Nam, Nixon and Civil Rights

EPA

(Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an agency of the United States federal government whose mission is to protect human and environmental health.

Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK)

An African-American preacher political leader of the civil rights movement. Famous for his nonviolent methods of opposing segregation, such as boycotts of segregated city buses, or sit-ins at lunch counters that would not serve black people. King was assassinated by James Earl Ray in 1968.

A Draft

Being recruited by the government to fight in a war

Vietcong

Communist led guerilla army that fought the South Vietnamese government

President Richard Nixon

Conservative Republican president Reduced the soldiers in Vietnam Established the EPA The only president to resign when impeachment (fire) seemed likely for the abuse of power during watergate

Separate but equal

Having separate but equal things, services and sectioned areas according to color. Facilities could be separated as long as they were equal (established in the plessy v. ferguson case in 1896)

Henry Kissinger

Nixon's national security advisor that helped shape Nixon's foreign policy tried to have better relations with communist nations Helped negotiate peace with North Vietnam (and co-winner of nobel peace prize) Recently arguments have surfaced that he should be regarded as a war criminal

Ho Chi Minh

North Vietnamese political leader

Great Society

President Johnson's vision of a more perfect and equal society that America should become

Medicare/Medicaid

Provide health insurance and medical assistance to the elderly and low income families

Civil rights act of 1964

Signed by president Johnson, it gave the federal government broad power to prevent racial discrimination and segregation

Vietnam war

Started under Eisenhower and ended (for a short time) under Nixon was a war between the communist North and non-communist South Vietnam. The U.S. became involved to fight communism.

Brown vs. board of education

Supreme court ruling that segregation in public schools is prohibited (not allowed) by the Constitution. The decision ruled out "separate but equal" (overturned Plessy v. Ferguson) educational systems for blacks and whites

Roe v. Wade

The Supreme Court case that held that the Constitution protected a woman's right to an abortion prior to the viability of the fetus (within the first trimester- first 3 months of pregnancy)

Executive privilege

The idea that some white House conversations should remain confidential (secret) to protect national security

President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ)

Took over presidency after JFK Helped pass several of his ideas and his own Focused on social policies, trying to improve health, welfare and education Cost of Vietnam & failures of war lead to several of his ideas fall short of success and lose popularity

Watergate scandal

a political scandal involving abuse of power and bribery and obstruction of justice. Nixon wiretapped his opponents & led to his resignation in 1974

Segregation

the action or state of setting someone or something apart from other people or things