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Period: to
1954-1975 Timeline
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Domestic Policy- Eisenhower
McCarthyism is a "label for dangerous forces of unfainess and fear that a democratic society can unleash only at its peril." Josephy McCarthy was an anticommunist who was paranoid about everything being communistic. He went so far as to accuse the U.S. Army of communism, which got him into a large amount of trouble and the end of his career. Source: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmccarthyism.htm -
Vietnamese Forces cease fire at Dien Bien Phu
Vietnamese forces occupy the French command post at Dien Bien Phu and the French commander orders his troops to cease fire. The battle had lasted 55 days. Three thousand French troops were killed, 8,000 wounded. The Viet Minh suffered much worse, with 8,000 dead and 12,000 wounded, but the Vietnamese victory shattered France's resolve to carry on the war. Source: http://history.state.gov/milestones/1953-1960/DienBienPhu -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimously ruled in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that public school segregation was unconstitutional and paved the way for desegregation. The decision overturned the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that said "separate educational facilities were inherently unequal." It was a victory for NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall, who argued it. http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/National_Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Colored_People.aspx -
Domesitc Policy- Eisnehower
Houghton Mifflin Dwight Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 that gave permission for the construction of the Interstate Highway Act. This act put forth twenty-seven billion dollars worth of money into building over forty-two thousand miles of roads for highways. This project created a vast number of jobs; sped up the modernization of America; and benefited industries, such as oil, travel, and trucking. Source: Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. -
Eisenhower elected as president
The United States presidential election of 1956 saw a popular Dwight D. Eisenhower successfully run for re-election. The 1956 election was a rematch of 1952, as Eisenhower's opponent in 1956 was Democrat Adlai Stevenson, whom Eisenhower had defeated four years earlier. President Eisenhower was popular, but had health conditions that became a quiet issue. He ended the Korean War therefore, the nation was prosperous. Found: http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h904.html -
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Comprised of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Charles K. Steele and Fred L. Shuttlesworth; King was the organization's first president. The SCLC proved to be a major force in organizing the civil rights movement with a principle base of nonviolence and civil disobedience. King believed it was essential for the civil rights movement not sink to the level of the racists and hate mongers who opposed them. -
Executive Order 10925
President Kennedy issued the Executive Order 10925, prohibiting discrimination in federal government hiring on the basis of race, religion or national origin and establishing The President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity, the EEOC. Source: http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/history/35th/thelaw/eo-10925.html -
Kennedy elected as president
John F. Kennedy was elected president in one of the closest elections in U.S. history. In the popular vote, his margin over Nixon was 118,550 out of a total of nearly 69 million votes cast. His success in many urban and industrial states gave him a clear majority of 303 to 219 in the electoral vote. John F. Kennedy was the youngest man ever elected president, the only Catholic, and the first president born in the twentieth century. Source: http://www.kennesaw.edu/pols/3380/pres/1960.html -
Domestic Policy- Kennedy
President Kennedy created the Peace Corps, in 1961. This organization was aimed at peace around the world, and was filled with "an army of idealistic and mostly youthful volunteers to bring American skills to underdeveloped countries." But, if peace didn't work, force would. Kennedy also creat Special Forces ("Green Berets") in 1962. -
Domestic Policy Kennedy's time
During Kennedy's presidency, he proposed that American's should go up to the moon. Although faced by much opposition that the billions of dollars to be spent on space exploration could be spent better elsewhere, the space program excelled. Then, in 1969 the world watched as American's were the first to step foot onto the moon. Although Kennedy wasn't around to view this, he is the one that provoked this amazing event to be explored and occur. -
First Black Enrolled
James Meredith became the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi. President Kennedy sent 5,000 federal troops to contain the violence and riots surrounding the incident. Source: http://www.eduplace.com/ss/socsci/ms/books/bkd_ms/biographies/bio_template.jsp?book=bkd_ms&bio=meredithj&name=James+Meredith -
Medgar Evers Murdered
Mississippi's NAACP field secretary, 37-year-old Medgar Evers, was murdered outside his home in Jackson, Miss. Byron De La Beckwith was tried twice in 1964, both trials resulting in hung juries. Thirty years later, he was convicted of murdering Evers. Source: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/medgar-evers-assassinated -
4 Little Girls Murdered
Four young girls, Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Addie Mae Collins, attending Sunday school were killed when a bomb exploded at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, a popular location for civil rights meetings. Riots erupted in Birmingham, Ala., leading to the deaths of two more black youth. Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/churches/archives1.htm -
Ngo Dinh Diem Executed
South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem is executed during a coup. The death of Diem caused celebration among many people in South Vietnam, but also lead to political chaos in the nation. The United States subsequently became more heavily involved in Vietnam as it tried to stabilize the South Vietnamese government and beat back the communist rebels that were becoming an increasingly powerful threat. Source: http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/EdMoise/viet6.html -
Domestic Policy Johnson's time
The Higher Education Act signed by President Johnson was created to provide federal grants to schools. These grants would help with the construction, remodeling, and renovation of educational facilities. It was also made to assist students who wanted a higher education. This act has been changed or updated over the past several years. -
LBJ elected president
The 1964 election was one of the most interesting presidential elections in the history of U.S.A. For the first time since the election of 1932, American voters were given a chance to choose a President from two candidates who were completely opposite in their ideology and personality. The two candidates did not merely differ in their ideas; one was the opposite of the other. Lyndon B, Johnson beat Barry M. Goldwater by a landslide of 44 states to 6, -
MALCOLM X Assassinated
Born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Neb., on May 19, 1925, this world-renowned black nationalist leader was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan on the first day of National Brotherhood Week. A Black Muslim Minister, revolutionary black freedom fighter, civil rights activist and for a time the national spokesperson for the Nation of Islam, he famously spoke of the need for black freedom "by any means necessary." Source: http://newsone.com/2239879/malcolm-x-assassination-2/ -
Domestic Policy for Johnson's Time
Social Security History Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition.
Two of President Johnson's Great Society goals was the improvement of medical care for the elderly and poor. Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the less fortunate proved to be useful and helpful to those in need. Like the Social Security program, these came with "entitlements." These entitlements do some people good, while many people abuse them. -
Executive Order 11246
President Lyndon Johnson issued Executive Order 11246 to enforce affirmative action for the first time because he believed asserting civil rights laws were not enough to remedy discrimination. It required government contractors to "take affirmative action" toward prospective minority employees in all aspects of hiring and employment. Source: http://www.shrm.org/LegalIssues/FederalResources/FederalStatutesRegulationsandGuidanc/Pages/ExecutiveOrder11246of1965.aspx -
Junction City helecopter Assault
In one of the largest air-mobile assaults ever, 240 helicopters sweep over Tay Ninh province, beginning Operation Junction City. The goal of Junction City is to destroy Vietcong bases and the Vietcong military headquarters for South Vietnam, all of which are located in War Zone C, north of Saigon. Some 30,000 U.S. troops take part in the mission, joined by 5,000 men of the South Vietnamese Army. After 72 days, Junction City ends. http://www.historynet.com/dark-clouds-over-junction-city.htm -
NV joins Viet Cong
The North Vietnamese join forces with the Viet Cong to launch the Tet Offensive, attacking approximately one hundred South Vietnamese cities and towns. Source: http://www.history.com/topics/tet-offensive -
Martin Luther King Jr. Shot
Martin Luther King Jr. at age 39, was shot as he was standing on the balcony outside his hotel room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Escaped convict and committed racist James Earl Ray was convicted of the crime. The networks then broadcast President Johnson's statement in which he called for Americans to "reject the blind violence," yet cities were ignited from coast to coast. Source: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/04/the-murder-of-martin-luther-king-jr/ -
Rolling Thunder Comes to an End
After three-and-a-half years, Operation Rolling Thunder comes to an end. In total, the campaign had cost more than 900 American aircraft. Eight hundred and eighteen pilots are dead or missing, and hundreds are in captivity. Nearly 120 Vietnamese planes have been destroyed in air combat or accidents, or by friendly fire. According to U.S. estimates, 182,000 North Vietnamese civilians have been killed. Source: http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/readings/drew2.htm -
Nixon elected as president
On November 5, 1968, the Republican nominee, former Vice President Richard Nixon won the election over the Democratic nominee, Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Some consider the election of 1968 a realigning election that permanently disrupted the New Deal Coalition that had dominated presidential politics for 36 years. It was also the last election in which two opposing candidates were vice-presidents. Source: http://www.kennesaw.edu/pols/3380/pres/1968.html -
Domestic Policy- Nixon
The Environmental Protection Agency was created in response to the pollution and ruining of the planet, signed by Pres. Nixon (1970). The side effects of dirty air, water, and land were becoming extremely obvious simply by plain sight or how it was hurting people and animals. 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. Source: http://www.history.com/topics/earth-day -
Domestic Policy- Nixon
Pres. Nixon signed the Clean Air Act of 1970 to control air pollution. It put restrictions and regulations in place to help maintain the amount of bad air coming from facilities and vehicles. In addition, it greatly increased the level of federal enforcement. Source: http://www.epa.gov/air/caa/caa_history.html -
Achieving integration of public schools
The Supreme Court, in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education upheld busing as a legitimate means for achieving integration of public schools. Although largely unwelcome (and sometimes violently opposed) in local school districts, court-ordered busing plans in cities such as Charlotte, Boston, and Denver continued until the late 1990s. Source: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/973269/Swann-v-Charlotte-Mecklenburg-Board-of-Education -
Domestic Problem- Ford
Five men were caught breaking into the Watergate hotel installing eavesdropping devices. They were part of the Republican committee for the re-election of Nixon. Nixon denied this on public television and refused to give the tapes found to Congress. Later, he did and it exposed him as a liar and resigned due to the scandal. Source: Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
Ford became president
Pressident Gerald R. Ford became president after the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon under the process decreed by the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution and thereby became the country’s only chief executive who was not elected as either president or vice president. His first act upon assuming office was to grant his predecessor “a full, free, and absolute pardon.” Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/geraldford -
Domestic Policy- Ford
Economic Policy Board, Gerald Ford passed this act as president to "whip inflation" and fix the economy. He thought by doing this, inflation would be lowered, thus making unemployment lower. He also gave many speeches about this issue. Source: Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
