APUSH Period 8 Key Terms (Sections 6-9)

National Highway Act

Passed in 1956. Established the Interstate Highway System. Advocated by President Eisenhower due to his experiences in the 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy and with the German autobahn.

Sputnik

The first manmade satellite. Launched by the Soviet Union in 1957. Sparked the Space Race, as well as a massive investment in the American education system. See: NASA.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

A federal agency under the Executive Branch that handles the civilian space program. Founded in 1958. See: Sputnik.

Military-industrial complex

A term coined by President Eisenhower in his farewell address. It refers to the vested interest the American military and arms industry have in influencing public policy, especially as it relates to defense spending and military conflicts. In the original draft of his speech, Eisenhower referred to it as the "_________-________-congressional _______" but dropped the third term for fear of offending his political contemporaries.

John F. Kennedy

Thirty-fifth President. Served 1961-1963. First Roman Catholic president. Narrowly elected over Richard Nixon, his term in office was dominated by the rising civil rights movement, such as the Freedom Riders, and escalating Cold War tensions. The early months of his presidency were dominated by the Bay of the Pigs and the building of the Berlin Wall. In October 1962, he dealt with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald.

Berlin Wall

A militarized concrete barrier separating East and West Berlin. Existed from 1961 to 1989. Constructed by the Soviets to halt a brain drain of East Germans. Its fall heralded German reunification and the twilight of the Cold War.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over the placement of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. Occurred October 16-28, 1962. Considered one of the Cold War's tensest events. Resolved diplomatically, it bolstered President Kennedy's then-shaky reputation but led to the overthrow of Nikita Khrushchev.

Ho Chi Minh

Vietnamese communist revolutionary leader. Stepped down from office in 1965 due to health problems. Died in 1969. After the fall of Saigon, it was renamed _________ City.

Domino theory

The idea that political revolutions in one country will cause similar revolutions in neighboring countries, akin to only one domino being necessary to topple over a whole chain of dominos. Typically associated with the spread of communism, although a variant associated with spreading democracy gained currency during the 2003 Iraq War.

Lyndon B. Johnson

Thirty-sixth President. Senate Majority Leader 1955-1961. Vice President 1961-1963. Assumed the presidency upon the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Oversaw the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, as well as a series of landmark domestic legislation known as the Great Society. Escalated the Vietnam War. Declined to run for reelection in 1968. A domestic policy maestro but a foreign policy.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

An August 1964 Congressional resolution authorizing the president to wage war in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war.

Vietnam War

Also called the Second Indochina War. Direct American involvement in Vietnam began in 1955 and ended on April 30, 1975, with the Fall of Saigon. The war polarized American society. It killed more than 58,000 Americans and over 2 million Vietnamese. See: domino theory, Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Tet Offensive, War Powers Act.

Viet Cong

Also known as 'V-C' or 'Charlie.' The _____ were the military wing of the National Liberation Front, a communist nationalist group in South Vietnam.

Tet Offensive

A surprise January 1968 offensive by the Viet Cong. While U.S. and South Vietnamese forces prevailed, it permanently undermined American public opinion in the war. Contributed to Johnson's decision to not run for reelection in 1968.

Pentagon Papers

Secret documents regarding the Vietnam War leaked to The New York Times by analyst Daniel Ellsberg. They revealed that Congress had been lied to for many years about the war, and that the United States had acted contrary to its publicly stated goals.

The Warren Court

_______ is noted for its liberal rulings, which include outlawing segregation in education, ending school prayer, establishing "one man-one vote" apportionment for election districts, and creating the Miranda warning. _____ was replaced in 1969 by ____ Burger.

Thurgood Marshall

The first African-American Justice of the Supreme Court. Appointed by Lyndon Johnson in 1967, he was regarded as a liberal judicial activist, favoring rulings that protected individual rights. Retired in 1991 and was replaced by Clarence Thomas.

Brown v. Board of Education

A landmark Supreme Court case that held segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson in the context of education.

Little Rock Nine

A group of ____ African American students who had gained entry into the previously segregated public high school of ________, Arkansas in 1957.

Rosa Parks

Activist in the Civil Rights Movement. Famous for refusing to give up her seat to a white person in defiance of segregation; her arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Noted leader in the Civil Rights Movement. A Baptist minister, he advocated for non-violent resistance to racism. Leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Winner of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. Initially allied with President Johnson, he fell out with him over Vietnam. Assassinated in April 1963 in Memphis, Tennessee.