-
War Powers Act
This was an American law that increased the federal power during WWII. President Roosevelt signed this act and it gave him power to direct any actions needed to help with the war. This was established because of the attack on Pearl Harbor. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight Eisenhower was the 34th President of the US and he commanded the D-Day invasion. He was also the surpreme commander of the Allied forces in Western Europe during WWII. After commanding the invasion of D-Day, he turned the tide of the war in Europe decisively in the Allied direction. He then returned home tp serve as cheif to staff of the US Army. -
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was first used by the former British Prime Minister Winston Chruchill. The Iron Curtiain was a national barrier that separated to West and the Soviet before to decline of communism. -
Period: to
Cold War
The cold war was not actually a war of fighting, it was a war of threats and propaganda. There were many reason for the cause of the co,d war but the main ones were the fear of communism, nuclear weapons, and people being anti-war. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine stated that the US should give support to other countries that are threatened by the Soviet or by communist force. This was introduced by President Truman for the aid of Greece and Turkey. The communists saw this document as an opening of the Cold War. -
Containment Policy
This was a policy that prevented the spread of communism. This policy was made as a US response to the several moves that were made by the Soviet Union trying to spead communism into Eastern Europe, China, VIetnam, Korea, and Africa. They thought that communism would become a "domino effect" and this was their repsone/plan to stop it. -
Mashall Plan
President Truman signed this document which was the Economic Recoverey Act which eventually became known as the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plans main purpose was to aid Europe and Asia. The US game them $120 billion dollars, in current time, to help them rebuild Europes economy after WWII. -
Period: to
Berlin Airlift
The Berlin Airlift was the US bringing in supplies by plane to Berlin for the Americans because there was a blockade from Russia that let nothing in or out of Berlin. Cargo was being dropped off at all time of the day and many planes flew through the air over Berlin. -
Period: to
McCarthyism
This was a campaign against communists. There was thought that some people in the US were supporting communism and they were put on a list, however, not all of the people that were on the list were supporting it. President McCarthy questioned many departments of the government. This problem caused many people to loose their jobs. -
Period: to
Domino Theory
The Domino Theory stated that if one state in a region became under the influence of communism, then surrounding countries would follow that like a domino effect. The US used to domino thoery to show its supportfor non-communist regime. America failed to prevent communism and it showed that the domino theory had much less effect than thought. -
Period: to
Korean War
This was a war between North & South Korea. The United Nations force was led by the US and they fought for the South side of Korea and China fought for the North. The soldiers poured across the 38th parallel into the other sides of Korea. The US thought that this was going to be the start of WWIII. The korean war finally ended and Korea is still divided today. -
Rosenberg Trial
Julius Rosenberg was arrested a few weeks after the Korean War began and him and his wife were both executed. He was trialed for giving up the secret of the atomic bomb to the USSR. They were found guilty. Their co-defendant was involved too and he got sentenced to 30 years in prison. Their attorney's tried to get the death sentences overturned but President Truman nor the court would bother to relook at it again. -
Jonas Salk
Dr.Salk released the polio vaccine on March 26, 1953. He developed it at the University of Pittsburgh, however, it required many years of testing before they could actually send it out for people to use. Many Americans were becoming infected with the disease but he helped. He became known as the great doctor-benefactor of his time. -
Period: to
Vietnam War
This was a conflict between the US and South VIetnam. This started because the US thought that communism was going to spread all through southeast Asia. -
Gary Powers
Gary Powers was the pilot of an American U-2 plane and was shot down while flying through the Soviet airspace. The plane was shot down over Russia and when it crashed Powers was kidnapped. He was alive and Eisenhower had to admit to the public that it was a spy plane. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The cuban missile crisis brought on nuclear conflict between the US and the Soviet Union. This crisis lasted 13 days. President Kennedy notified Americans about the presence of missiles and he made the desicion to enact naval blockade to neutralize the threat to the national security. -
John F Kennedy
John F Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in the streets of Dallas, Texas. He was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald at 12:30pm. He was shot 3 times from the sixth floor of a building down the street from where Kennedy was traveling. He was pronounced dead 30 minutes later at the hospital they took him to. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
This gave President Johnson the permission to take any measures that he believed were necassary to promote peace and security in southeast Asia. This was established because of two attacks by North Vietnam torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonkin. -
Great Society
President Lyndon B. Johnson brought on the goals of the "Great Society" which was a set of programs that were designed to give civil rights and decrease poverty. Kennedy had made promises with fixing things but when Kennedy died and Johnson took his stop, Johnson had to follow through with the promises that were previosuly made. One of the main things that was fixed during the "Great Society" was the providence of medicare. -
Lyndon B Johnson
Lyndon Johnson signed a bill that gave African Americans in the south the right to vote. He established the program known as the "Great Society." He also helped Kennedy with winning the election because he was so big in the south. -
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong founded the Republic of China and he was also responsible for the "Cultural Revolution" and "The Great Leap Forward." He was the Chinese leader and he helped with the Chinese society. Many people thought that the things he did were negative but he did not see it that way. -
Abbie Hoffman
He supported/took place in the civil rights movement. He protested in many movements and always got his point across. He ended up getting into bad situations and got arrested. He was a co-founder of the Youth International Party to protest the Vietnam War. -
Tet Offensive
70,000 North Vietnamese & Viet Cong forces launched the Tet Offensive. This was a coordinated series of attacks in South Vietnam. The leader of this was General Vo Nguyen Giap. This offensive was planned to attempt to forment the rebellion of South Vietnamese people and to encourage the US the bring back its support of the Saigon regime. -
Roy Benavidez
He recieved the Medal of Honor from Ronald Regan ecause of his heroism during the VIetnam War. He was going to save his fellow troops and was shot in the face, head, and leg as he was getting off of the helicopter. He drug the soldiers that were alive ack to the helicopter. -
Richard Nixon
Richard Nison was the first president to every resign from office. His first election he ran for, he lost, by President Kennedy. However, He ran again and won. One of Nixon's biggest accomplishments was removing the US troops from VIetnam War grounds. -
Vietnamization
This term is the US policy of taking troops out and transferring the responsibility and direction of the war effort to the government of South VIetnam. This was Nixon's strategy which involved building up Suth Vietnam's military strength so that they could provide their own defense against a communist takeover. Nixon then took over 150,000 US troops out of VIetnam.
