1960s study guide

hot line

established b/w white house and Soviet govt (Kremlin) after cuban missile crisis to prevent future misunderstandings

lost to Kennedy for president in 1960

nixon

bay of pigs

failed attempt by the US to overthrow communist Cuban government of Fidel Castro in 1961 - ended up just strengthening his position

test ban treaty

ended above ground testing of nuclear weapons (created after cuban missile crisis)

berlin wall

soviets were losing skilled workers to West Berlin and didn’t like US military being in WB, so they built a physical wall to separate the city - symbolized communist East and democratic West

massive retaliation

cold war policy deterring communist aggression through overwhelming military force, including nuclear weapons if needed

fidel castro

cuban leader, communist, US failed to overthrow him w/ bay of pigs

Nikita Khrushchev

First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, blamed by castro for being the aggressor for cuban missile crisis

flexible response

policy by kennedy - military able to fight both conventional and guerilla forces

cuban missile crisis

was discovered that the Soviets were building nuclear missile sites in cuba, nikita khrushchev blamed for being aggressor

kennedy’s new frontier

proposals to improve the economy, education, health care, civil rights, space program

(increased the minimum wage, extended Social Security benefits and made improvements in welfare system, led to equal pay act)

warren commission

led an investigation into whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of JFK - determined he was the “lone killer”

medicare

provided insurance for 65 and older

medicaid

provided basic medical services to poor/disabled citizens

warren court decisions

willing to take on controversial social, religious, and political issues and use more loose judicial interpretation of the Constitution (most lib court in US history)

voting rights act 1965

prohibited states from imposing qualifications or denying the right to vote based on race

great society

LBJ’s plan to end poverty and racial injustice (medical care, education, vehicle safety, water quality, immigration)

civil rights act

outlawed discrimination in voting, education, and public accommodations, created Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to fight discrimination in hiring, Title VII of the act prohibited discrimination based on sex

Elementary and Secondary Education Act

provided aid to schools in poorer communities

Miranda v. Arizona

accused criminals have to be informed of their 5th and 6th Amendment rights before being questioned

Gideon v. Wainwright

all accused criminals have a right to a lawyer

European nation that originally controlled Vietnam

France - region became part of French Indochina

Which president asked for Tonkin Gulf Resolution

Johnson

Supply route between North and South Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh Trail - used by North Vietnam to transport troops, weapons, and supplies to allies in South Vietnam

Pentagon Papers

Classified government history of US involvement in Vietnam between 1945-1967 leaked by coauthor Daniel Ellsberg - revealed that American leaders had not fully informed the public about what was going on in Vietnam and that Johnson had lied to Congress

Nixon’s plan to bring “peace with honor” in Vietnam

US forces would gradually withdraw as the south vietnam troops assumed more combat duties to secure SV - looked at it as being not victory, but not defeat

war powers act

restricted the President’s war making powers by requiring him to consult w Congress w/in 48 hours of committing American forces to a foreign conflict (legislative check on the executive branch)

Number of Americans killed in Vietnam?

58,000

men deferring drafts

medical reasons or being in college

Commander of US troops in Vietnam

General William C. Westmoreland

new left

loosely organized, mostly white student movement that advocated for democracy, civil rights, and various types of university reforms, and protested against the Vietnam war

SDS

formed to campaign against racism and poverty and then began to push for the end of the war (had “teach-ins”, demonstrations, and encouraged draft age males to sign “We Won’t Go” petitions)

napalm/agent orange purpose

used by viet cong to clear vegetation and expose enemies

doves vs hawks

hawks supported Johnson’s war policy, felt it critical to containing communism, doves

opposed and believed we should not be in a localized civil war

Nixon’s negotiator in Vietnam

henry kissinger

vietcong

guerilla fighters who assassinated government officials, destroyed infrastructure, used hit and run tactics refused to give up

vietcong strategies

guerrilla warfare, tunnel systems (cu chi tunnels), booby traps, mine fields, snipers, use of the Ho Chi Minh trail to infiltrate South Vietnam

Operation Rolling Thunder

sustained aerial bombing campaign by the US against North Vietnam - ultimately failed and just caused large number of casualties

Geneva Accords

Made at Dien Bien Phu - France gave up control of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, Vietnam was divided on 17th Parallel with Ho Chi Minh’s communist forces taking the North and anticommunist government taking the South

silent majority

Conservative voters who did not participate in public discourse

my lai massacre

1968 - Lt. William Calley’s unit began shooting and killing unarmed civilians in the village, estimates are that US soldiers killed between 400-500 Vietnamese

pictures of dead women and children were published in Life magazine