US History Study Guide #4: The Cold War, JFK, LBJ, and the Civil Rights Movement

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, policies, figures, and events from Study Guide #4, spanning post-WWII America, the Cold War, the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, and the Civil Rights Movement.

Re-Conversion

The post-World War II process of transitioning the United States economy, industry, and military back to peacetime production and civilian life.

The GI Bill (Servicemen’s Readjustment Act)

A 1944 law providing World War II veterans with federal funds for college education, vocational training, unemployment compensation, and low-cost home and business loans.

The Taft-Hartley Act

A 1947 federal law that restricted the power of labor unions by banning closed shops, permitting right-to-work laws, and allowing cooling-off periods before strikes.

Fair Deal

President Harry S. Truman's post-war domestic agenda intended to extend New Deal reforms through national healthcare, civil rights legislation, education aid, and an increased minimum wage.

Bretton Woods

A 1944 international conference where Allied nations designed the post-war global monetary system, establishing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Containment Policy

The core United States Cold War foreign policy strategy designed to prevent the geopolitical expansion of the Soviet Union and communism abroad.

George Kennan

The American diplomat and historian whose 'Long Telegram' formulated the policy of containment against Soviet geopolitical ambitions.

The Truman Doctrine

A foreign policy principle established in 1947 pledging American economic and military assistance to free nations resisting subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures, first applied to Greece and Turkey.

Marshall Plan

A United States economic initiative enacted in 1948 that provided billions of dollars in foreign aid to rebuild Western European economies and halt the appeal of communism.

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an intergovernmental military alliance established in 1949 between Western nations providing mutual collective defense against Soviet aggression.

NSC-68

A 1950 top-secret National Security Council policy paper that advocated for a massive peacetime military expansion, permanent mobilization, and an aggressive containment stance against the Soviet Union.

HUAC

The House Un-American Activities Committee, a congressional committee that investigated suspected communist subversion, disloyalty, and infiltration within government, society, and the entertainment industry.

McCarthyism

The practice of making sweeping, unsubstantiated accusations of treason and communist allegiance, named after Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Second Red Scare.

Domino Theory

The Cold War geopolitical theory positing that if one nation fell under communist influence, surrounding nations would consecutively fall like a row of dominos.

Military-Industrial Complex

The alliance between a nation's military establishment and defense industries, which President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned posed potential dangers to democratic processes.

The Warren Court

The Supreme Court of the United States under Chief Justice Earl Warren, noted for transformative rulings expanding civil rights, civil liberties, and judicial power.

The Peace Corps

A federal agency created under President John F. Kennedy that trained and sent American civilian volunteers to developing nations for social and economic assistance.

Operation Mongoose

A covert intelligence and psychological warfare program authorized by the Kennedy administration aimed at overthrowing Fidel Castro's communist regime in Cuba.

The Great Society

President Lyndon B. Johnson's domestic policy agenda designed to eliminate poverty and racial injustice through expansive social programs and civil rights legislation.

The Other America

Michael Harrington's 1962 influential study on poverty in the United States, which brought national attention to invisible poverty and helped inspire the War on Poverty.

The War on Poverty

A cornerstone initiative of Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society, which created federal agencies and community programs designed to alleviate poverty across the United States.

Dixiecrats

Southern Democrats who broke away from the Democratic Party in the 1948 election to form the States' Rights Democratic Party in opposition to federal civil rights initiatives.

Brown vs. Board of Education

The landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision ruling that state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students were inherently unequal and unconstitutional.

Massive Resistance

The coordinated campaign and strategy orchestrated by Southern white politicians and school officials to block, delay, and resist racial desegregation following the Brown ruling.

Southern Manifesto

A 1956 declaration signed by over 100 Southern congressional representatives condemning the Supreme Court's Brown vs. Board of Education decision as an abuse of judicial power.

Direct Action

A nonviolent civil rights strategy using visible public confrontation—such as sit-ins, boycotts, and mass marches—to actively disrupt and challenge institutional segregation.

Medgar Evars

An African American civil rights activist and Mississippi field secretary for the NAACP who worked against segregation and voting discrimination until his assassination in 1963.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Landmark federal legislation that prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in public accommodations, voter registration, and employment.

1965 Voting Rights Act

Comprehensive federal civil rights legislation that banned discriminatory voting requirements, such as literacy tests, and authorized federal oversight of voter registration.

Black Power

A political and cultural movement that gained prominence in the mid-1960s, emphasizing racial pride, self-determination, and independent economic and political institutions for African Americans.