APUSH Time Period 8

Harry Truman

VP when FDR dies

policy of Cold War was containment

Truman Doctrine

containment in the form of financial involvement in other countries—used in Turkey and Greece

Potsdam

Truman meets with Stalin at final wartime conference

-US and Britain want free elections in Eastern Euro. countries which Soviet Union disagrees with

Satellite Nations

countries allied with or propped up by the Soviet Union

The Iron Curtain

figurative political line between communist and non communist Europe and communist Europe (speech by Winston Churchill)

Berlin Airlift

Stalin blockades all transportation into West Berlin and US flies food in, ending blockade

NATO

organization of alliances in which an attack on one is an attack on all 24/7

Containment

proposed by George Kennan to stop domino effect of Communism—guides Truman’s foreign policy

Marshall Plan

US aids economic recovery in war torn Western Europe—in return those countries become more democratic

Korean War

US, China, Soviet Union, and Japan involved in North (Communist) versus South (Democratic) war

Chinese Civil War

China becomes Communist after Mao Zedong wins over the Nationalists— leads to their involvement in Korean War

General Douglas MacArthur

in charge of US forces in Korea— fired by Truman for insubordination since he wanted full scale war in China

Domino Effect

belief that if one country falls to Communism, more will follow

Second Red Scare

American fears of Communism and nuclear war with Soviet Union during Cold War

Loyalty Review Board

set up by Truman to investigate the loyalty of gov employees (a violation of rights)

HUAC

made by congress to search for disloyalty and communists

Hollywood Ten

do not cooperate with HUAC Hollywood investigation because they feel as though civil liberties are violated—blacklisted

Alger Hiss

indicted by HUAC for spying but convicted of perjury

Ethel and Julius Rosenburg

members of American Communist Party who were executed for espionage

Joseph McCarthy

claimed communism infiltrated the gov to increase his popularity and power in time for reelection (accuses Truman of sympathizing with communists in gov)

McCarthyism

fear of Communism

Iran Coup

CIA sponsers coup against Prime Minister to control oil

OPEC

group formed to keep Western influence out of oil industry

Suez Crisis

Soviet Union and US openly oppose each other as proxies in Egypt during struggle for canal territory

Eisenhower Doctrine

results from Suez Crisis—the US will defend the Middle East from attack by Communist Countries

Election of 1960

JFK and Nixon running—TV has huge influence—JFK wins

JFK Inaugural Address

affirms US goal to contain Communism—appeals to younger generation

JFK’s New Frontier

plan including Civil Right, defense using “flexible response” and others

Flexible Response

less military action than Eisenhower, more diplomacy, economic *_________ in choices

Bay of Pigs, Cuba

CIA trained Cuban exiles in response to communist leader—Disastrous for US and result is embarrassment for Kennedy and partnership between Castro and Khruschev

Cuban Missile Crisis

13 days of Soviet Union and US missile tensions in Cuba—closest they get to Nuclear War during Cold War

Baby Boom

huge population increase in the 1950s due to post war conditions encouraging having babies

Dr Spock’s Common Sense Book

baby book popular in the 1950s that encouraged new style of parenting

Levittown, Long Island

suburban development that encapsulates the American Dream (urban areas suffer as more people move to suburban area)

Little Boxes Song

criticism of emerging suburban life in US

Sunbelt States

more people move to South because of economic growth increasing there

Interstate Highway Act

new highways built under Eisenhower as cars become important aspect of American culture— US = more homogeneous

Juvenile Delinquency

James Dean in Rebel without a cause— teenagers going against societal standards set for them

Beatnik Teen

challenges cultural norms of 50s (precursor to hippies)

Clean Team

teens that adhere to cultural norms of 50s

Brown v Board of Education

separate but equal precedent set by Plessy vs Ferguson challenged in this case—result = desegregation

Sputnik I

Soviet Union launches first man made object into space (starts eventual space race and scares Americans)

National Defense Education Act

Math and science taught more heavily in schools as a defense against Soviet tech

Brinksmanship

(Eisenhower policy for containment) willingness to go to brink of war to maintain advantage in Cold War

Massive Retaliation

part of brinkmanship that says all of the country will react in the case of war

MAD

the promise of destruction of both countries if nuclear war ensues

Nikita Khrushchev

new leader of Soviet Union after Stalin who engages in Cold War tensions with US

Nixon-Khrushchev Kitchen Debate

US tour in model kitchen in Russia that leads to debate

U-2 Incident

Khrushchev rejects Open Skies but CIA still flies planes over Soviet Union and one gets shot down

Military Industrial Complex

Eisenhower’s farewell speech that warns Americans about money that is spent on weapons is taken away from helping the American people

Open Skies

Policy proposed by US but rejected by Soviet Union to allow both countries to fly over and survey for nuclear weapons

38th parallel

Line separating North and South Korea

Warsaw Pact

Soviet NATO with their satellite nations: triggered by West Berlin joining NATO

NSC 68

Top secret gov report given to Truman about the US needing to stop communism and build themselves up against the Soviet Union

Checkers speech

Given by Nixon to defend his career

Letter from Birmingham Jail

MLK explains need for non-violent protests to further Civil Rights movement in response to clergymen publicly denouncing his approach

Bloody Sunday

Civil Rights activists walking in Alabama for voting rights are violently struck down by authorities— leads to Voting Rights Act

Civil Rights Act of 1964

illegal to discriminate based on race, religion, national origin, and sex—LBJ helped this get passed after JFK’s assassination

Voting Rights Act of 1965

outlawed literacy test and poll taxes to help African Americans gain more voting rights

Lyndon B Johnson (LBJ)

President after JFK who deals with Vietnam, Civil Rights, and made the Great Society

Election of 1964

Goldwater versus LBJ

Three Main Issues of LBJ’s Presidency

Civil Rights

Vietnam

The Great Society

Barry Goldwater

first modern conservative to have big platform- runs against LBJ and questions gov having so much power

The Great Society

LBJ’s vision for America with no poverty or racial injustice

War on Poverty

LBJ declares unconditional war on this using gov funds and the Great Society

Medicare and Medicaid

gov health insurance for people unable to work due to disability or age (thematically linked to New Deal and Social Security)

Election of 1968

Nixon wins against Humphrey and Wallace—RFK assassinated

George Wallace

runs as third party against Nixon-appeals to Southerns and burgeoning conservative movement

Hubert Humphrey

main opponent of Nixon in presidential election

1968 Importance

-Tet Offensive in Vietnam

-LBJ not running

-Assassinations of MLK and RFK
-Violence at Dem. National Convention

-Election of Nixon

Stagnated 70s

US economy suffers as European countries are rebuilt post WW2

funds going to Great Society and Vietnam

Nixon and China

wants better relationship with Soviet Union and China he engages in diplomacy and uses Taiwan as bargaining tool

One China Policy

US does not say Taiwan is a country to better their diplomacy with China

Detente

relaxed tensions in Cold War due to Nixon’s diplomacy

Election of 1972

Nixon wins by a landslide before his watergate scandal

Watergate Scandal

CREEP breaks into Dem. Party Headquarters and uses info to help Nixon win unbeknownst to him— leads to his eventual resignation

Rachel Carson

publishes Silent Spring against pesticides in environment and negative effects

-EPA founded due to this partially

-Connection to TR and John Muir

Silent Spring

Rachel Carson’s pesticide environmentalism book

Cesar Chavez

uses same non-violent tactics as MLK to protest low wages for farm workers in California—helped make Commitee for them