APUSH Period 8

Harry Truman

President (1945–1953); began containment, Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Korean War.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

President (1953–1961); used massive retaliation, built interstate highways, ended Korean War.

John F. Kennedy

President (1961–1963); New Frontier, Cuban Missile Crisis, early Vietnam escalation.

Lyndon B. Johnson

President (1963–1969); Great Society, Civil Rights Acts, escalated Vietnam War.

Richard Nixon

President (1969–1974); Vietnamization, détente, Watergate scandal.

Gerald Ford

President (1974–1977); pardoned Nixon, struggled with stagflation.

Jimmy Carter

President (1977–1981); Camp David Accords, energy crisis, Iran Hostage Crisis.

George Kennan

Diplomat who developed the containment strategy against the USSR.

Joseph McCarthy

Senator who led anti-communist accusations during the Second Red Scare.

Rosa Parks

Civil rights activist whose arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Leader of the civil rights movement; advocated nonviolent protest.

Thurgood Marshall

NAACP lawyer in Brown v. Board; first Black Supreme Court justice.

Malcolm X

Black nationalist leader advocating self-defense and Black empowerment.

Stokely Carmichael

Civil rights activist who popularized the term "Black Power."

Huey Newton

Co-founder of the Black Panther Party.

Betty Friedan

Author of The Feminine Mystique; co-founder of NOW.

Gloria Steinem

Feminist leader and co-founder of Ms. Magazine.

Cesar Chavez

Latino labor leader who organized farmworkers through the UFW.

Dolores Huerta

Co-founder of the UFW; major Latina civil rights leader.

Rachel Carson

Author of Silent Spring; sparked the environmental movement.

Phyllis Schlafly

Conservative activist who opposed the Equal Rights Amendment.

Henry Kissinger

Nixon’s national security advisor; key figure in détente and Vietnam negotiations.

Ho Chi Minh

Leader of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

Ngo Dinh Diem

U.S.-backed leader of South Vietnam until 1963.

Containment

U.S. Cold War policy aimed at preventing the spread of communism.

Truman Doctrine

U.S. pledge to support nations resisting communism.

Marshall Plan

U.S. economic aid to rebuild Western Europe after WWII.

NATO

Military alliance between the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe.

Korean War

Conflict where the U.S. intervened to stop communist expansion in Korea.

Second Red Scare

Fear of communist infiltration in the U.S. after WWII.

McCarthyism

Accusations of communism without evidence.

HUAC

Congressional committee investigating suspected communists.

Brown v. Board of Education

Supreme Court case ending school segregation.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Protest against bus segregation sparked by Rosa Parks.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Law banning segregation and discrimination.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Law eliminating barriers to Black voting.

Black Power Movement

Movement emphasizing racial pride and self-defense.

Black Panthers

Organization promoting Black self-defense and community programs.

Great Society

LBJ’s program to end poverty and racial injustice.

Medicare

Federal health insurance for the elderly.

Medicaid

Federal health insurance for low-income Americans.

War on Poverty

Great Society programs to reduce poverty.

Immigration Act of 1965

Ended national origins quotas.

Domino Theory

Belief that if one nation fell to communism, others would follow.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Gave LBJ authority to escalate Vietnam War.

Tet Offensive

North Vietnamese attack that turned U.S. opinion against the war.

Credibility Gap

Public distrust of government during Vietnam.

War Powers Act

Limited presidential war-making powers.

NOW

Organization advocating for women’s equality.

Title IX

Banned sex discrimination in education.

Roe v. Wade

Legalized abortion nationwide.

UFW

Union advocating for farmworker rights.

AIM

Native American group fighting for tribal rights.

Stonewall Riots

Uprising that launched the LGBTQ+ rights movement.

Silent Spring

Book exposing dangers of pesticides.

EPA

Federal agency regulating environmental protection.

Stagflation

1970s economic crisis of inflation + unemployment.

OPEC Oil Embargo

1973 oil supply cut causing an energy crisis.

Watergate

Scandal leading to Nixon’s resignation.

New Right

Conservative movement promoting limited government and traditional values.

Moral Majority

Religious conservative group promoting traditional social values.

Election of 1980

Reagan’s victory marking the rise of modern conservatism

Executive Order 9981

Truman: desegregated armed forces

Executive Order 9980

Truman: desegregated the federal workforce