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Dwight D. Eisenhower
Eisenhower was a five star general World War two. He was the commander of the allied forces and oversaw D-Day in Europe. He was a Republican President and entered office with extreme pressure from the Korean War. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
Brown v. Board of education was a unanimous ruling and declared that sepearte but equal facilities were unconstitutional. This overturned the earlier decision of plessy v. ferguson. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama and was arrested for it, thus igniting the civil rights movement. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
This boycott of buses in Montgomery, Alabama was sparked by Rosa Park's refusal to give up her seat on a bus to a white man. For thirteen months, African Americans found other means of transportation. In 1956, the segregation of buses was ruled unconstitutional in Browder v. Gayle.
http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_montgomery_bus_boycott_1955_1956/ -
Interstate Highway System
The Interstate Highway System is said to be not only one of Eisenhower's greatest acheivements, but the most important public service project in America's history. This project called for the manufacture of an enormous amount of highways to connect the country. It's original design took around 35 years to complete and as of 2010, $425 billion has been spent on this project. -
Civil Rights Act of 1957
Rather than leading the country in civil rights, President Eisenhower responded to them. With the events at Central High School in Little Rock, Alabama, Eisenhower was able to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957. This set up a permanent civil rights commission to investigate violations of civil rights and authorized federal injunctions to protect voting rights. -
Integration at Little Rock
Nine African American students were trying to attend Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, with Brown v. Board of Education behind them. However, they were denied, with the mayor of Little Rock showing no intention of integration. Eisenhower sent the 101st airbourne division to forcibly integrate Central High School with the Little Rock 9 -
Sit in Movements in North Carolina
In Greensboro, North Carolina, African Americans sat at Woolsworth lunch counters. Although most were arrested for disorderly conduct, the teenagers started a movement of peaceful protest.
http://www.history.com/topics/greensboro-sit-in -
President John F. Kennedy
President John F. Kennedy was the youngest president ever to be elected. He was an attractive democratic Catholic, who lived a glamorous wife with his wife, Jackie Kennedy. He was calm, firm and exactly what America needed, His presidency was cut short in 1963 when he was assasinated on November 22. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Fidel Castro's communist takeover of Cuba caused many Cubans to flee their homeland to America. A lot of these esacepees began to train with American forces to prepare to get their homeland back. On April 17 these Cubans invaded Cuba in the Bay of Pigs Invasion with confidence that the American government would supply air support. However, they did not, and being largely outnumbered by Castro's forces, the invaders surrenedered in less than 24 hours. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
With tensions rising between the Soviet Union and the US, the Soviet Union began to secretly place nuclear weapons in Cuba pointed toward the US. Kennedy officially warned the nation in a televised broadcast of the Cuban Missile Crisis on October 22. It lasted from October 14-28 and was the closest nuclear war that our nation has come to. The crisis was avoided when Kennedy promised Khrushchev that he would not invade Cuba. -
Dr. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech
Dr. King's moving "I have a dream" speech was given in Washington DC in the national mall during the march on Washington. He spoke of a time when everyone would be treated equal, and made it clear that AFrican Americans needed to be treated with equality.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0874987.html -
March on Washington
The March on Washington was a peaceful protest for "jobs and freedom" done by African Americans. It was lead by Martin Luther King Jr, and it was here that MLK made his world famous "I have a dream speech" in the national mall in Washing DC.
http://www.google.com/search?q=start+of+the+vietnam+war&um=1&hl=en&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=5Yh0Ub2OG9L02wXLuYHoBg&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAA&biw=1366&bih=624#hl=en&sugexp=ekwqrh&gs_rn=9&gs_ri=psy-ab&pq=mlk assassination&cp=8&gs_id=11&xhr=t&q=March on Washington&es_nr -
Lyndon B. Johnson
Johson was inaugurated in special circumstances when President John F. Kennedy was assasinated on November 22. He was a democrat and wanted to reform poverty and help with civil rights. He was extremely domineering and was not afraid to get in someone's face to get what he wanted. -
Geneva Conference
This conference was a turning point for US involvement in Vietnam. The papers were signed in July of 1954, stating that Vietnam would be split into North and South Vietnam at the 17th parallel. North was deemed communist under Ho Chi Minh and the South was a fake democracy under Ngo Dinh Diem.
http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/geneva-conference.html -
Attack on Tonkin Gulf
This was an "attack" on the US Maddox by North Vietnamese forces on August 2. The US claimed that it was unprovoked but hid the fact that the Maddox was providing support and supplies to South Vietnam. -
Tonkin Gulf Reslution
This was a resolutioin that gave President Johnson a blank check to escalate US involvement in the war in Vietnam. It passed unanimously in the House with only two dissenting votes in the Senate. Johnson used this as the legal basis for his actions in Vietnam.
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=98 -
Malcom X's assasination
Malcom X was a civil rights activist who was committed to the nation of Islam and believed that African Americans needed to get their rights through self defense. On February 21, he was assasinated in Harlem by balck Muslims. He was assasinated because he was believed to be a traitor to the nation of Islam's beliefs.
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/feb-21-1965-malcolm-x-is-assassinated-by-black-muslims/ -
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was a bombing campaign under President Johsnon that was supposed to last for eight weeks- it lasted for 3 years. It was meant to bomb North Vietnam and NLF controlled areas in South Vietnam. -
Selma March
THe march from Selma to Montogomery, Alabama was a nonviolent African American demonstrators protesting for the right to vote. Although they were nonviolent, the police were not, and beat and arrested many of the African Americans. This was a turning point in the civil rights movement.
http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_selma_to_montgomery_march/ -
Medicare
Johnson wanted people who could not afford to see a doctor to be able to get the medical attention that they needed so he created this bill signed at the Truman Library to get medical attention for the elderly.
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/anniversaries/medicarebill.htm -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was an attack on South Vietnam on the Vietnamese holiday Tet. Being a holiday, both American and South Vietnamese forces thought that there would be a cease fire; however, the Vietcong attacked anyway. This shattered the belief that the Americans could win the war. -
Dr. Martin Lutler King's Assasination
Civil Rights leader and representative of the SCLC Martin Luther King was assasinated on April 4, 1968 outside of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee. This event proved that though progress for equality was made, there was still very far to go.
http://history1900s.about.com/cs/martinlutherking/a/mlkassass.htm -
Richard Nixon
President Richard M. Nixon was a president known for his genius in foreign affairs and his misfortune with scandal. He was a Republican President and the first in history to resign from the presidency. He handled the war in Vietnam with "peace with honor" and promised to get the soilders home. -
Watergate
This was a scandal under Richard Nixon's Presidency when five "burglars" were caught snooping around the Democratic offices at Watergate. Nixon claimed to have not known about this crime that took place; however, his refusal to give up pre-recorded tapes and his actions with the Saturday Night Massacre told otherwise. He was eventually impeached for obstruction of justice in 1974 and resigned from office on August 9. -
Vietnamization
Nixin's main campaigning goal was to pull American troops out of Vietnam and turn the war over to the South Vietnamese through Vietnamization. Beginning shortly after he entered office in 1969, the vietnamization process was said to be complete by December of 1975. However, South Vietnam fell to communism just two years later, despite America's efforts. -
Withdrawal of US forces in Vietnam
Through Vietnamization, the US finally pulled out of Vietnam in 1973, turning the war over to the South Vietnamese. Unfortunately, Vietnam fell to communism on April 30, 1975. -
Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford was the first unelected President or Vice President in America's history, He was the successor to Nixon's resignation and a Republican. Ford was an extremely honest man and within the first 9 months of his presidency, he ended American involvement in Vietnam. -
President Ford pardons former President Richard Nixon
A month after Ford took office, he publicly gave former President Richard Nixon a presidential pardon from his wrongdoings at Watergate. This caused the American public to distrust Ford and think of him as appointed only to excuse Nixon. He meant well but this daring decision hurt his presidency. -
Helinski Accords
The Helinski Accords was a declaration signed by 33 countries to reduce tensions between the communist Eastern World and the free Western world. It was signed under Gerald Ford's presidency and it was an attempt to reach a detente.
