AP US History - 1945 to 1952

Smith Act

1940 act, made it illegal to speak of or advocate overthrowing the U.S. government (used to prosecute communists)

National Security Act

1947; changed War Dept -> Dept of Defense; single budget for Dept of Defense; created NSA and CIA

Mccarran Internal Security Act

1950, communist organizations required to register, restricted thier travel and employment, vetoed by Truman

Council of Economic Advisers

A board of three professional economists was established in 1946 to advise the president on economic policy.

Douglas MacArthur

American general, who commanded allied troops in the Pacific during World War II.

People's Republic of China

China's name after Mao Zedong took over

Mao Zedong

Chinese communist leader (1893-1976)

Employment Act of 1946

Enacted by Truman, it committed the federal government to ensuring economic growth and established the Council of Economic Advisors to confer with the president and formulate policies for maintaining employment, production, and purchasing power

Alger Hiss, Rosenberng Case

Examples of the US trying to catch communist spies, regardless of privacy issues

Chiang Kai-Shek

Leader of the Chinese nationalist party, anti-communism, 1928-1948

Progressive Party (1948)

Party for which Henry Wallace ran for President,

Truman Doctrine

President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology

Fair Deal

President Truman's program of social reform, mostly didn't pass

Winston Churchill

Prime minister of Great Britain during World War II

Marshall Plan

Program of American economic assistance to rebuild Western Europe, and strength Democratic Gov't (prevent communism)

J. Strom Thurmond

Ran for president in 1948 with the Racist, States-Rights Party

Thomas Dewey

Republican presidential nominee in 1944 who failed in his effort to deny FDR a fourth term

Suburban Growth

Resulted as a desperate need for housing arose following the war; Levittown= project of 17000 family homes on Long Island, NY.

Joseph Stalin

Russian leader who succeeded Lenin as head of the Communist Party and created a totalitarian state by purging all opposition (1879-1953)

Dennis v United States

Supreme Court upheld the Smith Act (1951)

Committee on Civil Rights

Truman bypassed the southern Democrats in key seats in Congress and established this committee to challenge racial discrimination in 1946.

Containment Policy

US policy to stop expansion of Soviet Union and Communism

World Bank

a United Nations agency created to assist developing nations by loans guaranteed by member governments

Taiwan

anti-communist island that broke away from China in 1949

Servicemn's Readjustment Act (GI Bill)

bill that gave more benefits to Veterans, allowed many to attend college, passed 1944

Kim II Sung

communist leader of North Korea, 1948-1994

Berlin Airlift

effort by the US to provide supplies to the "stranded" East Berlin, 1948-1949

US - Japanese Security Treaty

ended formal occupation of Japan, allowed for US to remain to defend againt communism

Syngman Rhee

first democratic leader of South Korea, 1948-1960

Henry Wallace

for VP FDR, ran in 1948 election as representative for Progressive party

House Un-American Activities Committee

investigated suspected Communists in US, (HUAC)

38th Parallel

line of latitude that separated North and South Korea

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

military alliance of 10 of democratic countries, 1949 (mostly W. Europe and Canda/USA)

Communist Satellites

nations effectivly run by USSR , used as "buffer states"

Taft-Hartley Act

passed 1947, tried to reduce the power of unions, Truman Vetoed

22 Amendment

presidents could only serve 2 terms, ratified in 1951

States-Rights Party (Dixiecrats)

racist party devoted to state rights

Joesph McCarthy

republican senator, accused many prominent figures of being communists "Mccarthyism"

Iron Curtain

term for the cold war barrier betwen the US and USSR

Baby Boom

the sharp increase in the US birthrate following WWII, led to Suburban Growth

Korean War

war between Communist North Korea and Democratic South Korea, resulted in a "tie" (no loses or gains)