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Dwight D. Eisenhower's Inauguration
The American Pageant
Eisenhower's goal in the start of his presidency was to "balance the federal budget and guard the Republic from..."'creeping socialism'". -
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Start of Vietnam War
Vietnam War Commemoration
The American Pageant
Ho Chi Minh, a communist, gained power in North Vietnam after the French colonial rule was overthrown. Vietnam split at the 17th parallel-- the communist North and the democratic South. -
McCarthyism- The Second Red Scare
The American Pageant
Joseph McCarthy accused members of the U.S. State Department of being communist. He made the American public afraid and suspicious and he damaged free speech and fair play in his crusades. His accusations did no good; we lost Asian specialists who might have helped us with our Vietnam crisis. -
Brown v Board of Education
PBS
An American Pageant
This ruling deemed that segregation in public schools is "inherently unequal". It reversed Plessy v Ferguson's ruling in 1896 that "seperate but equal" facilities were constitutional. -
Rosa Parks- The Montgomery Bus Boycott
The American Pageant
A black seamstress, Rosa Parks, refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She spawned the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which was led by Martin Luther King Jr. African Americans stopped waiting and decided that action was required to achieve equality. Her efforts were not futile, for buses were desegregated on December 21, 1956. -
The Suez Crisis
Suez CrisisThe American PageantGamal Abdel Nasser, the president of Egypt, wanted money to build a dam on the upper Nile for irrigation and power. Great Britain and France sent money. Israeli armed forces pushed into EgyptIt hurt West Europe's oil supply . France and Great Britain assumed that the US would give them oil while their their Middle East supplies were disrupted. Eisenhower refused.The Israeli, French, and British troops withdrew in late 1956. -
Central Highschool
NPRThe American Pageant
Central Highschool, in Littlerock, Arkansas, became known nation-wide for blocking nine black students from entering campus. The governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, mobilized the National Guard to prevent the African American students from enrolling. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to escort the harrassed teenagers to class. This was the only civil rights issue Eisenhower was in -
Start of the Sit-In Movement
Sit-in MovementCivil Rights Movement TimelineFour black college students were refused serive at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. They kept their seats and the next day returned with nineteen classmates. By the end of the week, a thousand students joined and the movement spread to segregated parks, pools, libraries, and theaters. -
John F. Kennedy's Inauguration
The American Pageant
Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic president as well as the youngest to be elected. He had support from workers, Catholics, and blacks. Television really helped JFK win the presidency against Nixon. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
History Notes The American Pageant
Kennedy inherited a scheme from Eisenhower to stop Fidel Castro by invading Cuba with anti-communist exiles. 1,200 exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs, but did not use violence. The ani-communists surrendered and Kennedy took all responsibility for it. This caused the Cubans to turn to communism more strongly. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis
WordpressThe American PageantThe U.S. placed nuclear missles in Turkey to match the missles the USSR placed in Cuba. Kennedy ordered U-2 spy planes to fly over Cuba and the SAMs were detected. 500 bombers with 100,000 troops settled in Georgia; prepared for war. USSR ships with missle ports continued toward Cuba and if the U.S. stopped them, war would be declared. On October 24, the USSR neared the U.S. blockade and turned back. Kennedy agreed to remove the missles from Turkey and the USSR dismantled it's missles too. -
March on Washington
Black PastCivil Rights Movement TimelineAbout 200,000 people joined the march on Washington in Washington DC at the Lincoln Memorial in support of the proposed civil rights legislation Kennedy proposed. This is where Martin Luther King Jr delivered his "I Have A Dream Speech". -
Explosion in Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
The People's ChampionCivil Rights Movement Timeline
Four young girls attending Sunday school were killed in the explosion in the church, which was a popular location for civil rights meetings. Bruce Lee directed a film about this incident called "Four Little Girls". -
Lyndon B. Johnson's Inauguration
The American Pageant
LBJ started his presidency with productivity and helping the Civil Rights cause. By the end of his term, however, he was very unpopular because of the Vietnam War. -
JFK's Assassination
The American PageantCrime MagazineJFK was riding in an open limousine in Dallas, Texas when he was shot in the brain. He died within seconds- right next to his wife. The alleged assassin was Lee Harvey Oswald, who was also shot and killed by Jack Ruby right in front of television cameras. The American people were devasted and Johnson was sworn in immediately. -
Civil Rights Act
Congress LinkThe American PageantThe Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned racial discrimination in private facilities open to the public, such as theaters, hospitals, and restaraunts. It also strengthened the federal government's power to end segreagation in schools and other public places. -
Vietnam Continued: "The Living Room War"
Quarter To Three
The American Pageant
Operation Rolling Thunder brought on full-scale bombing attacks on North Vietnam. Johnson believed that a step by step escalation of U.S. troops would drive the enemy to defeat with minimum deaths. The South vs North Vietnam War became the U.S vs North Vietnam War. -
Bloody Sunday
Nbc NewsCivil Rights Movement Timeline
Blacks marching to Montgomery were stopped at Pettus Bridge by police. This march really pushed, and helped achieve, for the Voting Rights Act five months later. -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
Our Documents The American Pageant
The voting Rights Act gave the federal government more power to enforce school-desegragation orders and to prohibit racial discrimination in all types of public accomodations. Literacy tests were also outlawed. Blacks then began to use their voting rights to their advantage. -
Tet Offensive
Military Photographs
The American Pageant
The Vietcong suddenly and instantaneously attacked 27 key South Vietnam cities, including the capital. This showed that victory could not be obtained by gradual escalation. U.S military leaders asked for 200,000 more troops. The war began to grow unpopular. -
Richard Nixon's Inauguration
The American Pageant
Nixon was a minority president and he didn't carry any major cities in his election, He won because of war divisions and protests. His policy was carrying on the war until the enemy settled for an "honorable peace". -
First Moon Landing
Kidport
America had "Rocket fever" and was afraid of the USSR's advancements into outer space after Sputnik was launched in 1957. Edwin Aldrin and Neil Armstrong landed on the moon after a four day trip in space. -
Cambodianizing the Vietnam War
Olive DrabThe American Pageant
The Vietcong was using Cambodia for troops, weapons, and supplies. Nixon ordered U.S forces to attack the officially neutral Cambodia. The troops were evacuated two months later and the Senate withdrew the blank check they gave LBJ in 1964 -
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education
New York TimesCivil Rights Movement Timeline
Busing was upholded as legitimate means of upholding integration of public schools. The court ordered busing plans in large cities. This continued until the late 1990's. -
Detente
Ielmira[The American Pageant](Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 200)Detente--relaxed tension-- produced several agreements in 1972. A three year arrangement was made that the U.S would sell at least $750 million worth of cereals to the USSR. The Anti-Ballistic Missle Treaty (ABM) limited each nation to two clusters of defensive missles and SALT for five years. -
Watergate Scandal
NaveenrnairThe American Pageant
Five men, later revealed to be members of CREEP, tried to install spyware in the Democratic Headquaters. President Nixon tried to cover up the scandal and even pitted the FBI and CIA against eachother. Nixon obstructed justice by not being honest with the public. -
War Powers Act
History Day
[The American Pageant](Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 200)
The War Powers Act was passed by Congress over Nixon's veto to require that the president report to Congress within 48 hours after committing troops to a foreign conflict or when there is an increase in combat units. -
Nixon's Resignation
Britannica
The American Pageant
The American public was tired of Nixon after his many "dirty tricks" such as the Watergate Scandal, forging documents to discredit the Democrats, and allowing his cabinet to harrass people on the White House "enemy list". -
Gerald Ford's Inauguration
The American Pageant
Ford became the U.S. Vice-President after Agnew resigned in October of 1973 for taking bribes. Once Nixon resigned the Presidency, Ford became the first and only unelected president in American history. Ford was thought to be a stupid football jock, and was unpopular with the American people. -
The Last Evacuation of U.S Troops from Vietnam
Olive DrabThe American PageantAmerican trooops, as well as 140,000 South Vietnamese, were evacuated by helicopter after South Vietnam collapsed. About 500,00 South Vietnamese moved into the United States. The Vietnam War cost the United States $118,000,000,000, with 56,000 dead and 300,000 wounded. This was the largest, most frustrating war in US history and it wounded our self-esteem and economic muscle.
