terms 36-40

The Feminine Mystique

1963 book by Betty Friedan that sparked second-wave feminism.

Checkers Speech

Nixon’s 1952 televised speech defending himself against corruption allegations.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

1955–56 protest against segregated buses led by MLK.

Brown v. Board of Education

1954 Supreme Court decision declaring segregated schools unconstitutional.

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

Youth-led civil rights group promoting nonviolent protest.

Federal Highway Act of 1956

Eisenhower’s law creating the interstate highway system.

OPEC

Oil cartel formed in 1960 to control oil production and prices.

Kitchen Debate

1959 debate between Nixon and Khrushchev about capitalism vs. communism.

Military-Industrial Complex

Eisenhower’s warning about the growing power of defense industries.

Abstract Expressionism

Post-WWII art movement emphasizing spontaneous, abstract painting.

Beat Generation

1950s writers rejecting mainstream culture and materialism.

New Frontier

JFK’s domestic and foreign policy agenda.

Peace Corps

Program started by JFK to send American volunteers abroad for development aid.

Cuban Missile Crisis

1962 standoff over Soviet missiles in Cuba; nearly led to nuclear war.

Freedom Riders

Civil rights activists who rode interstate buses to challenge segregation.

Rosa Parks

Civil rights figure who sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott by refusing to give up her seat.

Ho Chi Minh

Communist leader of North Vietnam.

Robert S. McNamara

Secretary of Defense under Kennedy and Johnson; key figure in Vietnam War policy.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Law banning segregation and discrimination based on race, sex, religion.

Great Society

LBJ’s program to end poverty and racial injustice.

Freedom Summer

1964 voter registration drive for African Americans in Mississippi.

Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party

Integrated party challenging Mississippi’s all-white delegation.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Law banning literacy tests and ensuring federal protection of voting rights.

Black Power

Movement emphasizing racial pride and self-determination.

Stonewall Rebellion

1969 uprising by LGBTQ+ community against police raids.

Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

Leftist student group protesting the Vietnam War and racism.

Vietnamization

Nixon’s policy of gradually withdrawing U.S. troops and shifting fighting to South Vietnam.

Nixon Doctrine

U.S. would support allies with aid, not troops.

Silent Majority

Nixon’s term for Americans who supported him but weren’t vocal.

Pentagon Papers

Government documents revealing deception in Vietnam policy, leaked in 1971.

Détente

Easing of Cold War tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union.

Miranda v. Arizona

1966 ruling requiring police to inform suspects of rights.

Southern Strategy

Nixon’s plan to gain Southern white voters by appealing to racism.

Eugene McCarthy

Antiwar Democratic candidate challenging LBJ in 1968.

George C. Wallace

Segregationist third-party candidate in 1968.

George McGovern

Antiwar Democratic candidate defeated by Nixon in 1972.

Henry A. Kissinger

Nixon’s National Security Advisor and key architect of détente and Vietnam policy.

Stagflation

1970s economic condition of high inflation and unemployment.

Watergate

Nixon scandal involving a break-in and cover-up; led to his resignation.

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

Proposed amendment for gender equality that failed ratification.

Roe v. Wade

1973 Supreme Court case legalizing abortion nationwide.

New Right

Conservative political movement rising in the 1970s.

SALT II

1979 treaty limiting U.S. and Soviet nuclear weapons; never ratified.

Leonid Brezhnev

Soviet leader during détente with the U.S.

Proposition 13

1978 California tax-cutting measure reducing property taxes.

Supply-side Economics

Economic theory favoring tax cuts to boost production.

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

Reagan’s plan for a missile defense system (“Star Wars”).

Sandinistas

Leftist group that took power in Nicaragua in 1979.

Contras

U.S.-backed rebels fighting Sandinista government in Nicaragua.

Glasnost

Gorbachev’s policy of openness in the Soviet Union.

Perestroika

Gorbachev’s policy of restructuring the Soviet economy.

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

1987 U.S.-Soviet agreement eliminating certain missiles.

Iran-Contra Affair

Reagan administration scandal over secretly selling arms to Iran and funding Contras.

Moral Majority

Conservative Christian political group supporting Reagan.

Black Monday

1987 stock market crash.

Operation Desert Storm

1991 U.S.-led attack on Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

1990 law banning discrimination against disabled people.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Soviet leader who reformed USSR and helped end the Cold War.

Boris Yeltsin

First President of post-Soviet Russia.

Democratic Leadership Council (DLC)

Centrist Democratic group promoting moderate policies.

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Clinton policy allowing closeted LGBTQ+ people to serve in the military.

Oklahoma City Bombing

1995 domestic terrorist attack on a federal building.

Contract with America

Republican plan for conservative reforms in the 1994 election.

Welfare Reform Bill

1996 law cutting welfare benefits and imposing work requirements.

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

1994 deal eliminating trade barriers between U.S., Canada, Mexico.

World Trade Organization (WTO)

International body promoting global free trade.