John Maynard Keynes
British economist who argued that for a nation to recovery fully from a depression, the government had to spend money to encourage investment and consumption
GI Bill of Rights
1944; gave money to veterans to study in colleges, universities, gave medical treatment, loans to buy a house or farm or start a new business
Taft-Hartley Act
1947; outlawed the closed shop and authorized the president to seek court injunctions to prevent strikes
closed shop
a provision written into many labor contracts requiring new workers to join the union before they could be employed
George Kennan
foreign officer who formulated the "containment doctrine" which stated that Russia was relentlessly expansionary, cautious and the flow of the soviet power could be stemmed by firm and vigilant containment. he wrote "The Sources of Soviet Conduct," which
The Sources of Soviet Conduct
article written by George Kennan that argued for containment as the only way to stop the powerful soviet expansion
Baruch Plan
1946; a plan to have UN inspectors operating without restrictions anywhere in the world to ensure that no country made bombs secretly. Its goal was the eventual outlawing of atomic weapons. The Soviet Union refused to agree to its measures
Iron Curtain
used by Winston Churchill in 1946 to describe the demarcation between democratic and communist countries. an invisible political line
Truman Doctrine
1947; Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology
George Marshall
United States general, who as Secretary of State organized the European Recovery Program
Marshall Plan
Introduced by Secretary of State George Marshall in 1947, he proposed massive and systematic American economic aid to Europe to revitalize the European economies after WWII and help prevent the spread of Communism. it was very successful
Berlin Airlift
1948-1949; Joint effort by the US and Britain to fly food and supplies into West Berlin after the Soviets blocked off all ground routes into the city. It put the Soviets into a very difficult position, which forced them to either attack first or back off
Chaing Kai-shek
Wanted to unify China and led troops to stop communism under the nationalist movement. He was eventually defeated and fled to China
Mao Zedong
Chinese communist leader (1893-1976)
General MacArthur
he was a commander of the UN forces at the beginning of the korean war (aiding North Korea), however, president Truman removed him from his command after he expressed a desire to bomb Chinese bases in Manchuria.
Dixiecrat
a member of a dissenting group of southern Democrats who formed the States' Rights Party in 1948. They opposed civil rights and sought to protect the southern way of life against the interference of the federal government (against Truman in the 1948 elect
Henry Wallace
A former Democratic and VP under FDR, who ran on the New Progressive Party due to his disagreement on Truman's policy with the Soviets. He caused the Democratic party to split even more during the election season.
Thomas Dewey
Republican candidate for pres in both 1944 (lost to FDR) and 1948, where he lost to Truman in a big upset
Fair Deal
Truman's extension of the New Deal that increased min wage, expanded Social Security, develop a national health insurance system, repeal the Taft-Hartley Act and constructed low-income housing. Very little of this legislation was ever passed
NATO
North Atlantic Treaty Organization; (1949) an alliance made to defend one another (militarily) if they were attacked by any other country; US, England, France, Canada, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Norway, Portugal and Iceland.
NSC-68
1950; a secret policy statement proposed by the National Security Council that called for a large, ongoing military commitment to contain Soviet Communism. It was accepted by Truman after the N Korean invasion of S Korea
Yalu River
1950; a battle in the Korean War when UN troops advanced north to the Yalu River 200,000 Chinese troops crossed the river and drove them back. it also forms part of the border between North Korea and China
police action
phrase used to describe the US intervention in Korea in 1950, when the US never officially declared war
Loyalty Review Board
1947; effort to control possible communist influence in US government. Boards to investigate "security risks" working for government- some employees released for affiliation with unacceptable political organizations/ sexual orientation.
Whittaker Chambers
an editor and former Communist who accused Alger Hiss (State Dept. during FDR days) of giving govt. secrets to Russians, convicted of perjury
Alger Hiss
A former State Department official who was accused of being a Communist spy (giving classified documents to the Soviets) and was convicted of perjury. The case was prosecuted by Richard Nixon.
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
communists who received international attention when they were executed having been found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage in relation to passing information on the American atomic bomb to the Soviet Union
McCarthyism
The term associated with Senator Joseph McCarthy who led the search for communists in America during the early 1950s through his leadership in the House Un-American Activities Committee. It also became a synonym for public charges of disloyalty without su
Adlai Stevenson
The Democratic candidate who ran against Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956. His intellectual speeches earned him and his supporters the term "eggheads". Lost to Eisenhower twice.
John Foster Dulles
Eisenhower's Sec. of State; harsh anti-Communist; called for more radical measures to roll back communism where it had already spread (containment too cautious), such as nuclear weapons and a "new look" military
Massive Retaliation
The "new look" defense policy of the Eisenhower administration of the 1950's was to threaten "massive retaliation" with nuclear weapons in response to any act of aggression by a potential enemy.
Army McCarthy Hearings
a series of hearings where Senator McCarthy accused people in the US military of being communists
Indochina
the former French colony where Korean Nationalists harassed the French in Vietnam. The French were supported by the US. (The area contains Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia)
Ho Chi Minh
leader of the Nationalist group in Vietnam that eventually defeated the French and became the leader of the Republic of Vietnam
Dien Bien Phu
a remote French stronghold where the French were trapped and defeated by Ho Chi Minh (after asking, and failing to get, American air force support)
Ngo Dinh Diem
a conservative anti-communist who overthrew Bao Dai, the emperor of southern Vietnam, when it seemed likely that a communist leader would be elected in the upcoming elections
SEATO
Southeast Treaty Organization; an alliance formed to oppose Communism in Southeast Asia. Includes USA, UK, France, Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand
Israel
1948; it was created as the Jewish homeland for all the surviving and misplaced Jews from the Holocaust. It was originally part of Palestine and its creation angered neighboring Arab countries. Its creation was supported by Truman and then down played by
Nassar-Suez Crisis
a swift and militarily harmless crisis between the US, France, Britain and Israel and Egypt and the Soviet Union. It was based on an Egyptian change in policy on the Suez canal, drawing force from the other countries and support for the the Soviets
Eisenhower Doctrine
policy of the US that it would defend the middle east against attack by any communist country. Restatement of the containment policy
Nikita Khruschev
Succeeded Stalin as the head of the Soviet Communist Party and became the Soviet premier.
Sputnik
The world's first space satellite. This meant the Soviet Union had a missile powerful enough to reach the US. It sparked fears of Soviet domination in technology and led to NASA and the outer space race
U-2 Incident
1960; an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. The U.S. denied the true purpose of the plane at first, but was forced to when the Soviets produced the living pilot and the largely intact plane to validate their claim of being spied o
OAS
Organization of American States; an association of countries in the western hemisphere, created in 1948 to promote military and economic and social and cultural cooperation
Guatemala
when the Guatemalan leader, Guzman, stated importing Soviet weapons, the US gave weapons to neighboring Honduras, where an army was raised to overthrow Guzman
Fidel Castro
Cuban revolutionary leader who overthrew the corrupt regime of the dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and soon after established a Communist state. He was prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and has been president of the government and First Secretar
McCarran Internal Security Act
United States federal law that required the registration of Communist organizations with the Attorney General, publish their records and established the Subversive Activities Control Board to investigate persons thought to be engaged in "un-American" acti
Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka
1954; Supreme Court decision that held that racially segregated education, which prevailed in much of the South, was unconstitutional. The ruling overturned the doctrine of "separate but equal" that had provided the legal justification for racial segregat
massive resistance
a plan by the Virginia governor that denied state aid to local school systems that wished to desegregate
Little Rock, Arkansas
Eisenhower had to call in paratroopers and National Guardsmen to protect black students attending a desegregated high school (especially when the governor called in the National Guard to stop them from attending)
Civil Rights Act of 1957
Law that made it a federal crime to prevent qualified persons from voting. It also established the Civil Rights Commission and a Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice. It was difficult to enforce
television debates
a series of debates between Kennedy and Nixon in the 1960 election that allowed Kennedy to display his maturity and mastery of the issues
New Frontier
The campaign program advocated by JFK in the 1960 election. He promised to revitalize the stagnant economy and enact reform legislation in education, health care, and civil rights.