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Inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower
dwightIn 1952, the Democrats chose Adlai E. Stevenson as their presidential canidate. The republicans chose World War II hero, Dwight D. EIsenhower to run for president. Eisenhower was liked by everyone, so he left the campaigning to Nixon. Eisenhower won easily with 442 votes compared to 89 votes for Stevenson. He was sworn into the presidency on January 20th, 1953. In his campaign, he promised to bring peace to the situation in Korea. -
Brown vs Board of Education
In Topeka, Kansas, an African American girl named Linda Brown had to walk more than a mile away to get to her all-black elementary school, while there was another elementary school just seven blocks away. Her father tried to integrate the schools. When the schools wouldn't agree , he brought the case to the supreme court. The ruling came to be that seperate but equal schools were unconstitutional. This decision undid the Plessy VS Ferguson ruling. http://teaching.about.com/od/law/p/Brown-V-Board -
Operation Wetback
Eisenhower launched Operation Wetback in response to increasing illegal immigration to the United States. Three million illegal immigrants had crossed the U.S. Mexican border to work in bordering states. Eisenhower opposed this movement, believing that it lowered the wages of American workers and led to corruption.
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/pqo01 -
Geneva Conference
Due to the Geneva Agreements , France took their troops out of North Vietnam, and Vietnam was to be temporarily divided at the 17th parallel. During these two years, no troops were to enter into Vietnam.
"Geneva Conference Begins." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. . digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org -
Rosa Parks
Rosa parks earned the title of "first lady of civil rights," when she stood what she believed in. It all began when she peacefully refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The Montgomery bus boycott was a result from Rosa Parks' arrest. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/civilrightstimeline1.html -
The Interstate Highway Act
The interstate highway act enacted the largest and most expensive publics work act of the time , authorizing construction of 41,000 miles of freeway in the U.S. Provided jobs for the jobless.
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1394 -
National Defence and Education Act of 1958
Eisenhower signs the National Defense Education Act, providing loans for college students and funds to encourage young people to enter teaching careers. Eisenhower personally felt that scientifically the US were falling behind the USSR in the space race so he pushed for better education. It was an act to fuel the cold war race to space. http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/ViewingAmerica/roundtables/roundtable7/section2.html (American Pageant 13th edition) -
Sit-In Movement
The sit in movement became a major utility in the push for equality. A group of African American college students went up to an all-white lunch counter and ordered. When they were refused service beacuse of their skin color they sat quietly and patiently, Until aggresive action was taken. http://www.enotes.com/1960-lifestyles-social-trends-american-decades/sit-movement -
JFK president
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johnfkennedy
JFK was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917. Ran for vice presdient position but failed in 1956. He later came back running against Nixon in 1960, and won the presidency as a Democrat. -
JFK's new frontier
Kennedys new frontier were ideas meant to get the American people going again. The newest of the frontiers was the race to space, which kennedy held highly. He signed legislation raising the minimum wage and increasing Social Security benefits. He also raised money for research into mental illness.
http://www.ushistory.org/us/56b.asp -
Interests in Vietnam
When communist North Vietnamese agitators threatened to destroy the pro-American government in South Vietnam , Kennedy made a critical decision to send a sharp increase of American forces, approximatly 400 thousand, to South Vietnam as "advisors".
http://vietnamwar.lib.umb.edu/chronology.html -
Cuban Missile Crisis
October 1962, an American U-2 spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the Soviet Union on the island of Cuba. kennedy demanded the removal of the missiles already there and the destruction of the sites. Khrushchev shamefully agreed to the terms.
http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Cuban-Missile-Crisis.aspx -
March on Washington
A massive crowd of over 200,000 black and whites who supported civil rights met at the Lincon Momerial on Aug 28th, 1963.The March on Washington had the "Big Six" civil rights leaders, including MLKj. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/marchonwashington.html -
Four Little Girls
15th September, 1963, a man was seen placing a box under the steps of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Soon afterwards, a bomb exploded killing Denise McNair Addie Mae Collins , Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley.Twenty-three other people were also hurt by the blast. http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/randall/birmingham.htm -
Overthrow of Diem
The U.S. realized that Diem's government was incompetent, corrupt, and that no one respected him. Ngo Dinh Diem was overthrown by a military unit and killed. He was replaced by the Chief Of Staff of the Armed Forces of South Vietnam.https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon2/pent6.htm -
Inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson
In the 1964 presidential election, Lyndon B. Johnson was chosen by the democratic party to run against Republican BArry Goldwater. On election day, Johnson won with 486 electoral votes compared to Goldwater's 52 electoral votes.He was also able to grab about 42 million popular votes. Along with Johnson's win came many wins such as his Great Society programs; which his campaign was based off of. http://www.history.com/topics/lyndon-b-johnson -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Johnson used the Gulf of Tonkin Incident to rally the congress to pass of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which provided him with the "blank check", He could use the blank check to use further force in Southeast Asia.
http://ows.edb.utexas.edu/site/lindseys-site/gulf-tonkin-background-information -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, banning any discrimination based on race or gender. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was created to help enforce this. http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/civil-rights-act/ -
Great Society Program
The Great Society program was created during Johnsons Presidency in January 1965 which involved education, Medicare, development of depressed regions, poverty, and control and prevention of crime.
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/great-society.html -
The Assasination of Malcom X
Malcom X was a radical black power advocate, who supported the Nation of Islam. He argued against the views of MLkj and proposed the idea of blacks having thier own nation. However ,the Nation of Islam was behind his assasination.
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/terrorists_spies/assassins/malcolm_x/index.html -
Voting Rights Act Passed
The Voting Rights Act was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson which banned the use of literary tests in order to vote. Unfortunately, it was often ignored ,but it gave African Americans a lot more power in the country they resided in, raising their voting percentage from 6% to 59%
"Voting Rights Act." History.com. A&E Television Networks, . http://www.core-online.org/History/voting_rights.htm -
The formation of the Black Panthers
Huey Newton and Bobby Seale created the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California.On April 25, 1967, the Black Panther Party marched, armed withloaded weapons, to the to the state capital. After being arrested other minorities were inspired by what they saw and supported the Black Panthers.http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/black_panthers.htm -
Tet Offensive
Early in the morning on the sacred vietnamese holiday of Tet, North Vietnamese troops and Viet Cong forces attacked both towns and cities in South Vietnam, bringing the ceasefire tto an end that had been called for the Vietnamese holiday of Tet. In Saigon, communist forces attacked the US embassy
http://history1900s.about.com/od/1960s/qt/tetoffensive.htm -
Assasination of MLKj
The day after delivering a speech in which he forshadowed his own death, MLKj was shot in the head by a sniper round. He was pronounced dead at 7;05. Angry blacks took to the streets in riot over the controversy of the death of this great civil rights activist.http://history1900s.about.com/cs/martinlutherking/a/mlkassass.htm -
Richard Nixon becomes President
On June 5, 1968 President Kennedy was shot to death leaving the presidential candidates to be Richard Nixon, George Wallace, and Hubert Humphrey. Nixon was for the Republican party that called for a victory for the US in Vietnam . Nixon had won in 1968 recieving 301 electoral votes and 43% of the popular votes, which was close to the 42% that Humphrey recieved from the total popular vote. http://www.history.com/topics/richard-m-nixon -
Invasion of Cambodia
Under the nose of American citizens, Nixon ordered American forces to invade into Cambodia to fight the North Vietnamese. The American public responded angrily, and on June 29, 1970, Nixon withdrew the forces.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
Clean Air Act of 1970
the Clean Air Act of 1970 resulted in a shift in the federal government's role in air pollution control. This legislation authorized the development of federal and state regulations to limit emissions from both industrial sources and mobile sources, revealing the new awareness of the enviorment in AMerica. http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/landofsunshine/laws-that-shaped-la/how-los-angeles-began-to-put-its-smoggy-days-behind.html -
Enviromental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency was created in response to the pollution and ruining of the planet, signed by Pres. Nixon. The first Earth Day was April 22, 1970 This day marked the demand of the American people for a cleaner earth and to treat it better than it has been in the past. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/189191/Environmental-Protection-Agency-EPA -
Gerald Ford (Lynch King)
Gerald Ford was the first man to become president because of a vote of congress, after Nixon resigned. He was the first in line for the presidency after his name was submitted by Nixon after Spiro Agnew resigned due to a bribery scandal. Ford believed that Nixon had had enough torment, and pardoned him for his wrongdoings at Watergate.http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/geraldford -
Ford Pardons Nixon
Gerald ford uses his executive powers to pardon the disgraced Nixon for his resignation and misdeeds with Watergate. Fords reasoning was that he wanted to end the national divisions created by the Watergate scandal.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ford-pardons-nixon
