Untitled Flashcards Set

Fidel Castro

Cuban leader who turned Cuba into a communist state.

JFK (John F. Kennedy)

35th U.S. president, known for the Cuban Missile Crisis and civil rights advocacy.

Bay of Pigs

Failed U.S.-backed invasion of Cuba in 1961.

Cuban Missile Crisis

1962 standoff between the U.S. and Soviet Union over missiles in Cuba, nearly causing nuclear war.

Ho Chi Minh

Leader of North Vietnam and key figure in the Vietnam War.

Lyndon Johnson

36th U.S. president, known for the Great Society and escalating the Vietnam War.

Gulf of Tonkin Incident

1964 incident used to justify U.S. escalation in Vietnam.

Role of TV in Vietnam

TV brought graphic images of the Vietnam War to the U.S., fueling anti-war sentiment.

Tet Offensive

1968 surprise attacks by North Vietnam, shifting U.S. public opinion on the war.

Richard Nixon

37th U.S. president, known for Watergate and opening relations with China.

Great Society

Lyndon Johnson's programs aimed at eliminating poverty and racial injustice.

Medicare and Medicaid

1965 programs providing health insurance for the elderly and low-income individuals.

Brown v. Board of Education

1954 Supreme Court decision ending school segregation.

Rosa Parks

Civil rights icon whose bus protest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

MLK and SCLC

Martin Luther King Jr., leader of the Civil Rights Movement and founder of the SCLC.

Malcolm X

Civil rights leader advocating for black empowerment, later shifting to nonviolence.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Law banning discrimination based on race, religion, sex, or national origin.

Gloria Steinem

Feminist leader and co-founder of Ms. Magazine.

Title IX

1972 law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education.

Phyllis Schlafly

Conservative activist who opposed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

Roe v. Wade

1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide.

American Indian Movement

Founded in 1968, it advocated for Native American rights and activism.

Kent State

1970 shooting of students by National Guard during anti-Vietnam protests.

OPEC

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, controlling global oil prices.

Three Mile Island

1979 nuclear accident in Pennsylvania, raising concerns about nuclear power.

EPA

Environmental Protection Agency, created in 1970 to regulate pollution.

Young Americans for Freedom

Conservative student group formed in the 1960s.

Barry Goldwater

Conservative U.S. senator and presidential candidate in 1964.

Religious Right

Conservative Christian political movement, rising in the 1970s.

Watergate

Political scandal leading to Nixon's resignation in 1974.

Reaganomics

Economic policies of President Ronald Reagan, emphasizing tax cuts and deregulation.

Gorbachev

Soviet leader who helped end the Cold War and introduced reforms like glasnost and perestroika.

Iran-Contra Affair

1980s scandal involving illegal arms sales to Iran to fund Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

George H. W. Bush

41st U.S. president, known for the Gulf War and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Berlin Wall

Dividing wall between East and West Berlin, symbol of the Cold War, fell in 1989.

Immigration and Nationality Act

1965 law ending racial quotas in U.S. immigration policy.

Bush v. Gore dispute

2000 Supreme Court case that decided the presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore.

9/11

Terrorist attacks on the U.S. in 2001 by al-Qaeda, leading to the War on Terror.

Taliban

Islamic militant group that controlled Afghanistan and harbored Osama bin Laden.

Osama bin Laden

Leader of al-Qaeda, responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, a key justification for the Iraq War.

Saddam Hussein

Iraqi dictator overthrown by U.S. forces in 2003 during the Iraq War.

Homeland Security

U.S. government department created after 9/11 to protect against terrorism.