AP USH Chapter 28 Uncivil Wars

Barry Goldwater

1964; Republican contender against LBJ for presidency; platform included lessening federal involvement, therefore opposing Civil Rights Act of 1964; lost by largest margin in history

Richard M. Nixon

A Republican President who promised to restore order to American society and bring "peace with honor" to Vietnam

Medicaid

A federal and state assistance program that pays for health care services for people who cannot afford them.

Medicare

A federal program of health insurance for persons 65 years of age and older

My Lai

A mass killing of helpless inhabitants of a village in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, carried out in 1968 by United States troops under the command of Lieutenant William Calley.

silent majority

A phrase used to describe people, whatever their economic status, who uphold traditional values, especially against the counterculture of the 1960s

détente

A policy of reducing Cold War tensions that was adopted by the United States during the presidency of Richard Nixon.

George C. Wallace

Alabama governor who spoke for millions of working-class white Americans (third-party candidate 1968) also strongly believed in segregation (now, tomorrow, forever)

Betty Friedan

American feminist, activist and writer. Best known for starting the "Second Wave" of feminism through the writing of her book "The Feminine Mystique".

New Left

Coalition of younger members of the Democratic party and radical student groups. Believed in participatory democracy, free speech, civil rights and racial brotherhood, and opposed the war in Vietnam.

women's liberation

Feminism: women protested that their political and legal equality was not completely equal to that of men's. The wanted to have the same pay.

Chicano Moratorium Committee

Group founded by activist Latinos to protest the Vietnam War

Robert Kennedy

He was a Democrat who ran for president in 1968 promoting civil rights and other equality based ideals. assassinated in 1968

Stonewall Inn

In NYC, any bar that was frequented by homosexuals was raided by police and beat up; in 1969, the people here fought back- they were all arrested but it was an awakening moment for the US

Title IX

Major anti-gender discrimination law that applies to universities and schools that accept federal funding. Controversial because many universities cut male sports programs so as not to be in violation

Port Huron Statement

Manifesto of the SDS, which criticized the federal government for racial inequality, poverty, and also the Cold War and international peace.

Henry Kissinger

National Security Advisor and Secretary of State during the Nixon Administration, he was responsible for negotiating an end to the Yom Kippur War as well as the Treaty of Paris that led to a ceasefire in Vietnam in 1973

Vietnamization

Nixon's strategy for ending U.S involvement in the vietnam war, involving a gradual withdrawl of American troops and replacement of them with South Vietnamese forces

Great Society

President Johnson called his version of the Democratic reform program this. Involved measures such as Medicare, civil rights legislation, and federal aid to education

Presidential Commission on the Status of Women

Revealed women's unequal status in the workplace. Commission under JFK. Eleanor Roosevelt was appointed as chair. Brought terms like "equal pay for equal work" and the "wage gap" into common conversation.

Ngo Dinh Diem

South Vietnamese president that was catholic and strongly opposed communism. His poor leadership and corrupt government spelled doom

Tet offensive

Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army raiding forces attacked provincial capitals throughout Vietnam, even seizing the U.S. embassy for a time. U.S. opinion began turning against the war.

counterculture

Young americans in 60s who rejected conventional customs & mainstream culture

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

a campus-based political organization founded in 1961 by Tom Hayden that became an iconic representation of the New Left.

National Organization for Women (NOW)

adopted activist tactics of other civil rights movements to secure equal treatment of women

Young Americans for Freedom (YAF)

an ideologically conservative youth activism organization that was founded in 1960 as a coalition between traditional conservatives and libertarian

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

authorized President Johnson to commit U.S. troops to South Vietnam and fight a war against North Vietnam

Operation Rolling Thunder

began in 1965 and authorized by President Johnson. Relentlessly bombed Viet Cong-occupied land, decimating the landscape of hundreds of miles of land.

The Feminine Mystique

book by feminist thinker Betty Friedan; challenged women to move beyond the drudgery of suburban housewifery and helped launch what would become second-wave feminism.

Sharon Statement

called for a government to protect individual liberty by preserving economic freedom and maintaing a strong national defense

Economic Opportunity Act

created many social programs to help provide funds for youth programs antipoverty measures, small-business loans, and job training; part of the Great Society.

Equal Pay Act

made it illegal for employers to pay female workers less than men for the same job

Lyndon B. Johnson

president who succeeded Kennedy and actively supported civil rights legislation and affirmative action; declined to run again in 1968

1968 Democratic National Convention

significant event in presidential election of 1968; demonstrated the confusion and lack of unity among Democrats; outside, protests and police brutality

Warren Court

the decisions of the Supreme Court in the 1960s which supported civil rights, civil liberties, voting rights, and personal privacy