Key Terms
It is the government practice of spending borrowed money rather than raising taxes, usually in an attempt to boost the economy.
What is deficit spending?
Winston Churchill coined this term for the political and military barrier that isolated Soviet-controlled countries of Eastern Europe after World War II.
What is the Iron Curtain?
At the 1945 Yalta Conference, Allied leaders met to discuss the division of Germany and this specific capital city into four occupied zones.
What is Berlin?
Federal troops had to be sent to this Southern city after its governor tried to prevent nine African American students from entering Central High School.
What is Little Rock, Arkansas?
Rejecting standard containment strategies, this president labeled the Soviet Union an "evil empire" that the United States should actively defeat.
Who is Ronald Reagan?
This term describes an economic state of persistent inflation combined with stagnant consumer demand and relatively high unemployment.
What is stagflation?
This foreign policy belief held that if one nation in Asia fell to the communists, neighboring countries would inevitably follow.
What is the domino theory?
The US dropped atomic bombs on these two Japanese cities, resulting in Japan's unconditional surrender.
What is Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
On December 1, 1955, her refusal to give up her bus seat challenged segregation and served as a major catalyst for the civil rights movement.
Who is Rosa Parks?
During the Watergate investigation, Nixon refused to turn over tapes by claiming this presidential prerogative to protect national interests.
What is Executive Privilege?
This is an attempt to kill a bill by having a group of senators take turns speaking continuously so that a vote cannot take place.
What is a filibuster?
Formed in 1949, this military alliance committed the US and Western European nations to come to the defense of any member that was attacked.
What is NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)?
World War II officially began on September 1, 1939, when German forces launched an invasion of this nation.
What is Poland?
This infamous legal doctrine permitted racial segregation in the United States as long as equal facilities were provided.
What is "Separate but Equal?"
He assumed the presidency immediately after Richard Nixon resigned from office in 1974.
Who is Gerald Ford?
This term means to officially charge the holder of a public office with misconduct.
What is to impeach?
For almost 30 years until its fall in 1989, this structure stood as the definitive symbol of Cold War divisions.
What is the Berlin Wall?
This US General was named Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Western Europe during World War II.
Who is Dwight D. Eisenhower?
In his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Martin Luther King, Jr. defended this specific approach to protesting segregation.
What is nonviolent direct action (or civil disobedience)?
Passed during Truman's presidency, this constitutional amendment officially limited US presidents to serving a maximum of two terms.
What is the Twenty-Second Amendment?
It is a process in which a neutral party hears arguments from two opposing sides and makes a decision that both sides must legally accept.
What is binding arbitration?
This 1962 crisis ended with the Soviet Union removing its nuclear weapons from Cuba and the United States removing its nuclear weapons from Turkey.
What is the Cuban Missile Crisis?
Beginning in December 1944, this was the last major German offensive in Western Europe aimed at cutting off Allied supply lines.
What is the Battle of the Bulge?
Passed during Lyndon Johnson's presidency, this constitutional amendment outlawed the use of poll taxes in federal elections.
What is the Twenty Fourth Amendment?
A year of massive political upheaval, 1968 saw the tragic assassinations of these two high-profile American leaders.
Who are Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy?