A Timeline of US Politics: Truman to Reagan

8.1 apush United nations- security council,dominated by major powers of the world but allows for participation, not decision making, from other countries, general assembly Harry Truman- democrat, cold war supporter and anti communist, wanted expansion of new deal programs and universal healthcare Dwight D Eisenhower- republican, allied supreme commander in europe during ww2, conservative, built up americas nuclear arsenal John F. Kennedy- democrat, continued the cold war and expanded conflict in vietnam, tried to get thru new frontier programs of civil rights legislation but met with resistance from congress Lyndon johnson- pushed the great society through congress,- expanded social programs and created progress for civil rights, expanded war in vietnam Richard Nixon- republican, enviormental control and rehabiltation, decreased american involvement in vietnam Watergate scandal- CREEP burglars broke into democratic party headquarters, nixon tried to cover it up, handed over the conversation tapes showing that he ordered a cover up of the break in, and he resigned Gerald Ford- appointed by senate, ended war in vietname, pardoned nixon Jimmy Carter- democrat, detente policies with soviet union and china, very unpopular Ronald Reagan- promised to make it morning in america again, began a series of economically conservative policies Cold war- between us and ussr, proxy wars, never actually fought each other Berlin airlift- stalin cut off supplies to west berlin, so us flew in supplies to west berlin Iron curtain- europe, divided western democratic countries with communist governments of eastern europe Containment- us adopted this as their official soviet union foreign policy, wanted to stop the spread of communism,if any contry seemed it would become communist, america would intervene Truman doctrine- wanted to stop spread of communism, sent 400 mill in aid to greece and turkey Marshall plan- sent money to western europe to help their rebuild their cities and economies World bank- provide economic assistance to underdeveloped countries North atlantic treaty organization (nato)-defensive alliance treaty that guaranteed if a member state was attacked, others would come to its aid “Losing china”- china became communist under mao zedong, truman blamed for this by republicans Hydrogen bomb- us created, 1000x more powerful than atomic bomb Korean war-proxy war, never resolved, north and south still enemies today Second red scare- suspected commnists in the government and military Loyalty review board- investigated 3mill federal employees, 3k fired House un-american activities committee (HUAC)- started to hunt for communists Jules and ethel rosenberg- sent to electric chair for being soviet spies Hollywood ten- group of 10 producers that refused to cooperate with a HUAC investigation of communism in hollywood, all were jailed Blacklisted- forbidden from working in hollywood ever again Mccarthyism- red hunting, went after the army, saying it was filled with communist, army struck back Army mcarthy hearings- senate kicked mcarthy out a few months later Taft hartley act- outlawed the closed shop labor union and required union leaders to take a non communist oath GI bill- provided educational opportunities, and mortages to people who served in war Executive order 9981- de segregated the us military Mutually assured destruction- plan was to be able to level any country that nuked us, but there would not be much of the world after that Military industrial complex- an idea that the economy was dependent on large military expendentirues, and the miltiary would not be interested in scaling down Berlin wall- east germany constructed it, enclosed democratic west berlin, and cuting off traffic and movement in the city Flexible response- would allow the military a range of options in a crisis Detente- periods of relaxed tensions U 2 spy plane- flew above soviet union and was shot down Cuban missile crisis-tense standoff between us and ussr over soviet missles in cuba, almost brought the world to nuclear war Bay of pigs- failed military invasion of cuba , where cuban exiles tried to overthrow castros communist gov Domino theory- said that if one country in asia fell to communism, then the other countries would to Ho chi minh- leader of north vietnam, begged versailles peace treaty to follow wilsons advice to grant independence to colonized ppl Vietcong- communist guerilla fighters in south vietnam Gulf on tonkin resolution- gave johnson unlimited war powers in vietnam to command military and increase the conflict Tet offensive- viet cong launch surprise attack and hit major areas in the cities of south vietnam My lai massacre- killed many innocent women, and children and dumped bodies into ditch Vietnamization- of the war, only kinda sucessful as vietcong became bolder and losses of ARVN rose War powers act- required the president to notify congress if they expanded american military involvment in a country within 72 hours Einsenhower doctrine- pledged to keep communism from taking over any middle eastern countries Arab oil embargo- us had high gas prices, long lines at gas stations, and forced rationing International energy agency- an international collective organization dedicated to keeping a steady flow in the worlds oil supply Iranian hostage crisis- stormed the american embassy in tehran and took american diplomats hostage 1.​ 2.​ The early cold war in europe and asia included the berlin airlift in europe. The berlin airlift lasted for one year, and it was against stalins blockade and it showed how committed the us were. There was alos NATO, which strengthened western alliances against the USSR. The marshal plan revived the economy is western europe and therefore limited soviet influence. However, during the hungarian uprising the us did not intervene and the ussr immediately crushed the revolt. Additionally, with the berlin wall, the us could not prevent its construction or do much about it in general. In asia there was the korean war, and it ended with no clear winner, as noth korea and south korea ae enemies today. However south korea remained non communist. However, china became communist to mao zedong and with the vietnam war, the us failed to stop communism and vietnam united under ho chi minh. Overall, containment worked better in europe than in asia, because communism expanded in asia. 3.​ The second red scare was a fear of communists in the us government an military. The loyalty review board investiagted 3 million federal employyes and over 3k employees got fired. The house un american acitivies committee targeted hollywood and suspected communists. With the ten hollywood, multiple producers were blacklisted for refusing to comply with the HUAC. Alger hiss was accused of spying for the USSR. The rosenbergs were executed for giving nuclear secrets to the soviets. The senator Joseph Mcarthy falsely claimed he had a list of communists and he went after the army. This reuslted in the army mccarthy hearings, and then he was kicked off by the senate a few months later. 4.​ Some of the economic effects of the cold war included the military industrial complex. The military indsutial complex was where Einsenhower warned that constant military spending was shaping the economy. Defense spending started to icnrease and this led to the new technologies. There was also the GI bill which allowed people who served in the army to have economic opputunties and to buy homes and farms. This helped expand the middle classs. However the taft hartley act wekeaned labor unions as it outlawed the closed shop labor union and required union leaders to take a non communist oath. The OPEC oil embargo caused fuel shortages and this led gas prices to rise. There was long lines at gas stations and a national speed limit. It also worsened stagflation, which is combination of high inflation and unemployment. 5. Berlin blockade and airlift- Stalin cut off all supplies to west berlin, so the US flew in supplies to west berlin for a year, and then eventually Stalin ended the blockade Iron curtain- divided the western democratic states like italy france, and great britain and the communist governments of eastern europe NATO- north atlantic treaty organization, defensive alliance treaty that guaranteed if a member state was attacked, others would come to its aid. Hungarian Uprising- Hungarians revolted because they were stuck as a soviet satellite state, and they wanted a democratic government. However soviet tanks crushes the war effort. Berlin Wall- built by the communist east germany, it enclosed democratic west berlin and cut off traffic and movement in the city. Detente- periods of relaxed tensions in the war 6. Korean war- North korea invaded south korea with soviet tanks and weapons, and the us intervened in the war with the support of the united nations. The war ended with no winner, and north and south korea are still enemies today. Mcarthur had said to nuke the chinese, and he criticized Truman, which resulted in him being fired. The korean war was one of the msot prominent proxy wars of the cold war. Chinese communist revolution- Mao zedong was the communist leader, and he pushed the democratic government to taiwan. Truman was blamed for losing china by republicans. Vietnam war-The Vietnam War was a Cold War conflict where the U.S. failed to stop communist forces, leading to a withdrawal in 1973. In 1975, Saigon fell, and Vietnam was reunified under communism. The war damaged U.S. credibility and caused domestic unrest. Nixon vists china- President Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit Communist China, marking a major shift in Cold War diplomacy, and led china to have a more capatlist economy, even though the government was still communis. 7. CIA backed coup in guatemala- CIA-backed coup in Guatemala (1954) was a covert operation that overthrew the democratically elected, leftist government of President Jacobo Árbenz, who had initiated land reforms that threatened U.S. corporate interests, leading to decades of instability in the country. Cuban revolution- Fidel Castro, along with his revolutionary forces, overthrow the corrupt government of Fulgencio Batista, establishing a socialist society like USSR, significantly heightening Cold War tensions. Bays of pigs invasion-failed U.S. operation that aimed to overthrow Fidel Castro by landing a group of Cuban exiles, trained and supported by the CIA, on the Cuban coast, but it ended in a defeat that embarrassed the U.S. government. Cuban missle crisis-13-day standoff between the U.S. and the USSR after Soviet missiles were discovered in Cuba, bringing both nations to the brink of nuclear war before a solution resulted in the removal of the missiles Cia backed coup in chile-led to the overthrow of the democratically elected socialist President Salvador Allende, replacing him with General Augusto Pinochet, who established a brutal military dictatorship that lasted until the 1990s. 8. Irian coup- The Iranian Coup was a CIA operation that overthrew Prime Minister Mossadegh and installed the Shah to protect U.S. interests in Iran. Suez crisis-the U.S. force Britain and France to back down after they intervened in Egypt’s nationalization of the Suez Canal. Support for israel- led to strong ties with Israel but created ongoing tensions with Arab nations. Oil embargo- occurred when OPEC cut off oil to the U.S. in retaliation for its support of Israel, causing an economic crisis. Iranian hostage crisis-involved 52 U.S. diplomats held hostage in Iran for 444 days following the storming of the embassy.