in Western states and demanded lands be opened for development. • Reagan's future Secretary of the Interior, James Watt, was a major figure in the rebellion.

U.S. Military "Advisors" to Vietnam, 1958-1963

During Eisenhower's presidency the first American military advisors were sent to South Vietnam. • Kennedy continued military aid to South Vietnam and significantly increased the number of "advisors" who trained the South Vietnamese army and guarded weapons and facilities. • By 1963, there were over 16,000 U.S. troops in Vietnam. However, at this point they were support rather than combat troops

Elvis Presley, 1950s

Early white rock star whose music drew a great deal from black rhythm and blues tradition. Presley and other performers such as Buddy Holly and Bill Haley popularized rock n roll with white audiences. • Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" became a great hit in 1956 and from then until his death in 1977 he was a central figure in American culture. Presley's singing and dancing was scorned by many older Americans as sexually suggestive. • Presley was a central figure in the emergence of rock and roll music in American culture.

Economic Growth, 1950s

Economic growth began in 1949 and lasted nearly twenty years. The phenomenal economic growth made the 1950s the most prosperous decade to date. The GNP grew by 250% between 1945-1960. Unemployment during this time was about 5% and inflation was 3% or less a year. Causes of the economic growth included government spending (esp. on the $100 billion interstate highway program and military spending), technological progress, the baby boom, and the growth of suburbs.

Creation of Israel, 1947

Efforts to establish a Jewish state in Palestine had been ongoing since the early 1900s. The Holocaust and the large immigration of European Jews gave new world support for such a state. Britain governed Palestine and following World War II turned the issue over to the United Nations. • The United Nations partitioned Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state. The U.S. immediately recognized the new state of Israel and eventually became a strong supporter of the new nation. • Arabs rejected the partition and, in the first of seven Arab-Israeli Wars, the new state of Israel defeated the Arabs in 1948.

Yom Kippur War, 1973 (under Richard Nixon's administration)

Egyptian and Syria forces attacked Israel on the Jewish High Holy Day of Yom Kippur. After recovering from the surprise attack the Israeli launched a successful counter offensive. Under pressure from the United States, Israel accepted a cease fire rather than continuing the war. The United States pressured Israel because we were dependent on the Middle East for oil. • Despite the cease fire the Arab nations imposed an oil embargo on nations that supported Israel. • The Yom Kippur War demonstrated that third world countries would no longer be docile "client states" and that the days of cheap energy for the western world was over.

Eisenhower / Modern Republicanism, 1952-1960

Eisenhower provided Americans with the stability they craved and labeled his credo "Modern Republicanism." In general, he was conservative on monetary issues and liberal "when it came to human beings." • During his term as president, he backed the most extensive public-works program in U.S. history -- the Federal Interstate Highway Act and also extended Social Security benefits and raised the minimum wage.

Lebanon, 1958

Eisenhower's first application of the Eisenhower Doctrine. He sent 14,000 marines to Lebanon to prevent a civil war between Christians and Muslims. U.S. Marines landed on beaches south of Beirut in mid-July. The U.S. troops helped to end the conflict, but not before an estimated 2000 to 4000 people were killed.

Daniel Ellsberg / The Pentagon Papers, 1971

Ellsberg was an analyst for the Department of Defense. In 1971, he released to the press The Pentagon Papers, an account of American involvement in Vietnam created by the Defense Department during the Johnson administration. • The papers clearly revealed government lies about American involvement and success in Vietnam to Congress and the American people. • In response, Nixon tried to stop the publication of the papers with a court injunction and when that failed, he directed his secret intelligence unit (nicknamed "the plumbers") to stop the leaks. To that end, seeking information to discredit Ellsberg, the plumbers burglarized the office of a psychiatrist he was seeing. • This event started the whole series of "dirty tricks" and crimes that ended in the constitutional crisis of Watergate.

Escobedo v. Illinois, 1964 / Miranda v. Arizona, 1966

Escobedo required the police to inform an arrested person of his or her right to remain silent. In 1966 in Miranda the Supreme Court extended the Escobedo ruling to include the right to have a lawyer present during questioning. • Ultimately, the Miranda Decision required police to read suspects their constitutional rights which included remaining silent and having legal council present during police questioning.

"Massive Resistance," 1954-1960s

Extremely strong, local resistance in the South against the 1954 Brown decision that ordered an end to school segregation. This resistance used every conceivable means at their disposal and produced interminable delays and bitter conflicts over desegregation, e.g. closing schools . . .

Norman Rockwell, 1950s

Famous American illustrator best known for his covers for the magazine The Saturday Evening Post. His pictures were extremely popular and depicted sentimental scenes of everyday life in small-town America.

Bay of Pigs, 1961

Fifteen hundred Cuban exiles, supported by the CIA, landed here in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the new Communist government of Fidel Castro. • Planning for the operation was done under the Eisenhower administration, but Kennedy gave his approval early after he assumed the Presidency. • The operation was a fiasco and it made Kennedy much more cautious about approving a military operation simply because the CIA or military said it was a good operation.

Thurgood Marshall, 1950s

First African American justice of the Supreme Court whose previous legal career included a long fight against segregation. • Marshall was part of the NAACP legal team who spent years filing challenges to segregation. This team filed the suits against the school board of Topeka, Kansas, which became the grounds for the 1954 Brown v. the Board of Education decision and Marshall took the case to the Supreme Court. • Marshall was appointed by Lyndon Johnson in 1967 to the Supreme Court.

Civil Rights Act, 1957

First civil-rights bill passed since Reconstruction. Although symbolic, it was largely ineffective. It gave the U.S. Attorney General the authority to bring lawsuits on behalf of African Americans denied the right to vote. • However, any person found guilty of obstructing someone's right to register barely faced the prospect of punishment because in the South only whites could be jury members.

Korean War, 1950-1953

Following World War II, both the United States and Russia had sent troops into Korea. Since neither was willing to leave, Korea was temporarily divided along the 38th parallel into a northern zone, controlled by Russia, and a southern zone, controlled by the United States. • When the Soviet Union withdrew, leaving a Communist government in place in the north, the North Korea government invaded South Korea. The United States led the effort in the United Nations to send U.N. military forces to South Korea to stop the aggression. • The United States went beyond its original goal after an American victory at Inchon resulted in Truman giving General McArthur the authority to go into North Korea. • Eisenhower ended the war with an armistice in 1953 with the boundaries of North and South Korea at the same place as when the war started.

Stagflation, 1970s / Wage-Price Freeze and Controls, 1971

Following a recession in 1970 the American economy faced an economic slowdown and high inflation (stagnation plus inflation). To cut inflation, Nixon cut back on federal spending. • When this policy created recession and unemployment, he used deficit spending so he would not lose the support of middle-class and working-class Americans. • He took the nation by surprise when he imposed a 90-day wage and price freeze.

Bombing of North Vietnam, February, 1965

Following an attack on the United States base at Pleiku, President Johnson authorized the bombing of North Vietnam in an effort to destroy the arms depots and transportation lines bringing the North Vietnamese soldiers into South Vietnam. • The decision to start bombing raids on North Vietnam was a definite jump in the escalation of American involvement.

Economy Recovery Tax Act, 1981

Following his promise of bettering the U.S. economy, Reagan proposed a 30% tax cut allowing the money supply to increase. He liberalized business taxes and decreased capital gains, gift, and inheritance taxes to encourage investments in a plunging economy. After Congress lowered the tax cut to 25 percent, it passed the act.

OPEC, 1974

Following the Arab oil embargo of 1973, OPEC raised the price of oil by 400 percent in 1974. Regardless of the rise of price, America was more dependent on OPEC oil than ever before. This price raise fueled the inflation rate that reached 11 percent in 1976.

Increased Asian and Hispanic immigration, 2000s

Forty-five percent of immigrants since 1960 were from the Western Hemisphere, and thirty percent came from Asia, signaling a new pattern of immigration. The issue of illegal immigration has become a hot topic politically, especially in the southwest and west.

Geneva Conference / "Open Skies" / "Spirit of Geneva," 1955

Following the death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Eisenhower called for a decrease in tensions between the Soviet Union and the U.S. The Soviets indicated interest and the result was a summit held between Eisenhower and the new Soviet premier, Nikolai Bulganin. • Eisenhower wanted both countries to adopt "open skies" letting each nation take aerial photographs of the other nation's military bases to lessen the chance of a surprise nuclear attack. • The Soviets turned that down, but the "Spirit of Geneva" brought the first thaw in the Cold War. • Even better, in the U.S. view was the denunciation of Stalin's crimes and a proposal for "peaceful coexistence" in a speech made by the new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in early 1956.

Brinkmanship / John Foster Dulles, 1950s

Foreign policy advocated by John Foster Dulles, a hard-line Cold Warrior, who was Eisenhower's Secretary of State. • Dulles' brinkmanship theory argued that if the U.S. pushed Communist powers to the brink of war, they would back down because of American nuclear superiority. Thus, Dulles' policy relied on nuclear weapons rather than conventional forces. More reliance on atomic weapons, in turn, meant, "more bang for the buck" and less money on military spending. • Dulles argued that the U.S. should "liberate the captive nations" of Eastern Europe and encourage the Nationalist government of Taiwan to stand up to Communist China. • Despite Dulles' belligerent rhetoric, Eisenhower tempered Dulles' actions as demonstrated in the President's refusal to intervene in Hungary when Soviet troops crushed the Hungarian Revolution in 1956.

Harry Truman, 1945-1952

Franklin Roosevelt's vice-president who became president in April 1945 upon Roosevelt's death. Truman was president during the early Cold War period and crafted the Truman Doctrine. The Marshall Plan and the formation of NATO also occurred during his presidency.

Betty Friedan / The Feminine Mystique, 1963

Friedan critiqued the societal ideal where women were encouraged to confine themselves to being wives and mothers and compared women's lives in the suburbs to living in "comfortable concentration camps." Her book attacked the idea that a women's only satisfaction came through homemaking. • Friedan's book was very influential and viewed as defining central issues that the women's movement would grapple with throughout the 1970s. • Friedan was one of the founders of the National Organization of Women (NOW) (see below).

"Moral Majority," late 1970s

Fundamentalist minister Jerry Falwell founded this group. The Moral Majority embraced the new evangelical revival of the late seventies. • It was politically active in targeting such issues as abortion, homosexuality, pornography, and school prayer. They were strongly conservative, anticommunist, and influential. • Its influence as a political force was over by the late 1980s.

Arab oil embargo, 1973 (under Richard Nixon's administration)

Furious at American intervention in the Middle Eastern conflicts, the Arab nations began to downsize the exportation of petroleum products to western nations. Consequently, the western world which relied heavily on petroleum was forced to seek other resources of fuel and energy. • The short but effective oil embargo contributed to the economic woes of the U.S. in the 1970s.

Douglas MacArthur, 1950-1953

General MacArthur was fired by President Truman for insubordination. MacArthur, with Truman's permission, had enlarged the Korean War in 1950 when U.N. troops drove and then followed North Korean troops into North Korea. • As U.N. troops approached the Chinese border, MacArthur ignored China's warning it would protect its border. • In November 1950, in one of the worst military defeats in United States history, masses of Chinese soldiers crossed into North Korea and drove U.N. forces out of that country. MacArthur called for the bombing and invasion of China. • Although Truman warned MacArthur about insubordination to civilian authority and not to publically criticize policy, MacArthur ignored it and spoke out anyway. • April 1951, Truman recalled MacArthur from military command for insubordination. Most Americans thought MacArthur was a hero.

Election of 1988: Bush (R) v. Dukakis (D)

George Bush (R) v. Michael Dukakis (D). George Bush was Reagan's vice-president and he faced off against Massachusetts governor Dukakis. Bush charged Dukakis with being soft on crime and weak on national defense. Bush also courted voters by promising no new taxes. • The Republicans won a decisive victory in the presidential election, but voters returned larger Democratic majorities to both houses of Congress.

Election of 2000: George W. Bush (R) v. Gore (D) v. Buchanan (Reform) v. Nader (Green)

George W. Bush (R) v. Al Gore (D) v. Pat Buchanan (Reform) v. Ralph Nader (Green Party). Bush was governor of Texas and the son of former President George Bush. Gore had been Clinton's vice president. Both ran as moderates, but Bush endorsed a major tax cut and a partial privatization of Social Security. Gore wanted the budget surplus used to shore up Social Security and as a tax-break for college tuition. • The election was contested because Nader took enough votes away from the left wing of the Democratic party to give New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Florida to Bush. • Gore contested the Florida returns and the impasse over how votes should be counted (by hand or by machines due to controversies over machine reading of ballots) was resolved by a December 12 decision of the Supreme Court that ruled in favor of Bush. • Consequently, Bush won the electoral vote although he lost the popular vote.

Election of 2004: George W. Bush (R) v. Kerry (D)

George W. Bush (R) v. John Kerry (D). Bush ran on the leadership he displayed during the 9/11 attacks. Senator John Kerry made his service in Vietnam a major theme of the campaign. Republicans questioned Kerry's war record and suggested he did not have the necessary strength to lead a "war on terror." • Bush soundly defeated Kerry and was elected to a second term. Unlike the Election of 2000, Bush won the popular vote in 2004. • Bush won the electoral vote by carrying 31 states and got 51 percent of the popular vote cast in the largest turnout in a presidential election since 1968.

George Wallace, 1962-1998

George Wallace was a governor of Alabama who first came to national attention as an outspoken segregationist. Wallace ran for the presidency in 1968 and 1972 and was shot during a 1972 election campaign stop in Maryland. • Wallace showed strength in white working-class areas of the North and West, where rising crime rates, draft deferments for college students, and court-ordered busing of schoolchildren to integrate schools were hot issues. • The assassination attempt left him paralyzed from the waist down and ended his presidential aspirations, although he went on to serve multiple terms as the governor of Alabama.

Alger Hiss / Richard Nixon, 1948

Hiss was a high-ranking State Department official accused of espionage. HUAC, primarily because of the dogged efforts of Richard Nixon, a freshman Republican congressman and member of HUAC, targeted Hiss because of the testimony of Whittaker Chambers, a self-professed ex-Communist, who claimed Hiss had passed classified State Department documents to him in the 1930s. • Because of the statue of limitations, Hiss was convicted of perjury rather than espionage. Richard Nixon made a national reputation for himself as a fervent anti-communist and this helped him gain the vice-presidency slot on the 1952 Republican ticket. • The significance of the case was it put liberal Democrats under suspicion and convinced many Americans that communists had infiltrated the federal government

Bosnia, 1991

Historic rivalries among Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, and other nationalities were suppressed under the Communist government of Yugoslavia. When the Communist government fell these tensions came to the surface and were aggravated by the hostility between Christians and Muslims. • A civil war broke out in 1991 as Serbs battled Croats, Slovenes, and Bosnians. The Bush administration recognized Bosnia as an independent nation.

Jimmy Hoffa / Teamster Union, 1957

Hoffa was president of the powerful Teamster Union. The Teamsters came under a congressional investigation for corruption and Hoffa was under investigation for almost ten years before he was finally convicted of tax evasion. • The Teamsters exemplified the corruption and violence found in some powerful labor organizations in the 1950s and 1960s.

Hurricane Katrina, 2005

Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and devastated large parts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. New Orleans was also flooded. • Beside the loss of life and the property damage, Hurricane Katrina exposed the shortcomings in city, state, and federal governments in handling the crisis. • The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FERA) were late, slow, and inefficient in handling the crisis. • Bush was also criticized for failing to cut short his vacation to deal with the crisis.

Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rosa Parks, 1955-1956

In 1955, Parks refused to give up her seat on the public bus to a white man, and was therefore arrested. The African American community decided the time was right to use this case to rally community support for a bus boycott to force the desegregation of public transportation in Montgomery, Alabama. • The boycott, in tandem with a Supreme Court decision in late 1956 that ruled segregation on public transportation was illegal, ended in a victory in Montgomery. • The boycott began in December 1955 and ended on December 20, 1956. The boycott was an important event in the modern Civil Rights Movement.

King Assassination, 1968

Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in April, 1968, in Memphis by James Earl Ray. African Americans exploded in angry riots in 125 American cities.

Nonproliferation / Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, 1968

In 1968, the United Nations approved the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. In 1995, the treaty was renewed and made permanent. • The treaty was designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and inhibit countries with nuclear technology from aiding those without it to acquire the knowledge or the weapons themselves.

"Stonewall Riot," 1969 / Gay Liberation Movement, 1970s

In 1969 the New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a bar in Greenwich Village. Patrons resisted arrest and the clash pitted the bar's largely homosexual patrons, who claimed police harassment, against law enforcement officials. • "Stonewall" marked a central turning point for sexual politics. Borrowing ideas and rhetoric from the civilrights movement, gays began an effort to win social and legal acceptance and to encouraged gays to affirm their sexual identity. • Despite some advances, the movement was slowed down by the onset of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and the insistence of the military on banning openly gay individuals from the armed services.

Kent State University (Ohio) and Jackson State University (Mississippi) incidents, 1970

In 1970 Nixon's invasion of Cambodia expanded the war in Southeast Asia and sparked massive American protests on college campuses. The Kent and Jackson State universities were sites of protest in which student protesters were killed. As protests rose in number, business and political leaders grew alarmed by how the debate over the war was polarizing the country.  Following violence after an anti-war protest by Kent State students the mayor of Kent declared a state of emergency and requested the Ohio National Guard be sent to help maintain order.  By May 3, tensions escalated as the National Guard continued to break up demonstrations. On May 4 when the Guard attempted to break up another demonstration with tear gas and some demonstrators threw the canisters and rocks back at the Guard), twenty-nine Guardsmen opened fire, killing four students and wounding nine.  A week of anti-war clashes between police and students ended with the police opening fire, killing two studentsand wounding twelve. The Jackson State shootings happened ten days after Kent State.

World Trade Center bombing, 1993

In 1993, a bomb in a parking garage of the World Trade Center Building in New York killed six and injured nearly 1000 people. • Officials later arrested militant Muslim extremists who condemned American actions towards Israel and the American involvement in the Persian Gulf War.

Iraq invasion of Kuwait / Saddam Hussein, 1990

Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion of Kuwait and threatened Western oil resources in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf. President George Bush put together a coalition of United Nation members to put pressure on Hussein to withdraw. When a U.N. embargo had no effect, Bush followed with a military campaign. • Operation Desert Storm, a massive military campaign, saw over 500,000 Americans joined by military units from 28 other nations. • Following five weeks of air strikes, a ground campaign, commanded by U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf, in a campaign that lasted only four days defeated the Iraqi army. • Bush's decision not to depose Hussein created some controversy.

Kate Millett / Sexual Politics, 1969

In contrast to The Feminine Mystique which questioned the source of women's discontent with their role in modern society, Millet's book pinpointed the cause as the pervasive patriarchy in Western society and literature. Her book advocated a concerted effort by women to disband the male control of society.

Energy Crisis, 1979

Instability in the Middle East brought about this second energy crisis and in the middle of it OPEC announced another increase in prices. • Carter's speech detailing plans to resolve the crisis (including new taxes to discourage gasoline consumption and the promotion of nonpetroleum energy sources) was never passed. However, this speech which claimed there was a "crisis of confidence" in America became known as his "malaise" speech and charged the president was trying to blame his own problems on the people. • Rightly or not, Carter was blamed for his failure to handle the crisis and this greatly contributed to his unpopularity.

Arms Race, 1948-1960s

Intense rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union to develop superior weapons systems. This continued throughout the Cold War.

Iranian Revolution / Ayatollah Khomeini, 1979

Islamic militants overthrew the Shah of Iran's government in 1979. Since the U.S. had given the Shah political support and massive military aid and his government was repressive and many of the Iranian people opposed his campaign to westernize the country, Iranians was very hostile to the United States. • After the revolution there was no stable government in Iran, but the primary political figure was the fanatic religious leader, the Ayatollah Khomeini, who especially despised the United States.

Six-day War, 1967 (under Lyndon Johnson's administration)

Israeli victory over Egypt, Syria, and Jordan forces increased tensions in the Middle East. Israel gained control of the entire city of Jerusalem and new territories on the west bank of the Jordan River, the Gaza strip, and the Golan Heights. • The war's end also saw an increase in the number of refugee Palestinians and increased activities by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and other radical groups.

"Flexible response,"1961-1963

JFK policy that called for the preparation of more conventional weapons versus atomic weapons. Kennedy felt that U.S needed both a strong military program and atomic weapons to combat the forces of communism. He reasoned conventional weapons were essential because atomic weapons were never used.

Jessie Jackson / Rainbow Coalition, 1984

Jackson, once an associate of King, tried to build a "rainbow coalition" of blacks, Hispanics, displaced workers, and other political outsiders to try to gain the Democratic nomination and win the Presidential election in 1984. Jackson ran several times for the presidency, but was not moderate enough to gain popular approval.

Election of 1976: Carter (D) v. Ford (R)

Jimmy Carter (D) v. Gerald Ford (R). Ford's popularity was low due to his pardon of Richard Nixon and stagflation (unemployment rate of 8.5% and an inflation rate of 9%). A former career naval officer and then governor of Georgia, Carter campaigned as an outsider to Washington politics and won in a close election.

Election of 1960: Kennedy (D) vs. Nixon (R)

John Kennedy (D) v. Richard Nixon (R). Kennedy beat out Adlai Stevens and Lyndon Johnson for the Democratic nomination. A southerner, Johnson was chosen as Kennedy's Vice-President to balance the ticket. Nixon had 18 served two terms as Eisenhower's Vice-President and ran on his expertise in foreign affairs. Kennedy's youth (43) and the fact that he was Catholic became issues. His religion hurt him in rural Protestant areas and helped him in urban areas. • Kennedy won in one of the closest elections in U.S. history - by a margin of just over 100,000 popular votes and 303 to 219 electoral votes. • The televised debates, in which a haggard looking Nixon debated a youthful looking and relaxed Kennedy were considered instrumental in the outcome of the close election.

Robert Kennedy, 1960-1968

Kennedy served as Attorney General in his brother's, President John Kennedy, cabinet. After his brother's assassination he ran and won a Senate seat from New York. • Kennedy was a critic of the Vietnam War and championed minority causes, especially civil rights. He stressed that voting was the key to racial equality and pushed for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. • Kennedy campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968, but was assassinated right after winning the California primary.

Henry Kissinger, 1969-1974

Kissinger was Nixon's National Security advisor and turned the National Security Council into the key factor in shaping foreign policy. In 1973, Nixon appointed Kissinger Secretary of State, a post he retained until 1977. • Nixon and Kissinger crafted the policy of "Vietnamization" where U.S. troops were gradually withdrawn and replaced by South Vietnamese troops. • In addition, the United States worked to open friendly relations with Communist China and détente with the Soviet Union, and developed the Nixon Doctrine.

Rachael Carson / Silent Spring, 1962

Landmark work that was one of the most controversial books published in the 1960s. Carson raised the warning that the indiscriminate use of pesticides such as DDT was creating chaos with the health of wildlife as well as that of humans. • Carson was responsible for raising public awareness of and concern about the effect of pesticides on the environment.

Savings and Loan Scandal, 1980s

Lax regulation of the savings and loan industry resulted in poor investments and high failure rate. After Black Monday (1987) the situation worsened. Since the federal government guaranteed deposits up to $100,000, a $166 billion rescue appropriation was made. • The scandal demonstrated the consequences of poor governmental regulation.

Blacklisting, 1950s-1960s

Lists of suspected Communists circulated among various industries that prevented anyone whose name was on the blacklist from finding employment. • Rather than prison, the loss of employment was the primary means of punishing anyone suspected of subversive political beliefs during the Second Red Scare.

Election of 1964: Johnson (D) vs. Goldwater (R)

Lyndon Johnson (D) vs. Barry Goldwater (R). Johnson finished Kennedy's term after the November 1963 assassination. Johnson ran in 1964 on a clear liberal agenda and the Republicans nominated Goldwater, a conservative who wanted to end the welfare state, including the TVA and Social Security. • Democratic TV ads depicted Goldwater as an extremist who would be dangerous in the atomic age. • Johnson won by a landslide - 61% of the popular vote (higher than FDR in the 1936 election) and Democrats won control of both houses of Congress by over a two-thirds margin.

Selma, Alabama, 1965

Major demonstration for black voter registration. The demonstrators were brutally attacked by local police and the violence, just as in Birmingham, received detailed television coverage. • Southern police brutality of peaceful demonstrators in Selma and Birmingham outraged many Americans. The national outrage aided President Johnson in his decision to propose and win passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Chicago Campaign, 1966

Martin Luther King's decision to make housing and job discrimination the targets of his civil rights campaign signaled a change in the direction of the civil rights movement from political rights to equal economic opportunity. • King encountered deep white opposition and, in contrast to earlier Southern campaigns, the campaign failed to generate national support. The city government agreed to end housing discrimination, but few tangible results followed. • The failure of the campaign demonstrated the difficulty of getting white support for economic opportunity for African-Americans.

Mikhail Gorbachev / Glasnost / Perestroika, 1985

Mikhail Gorbachev was a new style of Soviet leader. The Soviet Union was in economic stagnation and he wanted to focus on reform at home. • To that end, he withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan, and reduced commitments to Cuba and Nicaragua. • He endorsed a policy of glasnost (openness) in government and a program of perestroika (economic liberalization) at home. • Relations between the United States and the Soviet Union continued to improve which furthered the thaw in the Cold War and ultimately resulted in the INF treaty in 1987.

Oklahoma City bombing, 1995

Militant right-wing U.S. terrorists Terry Nicoles and Timothy McVeigh bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The blast destroyed the front section of the building and 168 people were killed in the destruction caused by the explosion. • McVeigh said he was angry with the government about the Branch Davidian fiasco. McVeigh was convicted and executed in 2001. • Clinton's handling of the attack brought his popularity, which had been dropping, up once more.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 1949

Military alliance consisting of the United States and the countries of Western Europe whose purpose was to defend Western Europe against attack -- i.e. a Soviet invasion. In addition, NATO members agreed to maintain a standing army. • The plan for the alliance was already in the works, but the timetable was accelerated by the Berlin Crisis. • The creation of NATO led the Soviet Union to create its own alliance with communist governments in Eastern Europe - the Warsaw Pact.

National Organization of Women (NOW), 1966

NOW called for equal employment opportunity and equal pay for women. NOW also championed the legalization of abortion and passage of an equal rights amendment to the Constitution.

Ho Chi Minh, 1890-1969

Minh was the Vietnamese Communist leader and the principal force behind the Vietnamese struggle against French colonial rule. Hoping for American assistance in Vietnam's struggle for independence, Ho later turned to the Soviet Union when the United States aided the French. He was a nationalist at heart and wanted Vietnamese independence far more than a communist government. He led the Vietminh, a group of guerrillas. In 1954, they defeated the French garrison at the battle of Dien Bien Phu. • After the French withdrew and Vietnam was divided into North Vietnam and South Vietnam, Minh headed the new Communist government of North Vietnam and led the war effort against South Vietnam and the United States until his death in 1969. • Minh displayed a steely resolve to fight a war of attrition against first the French and then the United States.

Taliban / Afghanistan, 2001

Muslim terrorists, who were members of Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda, hijacked four commercial airliners on September 11, 2001. • Two plowed into New York's World Trade Center, destroying its twin towers and killing over 2700 persons. • A third plane seriously damaged the Pentagon, but the fourth, headed for the White House, crashed in Pennsylvania, when passengers thwarted the hijackers' efforts. • President Bush promised a "war on terrorism" and launched air strikes and ground troops into Afghanistan to fight its Taliban regime that harbored bin Laden. • The attack was a shock to an America that considered itself largely insulated from the terrorism in other areas of the world.

Ralph Nader / Unsafe At Any Speed, 1965

Nader published Unsafe at Any Speed, a best-selling indictment of the auto industry and its poor safety standards. Largely due to Nader's book, Congress passed the 1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. • Nader was a pioneer in the emerging consumer protection movement. • Nader also ran unsuccessfully as a third-party candidate for the United States presidency in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008.

Committee for the Reelection of the President (CREEP), 1972

Nixon created CREEP to ensure every vote possible for the election of 1972. he appointed Attorney General John Mitchell as the head. CREEP financed many "dirty tricks" to spread dissension within Democratic ranks and paid for a special internal espionage unit to spy on the opposition.

Cambodia Invasion, 1970

Nixon expanded the war by sending American forces to invade Cambodia for the purpose of destroying Vietnamese Communist bases in that country. • The consequence of the expansion and the bombing of Laos and Cambodia were to reunite the antiwar protest which had seen a reduction when Nixon initially took office and started gradually withdrawing troops from Vietnam.

Recognition of China, 1978

Nixon had opened low-level diplomatic relations in 1972, but in 1978, under Carter, the U.S. resumed full diplomatic relations with China.

Vietnamization, 1969-1973

Nixon ran on the slogan "Peace with Honor." To that end, when he assumed the presidency in 1969, he began Vietnamization, the process of replacing the American armed forces with South Vietnamese troops trained by American advisors. • Vietnamization allowed the United States to save its reputation and satisfy an American public weary with a futile struggle.

"Kitchen Debate" in Moscow, 1959

Nixon visited the Soviet Union to open a U.S. exhibition. When he and Khrushchev were viewing a model kitchen, Nixon engaged in an impromptu debate on the comparative benefits of capitalist and communist governments. The debate was captured live on television.

Sandra Day O'Connor, 1981 / Ruth Bader Ginsberg, 1993

O'Connor was nominated for the Supreme Court by Ronald Regan and upon Senate confirmation became the first woman Supreme Court justice. • Contrary to popular expectations, O'Connor turned out to be a "swing" vote (sometimes voting liberal and other times conservative) rather than a strictly conservative justice. • Ruth Ginsburg was the second woman Supreme Court justice and she was nominated by President Bill Clinton.

Containment Policy / George Kennan

Policy of containing or holding in check the Soviet Union or any other groups or nations who believed in communism. United States diplomat George Kennan first advocated this and, in part, it was in response to the Soviet Union trying to get control of the Darnell Straits in the Mediterranean and Greek communists trying to overthrow the pro-Western Greek government. • The doctrine became a primary United States diplomatic policy for the next 45-50 years.

Nasser / Suez Canal crisis, 1956

On Dec. 17, 1955, the U.S. offered Egypt a loan to build the Aswan High Dam. The offer was withdrawn after Egypt also accepted Soviet Union aid. • Egyptian leader Nasser then nationalized the Suez Canal with the intent of using money from the tolls to build the dam. • On Oct 31, Israel invaded Egypt with French and British aircraft. This was done without advance U.S. knowledge because the three countries knew the United States would not approve of the military action. The U.S. supported a United Nations resolution calling for Israeli withdrawal. • Eisenhower feared the Suez Crisis would move the Arab states toward the Soviet Union and bring on a new world war. To prevent this the U.S. pressured France, Britain, and Israel to withdraw their troops from Egypt.

China visit, 1972

On February 22, 1972, President Nixon visited China. As part of his policy of détente, Nixon took advantage of the Sino-Soviet split to pit the former allies against each other by opening diplomatic ties with China. • The China visit sealed the new Chinese-American rapprochement, leaving the Soviet Union more isolated.

Civil Rights Act of 1964, Public Accommodations section of the act

Passed under the Johnson administration, the act outlawed segregation in public accommodations, such as theaters, restaurants, and hotels and withheld federal funds from segregated public programs. Under Title VII employment discrimination based on race, religion, or national origin was prohibited and women were protected as well when another category "sex" (gender) was added. • It also created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to prevent discrimination in the work place. • The 1964 act was the strongest civil rights legislation since Reconstruction.

War Powers Act, 1973

Partially as a result of public anger when Nixon's secret bombing raids on Cambodia became public knowledge, Congress passed this act requiring any President taking military action to report to Congress within 48 hours and further stipulating Congress had to approve any military action that lasted over 60 days. • This was a significant restriction on the imperial presidency and the act was passed over Nixon's veto.

National Defense Education Act, 1958

Passed in reaction to Sputnik, the act increased funding to science, math, and foreign language education. This was deemed necessary because many Americans believed the launching of Sputnik showed the U.S. was falling behind the Soviet Union in the sciences.

Postwar Inflation / Postwar Strikes, 1946-1947

Pent up consumer demand prevented any immediate postwar recession, but there was serious inflation of 14-15% (and up to 25% for a short time). Labor unrest, in part because of inflation, contributed to the economic problems. • Major strikes in the automotive, steel, and electrical industries were followed in 1946 by a United Mine Workers strike. The strike ended when Truman ordered government seizure of the mines, at the same time pressuring mine owners to grant the majority of the union's demands. • At about the same time, the railroads were totally shut down after two railway unions went out on strike. Truman ended these strikes in a couple of days after threatening to use the army to run the trains. • The economic woes contributed to Truman's unpopularity.

Clarence Thomas, 1991

President Bush's nomination of Thomas to the Supreme Court ran into trouble when his conservative views on judicial issues brought attacks by African American organizations and charges of sexual harassment against Thomas were believed by millions of women. The Senate, nevertheless, confirmed Thomas' nomination.

Hungarian Revolt, 1956

Popular uprising that overthrew the current Hungarian government backed by Moscow. It was replaced for a short time by liberals who wanted to pull Hungary of the Warsaw Pact. At that point, the Soviet Union sent in tanks to restore control over Hungary. The U.S. did nothing to help the Hungarian rebels because Eisenhower was afraid of a world war. • This clearly told the Soviet Union that the United States recognized Eastern Europe as part of the Soviet sphere of influence and it would not interfere in those countries. • This also ended the first thaw in the Cold War (which followed the "spirit of Geneva").

James Dean, early 1950s

Popular young movie star who became an icon of the new youth culture. Dean played alienated teenagers and self destructive young men in movies such as Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden, and Giant. His death in a car accident in 1955 reinforced his screen image.

Camp David Accords, 1979

President Carter brought Egyptian leader Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to the presidential retreat in Camp David in an attempt to mediate the disputes between the two nations (conflicts between Israel, Egypt and the other Arab nations dated back to 1948 when the nations of Palestine and Israel were created by the United Nations - and a series of wars followed). • The result of this was a formal peace treaty - the Camp David Accords - between Egypt and Israel. The Accords called for the withdrawal from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip of Israel's military government and the election of a government by residents of the territories within five years. • In addition, the accords called for Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and the Palestinians to negotiate the final status of the West Bank and Israel's right to exist. • Egypt and Israel ended the state of war, exchanged ambassadors, and Israel gradually withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula. • The Camp David Accords were Carter's most significant foreign policy achievement.

Carter and Human Rights, 1977-1980

President Carter pledged a new basis for foreign policy that would defend "human rights" rather than following "selfish interests." He especially opposed Cold War alliances with anticommunist dictatorships. • Over the long term, Carter's foreign policy helped encourage worldwide support for human rights.

Ford's Pardon of Richard Nixon, 1974

President Gerald Ford gave former President Richard Nixon a full pardon shortly after Nixon's resignation. Some Americans wondered whether a deal had been struck between Ford and Nixon prior to Nixon's resignation. • However, Ford told Americans that far too much of the nation's and the federal government's time and energy were being spent on legal wrangling rather than the pressing problem of inflation etc.

Kennedy Assassination, 1963 / Lee Harvey Oswald / Warren Commission

President John Kennedy was assassinated on November 23, 1963 in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald. Kennedy was visiting Dallas to start gathering support for the upcoming presidential election of 1964. • Kennedy's assassination and funeral became a defining moment for that generation as the nation was caught up in grief and watched Kennedy's state funeral on television. • His brief presidency was viewed as a high point of the postwar era and cast its influence on American politics during the 1960s and 1970s. • The Warren Commission, chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren, was given the task of investigating the assassination. They reached the conclusion that Oswald was a long gunman who acted alone. • Many Americans, however, supported various conspiracy theories ranging from involvement by Castro, the CIA, organized crime, and the FBI.

John F. Kennedy / New Frontier, 1961-1963

President John Kennedy's term for his agenda of renewed government activism both at home and aboard. focused foremost on fighting the Cold War and secondarily on public service initiatives such as the Peace Corps • Although his legislative achievements were limited, Kennedy's ideas and personal appeal inspired many, especially the young. • Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, as his motorcade wound through Dallas, Texas. VicePresident Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded him.

War on Poverty, 1964-1965

President Johnson declared war on poverty in his 1964 State of the Union address. A new Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) oversaw a variety of programs to help the poor, including Job Corps and Head Start.

Dominican Republic, 1965

President Johnson sent 20,000 troops into the Dominican Republic in order to block the possible emergence of a Castro-type govt. Johnson justified this on the basis of protecting American tourists and argued there were suspected communists among the rebel leaders. • The action alienated liberal critics in the United States. As Johnson struggled to uphold the Cold War polices he had inherited from Kennedy, the more alienated he found himself with Congress, the media, and the universities.

Great Society, 1963-1969

President Lyndon Johnson's domestic program, which included civil rights legislation, anti-poverty programs, government subsidy of medical care, federal aid to education, consumer protection, and aid to the arts and humanities. • Great Society programs enjoyed some success but were ultimately limited by conflicting interest groups, political infighting, and lack of funds. 20 • The Great Society was what Johnson wanted as his legacy, but he believed if he pulled out of Vietnam, support for the Great Society would evaporate.

Invasion of Grenada, 1982

President Reagan sent marines to the small Caribbean island of Grenada to depose a pro-Cuban regime that had just taken over via a coup. Reagan justified the action by contending it was vital to American interests to stop a Communist military base in the Americas. The United States installed a government friendly to its interests.

Integration of Armed Services, 1948

President Truman signed Executive Order 9981 that abolished segregation in the armed forces and ordered full integration of all the services. • The order created an advisory committee to suggest recommendations to make desegregation a reality. • Considerable resistance to the order was offered by the military, but by the end of the Korean War almost all of the military was integrated.

Baker v. Carr, 1962

Prior to Baker it was common practice for at least one house of the state legislature's apportionment to be based upon the drawing of district lines that strongly favored rural areas over large cities. Baker said this was unconstitutional. • This decision established "one man, one vote" - which meant election districts had to be redrawn to provide equal representation for all of a state's citizens.

Air-Controllers Strike, 1981

Reagan fired thousands of striking federal air traffic controllers for violating their contract and decertified their union (PATCO). This set the stage for many businesses to hire strike replacements in labor conflicts. Reagan's actions were widely approved by the public.

Supreme Court / Sandra Day O'Conner / Antonin Scalia / Anthony Kennedy, 1980s

Reagan had promised his appointees to the Court would be conservatives. • Under the new chief justice, William Rehnquist, the Court put new restrictions on affirmative action in hiring and promotions, and limited abortion by allowing states to pass various restrictions, such as requiring minors to notify their parents prior to an abortion.

Reagan Tax and Budget Cuts, 1981

Reagan's large tax cuts, in tandem with big increases in military spending, created a federal deficit of over $200 billion a year. • In addition, the national debt tripled to almost $2.7 trillion and the trade deficit reached a $150 billion a year. • In an attempt to get the federal deficit under control Congress passed the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act in 1985.

Fast-food Chains / Franchises, 1950s

Reflecting America's love affair with the car, drive-in restaurants starting appearing in the 1950s. Many of these became fast-food chains. The first McDonald's was opened by Ray Kroc in Illinois and southern California in 1955 - by 1960, there were 228 McDonalds. Holiday Inn, which became the nation's largest hotel chain, opened its first hotel in 1952. • Fast-food chains and franchises were a prominent trend in the 1950s-1960s.

Election of 1972: Nixon (R) vs. McGovern (D)

Richard Nixon (R) v. George McGovern (D). Nixon's reelection was assured. He relied on his diplomatic successes with China and Russia and his strategy towards the winding down of the war in Vietnam to attract moderate voters. He expected his southern strategy and law-and-order posture to attract the conservative Democrats. Nixon faced McGovern, who was an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam War. • McGovern endorsed higher taxes on the wealthy, a guaranteed minimum income for all Americans, and amnesty for Vietnam War draft resisters. • He was perceived as too radical in the eyes of many Americans. Nixon won a landslide victory.

Election of 1968: Nixon (R) vs. Humphrey (D) vs. Wallace (American Independent)

Richard Nixon (R) vs. Hubert Humphrey (D) vs. George Wallace (American Independent). This was a tumultuous year in American history and the election reflected that turmoil. Senator Eugene McCarthy became the political leader for the antiwar movement when he challenged Lyndon Johnson for the Democratic nomination (Nov. 1967). Robert Kennedy was also running for the Democratic nomination - he had just won a major victory in the California primary in June 1968 when he was assassinated. Johnson announced after the Têt Offensive he would not run for President. The Democrats nominated Johnson's Vice-President, Hubert Humphrey. • The Democratic Convention was a fiasco - the convention was orderly, but the streets were a battlefield between Mayor Richard Daley's Chicago Police and the antiwar protestors. Alabama George Wallace used hostility toward desegregation, antiwar protests, and race riots to put together a candidacy under the "American Independent" label. Republican Nixon ran on "peace with honor" in Vietnam and as an advocate of "law and order" at home. Humphrey was behind Wallace and Nixon, but started to catch up as the election progressed. Nixon beat Humphrey by a close popular vote, but with a substantial electoral majority of 301 to 191. • The importance of the 1968 election is apparent in the combined popular vote of almost 57% by Nixon and Wallace.

Election of 1980: Reagan (R) v. Carter (D) v. Anderson (Independent)

Ronald Reagan (R) v. Jimmy Carter (D) v. John Anderson (Independent). Carter's biggest liability was the ongoing Iranian hostage situation, but he also faced mounting frustration with "stagflation" In fact, Carter's popularity rating was the lowest of any president in history. • The New Right backed Reagan and he promised tax cuts and a restoration of American pride and strength in foreign policy. Reagan carried the day with 51% of the popular vote, in contrast to 41% for Carter and 7% for Anderson.

Election of 1984: Reagan (R) v. Mondale (D)

Ronald Reagan (R) v. Walter Mondale (D). Walter Mondale, Carter's Vice-President, got the Democratic nomination over Jesse Jackson, backed by minority groups, and Gary Hart, who appealed to the young. Mondale selected Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate and the first female candidate to ever run on a national ticket. • Reagan's campaign revolved around the optimistic slogan "It's Morning in America" and he rode the tide of prosperity to a decisive victory - with 59 percent of the popular vote and carried every state but one.

The "Teflon President," 1981-1989

Ronald Reagan's popularity never seemed to change despite the scandals and failures of his presidency. Some called him the Teflon president because nothing would stick to him. Even with all the criticism, Reagan remained very popular and charismatic.

Engle v. Vitale, 1962

Ruled state laws requiring Bible readings and public prayers (even "non denominational' prayers) in public schools violated the First Amendment's specification that church and state must be separated.

Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965

Ruled that a state could not prohibit the use of contraceptives by adults since such a prohibition violated a citizen's right to privacy. The case was a foundation for the Roe decision.

Yates v. United States, 1957

Ruled that the First Amendment protected radical and revolutionary speech, including that of Communists, unless it presented a "clear and present danger" to the safety of the country

Attempted Assassination of Reagan, 1981

Shortly after he took office, Reagan was wounded in an attempted assassination attack by John W. Hinckley. His composure, to the point of even joking with the doctors on his way into surgery, raised his popularity even higher with the American public.

Election of 1956: Stevenson (D) vs. Eisenhower (R)

Stevenson (D) vs. Eisenhower (D). This is a rematch of the 1952 election. There were questions about Eisenhower's health since he had a heart attack in 1955 and major surgery in 1956. But four years of peace and prosperity made Eisenhower more popular than ever. • Eisenhower won by an even greater margin than his victory in 1952. The Democrats, however, kept control of both houses of Congress.

Election of 1952: Stevenson (D) vs. Eisenhower (R)

Stevenson (D) vs. Eisenhower (R). Truman decided not to seek reelection so the Democrats drafted Adlai Stevenson, who was unsuccessful. The Republicans decided to back the war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower. • Eisenhower won a sweeping victory with 55% of the popular vote to Stevenson's 44%. The GOP also won control of both houses of Congress.

Antiwar Campus Protest, mid 1960s-1973

Student activists tried to ban military training programs for officers (ROTC) and military recruiters from college campuses. Laboratories and corporations making weapons for war were also targeted by student protest. • Some of the biggest political marches in American history were held between 1967-1969. • Opposition to the war was also linked to opposition to the draft. Traditional deferments (exemptions from the draft) were being gradually eliminated and many Americans went to jail because of their refusal to serve in the military or chose to go to Canada to escape the draft.

TV, 1950s

Television was invented in the 1930s and introduced to the public at the 1939 New York World's Fair. The first TV's in homes appeared after World War II and the U.S. went from 17,000 sets in 1946 to over 40 million sets by 1957. Groundbreaking shows of the 1950s and 1960s included The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy, and The Ed Sullivan Show. • The overall image of American life portrayed on TV shows was white, middle-class, and suburban in which the father went off to the office and the wife was a full-time homemaker. Such shows as Father Knows Best, Ozzie and Harriett, and Leave It to Beaver reinforced societal gender roles.

Military - Industrial Complex, 1961

Term first used by President Eisenhower to describe the close relationship of military spending and defense contractors that emerged during World War II and grew with the Cold War. In the 1950s and 1960s, federal defense spending had a tremendous influence on the national economy, particularly in the South and West where many defense contractors were located. • In his farewell address in 1961, Eisenhower raised troubling questions about the influence of this new power in a democracy and warned the nation to be vigilant.

"The Christian Right," late 1970s

Term used to describe groups such as the Christian Coalition (founded by Minister Pat Robertson) and the Moral Majority (founded by Minister Jerry Falwell). These and other groups of similar beliefs sought to expand the power of evangelical Christian views in the political arena. • They opposed abortion, divorce, feminism, and homosexuality, supported free enterprise, and wanted an active foreign policy. Some also wanted increased control over the content of television, movies, and rock music. • In general, the Christian Right were strong supporters of conservative Republicans, especially Ronald Reagan.

Alliance for Progress, 1961

The Alliance was a "Marshall Plan" for Latin America. Its purpose was to strengthen democracy and give economic aid to help the region resist communism. • The program, which provided loans and aid from the United States and the international financial community, built some schools and hospitals, but by the early 1970s it was widely viewed as a failure.

Beatles / Rolling Stones, 1964 onward

The Beatles first trip to the U.S. created such a sensation that it was called "Beatle mania." The Beatles performed the standard romance songs, but during the course of the 1960s transitioned into songs that reflected their interest in drugs and Eastern religions. • Later groups, such as the Rolling Stones, commonly chose songs with lyrics that expressed anger, frustration, and rebellion against mainstream society. • Some musicians (such as folk singers Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Joni Mitchell) used their music to express political radicalism as well as personal rebellion against mainstream society.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas II, 1955

The Court, in a phrase that became infamous, ordered school systems to desegregate with "all deliberate speed," but set up no deadline and left it up to local courts to enforce the ruling. • Many southerners saw it as "an abuse of judicial power" and reacted with "massive resistance."

Black Monday / October 19, 1987

The Dow Jones dropped 22.6%, the largest single day drop since 1914. Causes of the stock market crash included trade deficits, computerized trading, and American criticism of West Germany's economic policies. • The crash eventually affected the insurance industry and was a cause of the savings and loan crisis.

Iran Hostage Crisis / Shah of Iran / 1979-1981

The Iranian crisis started when the deposed Shah of Iran arrived in the United States in late October 1979 to be treated for cancer. On November 4, 1979 the U.S. embassy with the staff inside was seized by an armed mob, (with the tacit consent of the Iranian government) which demanded the Shah's return in exchange for their freedom. • Fifty-three Americans were held hostage for over a year. Carter used economic sanctions and tried a military rescue, but could not resolve the crisis. • The Iran hostage crisis contributed to Carter's defeat and the hostages were released through diplomatic efforts the day Reagan was inaugurated.

El Salvador, 1980s

The Reagan administration spent almost $5 million dollars to support the Salvadoran government from a coalition of leftist guerrillas. Many Americans were angry over the 40,000 civilians who were killed by right-wing "death- squads" with links to the El Salvador army.

Iran-Contra Affair, 1986

The Reagan administration was caught selling arms to the anti-American government of Iran. Reagan admitted it and stated his aim had been to encourage "moderate elements" in Tehran and gain the release of American hostages. • Colonel Oliver North, who sent millions of dollars from these sales to contras in Nicaragua when Congress had forbidden such aid, was a key player in this affair. • North and several others were convicted of felonies for destroying evidence and lying to Congress, but appellate courts later overturned the convictions.

"Contract with America" / Newt Gingrich / 1995

The Republican election campaign platform of the 1990s promised action on such items as a balanced budget amendment, term limits for members of Congress, and making legislators obey the regulations they applied to society. • The appeal of the contract, combined with Clinton's failure to achieve health care reform and weariness with big government, enabled Republicans to carry both houses of Congress in the 1994 election. • Newt Gingrich, the author of "Contract with America" was elected Speaker of the House.

Credibility Gap, 1957-1975

The wide discrepancy between what was actually happening in the Vietnam War and what the American public was being told. The credibility of the American position was increasingly undermined as more factual details were made public.

Second Red Scare aka McCarthyism, 1947-1950s

The Second Red Scare emerged after World War II, when Cold War fears amplified the threat of communism. The era was characterized by searching out suspected Communists and others outside mainstream society, discrediting them, and driving them from government and other employment. • The Second Red Scare was also known as McCarthyism. This term takes its name from Senator Joseph McCarthy, who gained notoriety for leading such investigations from 1950-1954. • The era imposed a climate of fear and quelled political debate in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Joseph McCarthy, early 1950s

The Second Red Scare is often attributed to this Republican senator from Wisconsin. In fact, McCarthy was just the best practitioner of going after American Communists with half-truths and smear campaigns in a search for frontpage headlines. In 1954, McCarthy went after Communist infiltration in the Army. • His bullying in the Army-McCarthy hearing led Republicans to join Democrats in a Senate censure vote in December 1954. McCarthy died of alcoholism three years later.

The Collapse of the Soviet Union, 1990

The Soviet Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania declared their independence in 1990. Then Communist hard-liners launched an unsuccessful coup against Soviet leader Gorbachev and the remaining republics dissolved the Soviet Union in 1991. • Consequently, Gorbachev was a leader without a country. • Boris Yeltsin, president of the Russian Republic, joined with nine former Soviet republics to form a loose confederation, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). • Yeltsin disbanded the Communist party and tried to establish a free-market economy and a democracy

Soviet Union Invasion of Afghanistan, 1979 / United States Boycott of the Olympics, 1980

The Soviet Union had been influential in the Afghanistan since a coup had brought a Marxist government to power in 1978. Since Afghanistan lay between the Soviet Union and Iran, many saw the Soviet invasion as a first step toward gaining control of Iran. • President Carter imposed economic sanctions; the United States boycotted the Summer Olympics being held in Moscow, and withdrew the SALT II treaty being considered by the Senate for ratification.

Sputnik, 1957

The Soviet Union launched the first satellite into orbit on October 4, 1957. Humiliated at being upstaged by the Russians, the U.S. reshaped the educational system in an effort to produce more scientists and engineers. • In addition, to improve scientific advancements, NASA was created in 1958. Created by Congress, NASA was a national aeronautics space agency to administer nonmilitary space research and exploration.

U.S. vs. Wheeler, 1978

The Supreme Court affirmed Native American tribes had a unique independent legal statue that could not be discontinued by Congress.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 1954

The Supreme Court reversed Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) in 1954 by ruling in favor of the desegregation of schools. • The court held that "separate but equal" violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and unconstitutional.

Roe v. Wade, 1973

The Supreme Court ruled that women had a constitutional right to abortion during the early stages of pregnancy. • This case legalized abortion since it struck down the many state laws prohibiting abortion unless the mother's life was in danger. The decision was primarily based on a woman's right to privacy. • Roe sparked criticism from Roman Catholics and sparked a vigorous right-to-life movement that opposed abortion.

Furman v. Georgia, 1972

The Supreme Court struck down existing death penalty laws as unconstitutional unless they were fairly applied. The ruling imposed rigorous new principles on death penalty laws in future cases. • The ruling disappointed and angered many conservatives who saw this as an ongoing trend in the Court that showed undue leniency and over concern with criminal rather than victim rights.

Moon Landing, July 20, 1969

The United States adopted the goal of landing a man on the moon during John Kennedy's administration. 21 • Astronauts Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Earth's moon. Armstrong made the famous statement, " That's one small step for man . . . one giant leap for mankind." • Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were the other two astronauts on the flight.

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties SALT I

The United States and the Soviet Union capped off four years of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) by signing a treaty limiting the deployment of antiballistic missiles (ABM's) and an agreement to freeze the number of offensive missiles for five years.

Israeli invasion of Lebanon, 1982 / Bombing Attacks on U.S. Embassy and Marine Barracks in Beirut, 1983

The United States had approved Israel invading southern Lebanon to stop PLO terrorists from raiding Israel. But the United States got involved in trying to end Lebanon's civil war. • In April 1983, 63 people were killed when an Arab suicide squad bombed the American embassy and a few months later 241 servicemen were killed in a bomb attack on the U.S. Marines barracks. • Reagan pulled American forces out of Lebanon in 1984 with nothing to show for the intervention.

Invasion of Panama, 1989

The United States sent in Marines to Panama to topple President Manuel Noriega, who was deeply involved in the drug trade. The action was taken because the United States needed a stable government to complete the transfer of the Panama Canal to the control of the Panamanian government This episode, which involved 25,000 America troops but brought few casualties, provided a new model for post-war military strategy. • Panama was yet another American intervention that sparked controversy in Latin America.

Cambodia/ Khmer Rouge/ "The Killing Field" 1975

The United States supported govt. in Cambodia fell the same year as South Vietnam when the Khmer Rouge, the communist guerrilla force in Cambodia took power. • The Khmer Rouge committed genocide against more than a million of its own people. Over the course of the next few years, one-third of Cambodia's people were killed by the group.

McCarran Act, 1950

The act made it illegal to advocate or support the establishment of a totalitarian govt, and restricted the employment and travel of anyone joining any organization labeled, as a "Communist-front" and these organizations had to register with the government. In addition, it authorized the creation of detention camps for subversives.

National Liberation Front aka Viet Cong, 1964-1975

The Viet Cong was the name given to the Vietnamese communist army in South Vietnam. The North Vietnamese or Viet Minh were their allies. In support of Ho Chi Minh, the group pushed to overthrow the South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem. • The Viet Cong was comprised mainly of guerilla fighters and were partly responsible for the fall of Dinh Bien Phu and organization of the Têt Offensive.

Gideon v. Wainwright, 1963

The Warren Court ruled in the case of Gideon v. Wainwright that the state was required to provide attorneys for defendants in felony charges (later expanded to other charges) at the public's expense. • This ruling was a part of the effort to reform the criminal justice system and ensure poor people had legal council.

Iraq War, 2003

The White House argued that Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq was linked to Al Quaeda and that weapons of mass destruction could be used against the United States. During 2002 the United States sought support from the United Nations to admit weapon inspectors. Dissatisfaction with the work of the United Nations weapon inspectors and the failure to obtain a second United Nations resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq led the United States and its ally to launch an attack on March 19, 2003 against Iraq. • The United States gained military control of Iraq in a three-week campaign and on May 1, 2003 Bush declared that the major combat phase of the war was over. • An insurgent movement sprang up and by September 2005 almost 1900 Americans troops had been killed and thousands more wounded. America troops are still in Iraq today.

Paris Peace Accords, 1973

The accords ended the U.S. participation in the Vietnam War. North Vietnam agreed to an armistice and the United States removed the last of its troops. North Vietnam also agreed to return over 500 prisoners-of-war. In addition, the Accords also promised a cease-fire and free elections. • This ended American participation in a war that cost over 58,000 American lives. • But it did not end the war between North and South Vietnam and thousands of North Vietnamese troops were still in South Vietnam and everyone knew South Vietnam would quickly fall after United States troops were withdrawn.

Civil Rights Bill, 1990

The act allowed women, people with handicaps, and religious minorities to collect punitive damages for intentional on-the-job discrimination. Previously, only racial minorities could claim damages. It widened the definition of discrimination and forced businesses to respect citizen's rights of equality.

Voting Rights Act, 1965

The act effectively banned literacy tests for voting rights and provided for federal registration to assure the franchise to minority voters. • National outrage over southern police brutality of demonstrators supporting black voter registration aided in the passage of the bill. • As a result of this act, within a few years, a majority of African Americans had become registered voters in the southern states.

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, 1996

The act eliminated the federal guarantee of cash assistance to poor children. It abolished the AFDC (Aid to Dependent Children), required most adults to find work within two years, set a five-year limit on payments to any one family, and gave states wide discretion in running their welfare programs.

National Interstate and Defense Highway Act, 1956

The act expanded the interstate highway system to 41,000 miles. The federal government paid ninety percent of the cost of the expansion. Eisenhower signed the bill and $25 billion was authorized from 1957-1969: $114 billion was gradually spent over thirty-five years. • The act contributed to the economic growth of the 1950s as well as suburban growth. • In addition to allowing for easier travel throughout the country, the interstate highway system also allowed for troop movement and evacuation routes in the event of war.

Immigration Reform Act, 1965

The act kept the ceiling on immigrants to 170,000 per year, but it eliminated the "national origins" system that gave preferential entry to immigrants from northern Europe over those from the rest of the world• Immigrants from Europe, Asia, and Africa would enter the United States on an equal basis, but the act did retain restriction on immigration from some parts of Latin America. • This law changed the face of immigration - prior to the act, 90% of immigrants every year came from Europe, after this act was passed, only 10% did.

Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Balanced Budget Act, 1985

The act provided for across the board spending cuts and was designed to get the federal deficit under control and mandated a balanced budget by 1991.

Cold War, 1947-1989

The antagonistic relationship that existed between the Soviet Union and the United States and other Western nations. This war was said to be cold because the hostility stopped short of armed (hot) conflict, which was warded off by the strategy of nuclear deterrence.

"Domino Effect," 1949-1973

The belief held by many United States policymakers, that if one country in a region fell to Communism, other countries would follow like a row of dominos. This belief led the United States, in the fear that the fall of one nation would result in the lost of an entire region, to support some noncommunist corrupt dictatorships.

Elementary and Secondary Education Act, 1965

The bill overcame the religious barrier on education because it supported a child-benefit approach, and allocated federal money to aid the education of students in religious as well as public schools. The act gave over $1 billion in federal aid, the largest sums going to school districts with the highest percentage of poor students.

Mapp v. Ohio, 1961

The case involved a Cleveland woman, Dolly Mapp, who was arrested for possessing obscene material which police discovered during their unlawful search for a bombing suspect. • The Supreme Court agreed with Mapp that her rights had been violated under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which forbids unreasonable searches and seizures. • The Mapp decision applied the so-called exclusionary rule to the states. This rule says illegally seized evidence cannot be used in court against the accused.

Berlin Blockade, 1948

The city of Berlin was located in Soviet-controlled East Germany. In June 1948, the Soviet Union blockaded West Berlin in the hope that the United States, Great Britain, and France would agree to turn the entire city over to the Soviets. In response, the United States organized a massive airlift to fly in food, fuel, and supplies to the city. • The airlift lasted nearly a year and West Berlin became a symbol of the West's determination to resist communist expansion. In October 1949, Stalin gave up and lifted the blockade.

Fall of China / Mao Zedong / People's Republic of China

The civil war in China between the nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-Shek and the Communists led by Mao Zedong resumed after the end of World War II and ended with the victory of the Communists in 1949. Much of the world, including the United States, did not recognize China. • The fall of China and "who was to blame" for it (the Republicans blamed the Democratic administration) became a contributing factor to the Second Red Scare in the 1950s.

East Germany / West Germany, 1949

The creation of two Germanys was a primary consequence of the Berlin crisis. The Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic (East Germany, a Soviet satellite) and the American, French and British zones were combined to create the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany, a United States ally).

Nixon Doctrine, 1969-1974

The doctrine stated the United States would continue to help Asian nations combat Communism but would no longer commit American troops to land wars in Asia. • Nixon announced that 25,000 United States troops would be withdrawn from Vietnam by August 1969. An additional cut of 65,000 troops was ordered by the end of the year. • Nixon's program, known as Vietnamization of the war, emphasized the responsibilities of the South Vietnamese in the war.

Free Speech Movement / Berkeley, 1964

The first major student protest which centered on students' demand that all university restrictions on student political activities be lifted. Berkeley students protested after university officials banned political leafleting on campus. They complained that they were treated like numbers, not people, at the overcrowded Berkeley campus. • Other students around the country formed similar protest organizations, demanding an end to restrictive campus rules that failed to treat them like responsible individuals.

Détente, 1970s

The evacuation of American troops from Vietnam helped Nixon and Kissinger reduce Chinese-American tensions and achieve détente with the Communist superpowers. • This dramatic development marked a significant change in American foreign policy by developing a cordial attitude towards the Communists

Latinos / Hispanics, 1960s-1970s

The fast growing minority group in the United States which was made up of varied groups that included Puerto Ricans, Latinos from Central and South America, and the largest and most influential group of Hispanics -- Mexican Americans. • The Mexican American population went from 3 million to over 20 million by 1990. After 1960, Latinos made up over one-third of all legal immigrants to the U.S. • Mexican-Americans surpassed African Americans as the nation's largest minority group

Urban Renewal, 1950s-1960s

The federal government tore down buildings in the poorest parts of cities and in some cases built new public housing for the urban poor. This was the primary policy used to try to eliminate the poverty of inner cities. • The results were mixed: some of the new housing was much better than what was torn down, but some was shoddy construction and became new slums. • In many cases, urban renewal tore down "slums" and put up upper and middle class housing or businesses and the urban poor could no longer afford to live in the area.

Suburban growth / Levittown, 1950s

The first suburb (mass-produced and low-priced family homes) was Levittown that was built on Long Island, New York. Low interest mortgages, mass production of cars, the growth of the road system, and better living conditions, caused this migration from cities to suburbs. • The suburban building boom helped fuel the economic growth of the 1950s-1960s. • As African- Americans started to move to northern cities, whites began to move to the suburbs ("white flight"). By the 1960s, American cities were growing poorer and racially divided. • In one generation the majority of middle class Americans became suburbanites

Massive Retaliation / Deterrence / 1950s

The lynchpin of U.S. military strategy during the Cold War that dictated the U.S. would maintain a nuclear arsenal so large that the Soviet Union would not attack the U.S. and its allies out of fear that the U.S. would retaliate with an assault of devastating proportions. The Soviets pursued a similar strategy of building a large nuclear arsenal.

Three Mile Island, 1979 (under Jimmy Carter's administration)

The malfunction of a reactor at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania nearly caused a nuclear meltdown. Consequently, in response to growing public concern, power companies cancelled orders for new reactors, and the nuclear power industry expansion stopped. Three Mile Island brought changes to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Americans became more aware of environmental concerns.

Powell Doctrine, 1991

The military strategy formulated by Colin Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during the Persian Gulf War. It argued that the United States use military force only as a last resort and in cases when national security was directly threatened. • When used, force should be swift and overwhelming and accompanied by both a clear exit strategy and strong public support.

Baby boom, 1945-1960

The number of babies being born rose substantially between 1945-1960. • 50 million babies were born between 1945-1960 and the mortality rate dramatically dropped allowing for a 20% increase in the population. • This generation was able to fuel the economy and widen the realm of education.

Marshall Plan, 1947

The plan gave massive American economic aid to European countries to rebuild their economies shattered by World War II. The plan was introduced by Secretary of State George Marshall. Beside humanitarian concern, two economic / political motives prompted this aid - the recognition that a strong Europe was needed to supply markets for American goods and a desire to lessen the appeal of communism in Western European nations. • The plan was open to all European countries, including Russia and its Eastern European satellites, but they rejected the plan while Western European nations participated. • The Marshall Plan and NATO were the chief strategies used to contain or stop the spread of Communism to Western Europe.

Fall of the Berlin Wall / German Reunification, 1989

The pro-Moscow government in East Germany fell in November 1989 and both West and East Germans tore down the Berlin Wall. • West and East Germany then began the reunification process, which ended with one Germany in October 1990.

Impoundment, 1969-1974

The refusal of a president to spend money appropriated by Congress. In the early 1970s, President Richard Nixon hoped to slow the growth of the federal government and reduce funding for programs he opposed by refusing to spend money appropriated by the Democratic-controlled Congress for urban renewal and pollution control.

New Federalism aka Revenue Sharing, 1969-1974

The return of federal tax money to the states for their use. President Nixon tried to reverse the concentration of power in Washington by initiating a decentralization of governmental functions in 1972, and revenue sharing was a part of this process

The Imperial Presidency, 1973

The term "imperial presidency" referred to the view that the office of the presidency underwent an evolution over time and that Watergate must be seen in the context of a much larger pattern of presidential usurpation of power (especially in the area of international relations) that went back several decades before Nixon.

Sunbelt, 1950s

The term refers to the southern and southwestern states from North Carolina to California and the post World War II population shift from the Northeast and Midwest to those states. The result of the population change was a swing in political power from the Northeast and Midwest to the Sunbelt.

Panama Canal Treaty, 1978

The treaty called for the gradual return of the Panama Canal to the people and government of Panama. • It provided for the transfer of canal ownership to Panama at the end of 1999. • There was heated opposition to the treaty by conservatives, but President Carter argued the treaty was the most effective way to improve relations with Latin America.

SALT II

The treaty set limits on the number of long-range missiles, bombers, and nuclear warheads for the United States and the Soviet Union. President Carter presented it to the Senate, then after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, announced the withdrawal of the treaty from Senate consideration. • Although the treaty never entered into force, both the United States and the USSR pledged to abide by its limits. • Both SALT I and II helped reduce tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Fuchs / Rosenberg Case, 1950-1953

The tremors sent through American culture by the detonation of an atomic bomb by the Soviet Union in 1949 convinced many Americans that espionage had been the reason for the Soviet success. In 1950, a British scientist named Klaus Fuchs testified he had given atomic secrets to the Soviets. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were implicated in this case through Fuchs and Ethel's brother, David Greenglass. Greenglass contended several agents had worked on getting atomic secrets to the Russians, but that the Rosenbergs were in charge of this operation. The Rosenbergs were convicted in 1951, and despite appeals, put to death in 1953. They maintained they were innocent until their death. • The Rosenberg case was one more factor in the fear of communism sweeping the United States.

Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988

The war began over territorial disputes. Fighting spread throughout the Gulf region and the United States was dragged into the conflict several times, either being attacked or attacking hostile targets. The war ended in 1988, as Iraq began preparing to invade Kuwait. The area remained a volatile region.

INF Treaty, 1987 (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty)

This reduced the Soviet Union and American supply of intermediate-range missiles and allowed for on-site verification. It was an example of the thaw in Soviet-American relations and renewed the arms control process.

Sexual Revolution, late 1960s

This referred to a shift in American attitudes toward sexual expression. Antibiotics and the introduction of the birth control pill in 1960 both played a role in tempting people to have casual sex with a number of partners. • It was not clear how much this actually changed the behavior of the majority of Americans. It is clear, however, that the new morality weakened the earlier restrictions on premarital sex, contraception, abortion, and homosexuality

"Smoking Gun," / Nixon's Resignation, 1974

Throughout the Watergate Investigation, there was an ongoing effort to find conclusive evidence (the "smoking gun") that the president knew about and indeed ordered the cover-up of Watergate. The Presidential recordings or "Watergate Tapes" offered that conclusive evidence and, at that point, impeachment and conviction of the president was inevitable. • Nixon brooded over his options and on August 8, 1974 became the first American president to ever resign. • Gerald Ford, former Republican House Minority Leader and Nixon's current vice-president was then sworn in as President of the United States.

Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), 1990

Treaty signed by Mikhail Gorbachev and George Bush. It cut the nuclear weapons arsenals of both countries by thirty percent. This was a landmark agreement because it eased tensions between the two nations.

Election of 1948: Truman (D) vs. Dewey (R)

Truman (D), Thomas Dewey (R), Strom Thurmond (Dixecrats), and Henry Wallace (Progressive Party). The Democratic Party was split in this election. • Conservative Southern Democrats, unhappy with Truman's liberal civil rights position, withdrew and ran Governor Strom Thurmond on the States' Rights or "Dixiecrats" party. • The left wing of the Democratic party formed a new Progressive Party and ran Henry Wallace as its candidate. The Progressives criticized Truman's ineffective domestic policy and disliked his confrontational policy toward the Soviet Union. The Republicans ran Thomas Dewey again. • Everyone expected Truman to lose, but Truman went on a cross-country railroad campaign and lambasted the "do-nothing, good-for-nothing" Republican Congress. He won 49.5% to Dewey's 45.1% and Democrats won back both houses of Congress.

Truman Doctrine, 1947

Truman argued that United States security depended on stopping any Communist government from taking over any non-Communist government -even nondemocratic and repressive dictatorships—anywhere in the world. At the same time, Truman asked for $400 million dollars to aid Greece and Turkey to resist Communist pressures. • This doctrine became a cornerstone of United States foreign policy during the Cold War.

Federal Employee Loyalty Program, 1947

Truman created this program through an executive order. The program reviewed the "loyalty" of federal employees. • By 1951, over 200 employees were dismissed as "bad security risks" and over 2000 resigned under pressure. Employees lost jobs over what kind of organizations they belonged to and the politics of their family and/or friends. • The importance of this program is it showed Truman's determination to prove he was as tough on internal communism as on the expansion of communism by the Soviet Union. • It also clearly shows the start of the Second Red Scare before Joseph McCarthy appeared on the scene.

Fair Deal, 1945-1949

Truman proposed a social and economic program during his State of the Union message in 1949. It enlarged the New Deal by adding housing, conservation, economic security, health insurance, federal aid to education, agricultural subsidies, increased the minimum wage, and expanded Social Security.

Dean Acheson, 1949-1953

Truman's Secretary of State, who argued the fall of one nation to communism would have a "domino effect" on surrounding nations in the region.

March on Washington, 1963

Two motives lay behind this march of 200,000 civil rights supporters down the mall on Washington. First, to create support for the civil rights legislation introduced by President Kennedy and secondly, to demonstrate the power of the civil rights movement. 16 • Martin Luther King delivered his stirring "I have a dream" speech. • This was the apex of the civil rights movement and the March aided passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Hawks and Doves, 1ate 1960s-1973

Two terms used to denote supporters and opponents of the Vietnam War. • The supporters of the war, the "hawks" contended the Soviet Union was behind the war and it was part of a master plan to conquer all of Southeast Asia. • The opponents of the war, the "doves" saw the war as a civil war being fought by Vietnamese nationalists and some Communists who wanted to unite Vietnam by overthrowing a corrupt Saigon government. • The labels symbolize the real polarization of Americans over the war - few people chose a middle position

U-2 Spy Plane Flight / Francis Gary Powers / 1960

Two weeks before the planned Paris summit, the Soviets shot down a high-altitude U.S. spy plane (the U-2) over the Soviet Union. The flights gathered information about the Soviet Union's missile program (the Soviet had already rejected Eisenhower's "open skies" proposal). • After the plane was shot down, Eisenhower took full responsibility for the flights, but Soviet Premier Khrushchev then called off the upcoming Paris summit. • The pilot, Francis Gary Powers, survived and served eighteen months in a Soviet jail.

University of Mississippi / James Meredith, 1962University of Mississippi / James Meredith, 1962

University of Mississippi / James Meredith, 1962 When the Governor of Mississippi refused to enforce a federal court order ordering the University of Mississippi to enroll its first black student (James Meredith). Whites in Oxford, Mississippi rioted to protest the court order, President Kennedy sent federal troops to Mississippi to end the violence and enforce the court order. • In the early 1960s, the Kennedy administration was being forced, by events such as these, to involve itself in the civil rights movement.

Peaceful coexistence, 1956

Used by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to call for diminished tension between capitalist and communist nations in the Cold War. As a sign of the reduced hostility, Khrushchev and Vice President Richard Nixon exchanged official visits.

Resignation of Spiro T. Agnew, 1974

Vice President Agnew was charged with income-tax evasion and accepting bribes. He pleaded no contest which was "the full equivalent to a plea of guilty," according to the trial judge. • Dishonored and distrusted, Agnew left the government service with a three-year suspended sentence. • Nixon appointed and Congress confirmed Republican House Minority Leader Gerald Ford as the new vice president.

Watergate, 1972-1974

Watergate was a major United States political scandal that began with the burglary and wiretapping of the Democratic Party's campaign headquarters. The scandal later engulfed President Richard M. Nixon and many of his supporters in a variety of illegal acts, and culminated in the first resignation of a U.S. president. • The burglary was committed on June 17, 1972, by five men who were caught in the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate apartment and office complex in Washington, D.C. In the beginning the break-in got little media attention. • But persistent investigation by two reporters for the Washington Post, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, eventually brought to light a White House-sponsored plan of espionage against political opponents and a trail of complicity in efforts to cover up how the burglary was planned and financed. • Watergate led to the disillusionment of many Americans with their government.

Southern Strategy, 1968-1974

When Nixon received only 43 percent of the popular vote in 1968, he started looking for a way to form a republican majority in time for the upcoming 1972 election. • His strategy included appealing to the group he called the "Silent Majority" who disliked the antiwar protests, black militants, school busing to achieve racial balance, and the counterculture. • To win votes in the South, Nixon asked federal courts in the South to delay integration plans and busing orders. • He also nominated two southern conservatives to the Supreme Court (which the Senate refused to confirm). • The success of the Southern Strategy was confirmed in 1972 when the Republican ticket won majorities in every Southern state.

"Saturday Night Massacre" / Archibald Cox, 1973

When Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, who was appointed by President Nixon to handle the Watergate cases, took the President to court to force Nixon to hand over the Watergate tapes, Nixon fired Cox. • Consequently, Nixon's Attorney General Elliot Richardson and his deputy resigned in protest. Nixon was forced to appoint a new special prosecutor, more importantly; this led to the House of Representatives investigating the potential for impeachment of the president.

The "Reagan Revolution," 1981-1989

While some of the New Right thought Reagan had failed to live up to his campaign promise to change government more than any administration since the New Deal, Reagan did advance much of the New Right's agenda by appointing conservative justices to the Supreme Court. • Reagan made "liberalism" a code word for wasteful social programs imposed upon hard working people by a power hungry federal government and "conservative" came to mean economic growth, support for limited government power, and support for traditional social values.

Wounded Knee, 1973

Wounded Knee was the site of an 1890 massacre of Sioux by U.S. troops. By the 1970s, Wounded Knee made up part of a Sioux reservation and the poverty level was extremely high. These conditions and hostility between Native Americans and local enforcement resulted in AIM members seizing and occupying the town of Wounded Knee for two months. The seizure ended after one Native American died and another was wounded in a confrontation with the federal government.

Indian Civil Rights Act, 1968

With this law Native Americans were included in most of the political protection other citizens enjoyed under the Bill of Rights while the act also recognized the role of tribal laws on reservations. • Dissatisfaction with the limited nature of the act led AIM and other activist groups to take direct action (see Wounded Knee and Alcatraz Island).

Woodstock / Altamont, 1969

Woodstock was a fusion of rock music; hard drugs, free love, and an antiwar protest drawing 400,000 people in the summer of 1969. The concert was the high point of the counterculture movement. • At the other end of the spectrum was Altamont, a concert near San Francisco attended by over 300,000 people. Altamont had rock music, hard drugs, and free love, but violence as well. Four people died and many people were beaten by members of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang who had been hired by the Rolling Stones as security guards.

Teheran, Casablanca, Yalta, and Potsdam Conferences...

Yalta Conference, February 1945 Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt conferred at Yalta on the Black Sea coast of the Soviet Union. They decided the following: • Germany would be divided into occupation zones • Free elections would be held in the liberated countries of Eastern Europe • The Soviets would enter the war against Japan • A new world peace organization (the future United Nations) would be formed at a conference in San Francisco Unresolved tensions over Poland led to a vague Russia promise to give some places in the Polish government to proWestern Poles, and hold free elections in Poland (they were held 40 years later). Russia wanted Germany to pay heavy reparations and Churchill and FDR agreed only to leave the issue to a future reparation commission. Russia also wanted Germany permanently divided so the Allies agreed for the present to "zones of occupation." • The importance of Yalta was that fundamental disagreements over the future of Europe were postponed with weak and unstable compromises. Teheran Conference, November 1943 FDR met with Stalin and Churchill. Problems existed over the refusal of Britain and the United States to allow any Soviet participation in the creation of a new Italian government after the fall of Mussolini. • It angered Stalin that the Soviet Union did not have any say in the future of Western Europe, but the United States expected a say in Eastern Europe. • Potential problems also loomed over the future government of postwar Poland. Potsdam Conference, July-August, 1945 Truman, new British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, and Stalin met in Potsdam, Germany and agreed to issue a warning to Japan to surrender unconditionally and to hold war-crime trials of Nazi leaders. • Truman comes into the conference with a determination to get tough with the Soviet Union (he was angry with Communist governments being set up in Eastern Europe). Truman reluctantly recognized the Communist Polish government • On the question of Germany, the Soviet Union was allowed to get reparations from its own zone, but was not allowed any from the American, French, and British zones of Germany

Jackie Robinson, 1947

___ was the first African-American baseball player to break the color barrier and play professional sports. He was recruited from the Kansas City Monarchs, a team in the Negro Leagues, to play with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was able to break the color barrier and seemed to successfully overcome the racism so prevalent in his sport. • Robinson helped the Dodgers to win the pennant and got Rookie of the Year in his first year of playing.

J.D. Salinger / Catcher in the Rye, 1951

____'s book chronicled the tribulations of teenager Holden Caulfield who could not fit in anywhere. • The book criticizes the 1950s obsession with conformity and the "phoniness" of American life. It was also strongly criticized at the time for its use of profanity and its depiction of teenage sexuality

Malcolm X, 1952-1965

a Black Muslim minister in the Nation of Islam and an influential black leader who moved away from King's non-violent methods of civil disobedience. converted to Islam while he was in prison. • He spilt with the Black Muslim movement and formed the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) which attracted thousands of young, urban blacks with its message of socialism and self-help. • He initially advocated nationalism, self-defense, and racial separation. • After a pilgrimage to Mecca, he began publicly accepting the idea of cooperation between blacks and whites. • was assassinated in 1965 while giving a speech in New York City. The assassins were said to be Black Muslims, although this was never proved

Civil Rights Act, 1968

barred discrimination in housing sales or rentals. This act was a part of a series of new legislation that encouraged desegregation of blacks in America. • It was a key piece of legislation which ensured blacks more equal rights.

Trade Expansion Act, 1962

gave the president of the United States the power to cut tariffs by as much as 50 percent in exchange for similar reductions by other countries. 19 • In order to deal with the Common Market (a trade association of western European nation promoting open trade among its members) the president could reduce tariffs on industrial products by more than 50 percent or eliminate them completely when the United States and the Common Market together accounted for 80 percent or more of the world export value. •granted the president far greater authority to lower or eliminate tariffs than had ever been the case in the past.

Detroit Race Riot, 1967

he largest riot in a year in which the United States saw eight major riots.  The riot began when police raided an illegal after-hours drinking club and drew an angry, frustrated crowd that turned hostile. Relations between blacks and the police were hostile to start with since the police force there was 95% white and had a reputation for racism.  Forty-three people were killed during the violence.

Proposition 13, 1978

• A referendum question on the California state ballot to sharply cut property taxes by more than two-thirds. This was the first successful taxpayers' revolt. Although the amendment ultimately created a financial crisis for local governments, and the state legislature was forced to provide emergency aid from the treasury, other states followed California's lead with similar anti-tax movements. • Attacking high taxes rather than specific programs proved a winning tactic for Republican conservatives since they picked up new supporters and this aided them in carrying the 1980 presidential election.