APUSH chapter 25

Kitchen Debate

A 1959 debate over the merits of American and Soviet systems between US vice president Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.

Bretton Woods

An International Conference in July 1944 that established the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

World Bank

An International Bank created to provide loans for the reconstruction of war-torn Europe and the development of former colonized nations.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

A fund established to stabilize currencies and provide a predictable monetary environment for trade.

Military-industrial complex

A term used by President Eisenhower referring to the military establishment and defense contractors influencing national government.

Sputnik

The world's first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union in 1957.

National Defense Education Act

A 1958 act that funneled millions of dollars into American universities to help them become leading research centers.

The Affluent Society

A 1958 book by John Kenneth Galbraith analyzing the successful middle class and neglect of the poor in economic considerations.

The Other American

A 1962 book by Michael Harrington chronicling the persistence of poverty in the United States.

Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill)

Legislation that authorized the government to provide WWII veterans with funds for education, housing, and healthcare.

Veterans Administration (VA)

A federal agency that assists former soldiers, helping them purchase homes and promoting consumer spending.

Baby Boom

The surge in the American birth rate between 1945 and 1965, peaking in 1957.

Teenager

A term for young adults, marking the emergence of youth culture in the 1950s.

Rock and Roll

A genre of music that more than anything defined youth culture in the 1950s.

Beats

A group of literary figures in the 1950s who rejected mainstream culture and celebrated personal freedom.

Levittown

A suburb built by William J. Levitt in the late 1940s using mass production techniques to create affordable housing.

Shelley v. Kraemer

A 1948 Supreme Court decision that outlawed racially restrictive housing covenants.

National Interstate and Defense Highways Act

A 1956 law authorizing the construction of 42,500 miles of new highways.

Sunbelt

Name for the rapid growth area in the southwest and south center of defense industries and non-union labor.

Kerner Commission

A commission investigating the 1967 urban riots, warning of dangers of two separate and unequal societies.