Honors US History Semester 2 Final

John F. Kennedy

 35th U.S. president (1961–1963); promoted the New Frontier and led the nation during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Lyndon B. Johnson

36th U.S. president; created the Great Society and signed major civil rights laws

Richard Nixon

37th U.S. president; resigned because of the Watergate scandal.

Jimmy Carter

39th U.S. president known for the Camp David Accords and emphasis on human rights.

Ronald Reagan

40th U.S. president; promoted conservative policies and helped end Cold War tensions

Martin Luther King Jr

Leader of the Civil Rights Movement; advocated nonviolent protest and delivered the "I Have a Dream" speech.

Medgar Evers

NAACP leader in Mississippi who fought segregation and was assassinated in 1963

Calvin Coolidge

President during the prosperous 1920s; favored limited government.

Herbert Hoover

President when the Great Depression began in 1929

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Led the U.S. through the Great Depression and most of World War II.

Harry S. Truman

Authorized atomic bombs on Japan and created the Truman Doctrine

Dwight D. Eisenhower

WWII general and president who expanded interstate highways.

Eugene McCarthy

Anti-Vietnam War senator who challenged President Johnson in 1968.

Henry Kissinger

Nixon's foreign policy adviser; promoted détente with the Soviet Union and China

Robert McNamara

Defense Secretary during much of the Vietnam War

Barry Goldwater

Conservative Republican presidential candidate in 1964.

John McCain

Vietnam War veteran and longtime U.S. senator from Arizona

Nikita Khrushchev

Soviet leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis

William McKinley

President during the Spanish-American War

Theodore Roosevelt

Progressive president known for trust-busting and conservation

William Howard Taft

President and later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

Woodrow Wilson

Led the U.S. during World War I and proposed the League of Nations

Warren G. Harding

President associated with the Teapot Dome scandal

Gerald Ford

Became president after Nixon resigned; pardoned Nixon

Sandra Day O'Connor

First woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court

Margaret Thatcher

Conservative British prime minister known as the "Iron Lady."

Ella Baker

Influential organizer who helped found SNCC

Rosa Parks

Refused to give up her bus seat, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Herbert Spencer

Developed Social Darwinism

Andrew Carnegie

Steel magnate and philanthropist

John D. Rockefeller

Founder of Standard Oil.

Samuel Gompers

Founder of the American Federation of Labor (AFL)

J. P. Morgan

Powerful banker who financed major corporations.

Barack Obama

First African American U.S. president

George W. Bush

President during the September 11 attacks and Iraq War

Robert F. Kennedy

Attorney General and presidential candidate assassinated in 1968

Charles de Gaulle

Leader of Free France during WWII and later president of France

Brown v. Board of Education

Supreme Court decision that ended legal school segregation

Plessy v. Ferguson

Upheld segregation under "separate but equal."

Peace Corp

JFK program sending Americans abroad to assist developing nations

New Frontier

Kennedy's domestic reform program

Hundred Days

First 100 days of FDR's presidency when many New Deal laws were passed

Truman Doctrine

U.S. policy of helping countries resist communism

Watergate scandal

Political scandal that led to Nixon's resignation

Militant

Aggressively active in support of a cause

United States Army Special Forces

Elite U.S. Army special operations unit.

Operation Rolling Thunder

Sustained U.S. bombing campaign against North Vietnam

McCarthyism

Accusing people of communism without sufficient evidence

Bay of Pigs Invasion

Failed U.S.-backed invasion of Cuba

Containment

Policy of preventing the spread of communism

Tenement

Crowded, poorly maintained urban apartment building

Anarchists

People who oppose organized government

Free Enterprise

Economic system based on private ownership and competition

Pork-Barrel

Government spending benefiting a legislator's district

Laissez-faire

Economic policy with little government intervention

Inflation

Rise in prices and decrease in purchasing power

Deflation

Fall in prices and economic activity

Trust

Large business combination that limits competition

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

2015 agreement limiting Iran's nuclear program

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Military alliance of North American and European nations

Peaceful Coexistence

Khrushchev's policy of avoiding war with capitalist countries

Recession

Significant decline in economic activity

Nuclear Proliferation

Spread of nuclear weapons to more countries

Freedom Riders

Activists who rode interstate buses to challenge segregation

Affirmative Action

Policies designed to increase opportunities for historically disadvantaged groups

Sit-ins

Nonviolent protests in which demonstrators occupy segregated facilities

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Massive civil rights rally where MLK gave his famous speech

Collective Security

Countries working together against aggression

Great Society

Johnson's program to fight poverty and inequality

Totalitarianism

Government with total control over society

Reparations

Payments made for war damages

Berlin Wall

Wall dividing East and West Berlin from 1961–1989

Establishment

Traditional political and social leadership

Cuban Missile Crisis

Nuclear standoff between the U.S. and Soviet Union

Internment Camps

Camps where civilians are confined during wartime

Tea Party movement

Conservative movement advocating smaller government

Zimmermann Telegram

German proposal encouraging Mexico to attack the U.S.

Al-Qaeda

Terrorist group responsible for the September 11 attacks.

Hurricane Katrina

Devastating hurricane that struck the Gulf Coast.

The Feminine Mystique

Influential book that helped launch modern feminism.

Equal Rights Amendment

Proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal rights regardless of sex

Six-Day War

Brief war in which Israel defeated neighboring Arab states

Oklahoma City bombing

Domestic terrorist bombing of a federal building

Normandy landings

Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France on June 6, 1944

Glasnost

Soviet policy of openness and transparency under Mikhail Gorbachev

Hawk

Person favoring aggressive military action

Self-Determination

Right of people to choose their own government

Literacy Test

Reading test used to restrict voting, especially for African Americans

Populists

Political movement supporting farmers and workers

Reservation System

Government policy confining Native Americans to designated lands

Homestead Act

Granted western land to settlers willing to farm it

Platt Amendment

Allowed U.S. intervention in Cuban affairs

Settlement Houses

Community centers providing services to immigrants and the poor

Yellow Journalism

Sensationalized news reporting

Jim Crow

Laws enforcing racial segregation in the South

Gilded Age

Period of rapid industrialization and political corruption (1870s–1900)

Interstate Commerce Act

First federal law regulating railroads

Tuskegee Institute

School founded by Booker T. Washington for African Americans

Mining Industry

Industry focused on extracting minerals and natural resources

Gold Standard Act

Established gold as the basis of U.S. currency