U.S. History Final Exam Comprehensive Study Guide

Vocabulary-based flashcards covering the major terms and concepts of U.S. History from WWII through the turn of the millennium.

Selective Service Act

Expanded the military draft to provide the millions of soldiers needed to fight a two-front global war.

Office of Price Admin. (OPA)

Fought inflation by freezing prices on most goods and managing the rationing of scarce items like food and fuel.

War Production Board (WPB)

Decided which industries would convert from peacetime to wartime production, and allocated raw materials to maximize military output.

National War Labor Board (NWLB)

Limited wage increases but worked to prevent strikes by mediating labor disputes to keep war production running smoothly.

Operation Overlord & D-Day

The massive Allied amphibious invasion of Nazi-occupied France on June 6, 1944, commanded by Dwight D. Eisenhower, which opened the Western Front in Europe.

V-E Day

May 8, 1945; "Victory in Europe" Day, marking the official unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany.

Harry S. Truman

Vice President who became the 33rd U.S. President following Franklin D. Roosevelt's death in April 1945; he made the decision to use atomic weapons.

Island hopping

The U.S. military strategy in the Pacific of bypassing heavily fortified Japanese islands to capture strategic, less-defended ones, steadily moving closer to the Japanese mainland.

Manhattan Project

The top-secret U.S. government research and development project that successfully designed and built the world's first atomic bombs.

Hiroshima & Nagasaki

The two Japanese cities targeted by U.S. atomic bombs in August 1945, leading directly to Japan's surrender.

GI Bill

Passed in 1944 to help returning veterans transition to civilian life by providing tuition for college, low-interest home/business loans, and unemployment benefits.

Internment

The forced relocation and confinement of over 110,000 Japanese Americans from the West Coast into isolated inland camps following Executive Order 9066.

Korematsu v. United States

A 1944 Supreme Court case that ruled Japanese internment was a constitutional wartime necessity, prioritizing national security over individual civil rights.

Battle of Midway

A pivotal naval victory that contributed to the Allied victory in the Pacific.

United Nations

An international peacekeeping organization created after WWII to resolve global conflicts and prevent future world wars.

Iron Curtain

A term coined by Winston Churchill to describe the ideological and physical division of Europe between democratic Western nations and Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe.

Satellite nations

Eastern European countries dominated and controlled politically and economically by the Soviet Union to act as a buffer zone.

Containment

The foundational U.S. foreign policy of the Cold War aimed at stopping the global expansion and spread of communism.

Truman Doctrine

Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to free nations (initially Greece and Turkey) resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures.

Marshall Plan

A massive U.S. economic aid package to rebuild Western European nations after WWII, strengthening democratic governments and making communism less appealing.

Berlin airlift

A 327-day operation where U.S. and British planes flew food and supplies into West Berlin after the Soviets blockaded the city, successfully breaking the blockade without starting a war.

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization; a defensive military alliance formed by Western Europe, the U.S., and Canada to deter Soviet aggression.

Korean War

A conflict (1950–1953) triggered when communist North Korea invaded democratic South Korea; a UN coalition led by the U.S. fought to contain communism, ending in a stalemate at the 38th parallel.

Red Scare & Joseph McCarthy

A period of intense anti-communist paranoia at home, fueled by Senator Joseph McCarthy's reckless, unsubstantiated witch hunts known as "McCarthyism."

Dwight D. Eisenhower

34th U.S. President whose Cold War strategy relied on maintaining strong alliances and deterring aggression through the threat of heavy retaliation.

Brinkmanship

The foreign policy practice of pushing dangerous events to the absolute brink of war to force an adversary to back down.

Eisenhower Doctrine

A U.S. commitment to defend any Middle Eastern nation against attacks or subversion by any communist country.

Nikita Khrushchev

The Soviet leader who came to power after Joseph Stalin's death; he advocated for peaceful coexistence but also engaged in sharp geopolitical confrontations.

Space Race & Sputnik

The competition for supremacy in space exploration triggered in 1957 when the Soviets launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite.

Suburbs

Residential communities built outside of major urban areas, epitomized by planned developments like Levittown.

Baby boom

The unprecedented surge in birth rates from 1946 to 1964 as couples reunited and started families after the war.

Interstate Highway System

A nationwide network of high-speed highways authorized by President Eisenhower in 1956, which accelerated suburbanization and served defense needs.

Consumerism

A cultural shift where buying material goods became equated with success and financial security, fueled by higher incomes and television advertising.

Beat movement

A social and literary movement of artists and writers who openly rejected the conformity, materialism, and traditional consumer culture of 1950s America.

Rock 'n roll

A musical genre blending rhythm and blues with country that became a symbol of 1950s youth culture and rebellion.

White flight

The mass migration of middle-class white Americans out of diverse urban centers and into racially homogenous suburbs.

John F. Kennedy

35th U.S. President whose administration confronted high-stakes Cold War crises and championed space exploration and civil rights before his 1963 assassination.

Flexible response

A defense policy designed to reduce reliance on nuclear threats by expanding non-nuclear military options—such as special forces—to handle crises.

Bay of Pigs invasion

A failed 1961 U.S.-backed attempt by CIA-trained Cuban exiles to overthrow Fidel Castro's communist regime.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A 13-day standoff in 1962 triggered by Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba; it brought the U.S. and USSR to the brink of nuclear war.

New Frontier

President Kennedy's domestic legislative agenda targeting space exploration, the economy, civil rights, and programs like the Peace Corps.

Lee Harvey Oswald

The lone assassin who shot and killed President Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.

Lyndon Johnson

36th U.S. President who launched the Great Society social welfare programs after JFK's assassination.

Great Society

President Johnson's domestic program designed to eliminate poverty and racial injustice through federal legislation.

Medicare/Medicaid

Great Society programs providing federal health insurance for Americans 65 and older (Medicare) and healthcare assistance for low-income individuals (Medicaid).

Immigration Act of 1965

Abolished the national-origins quota system of the 1920s, opening U.S. immigration to greater numbers from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Brown v. Board of Education

A 1954 Supreme Court ruling that declared "separate but equal" public schools unconstitutional.

Little Rock

The site of a 1957 integration crisis where federal troops protected the "Little Rock Nine" at Central High School.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

A year-long protest sparked by Rosa Parks' arrest in 1955, resulting in a Supreme Court ruling outlawing segregation on public buses.

Martin Luther King, Jr. & SCLC

A prominent civil rights leader and co-founder of the SCLC who advocated for disciplined nonviolent civil disobedience.

SNCC

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; an organization of college students that led grassroots protests like sit-ins and freedom rides.

CORE & Freedom Rides

The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) organized integrated bus trips across the South to challenge illegal segregation at interstate terminals.

Freedom Summer

A 1964 campaign aimed at registering Black voters in Mississippi.

March on Washington

A massive 1963 demonstration where MLK delivered the "I Have a Dream" speech to pressure Congress to pass civil rights laws.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Landmark law that banned discrimination in public accommodations and employment.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Landmark law that outlawed literacy tests and sent federal examiners to protect voter registration.

De facto/de jure segregation

De jure is racial separation imposed by law; de facto exists through practice, custom, and economic patterns.

Malcolm X

A civil rights leader and minister for the Nation of Islam who advocated for Black nationalism and self-defense.

Black Power & Black Panther Party

A movement emphasizing racial pride; the Black Panther Party was a militant group formed to fight police brutality and provide community programs.

Affirmative Action

Programs designed to remedy past discrimination by prioritizing minority groups in college admissions and workplace hiring.

Ho Chi Minh

The communist leader of North Vietnam who fought against French colonial forces and U.S. intervention.

Vietminh and Vietcong

The Vietminh sought Vietnamese independence; the Vietcong were South Vietnamese communist guerilla fighters who fought the U.S.-backed government.

Domino Theory

The U.S. belief that if one nation in Southeast Asia fell to communism, neighboring nations would follow in a chain reaction.

Geneva Accords

A 1954 agreement that temporarily divided Vietnam along the 17th parallel.

Ngo Dinh Diem

The repressive, anti-communist president of South Vietnam supported by the U.S. until his 1963 assassination.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

A 1964 measure granting President Johnson broad military authority to escalate the war without a formal declaration.

Napalm and Agent Orange

Chemical weapons; napalm was a gasoline-based bomb, and Agent Orange was a toxic leaf-killing defoliant used to clear jungle canopy.

Tet Offensive

A massive 1968 surprise attack by the Vietcong that shocked the U.S. public and created a deep credibility gap regarding the war.

Vietnamization

President Nixon's strategy of gradually withdrawing American troops while training South Vietnamese forces to take over the fighting.

Paris Peace Accords

The 1973 agreement that established a ceasefire, withdrawal of U.S. combat troops, and the release of American prisoners of war.

War Powers Act

A 1973 law limiting a president's power to commit troops to foreign conflicts without explicit congressional approval.

26th Amendment

Lowered the legal voting age from 21 to 18.

New Federalism

President Nixon's program aimed at reducing federal power by distributing federal tax revenues to state and local governments.

Southern strategy

Nixon's political strategy to win over conservative white southern voters by slowing down federal desegregation efforts.

Realpolitik

A foreign policy philosophy based on practical assessments of national power rather than strict moral or ideological principles.

Dtente

A policy aimed at easing Cold War tensions, demonstrated by Nixon through diplomatic visits to China and the Soviet Union.

Watergate & Impeachment

A major political scandal involving a break-in at the DNC headquarters and a cover-up, leading to Nixon's resignation in August 1974.

Gerald Ford & Pardon of Nixon

The 38th President who granted Nixon a full presidential pardon, which sparked intense public backlash.

Helsinki Agreement

A 1975 international accord to improve diplomatic relations and foster cooperation on human rights.

Jimmy Carter

39th U.S. President whose administration prioritized human rights but faced domestic economic stagnation and the Iranian Hostage Crisis.

Camp David Accords

A historic 1978 peace agreement brokered by Carter between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

Iranian Hostage Crisis

A 444-day crisis where Iranian revolutionaries seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage.

Ronald Reagan

40th U.S. President whose 1980 election signaled a major national shift toward modern political and economic conservatism.

Bill Clinton

42nd U.S. President who championed center-left economic policies and oversaw a period of significant growth.

Newt Gingrich

Republican Speaker of the House who authored the "Contract with America."

Dot-com

A term for internet-based startup companies that drove an economic and technological boom during the late 1990s.

NAFTA

North American Free Trade Agreement; a 1994 treaty that eliminated most trade barriers between the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

A compromise policy enacted by Clinton permitting gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals to serve in the military if they did not openly disclose their orientation.

Lewinsky Scandal

A political crisis stemming from Clinton's efforts to conceal an extramarital affair, leading to his impeachment and acquittal.

Welfare Reform

A 1996 bipartisan overhaul that ended open-ended federal cash assistance and required recipients to meet work mandates.

9/11 Terrorist Attacks

September 11, 2001, coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda initiating the global War on Terror.

George W. Bush

43rd U.S. President whose term was defined by the response to the September 11 attacks.