Dwight D. Eisenhower

Korean War

1952; Eisenhower visited Korea shortly after winning the presidency; waited 7 months before resorting to nuclear warfare; Koreas compromised until 38th parallel

Beatniks

A group of rebellious writers and intellectuals. They advocated spontaneity, use of drugs, and rebellion against social standards.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

After Rosa Parks is arrested, MLK rallies the black community to do this. This seriously hurt the bus companies. This lasted more than a year, and ended in '56 when the SC declared segregated buses unconstitutional.

Interstate Highway System

Authorized the construction of 42,000 miles of interstate highways linking all the nation's major cities

Military-Industrial Complex

Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell speech to the nation the retiring president warned of the dangers of allowing a Military-Industrial Complex to take control of the United States. The Military-Industrial Complex is a term that denotes a symbiotic relationship between a nation's military, economy, and politics.

John Foster Dulles

Eisenhower's Sec. of State; harsh anti-Communist; called for more radical measures to roll back communism where it had already spread

Sputnik & NASA

First artificial Earth satellite, it was launched by Moscow in 1957 and sparked U.S. fears of Soviet dominance in technology and outer space. It led to the creation of NASA and the space race

OPEC

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries; international cartel that inflates price of oil by limiting supply; Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and UAE are prominent members

SCLC

Southern Christian Leadership Conference, founded by MLK, which taught that civil rights could be achieved through nonviolent protests.

Massive Retaliation

The "new look" defense policy of the Eisenhower administration of the 1950's was to threaten "massive retaliation" with nuclear weapons in response to any act of aggression by a potential enemy.

U-2 Incident

The incident when an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. The U.S. denied the true purpose of the plane at first, but was forced to when the U.S.S.R. produced the living pilot and the largely intact plane to validate their claim of being spied on aerially. The incident worsened East-West relations during the Cold War and was a great embarrassment for the United States

Brown v. Board of Education

Topeka board of education denied Linda Brown admittance to an all white school close to her house. Thurgood Marshall argued that a separate but equal violated equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. Warren decided separate educational facilities were inherently unequal.

Dr. Spock

an American pediatrician whose book Baby and Child Care, published in 1946, is one of the biggest best-sellers of all time

Prosperity

country enjoyed a steady growth rate with little inflation, deficits fell in relation to national wealth, some historians say his economic policies were most successful of any modern president's

Civil Rights Acts of 1957 & 1960

laws were signed by President Eisenhower and the first such laws to by enacted by the U.S congress since Reconstruction. They provided for a permanent Civil Rights Commission and gave the Justice Department new powers to protect the voting rights of blacks. However, southern leaders still found ways to discourage African Americans from voting.

Eisenhower Doctrine

pledges U.S. military and economic aid to Middle Eastern nations threatened by communist aggression.