The Eisenhower Years, 1952-1960

Flashcards containing vocabulary terms and definitions from the Eisenhower Years lecture notes.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

Supreme Court case that concluded the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place in public education.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

President of the United States who personified the 1950s and was admired for his leadership as a former general in World War II.

Election of 1952

Presidential election where Republican Dwight Eisenhower defeated Democrat Adlai Stevenson.

Richard Nixon

Eisenhower's running mate in the 1952 election, known for his anti-Communist stance.

Checkers Speech

Speech by Richard Nixon defending himself against allegations of using campaign funds for personal use.

Adlai Stevenson

Democratic candidate who lost to Eisenhower in both the 1952 and 1956 presidential elections.

Modern Republicanism

Eisenhower's balanced and moderate approach to domestic policy.

Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW)

Consolidated welfare programs under Eisenhower, headed by Oveta Culp Hobby.

Interstate Highway System

Authorized by the Highway Act of 1956, linking major cities and improving national defense.

Election of 1956

Presidential election where Eisenhower defeated Stevenson again.

John Foster Dulles

Eisenhower's Secretary of State who shaped U.S. foreign policy during his presidency.

Brinkmanship

Dulles' policy of pushing Communist powers to the brink of war, believing they would back down due to American nuclear superiority.

Massive Retaliation

Dulles' strategy of relying on nuclear weapons and air power to deter enemies.

Hydrogen Bomb

Developed by the U.S. in 1953, capable of destroying large cities.

Decolonization

Collapse of colonial empires after World War II, leading to the independence of many nations in Asia and Africa.

Third World Countries

New nations lacking stable political and economic institutions, often becoming pawns of the Cold War.

Covert Action

Undercover intervention in the internal politics of other nations, used by the U.S. during the Eisenhower administration.

Reza Pahlavi

Shah of Iran, returned to power after the CIA helped overthrow the government in 1953.

Korean Armistice

Agreement that stopped the fighting and exchanged prisoners in July 1953, leaving Korea divided.

Ho Chi Minh

Nationalist and Communist leader who led the Viet Minh guerrillas against the French in Indochina.

Dien Bien Phu

Location of a major French defeat in 1954, leading to France giving up Indochina.

Geneva Conference of 1954

Conference where France agreed to give up Indochina, which was divided into Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

Ngo Dinh Diem

Leader of South Vietnam, supported by the U.S. as an anticommunist.

Domino Theory

Eisenhower's analogy that if South Vietnam fell to communism, other nations in Southeast Asia would follow.

SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization)

Regional defense pact to prevent South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from falling to communism.

Suez Crisis

International crisis in 1956 when Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, leading to an attack by Britain, France, and Israel.

Eisenhower Doctrine

U.S. policy in 1957 pledging economic and military aid to any Middle Eastern country threatened by communism.

OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)

Formed in 1960 by Arab nations and Venezuela to control oil production and prices.

Spirit of Geneva

Thaw in the Cold War resulting from a summit meeting between Eisenhower and Soviet premier Nikolai Bulganin in 1955.

Nikita Khrushchev

Soviet leader who denounced Stalin's crimes and supported "peaceful coexistence" with the West.

Hungarian Revolt

Popular uprising in Hungary in 1956 that was crushed by Soviet tanks.

Sputnik Shock

Soviet Union's launch of the first satellites, Sputnik I and Sputnik II, in 1957, leading to concerns about U.S. technological leadership.

National Defense and Education Act (NDEA)

Authorized federal money for schools to improve math, science, and foreign language education in response to Sputnik.

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

Created in 1958 to direct U.S. efforts to build missiles and explore outer space.

Second Berlin Crisis

Khrushchev's demand in 1958 that the West pull its troops out of West Berlin.

U-2 Incident

Shooting down of a U.S. spy plane over the Soviet Union in 1960, leading to the collapse of a planned summit meeting in Paris.

Fidel Castro

Revolutionary who overthrew the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and established a Communist totalitarian state.

Military-Industrial Complex

Eisenhower's warning in his farewell address about the negative impact of the Cold War on U.S. society.

Jackie Robinson

Broke the color line in baseball in 1947, becoming the first African American to play on a major league team since the 1880s.

Desegregation of the Military

President Truman's action in 1948, integrating the armed forces.

Plessy v. Ferguson

Supreme Court's 1896 decision allowing segregation in "separate but equal" facilities.

Thurgood Marshall

NAACP lawyer who argued the Brown v. Board of Education case.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

Supreme Court case that overturned Plessy v. Ferguson, ruling that "separate facilities are inherently unequal".

Southern Manifesto

Condemnation of the Supreme Court's Brown decision by 101 members of Congress.

Orval Faubus

Governor of Arkansas who used the National Guard to prevent African American students from entering Little Rock Central High School.

Rosa Parks

Arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, sparking a massive African American protest.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Inspirational leader of a nonviolent movement to end segregation, emerging during the Montgomery bus boycott.

Civil Rights Act of 1957 and 1960

First civil rights laws enacted by the U.S. Congress since Reconstruction, providing for a permanent Civil Rights Commission.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

Organized by Martin Luther King Jr. in 1957 to mobilize ministers and churches in the civil rights struggle.

Sit-in Movement

Started by college students in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960 to protest segregated facilities.

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

Formed to keep the sit-in movement organized.

Braceros Program

Program allowing Mexicans to work under contract in the United States.

Operation Wetback

U.S. program in the early 1950s that forced an estimated 3.8 million people to return to Mexico.

Television in the 1950s

Became a center of family life, dominated by three national networks offering bland programming.

Newton Minnow

FCC chairman who criticized television as a "vast wasteland".

Paperback Books

Innovation in the 1950s that made books more accessible.

Rock-and-Roll Music

Blend of African American rhythm and blues with white country music, popularized by Elvis Presley.

Conglomerates

Corporations with diversified holdings that dominated industries in the business world.

The Organization Man

Book by William Whyte documenting the loss of individuality in corporate America.

Religion in the 1950s

Organized religions expanded dramatically, with new churches and synagogues being built.

Baby and Child Care

Best-selling self-help book by Dr. Benjamin Spock that reaffirmed the traditional view of a woman's role.

The Lonely Crowd

Book by David Riesman criticizing the replacement of "inner-directed" individuals with "other-directed" conformists.

The Affluent Society

Book by John Kenneth Galbraith about the failure of wealthy Americans to address the need for increased social spending.

C. Wright Mills

Sociologist who portrayed dehumanizing corporate worlds in White Collar and threats to freedom in The Power Elite.

The Catcher in the Rye

Novel by J.D. Salinger commenting on "phoniness" as viewed by a troubled teenager.

Catch-22

Novel by Joseph Heller satirizing the stupidity of the military and war.

Beat Generation

Group of rebellious writers and intellectuals who advocated spontaneity, use of drugs, and rebellion against societal standards.

On the Road

Novel by Jack Kerouac, a leading figure of the Beat Generation.

Allen Ginsberg

Poet of the Beat Generation, known for his poem "Howl".

Earl Warren

Chief Justice who ruled that 'separate facilities are inherently unequal' in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

Fiscal Conservative

A person who believes in balancing the budget after years of deficit spending.

Soil-Bank Program

A means of reducing farm production and thereby increasing farm income.

Per-Capita Disposable Income

The amount of money available for each person to spend after taxes, which more than tripled between 1945 and 1960.

Containment Policy

Truman's foreign policy that was criticized as too passive by John Foster Dulles.

Nationalize

To transfer ownership of a business, property, or resource from private to state control.

Atoms for Peace Plan

Eisenhower's proposal to the United Nations for a slowdown in the arms race.

Open Skies Policy

Eisenhower's proposal for aerial photography by opposing nations to eliminate the chance of a surprise nuclear attack.

Warsaw Pact

Communist security organization that Hungary wanted to pull out of during the 1956 uprising.