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Roy Benavidez
Raul Perez "Roy" Benavidez was a member of the United States Army Special Forces and retired United States Army master sergeant who received the Medal of Honor for his valorous actions in combat near Lộc Ninh, South Vietnam on May 2, 1968 (Vietnam War). -
Abbie Hoffman
was an American political and social activist and anarchist who co-founded the Youth International Party ("Yippies"). -
House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)
This organization was responsible for the "Hollywood Ten" and other accusations of espionage against innocent citizens. -
GI Bill (Servicemen’s Readjustment Act 1944)
This was a law that provided a range of benefits for returning World War II veterans. Benefits included low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans to start a business, cash payments of tuition and living expenses to attend university, high school or vocational education, as well as one year of unemployment compensation. It also improved the economy. In the picture, President Roosevelt signs the bill -
The iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the imaginary boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolized efforts by the Soviet Union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the west and non-Soviet-controlled areas. -
NATO
It is said that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was founded in response to the threat posed by the Soviet Union. This is only partially true. The Alliance’s creation was part of a broader effort to serve three purposes: deterring Soviet expansionism, forbidding the revival of nationalist militarism in Europe through a strong North American presence on the continent, and encouraging European political integration. -
Beatniks
A name given to young people who were part of a social group in the 1950s and early 1960s that rejected the traditional rules of society and encouraged people to express themselves through art. -
Korean War
The Korean War was a war between North and South Korea, in which a United Nations force led by the United States fought for the South, and China fought for the North, which was also assisted by the Soviet Union. -
Dwight D. Eisenhower
After being the commanding general of the victorious forces in Europe during World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower was again successful, obtaining a truce in Korea and worked incessantly during his two terms (1953-1961) to ease the tensions of the Cold War. -
Domino Theory
Shortly before the Vietnam War, Americans were extremely worried about the spread of communism. One such way to express this was the domino theory in which it was explained that if one country fell to communism in the southeast, the rest around it would, too. -
Jonas Salk
In 1954, national testing of Salk's vaccine began on one million "Polio Pioneers." On April 12, 1955, the results were announced: the vaccine was safe and effective. In the two years before the vaccine was widely available, the average number of polio cases in the U.S. was more than 45,000. By 1962, that number had dropped to 910. -
Space Race
On October 4, 1957, a Soviet R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile launched Sputnik (Russian for “traveler”), the world’s first artificial satellite and the first man-made object to be placed into the Earth’s orbit. Sputnik’s launch came as a surprise, and not a pleasant one, to most Americans. This created a new urgency in 1958, President Dwight Eisenhower signed a public order creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a federal agency dedicated to space exploration. -
Ray Kroc
Kroc became involved with McDonald’s in the 1950s. Kroc purchased the restaurant company in 1961, implementing automation and strict preparation standards that helped make McDonald’s the world’s largest restaurant franchise -
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy 's role in the Cold War was crucial, he deterred the Cuban Missile Crisis . John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States and the youngest person ever to be voted into the White House. Kennedy served from 1961 until his assassination in 963. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet missiles where dicovered in Cuba and posed a threat to the Us. This lead to US placing missiles in Turkey. Peace did not come until UK, US, and USSR negotioated in June 1963. -
Betty Friedan
She was an American writer, activist, and feminist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the second wave of American feminism in the 20th century -
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) was the 36th president of the United States, assuming the office after the assassination JFK. He inherited the escalating crisis in Vietnam. Despite promises to end American involvement in Indochina, Johnson steadily increased the number of U.S. troops deployed to Vietnam, hoping to ensure a U.S. victory. But by the end of his second term his approval rates plummeted and his hopes for bringing an end to the war had dissolved. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
On this date, a US destroyer was attacked by NVA and there was an alleged 2nd attack. Johnson ordered retaliatory aristrikes. This incident allowed military action without declaration of war. Though, the second incident never happened. -
Miranda V Arizona
This was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court. In a 5-4 majority, the Court held that both inculpatory and exculpatory statements made in response to interrogation by a defendant in police custody will be admissible at trial only if the prosecution can show that the defendant was informed of the right to consult with an attorney -
Richard Nixon
In the 1968 election, Republican Richard Nixon claimed to have a plan to end the war in Vietnam, but, in fact, it took him five years to disengage the United States from Vietnam. Indeed, Richard Nixon presided over as many years of war in Indochina as did Johnson. About a third of the Americans who died in combat were killed during the Nixon presidency. -
Tet Offensive 1968
On the Vietnamese new year, North Vietnam launched offensive but lost militarily while South Vietnam was left in destruction. -
Vietnamization
This was Nixon's policy to remove US troops as South Vietnamese began to fight. -
Anti-War Movement
As the Vietnam war progressed, people became more dissillusioned and less supportive of the war. The climax of protest was the Kent state Masacre, the date shown above, in which 4 college students were killed. -
26th amendment
The 26th Amendment changed a portion of the 14th Amendment. Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. -
Vietnam War (fall of Saigon 1975)
The NVA and Viet Cong took saigon. US military helped with evacuations but failed to rescue many South Vietnamese who helped in the war effort. -
Rust Belt and Sun Belt (migration)
During the 1950's there was a sudden move of Americans from industrious cities to more the calm south, the "sunbelt".
