APUSH Period 8
Joseph McCarthy and Tactics
"Crucible" Charging people of communist-could not prove it. Charged that the Secretary of State Dean Acheson was knowlingly employing the 205 communist party members (often charging innocent people and ruining their reputations and lives) Ike did little to stop the anti-red Finally, in 1954m when Mcarthy atacked the army (General George Marshall) he'd gone too far and was exposed for the liar and drunk that he was.
Sputnik
"Space Race" Soviet Union launced sputnik into space Totally demoralized Americans, because this seemed to prove communist superiority in the sciences -fear of bombing from space.
GI Bill of rights
(NOTES) It also passed the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, better known as the GI Bill of Rights, which allowed all servicemen to have free college education once they returned from the war.
Mao Zedong
General Douglas MacArthur headed reconstruction in Japan and tried the top Japanese war criminals. He dictated a constitution that was adopted in 1946, and democratized Japan. However, in China, the communist forces, led by Mao Zedong, defeated the nationalist forces, led by Chiang Kai-shek, who then fled to the island of Formosa (Taiwan) in 1949. With this defeat, one-quarter of the world population (500,000,000 people) plunged under the Communist flag. Critics of Truman assailed that he did not support the nationalists enough, but Chiang Kai-shek never had the support of the people to begin with.
Sit In Movement
Four black college freshman launched a sit in movement in Greensboro, NC, demanding service at a whites-only Wollworth's lunch counter, thus sparking the sit-in movement
Causes of Economic Stagnation in the 1970s
After the flurry of economic growth in the 1950s and 1960s, the U.S. economy grew stagnant in the 1970s. No year during that decade had a growth rate that matched any year of the preceding two decades. Part of the slowdown was caused by more women and teens in the work force who typically had less skill and made less money than males, while deteriorating machinery and U.S. regulations also limited growth. A large reason for the 1970s economic woes was the upward spiral of inflation. Former President Lyndon B. Johnson's spending on the Vietnam War and on his Great Society program also depleted the U.S. treasury, and this caused too much money in people's hands and too little products to buy. Also, since the U.S. did not continue advancing, Americans were caught by the Japanese and the Germans in industries that the U.S. had once dominated: steel, automobiles, consumer electronics.
Baby Boom
After the war, many soldiers returned to their sweethearts and married them, having LOTS of children -Put strains on markets (baby products-teen clothing-social security)
LBJS vietnam policy
America was floundering in Vietnam and was being condemned for its actions there, and French leader Charles de Gaulle also ordered NATO off French soil in 1966. In the Six-Day War, Israel stunned the world by defeating Egypt (and its Soviet backers) and gaining new territory in the Sinai Peninsula, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank of the Jordan River, including Jerusalem. Meanwhile, numerous protests in America went against the Vietnam War and the draft. Opposition was headed by the influential Senate Committee of Foreign Relations, headed by Senator William Fullbright of Arkansas. "Doves" (peace lovers) and "Hawks" (war supporters) clashed. Both sides (the U.S. and North Vietnam) did try to have intervals of quiet time in bombings, but they merely used those as excuses to funnel more troops into the area. Johnson also ordered the CIA to spy on domestic antiwar activists, and he encouraged the FBI to use its Counterintelligence Program ("Cointelpro") against the peace movement. More and more, America was trapped in an awful Vietnam War, and it couldn't get out, thus feeding more and more hatred and resentment to the American public.
Methods used by African Americans to overturn Jim Crow Laws
Blacks in the south were bound by the severe jim crow laws-"Separate but equal" book: AN AMERICAN DILEMMA: Sweedish Scholar**Gunnar Myrda: exposed the hypocrisy of American life, pointing out that the US failed to acheive it's "Double-V goal" National Association for the Advancement of Colores People and Sweatt v Painter: Supreme court ruled that separate professional schools for blacks failed to meet the test for equality Rosa Parks and MLK
Carter
Carter was a champion for human rights, and in Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe) and South Africa, he championed for black rights and privileges. On September 17, 1978, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel signed peace accords at Camp David. Mediated by Carter after relations had strained, this was Carter's greatest foreign policy success. Israel agreed to withdraw from territory gained in the 1967 war, while Egypt would respect Israel's territories. In Africa, though, several Communist revolutions took place—not all successful, but disheartening and threatening still. Carter also pledged to return the Panama Canal to Panama by the year 2000, and resumed full diplomatic relations with China in 1979. XVII. Economic and Energy Woes Inflation had been steadily rising, and by 1979, it was at a huge 13%. Americans would learn that they could no longer hide behind their ocean moats and live happily insulated from foreign affairs. Carter diagnosed America's problems as stemming primarily from the nation's costly dependence on foreign oil, which was true. He called for legislation to improve energy conservation, but the gas-guzzling American people, who had already forgotten about the long gas lines of 1973, didn't like these ideas. Energy problems escalated under Carter. In, 1979, Iran's shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, who had been installed by America in 1953 and had ruled his land as a dictator, was overthrown and succeeded by the Ayatollah Khomeini. Iranian fundamentalists were very much against Western/U.S. customs, and Iran stopped exporting oil; OPEC also hiked up oil prices, thus causing another oil crisis. In July 1979, Carter retreated to Camp David and met with hundreds of leaders of various things to advise and counsel him, then he came back on July 15, 1979 and chastised the American people for their obsession of material woes ("If it's cold, turn down the thermostat and put on a sweater.") This tough talking stunned the nation. Then, a few days later, he fired four cabinet secretaries and tightened the circle around his Georgian advisors even more tightly. XVIII. Foreign Affairs and the Iranian Imbroglio Carter signed the SALT II agreements with Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev, but the U.S. Senate wouldn't ratify it. Then, on November 4, 1979, a bunch of anti-American Muslim militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took the people inside hostage, demanding that the U.S. return the exiled shah who had arrived in the U.S. two weeks earlier for cancer treatments. Then, in December 27, 1979, the U.S.S.R. invaded Afghanistan, which later turned into their version of Vietnam. However, at the moment, their action threatened precious oil supplies. Carter put an embargo on the Soviet Union and boycotted the Olympic games in Moscow. He also proposed a "Rapid Deployment Force" that could respond to crises anywhere in the world in a quick manner. President Carter and America fell into an Iran hostage mess. The American hostages languished in cruel captivity while night TV news reports showed Iranian mobs burning the American flag and spitting on effigies of Uncle Sam. At first Carter tried economic sanctions, but that didn't work. Later, he tried a daring commando rescue mission, but that had to be aborted, and when two military aircraft collided, eight of the would-be rescuers were killed. It was a humiliating failure for the U.S. and for Carter especially. The stalemated hostage situation dragged on for most of Carter's term, and was never released until January 20, 1981—the inauguration day of Ronald Reagan.
Environmental Protection Agency/Rachel Carson/Clean Air Act
EPAThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was also created to protect nature, as well as OSHA, or the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OHSA). In 1962, Rachel Carson boosted the environmental movement with her book Silent Spring, which exposed the disastrous effects of pesticides (namely, DDT), and in 1950, Los Angeles already had an Air Pollution Control Office. The Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 both aimed to protect and preserve the environment and animals. Worried about inflation, Nixon also imposed a 90-day wage freeze and then took the nation off the gold standard, thus ending the "Bretton Woods" system of international currency stabilization, which had functioned for more than a quarter of a century after WWII.
Miranda vs Arizona
Escobedo (1964) and Miranda (1966) were two cases in which the Supreme Court ruled that the accused could remain silent.
Truman-Macarthur clash over Korea
General MacArthur landed a brilliant invasion behind enemy forces at Inchon on September 15, 1950, and drove the North Koreans back across the 38th parallel, towards China and the Yalu River. An overconfident MacArthur boasted that he'd "have the boys home by Christmas," but in November 1950, Chinese "volunteers" flooded across the border and pushed the South Koreans back to the 38th parallel. MacArthur, humiliated, wanted to blockade China and bomb Manchuria, but Truman didn't want to enlarge the war beyond necessity, but when the angry general began to publicly criticize President Truman and spoke of using atomic weapons, Harry had no choice but to remove him from command on grounds of insubordination. MacArthur returned to cheers while Truman was scorned as a "pig," an "imbecile," an appeaser to communist Russia and China, and a "Judas." In July 1951, truce discussions began but immediately snagged over the issue of prisoner exchange. Talks dragged on for two more years as men continued to die.
38th Parallel
General MacArthur landed a brilliant invasion behind enemy forces at Inchon on September 15, 1950, and drove the North Koreans back across the 38th parallel, towards China and the Yalu River. An overconfident MacArthur boasted that he'd "have the boys home by Christmas," but in November 1950, Chinese "volunteers" flooded across the border and pushed the South Koreans back to the 38th parallel. MacArthur, humiliated, wanted to blockade China and bomb Manchuria, but Truman didn't want to enlarge the war beyond necessity, but when the angry general began to publicly criticize President Truman and spoke of using atomic weapons, Harry had no choice but to remove him from command on grounds of insubordination. MacArthur returned to cheers while Truman was scorned as a "pig," an "imbecile," an appeaser to communist Russia and China, and a "Judas." In July 1951, truce discussions began but immediately snagged over the issue of prisoner exchange. Talks dragged on for two more years as men continued to die.
Major Court Cases
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) struck down a state law that banned the use of contraceptives, even by married couples, but creating a "right to privacy." Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) said that all criminals were entitled to legal counsel, even if they were too poor to afford it. Escobedo (1964) and Miranda (1966) were two cases in which the Supreme Court ruled that the accused could remain silent. Engel v. Vitale (1962) and School District of Abington Township vs. Schempp (1963) were two cases that led to the Court ruling against required prayers and having the Bible in public schools, basing the judgment on the First Amendment, which was argued separated church and state. Reynolds v. Sims (1964) ruled that the state legislatures, both upper and lower houses, would have to be reapportioned according to the human population. This was to ensure each person's vote was weighed evenly.
Reasons for U.S. involvement in Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh tried to encourage Woodrow Wilson to help the Vietnamese against the French and gained some support from Wilson, but as Ho became increasingly communist, the U.S. began to oppose him. After the Vietnamese won at Dienbienphu, Vietnam was split at the 17th parallel Ho Chi Minh was supposedly communist
Bretton Woods
However, the U.S. did manage to establish structures that were part of FDR's open world. At a meeting at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in 1944, the Western Allies established the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to encourage world trade by regulating the currency exchange rates.
Impact of rock and roll
Redifined popular music made girls swoon sexualy suggestive gyrations. Continued in the redefinition of the new sensuous sexuality. Critics: David Riesman in THE LONELY CROWD, William H. Whyte THE ORGANIZATION MAN, Sloan Wilson in THE MAIN IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT, lamented this new consumer style. Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith questioned the relation btwn private wealth and public good in THE AFFLUENT SOCIETY
Geneva Conference
Ike tried to the Cold War by appealing for peace to the new Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the Geneva Conference, but the Soviet Leader rejected such proposals, along with one for "open skies"
Population Shifts -where? why? sunbelt?
Immigration led to the growth of a fifteen-state region in the southern half of the united states know as the sunbelt which dramatically increased the population. (Took economic and political power out of the North and Northeast) Whites fled to the suburbs, encouraged by federal agencies such as the Federal Housing Authority and the Veteran's Administration. Levitt brothers: cheap housing plans for whites such as "Levittown" however, this left cities full of poor and the american americans
Federal Highway Act and Impact
Improved NEW DEAL program: which built 42,000 miles of interstate freeways
Smith Act
In 1949, 11 communists were brought to a New York jury for violating the Smith Act of 1940, which had been the first peacetime anti-sedition law since 1798. They were convicted, sent to prison, and their conviction was upheld by the 1951 case Dennis v. United States.
Gulf of Tonkin Resoultion
In 1964, LBJ was opposed by Republican Arizona senator Barry Goldwater who attacked the federal income tax, the Social Security system, the Tennessee Valley Authority, civil rights legislation, the nuclear test-ban treaty, and the Great Society. However, Johnson used the Tonkin Gulf Incident, in which North Vietnamese ships allegedly fired on American ships, to attack (at least partially) Vietnam, and he also got approval for the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which gave him a virtual blank check on what he could do in affairs in Vietnam. But on election day, Johnson won a huge landslide over Goldwater to stay president.
Nixons Southern Strategy
In 1972, the North Vietnamese attacked again, surprisingly, and Nixon ordered massive retaliatory air attacks, which ground the Vietnamese offense to a stop when neither China nor Russia stepped in to help, thanks to Nixon's shrew diplomacy. Nixon was opposed by George McGovern in 1972, who promised to end the war within 90 days after the election and also appealed to teens and women, but his running mate, Thomas Eagleton was found to have undergone psychiatric care before, and Nixon won in a landslide. Nixon also sought to "bomb Vietnam to the peace table." Despite Kissinger's promise of peace being near, Nixon went on a bombing rampage that eventually drove the North Vietnamese to the bargaining table to agree to a cease-fire, which occurred on January 23, 1973 This peace was little more than a barely-disguised American retreat. In the terms of the peace, the U.S. would withdraw its remaining 27,000 troops and get back 560 prisoners of war.
Jospeh McCarthy
In February 1950, Joseph R. McCarthy burst upon the scene, charging that there were scores of unknown communists in the State Department. He couldn't prove it, and many American began to fear that this red chase was going too far; after all, how could there be freedom of speech if saying communist ideas got one arrested? Truman vetoed the McCarran Internal Security Bill, which would've let the president arrest and detain suspicious people during an "internal security emergency."
Pentagon Papers
In June 1971, The New York Times published a top-secret Pentagon study of America's involvement of the Vietnam War—papers that had been leaked by Daniel Ellsberg, a former Pentagon official—these "Pentagon Papers" exposed the deceit used by the Kennedy and Johnson administrations regarding Vietnam and people spoke of a "credibility gap" between what the government said and the reality.
Warsaw Pact
In response, the U.S.S.R. formed the Warsaw Pact, its own alliance system. NATO's membership grew to fourteen with the 1952 admissions of Greece and Turkey, and then to 15 when West Germany joined in 1955.
Cultural Upheaval
In the 60s, the youth of America experimented with sex, drugs, and defiance. They protested against conventional wisdom, authority, and traditional beliefs. Poets like Allen Ginsberg and novelists like Jack Kerouac (who wrote On the Road) voiced these opinions of the Beatnik generation. Movies like "The Wild One" with Marlon Brando and "Rebel without a Cause" starring James Dean also showed this belief. Essentially, they championed the "ne'er-do-well" and the outcast. At the UC-Berkeley, in 1964, a so-called Free Speech Movement began. Kids tried drugs, "did their own thing" in new institutions, and rejected patriotism. In 1948, Indiana University "sexologist" Dr. Alfred Kinsey had published Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, and had followed that book five years later with a female version. His findings about the incidence of premarital sex and adultery were very controversial. He also estimated that 10% of all American males were gay. The Manhattan Society, founded in L.A. in 1951, pioneered gay rights. Students for a Democratic Society, once against war, later spawned an underground terrorist group called the Weathermen. The upheavals of the 1960s and the anti-establishment movement can largely be attributed to the three P's: the youthful population bulge, the protest against racism and the Vietnam War, and the apparent permanence of prosperity, but as the 1970s rolled around, this prosperity gave way to stagnation. However, the "counterculture" of the youths of the 1960s did significantly weaken existing values, ideas, and beliefs.
Marshall Plan
In western europe, france, italy, and germany were still in terrible shape so truman with the help of secretary of state George C Marshall implemented the Marshall plan -Formed: European Community (12.5 billion over 4 years to 16 cooperating nations to aid in recovery
War Powers Act
It was then discovered that there had been secret bombing raids of North Vietnamese forces in Cambodia that had occurred since March of 1969, despite federal assurances to the U.S. public that Cambodia's neutrality was being respected. The public now wondered what kind of a government the U.S. had if it couldn't be trusted and the credibility gap widened. Finally, Nixon ended this bombing in June of 1973. However, soon Cambodia was taken over by the cruel Pol Pot, who tried to commit genocide by killing over 2 million people over a span of a few years. The War Powers Act of November 1973 (1) required the president to report all commitments of U.S. troops to Congress within 48 hours and and (2) setting a 60 day limit on those activities. There was also a "New Isolationism" that discouraged the use of U.S. troops in other countries, but Nixon fended off all efforts at this.
LBJ'S Great Society
Johnson's win was also coupled by sweeping Democratic wins that enabled him to pass his Great Society programs. Congress doubled the appropriation on the Office of Economic Opportunity to $2 billion and granted more than $1 billion to refurbish Appalachia, which had been stagnant. Johnson also created the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), headed by Robert C. Weaver, the first black cabinet secretary in the United States' history. LBJ also wanted aid to education, medical care for the elderly and indigent, immigration reform, and a new voting rights bill. Johnson gave money to students, not schools, thus avoiding the separation of church and state by not technically giving money to Christian schools. In 1965, new programs called Medicare and Medicaid were installed, which gave certain rights to the elderly and the needy in terms of medicine and health maintenance. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 abolished the "national origin" quota and doubled the number of immigrants allowed to enter the U.S. annually, up to 290,000. An antipoverty program called Project Head Start improved the performance of the underprivileged in education. It was "pre-school" for the poor.
Bay of Pigs Invasion: What and why a failure?
Kennedy's Alliance for Progress was dubbed the "Marshall Plan for Latin America," and it aimed to close the rich-poor gap in Latin American and thus stem communism. However, too many Latin Americans felt that it was too little, too late. Kennedy also backed a U.S.-aided invasion of Cuba by rebels, but when the Bay of Pigs Invasion occurred, on April 17, 1961, it was a disaster, as Kennedy did not bring in the air support, and the revolt failed. This event pushed recently imposed Cuban leader Fidel Castro closer to the communist camp. JFK took full responsibility for the attack, and his popularity actually went up.
New Frontier
Kennedy's social program was known as the New Frontier, but conservative Democrats and Republicans threatened to kill many of its reforms. JFK did expand the House Rules Committee, but his program didn't expand quickly, as medical and education bills remained stalled in Congress. JFK also had to keep a lid on inflation and maintain a good economy. However, almost immediately into his term, steel management announced great price increases, igniting the fury of the president, but JFK also earned fiery attacks by big business against the New Frontier. Kennedy's tax-cut bill chose to stimulate the economy through price-cutting. iii. Kennedy also promoted a project to land Americans on the moon, though apathetic Americans often ridiculed this goal.
Operation Dixie
Labor tried to organize in the South and West with "Operation Dixie," but this proved frustrating and unsuccessful.
Nixons Policy of Detente
Meanwhile, China and the Soviet Union were clashing over their own interpretations of Marxism, and Nixon seized this as a chance for the U.S. to relax tensions and establish "détente." He sent national security adviser Dr. Henry A. Kissinger to China to encourage better relations, a mission in which he succeeded, even though he used to be a big anti-Communist. Nixon then traveled to Moscow in May 1972, and the Soviets, wanting foodstuffs and alarmed over the possibility of a U.S.—China alliance against the U.S.S.R., made deals with America in which the U.S. would sell the Soviets at least $750 million worth of wheat, corn, and other cereals, thus ushering in an era of détente, or relaxed tensions. The ABM Treaty (anti-ballistic missile treaty) and the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) also lessened tension, but the U.S. also went ahead with its new MIRV (Multiple Independently-targeted Reentry Vehicles) missiles, which could overcome any defense by overwhelming it with a plethora of missiles; therefore, the U.S.S.R. did the same. However, Nixon's détente policy did work, at least in part, to relax U.S.—Soviet tensions.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
Montgomery bus boycott (1955) a protest sparked by Rosa Park's defiant refusal to move to the back of the bus of black Alabamians against segregated seating on city buses. It lasted from December 1, 1955 until December 26, 1956, and became one of the foundational moments of the Civil Rights Movements. It led to the rise of Martin Luther King Jr., and ultimately to a Supreme Court decision opposing segregated busing
Philly Plan
Nixon's so-called "Philadelphia Plan" of 1969 required construction-trade unions working on the federal payroll to establish "goals and timetables" for Black employees. This plan changed "affirmative action" to mean preferable treatment on groups (minorities), not individuals, and the Supreme Court's decision on Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971) supported this. However, whites protested to "reverse discrimination" (hiring of minorities for fear of repercussions if too many whites were hired).
Invastion of Cambodia
North Vietnamese had been using Cambodia as a springboard for funneling troops and arms along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and on April 29, 1970, Nixon suddenly ordered U.S. troops to invade Cambodia to stop this. Much uproar was caused, as riots occurred at Kent State University (where the National Guard opened fire and killed 4 people) and at Jackson State College. Two months later, Nixon withdrew U.S. troops from Cambodia. The Cambodian incident split even wider the gap beween the "hawks" and the "doves." The U.S. Senate repealed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, and in 1971, the 26th Amendment, lowering the voting age to eighteen, was also passed. In June 1971, The New York Times published a top-secret Pentagon study of America's involvement of the Vietnam War—papers that had been leaked by Daniel Ellsberg, a former Pentagon official—these "Pentagon Papers" exposed the deceit used by the Kennedy and Johnson administrations regarding Vietnam and people spoke of a "credibility gap" between what the government said and the reality.
March on Washington
On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 Americans gathered in Washington, D.C., for a political rally known as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Organized by a number of civil rights and religious groups, the event was designed to shed light on the political and social challenges African Americans continued to face across the country. The march, which became a key moment in the growing struggle for civil rights in the United States, culminated in Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, a spirited call for racial justice and equality.
Watergate
On June 17, 1972, five men working for the Republican Committee for the Re-election of the President (CREEP) were caught breaking into the Watergate Hotel and planting some bugs in the room. What followed was a huge scandal in which many prominent administrators resigned. It also provoked the improper or illegal use of the FBI and the CIA. Lengthy hearings proceeded, headed by Senator Sam Erving, and John Dean III testified about all the corruption, illegal activities, and scandal that took place. Then, it was discovered that there were tapes that had recorded conversations that could solve all the mysteries in this case. But Nixon, who had explicitly denied participation in this Watergate Scandal earlier to the American people, refused to hand over the tapes to Congress. Also, Vice President Spiro Agnew was forced to resign in 1973 due to tax evasion. Thus, in accordance with the new 25th Amendment, Nixon submitted a name to Congress to approve as the new vice president—Gerald Ford. Then came the "Saturday Night Massacre" (Oct. 20, 1973), in which Archibald Cox, special prosecutor of the case who had issued a subpoena of the tapes, was fired and the attorney general and deputy general resigned because they didn't want to fire Cox. Nixon's presidency was coming unraveled. On July 24, 1974, the Supreme Court ruled that Nixon had to give all of his tapes to Congress. The tapes that had already been handed over showed Nixon cursing and swearing—poor behavior for our president. Late in July 1974, the House approved its first article of impeachment for obstruction of the administration of justice. On August 5, 1974, Nixon finally released the three tapes that held the most damaging information—the same three tapes that had been "missing." The tapes showed Nixon had indeed ordered a cover-up of the Watergate situation. On August 8 of the same year, he resigned, realizing that he would be convicted if impeached, and with resignation, at least he could still keep the privileges of a former president. LESSON: CONSTITUTION INDEED WORKS
OPEC
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Suadi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, and Venezuala joined to form the cartel OPEC
ELection of 1964
Party Nominees Electoral Vote Popular Vote Presidential Vice Presidential Democratic winner Lyndon B. Johnson Hubert H. Humphrey 486 90.3% 43,129,566 61.1% Republican Barry Goldwater William E. Miller 52 9.7% 27,178,188 38.5% Johnson / Humphrey Goldwater / Miller Lyndon Johnson Barry Goldwater
Suez Crisis
President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt needed money to build a dam in the upper Nile and flirted openly with the Soviet side as well as the US and Britain and upon seeing this blatant communist association, Secretary of state dulles dramatically withdrew his offer, thus forcing Nasser to national the dam GB, france, and israel suddenly attacked egypt, thinking that the US would supplt them with the needed oil, but IKE did not. MARKED THE LAST TIME THE US COULD BRANDISH ITS OIL WEAPON
Trumans Loyalty Review Board
President Harry S. Truman signed United States Executive Order 9835, sometimes known as the "Loyalty Order", on March 22, 1947. The order established the first general loyalty program in the United States, designed to root out communist influence in the U.S. federal government.
Bakke vs CA
Race was a burning issue, and in the 1974 Milliken v. Bradley case, the Supreme Court ruled that desegregation plans could not require students to move across school-district lines. This reinforced the "white flight" to the suburbs that pitted the poorest whites and blacks against each other, often with explosively violent results. Affirmative action, where minorities were given preference in jobs or school admittance, was another burning issue, but some whites used this to argue "reverse discrimination." In the Bakke case of 1978, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that Allan Bakke (a white applicant claiming reverse discrimination) should be admitted to U.C.—Davis med school. The decision was ambiguous saying (1) admission preference based on any race was not allowed, but conversely that (2) race could be factored into the admission policy. The Supreme Court's only black justice, Thurgood Marshall, warned that the denial of racial preferences might sweep away the progress gained by the civil rights movement.
Democratic Divisions
Republicans won control of the House in 1946 and then nominated Thomas E. Dewey to the 1948 ticket, while Democrats were forced to choose Truman again when war-hero wight D. Eisenhower refused to be chosen. Truman's nomination split the Democratic Party, as Southern Democrats ("Dixiecrats") nominated Governor J. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina on a State's Rights Party ticket. Former vice president Henry A. Wallace also threw his hat into the ring, getting nominated by the new Progressive Party. With the Democrats totally disorganized, Dewey seemed destined for a super-easy victory, and on election night, the Chicago Tribune even ran an early edition wrongly proclaiming "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN," but Truman shockingly won, getting 303 electoral votes to Dewey's 189. And to make things better, the Democrats won control of Congress again. Truman received critical support from farmers, workers, and blacks.
Brown v Board of Education
Reversed the previous ruling of Plessy v Ferguson when the Brown case said the "separate but equal" facilities were inherently unequal. Under the brown case, schools were ordered integrated. The deep south did everything they could to disobey/delay.
SNCC
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Southern black students formed the SNCC to give more focus and force to their civil rights efforts.
Selective Service System
The "Voice of America," a radio broadcast, began beaming in 1948, while Congress resurrected the military draft (Selective Service System), which redefined many young people's career choices and persuaded them to go to college.
National Security Act
The 1947 National Security Act created the Department of Defense, which was housed in the Pentagon and headed by a new cabinet position, the Secretary of Defense, under which served civilian secretaries of the army, navy, and air force.
Reasons for American military forces entering Vietnam
The American-backed Diem government had shakily and corruptly ruled Vietnam since 1954, but it was threatened by the communist Viet Cong movement led by Ho Chi Minh. JFK slowly sent more and more U.S. troops to Vietnam to "maintain order," but they usually fought and died, despite the fact that it was "Vietnam's war."
Election of 1960
The Republican insider was Richard Nixon of California, relatively young but experienced as the nation's Vice-President for 8 years under Dwight Eisenhower. The Democratic newcomer was JOHN F. KENNEDY, senator from Massachusetts, who at the age of 43 could become the youngest person ever to be elected President. Regardless of the outcome, the United States would for the first time have a leader born in the 20th century.
Civil RIghts act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub.L. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241, enacted July 2, 1964) is a landmark piece of civil rights legislation in the United States[5] that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.[6] It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public
HUAC
The House of Representatives had, in 1938 established the Committee on Un-American Activities ("HUAC") to investigate "subversion," and in 1948, committee member Richard M. Nixon prosecuted Alger Hiss.
CIA
The National Security Act also formed the National Security Council (NSC) to advise the president on security matters and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to coordinate the government's foreign fact-gathering (spying).
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
The Soviet success of developing nuclear bombs so easily was probably due to spies, and in 1951, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were brought to trial, convicted, and executed of selling nuclear secrets to the Russians. Their sensational trial, electrocution, and sympathy for their two children began to sober America zeal in red hunting.
Space Race
The Space Race was a competition between the USA and the USSR to explore space using artificial satellites and manned spacecraft. It can be seen as a part of the larger arms race, as developments in space research could easily be transferred to military research. Both countries started work on developing reconnaissance satellites well before the height of the Space Race. The Vostok spacecraft used by the USSR to put Yuri Gagarin into space, for example, was developed from the Zenit spy satellites used by the Soviet military. However, the military benefits of the Space Race were not the only driving force behind the American and Soviet attempts to explore space. The populations of both countries took a great interest in their respective space programs and it was a useful way for both superpowers to demonstrate their superiority.
Title IX:
The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces, among other statutes, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive Federal financial assistance. Title IX states that: No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
Watts Riot of 1965
The Watts riots (or, collectively, Watts rebellion)[1] took place in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles from August 11 to 17, 1965. On August 11, 1965, an African-American motorist was arrested for drunk driving. A minor roadside argument broke out, and then escalated into a fight. The community reacted in outrage. Six days of looting and arson followed. Los Angeles police needed the support of nearly 4,000 members of the California Army National Guard to quell the riots, which resulted in 34 deaths (31 of which were at the hands of law enforcement) [2] and over $40 million in property damage. The riots were blamed principally on unemployment, although a later investigation also highlighted police racism. It was the city's worst unrest until the Rodney King riots of 1992.
Origins of the Cold War between the US and the USSR
The origins of the Cold War lay in a fundamental disagreement between the United States and the Soviet Union over postwar arrangements in Eastern Europe (Yalta)
George Kennen and World Policy on Containment
Truman adopted the containment policy crafted by socialist george f kennan which stated that firm containment of Soviet expansion would halt communist power. Trumen doctrine: $400 million to help greece and turkey from falling into communist power
Reasons for US involvement in Korea
Truman also used a Soviet absence from the U.N. to label North Korea as an aggressor and send U.N. troops to fight against the aggressors. He also ordered General MacArthur's Japan-based troops to Korea.
Cuban Missile Crisis
Then, in 1962, U.S. spy planes recorded missile installations in Cuba. It was later revealed that these were, in fact, nuclear missiles aimed at America. The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted 13 nerve-racking days and put the U.S., the U.S.S.R., and the world at the brink of nuclear war. But in the end, Khrushchev blinked, backed off of a U.S. naval blockade, looked very weak and indecisive, and lost his power soon afterwards. The Soviets agreed to remove their missiles if the U.S. vowed to never invade Cuba again; the U.S. also removed their own Russia-aimed nuclear missiles in Turkey. There was also a direct phone call line (the "hot line") installed between Washington D.C. and Moscow, in case of any crisis. In June, 1963, Kennedy spoke, urging better feelings toward the Soviets and beginning the modest policy of détente, or relaxed tension in the Cold War.
Employment Act of 1946
To forestall an economic downturn, the Democratic administration sold war factories and other government installations to private businesses cheaply. Congress passed the Employment Act of 1946, which made it government policy to "promote maximum employment, production, and purchasing power," and created the Council of Economic Advisors to provide the president with data to make that policy a reality.
Taft Harley Act:
To get even with labor, Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act, which outlawed "closed" shops (closed to non-union members), made unions liable for damages that resulted from jurisdictional disputes among themselves, and required that union leaders take non-communist oaths. Opposite of the Wagner Act of the New Deal, this new act was a strike against labor unions.
Berlin Airlift
USSR chocked off all air and railway access to Berlin, located deep in East Germany, they thought that such an act would starve the Allies out, since Berlin itself was divided into four zones as well. Allies organized the massive berlin airlift to feed the people of Berlin, and in May, the Sovietys stopped their blockade of berlin
ELection of 1968
United States presidential election of 1968, American presidential election, 1968 [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]American presidential election held on November 5, 1968, in which Republican Richard M. Nixon defeated Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey.
Nixons Policy of Vietnamization
Upon taking office, President Richard Nixon urged American's to stop tearing each other apart and to cooperate. He was very skilled in foreign affairs, and to cope with the Vietnam dilemma, he used a policy called "Vietnamization" in which 540,000 American troops would be pulled out of the Southeast Asian nation and the war would be turned back over to the Vietamese. The South Vietnamese would slowly fight their own war, and the U.S. would only supply arms and money but not American troops; this was called the "Nixon Doctrine." While outwardly seeming to appease, Nixon divided America into his supporters and opponents. Nixon appealed to the "Silent Majority," Americans who supported the war, but without noise. The war was fought generally by the lesser-privileged Americans, since college students and critically skilled civilians were exempt, and there were also reports of dissension in the army. Soldiers slogged through grimy mud and jungle, trusting nothing and were paranoid and bitter toward a government that "handcuffed" them and a war against a frustrating enemy. The My Lai Massacre of 1968, in which American troops brutally massacred innocent women and children in the village of My Lai, illustrated the frustration and led to more opposition to the war. In 1970, Nixon ordered an attack on Cambodia, Vietnam's neighbor.
NATO
Us joined GB, France, Belgium, netherlands and luxemborg to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization which considered an attack on one NATO member an attack on all
Role of Women in the late 1940s and early 1950s
Women's expansion into the workplace shocked some Both housewives and workers Women appeared more and more in the workplace despite the sterotypical role of women as housewives that was being potrayed on TV shows Betty Friedans: The Feminine Mystique was a best-seller and was considered the godmother of the feminist movement.
NSC-68
When Russian and American forces withdrew from Korea, they had left the place full of weapons and with rival regimes (communist North and democratic South). Then, on June 25, 1950, North Korean forces suddenly invaded South Korean, taking the South Koreans by surprise and pushing them dangerously south toward Pusan. Truman sprang to action, remembering that the League of Nations had failed from inactivity, and ordered U.S. military spending to be quadrupled, as desired by the National Security Council Memorandum Number 68, or NSC-68.
Struggle for civil rights
While Kennedy had campaigned a lot to appeal to black voters, when it came time to help them, he was hesitant and seemingly unwilling, taking much action. In the 1960s, groups of Freedom Riders chartered buses to tour through the South to try to end segregation, but white mobs often reacted violently towards them. This drew more attention to the segregation and what went on down South. Slowly but surely, Kennedy urged civil rights along, encouraging the establishment of the SNCC, a Voter Education Project to register the South's blacks to vote. Some places desegregated painlessly, but others were volcanoes. 29 year-old James Meredith tried to enroll at the University of Mississippi, but white students didn't let him, so Kennedy had to send some 400 federal marshals and 3,000 troops to ensure that Meredith could enroll in his first class. In spring of 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. launched a peaceful campaign against discrimination in Birmingham, Alabama, but police and authorities responded viciously, often using extremely high-pressured water hoses to hose down the sit-in protesters. The entire American public watched in horror as the black protesters were treated with such contempt, since the actions were shown on national TV. Later, on June 11, 1963, JFK made a speech urging immediate action towards this "moral issue" in a passionate plea. Still, more violence followed, as in September 1963, a bomb exploded in a Birmingham church, killing four black girls who had just finished their church lesson.
FAIR DEAL
called for improved housing, full employment, a higher minimum wage, better farm price supports, a new Tennessee valley authority, and an extension of social security Only success: raising minimum wage, provided public housing in the Housing Act of 1949 and extending old age insurance to more beneficiaries with the Social Security Act of 1950.
United Nations
he United Nations opened on April 25, 1945. The member nations drew up a charter similar to that of the old League of Nations, formed a Security Council to be headed by five permanent powers (China, U.S.S.R., Britain, France, and U.S.A.) that had total veto powers, and was headquartered in New York City. The Senate overwhelmingly approved the U.N. by a vote of 89 to 2.
Kennedys Strategy for flexible response
here were many world problems at this time: The African Congo got its independence from Belgium in 1960 and then erupted into violence, but the United Nations sent a peacekeeping force. Laos, freed of its French overlords in 1954, was being threatened by communism, but at the Geneva Conference of 1962, peace was shakily imposed. Defense Secretary McNamara pushed a strategy of "flexible response," which developed an array of military options that could match the gravity of whatever crises came to hand. One of these was the Green Berets, AKA, the "Special Forces".
Ford Administration
nixon as a V.P. candidate when Spiro Agnew resigned due to a bribery scandal while he was Maryland governor. All the other V.P.'s that had ascended to the presidency had at least been supported as running mates of the president that had been elected. He was also seen as a dumb jock of a president (he was a former Univ. of Michigan football player), and his popularity and respect further sank when he issued a full pardon of Nixon, thus setting off accusations of a "buddy deal." His popularity also declined when he granted amnesty to "draft dodgers" thus allowing them to return to the U.S. from wherever they'd run to (usually Canada or Europe). In July 1975, Ford signed the Helsinki accords, which recognized Soviet boundaries, guaranteed human rights, and eased the U.S.—Soviet situation. Critics charged that détente was making the U.S. lose grain and technology while gaining nothing from the Soviets. Disastrously for Ford, South Vietnam fell to the communist North in 1975, and American troops had to be evacuated, the last on April 29, 1975, thus ending the U.S. role in Vietnam War. America seemed to have lost the war, and it had also lost a lot of respect.
