History Decades Test

1960 Election Significance

First televised debate; between JFk and Richard Nixon

Peace Corps, 1961

JFK called for volunteers who help third world nations and prevent the spread of communism by fighting poverty in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Detente

the easing of hostility or strained relations, especially between countries.

nixon impeachment

Guilty of watergate break-in, resigned before he was impeached

Watergate Scandal

a political scandal involving abuse of power and bribery and obstruction of justice

Fair Deal

An economic extension of the New Deal proposed by Harry Truman that called for higher minimum wage, housing and full employment. It led only to the Housing Act of 1949 and the Social Security Act of 1950 due to opposition in congress.

Levittown, NY

the first planned community, first planned suburb.

Iran-Contra Scandal

A major scandal of Reagan's second term that involved shipping arms to Iran to free hostages and diverting the money from the sale of these weapons to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

Sandinistas

Leftwing anti-American revolutionaries in Nicaragua who launched a civil war in 1979.

Woodstock

3 day rock concert in upstate N.Y. August 1969, exemplified the counterculture of the late 1960s, nearly 1/2M gather in a 600 acre field

GI Bill

law passed in 1944 to help returning veterans buy homes and pay for higher educations

NOW

Betty Friedan first president, wanted Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforce its legal mandate to end sex discrimination

United Farm Workers (UFW)

Is a union for agricultural laborers, primarily in California. Founded by charismatic leader, Cesar Chavez

La Raza Unida

A party organized in the late 1960s as a means of getting Mexican Americans to unite politically and to identify ethnically as one people.

I Love Lucy

most watched TV show in the 1950's

"Read my lips, no new taxes"

A promise that Bush made in his convention speech, but later broke.

Space Race

A competition of space exploration between the United States and Soviet Union.

Perestroika

A policy initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev that involved restructuring of the social and economic status quo in communist Russia towards a market based economy and society

Glasnost

a policy of the Soviet government allowing freer discussion of social problems

New Frontier

Kennedy's plan, supports civil rights, pushes for a space program, wans to cut taxes, and increase spending for defense and military

Love Canal

toxic waste site in New York filled with drums of waste that leaked.

Three Mile Island

Nuclear Power Plant in Harrisburg, Penn. which failed, causing radiation to be admitted in the air

EPA

an independent federal agency established to coordinate programs aimed at reducing pollution and protecting the environment

American Dream

the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.

Baby Boom

the larger than expected generation in United States born shortly after World War II

supply-side economics (Reaganomics)

Economic theory that tax cuts for individuals and businesses encourage investment and production (supply) and stimulate consumption (demand) because individuals can keep more of their earnings.

Star Wars (SDI)

Reagan's defensive program; laser beams and satellites would shoot down USSR missiles

SALT

negotiations between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to limit both countries' stock of nuclear weapons

Jonas Salk

Developed the polio vaccine in 1952

Betty Friedan

United States feminist who founded a national organization for women (born in 1921)

Moral Majority

A movement begun in the early 1980's among religious conservatives that supported primarily conservative Republicans opposed to abortion, communism and liberalism.

Silent Majority

A phrase used to describe people, whatever their economic status, who uphold traditional values, especially against the counterculture of the 1960s

Counter Culture Movement

People who rejected mainstream American society in the 60s. Based on peace, love, and individual freedom

executive privilege

The power to keep executive communications confidential, especially if they relate to national security.

9/11 Attacks

the U.S. was attacked by the Al Qaeda which resulted in the War on Terrorism and the Patriot Acts

2000 election controversy

Due to lack of technology, the state of Florida had to keep recounting its votes. In the end the supreme court decided that Bush had won the election.

Stonewall Riots

a group of riots in new york by homosexuals, marked the beginning of the gay rights movement

The Feminine Mystique

A publication by Betty Friedan that focused attention on the reality facing suburban women.

Jack Kerouac

A key author of the Beat movement whose best selling novel, On the Road helped define the movement with it's featured frenzied prose and plotless ramblings.

Beat Movement

a social and artistic movement of the 1950's stressing unrestrained literary self expression and nonconformity with the mainstream culture

As part of the SALT talks, Nixon and Brezhnev agreed to

exchange scientific information

Supply side economics believes that tax cuts would result in

business expansion and new jobs

For many former Americans, suburbs came to symbolize

the American Dream

Evidence in Watergate seems to show that Nixon

ordered the break in and the cover up

Kennedy's legislative agenda was called the

New Frontier

During the Reagan presidency, illegal payments were made to the

Contras

What area did Kennedy convince Congress to invest more money in?

Defense and Space Exploration

What quote did Bush say to reinforce that he would continue Reagan's policies?

Read my lips, no new taxes

Which was the most popular tv show on television during the 1950s?

I Love Lucy

Reagan believed that massive Soviet defense spending would

cause the Communist system to collapse

Iran Contra Scandal officials sold weapons to Iran to

support the guerillas fighting against a pro-Soviet government

What eased tensions between the US and the Soviet Union?

Detente

A nuclear facility where low levels of radiation escaped from the reactor

Three Mile Island

Leader of the residents at the Love Canal who banded together and demanded the government address the health threats

Lois Gibbs

Prohibited federally funded schools from discriminating against women in nearly all aspects from admissions to athletics

Title IX (9)

The bellief that men and women should be equal political, socially, and economically

Feminism

Leading figure of the women's movement and editor of MS

Gloria Steinam