US HIstory Final (Definitions)

Ho Chi Minh

1950s and 60s; communist leader of North Vietnam; used geurilla warfare to fight anti-comunist, American-funded attacks under the Truman Doctrine; brilliant strategy drew out war and made it unwinnable

William Westmoreland

American General who commanded American military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak

Robert Kennedy

Democrat who ran for president in 1968 promoting civil rights and other equality based ideals

Eugene McCarthy

1968 Democratic candidate for President who ran to succeed incumbent Lyndon Baines Johnson on an anti-war platform.

Cesar Chavez

Organized Union Farm Workers (UFW); help migratory farm workers gain better pay & working conditions

Counterculture

A culture with lifestyles and values opposed to those of the established culture.

generation gap

The cultural separation between children and their parents

Communes

Collective farms grouped together to organize farming and plan public services

Feminism

the belief that women should possess the same political and economic rights as men

Watergate

The events and scandal surrounding a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 and the subsequent cover-up of White House involvement, leading to the eventual resignation of President Nixon under the threat of impeachment.

Domino Theory

A theory that if one nation comes under Communist control, then neighboring nations will also come under Communist control.

Vietcong

A group of Communist guerrillas who, with the help of North Vietnam, fought against the South Vietnamese government in the Vietnam War.

Napalm

Highly flammable chemical dropped from US planes in firebombing attacks during the Vietnam War.

My Lai

1968, in which American troops had brutally massacred innocent women and children in the village of My Lai, also led to more opposition to the war.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

1964 Congressional resolution authorizing President Johnson to take military action in Vietnam

Pentagon Papers

A 7,000-page top-secret United States government report on the history of the internal planning and policy-making process within the government itself concerning the Vietnam War.

Realpolitik

realistic politics based on the needs of the state

SALT 1

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, a plan to limit nuclear arms and also increased trade and exchange of scientific information.

Detente

A policy of reducing Cold War tensions that was adopted by the United States during the presidency of Richard Nixon.

Silent Majority

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