Early Cold War
Truman's foundational foreign policy designed to stop communism from spreading further without necessarily reversing it.
Containment
The historical term for racial separation that is explicitly mandated and enforced by specific laws (it's in latin).
De jure segregation
The foreign policy theory suggesting that if one nation in Southeast Asia fell to communism, its neighbors would follow.
Domino Theory
Congressional resolution that effectively gave President Lyndon B. Johnson a military "blank check" in Vietnam.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Lyndon B. Johnson’s ambitious domestic agenda aimed squarely at ending poverty and racial injustice.
Great Society
A massive economic recovery package provided by the United States to help rebuild Western Europe after World War II.
Marshall Plan
The landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling that declared "separate but equal" was inherently unequal and unconstitutional.
Brown v. Board of Education
A botched, CIA-backed invasion of Cuba by exiles intended to topple the regime of Fidel Castro.
Bay of Pigs
Name of the Operation that launched American military involvement in Vietnam.
Rolling Thunder
This landmark Great Society program was established to provide federal health insurance for elderly Americans aged 65 and older.
Medicare
This critical domestic law provided returning military veterans with low-interest mortgages and college tuition.
GI Bill
The primary legal impact of this landmark 1964 act was ending de jure segregation in public accommodations and the workplace.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
This tense 1962 diplomatic crisis was successfully resolved when the Soviet Union agreed to remove their missiles from the island of Cuba.
Cuban Missile Crisis
A massive, surprise communist assault in 1968 that shattered public confidence and created a widening "Credibility Gap"
Tet Offensive
This Great Society initiative was launched as an early childhood education program to help break the cycle of poverty by preparing low-income preschool children for school.
Head Start
A physical barrier built in Germany that became a literal "Iron Curtain" separating freedom from communism.
Berlin Wall
An organization formed specifically to give younger people a prominent voice within the Civil Rights movement.
SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)
Term for JFK's Cold War strategy
The advent of this resulted in Vietnam being called the "living room war"
Television
Created alongside Medicare, this insurance program was designed as part of the Great Society to provide critical health coverage to low-income individuals and families.
Medicaid
President Eisenhower’s Cold War strategy relied primarily on air power and these weapons to get "more bang for the buck".
Nuclear
Civil Rights leader who advocated for nonviolent civil disobedience and protest.
Martin Luther King Jr.
JFK's Cold War approach relied on reversing the Eisenhower administration's focus on just nuclear weapons by increasing funding to traditional military apparatus, special forces (like the Green Berets) and this
Soft Power (Peace Corps and Alliance for Progress)
The term used to describe the economic crisis of attempting to fully fund a domestic agenda while simultaneously financing a major foreign war.
Guns and Butter
Act that created a program to support families struggling with food insecurity.
Food Stamp Act
Eisenhower's Cold War strategy of Roll Back relied on "massive retaliation" and this
brinkmanship
The civil rights leader who diverged from MLK's integrationist approach by advocating for "self-defense" and "Black Nationalism"
Malcom X
The name of the "dweeb" who served as JFK's secretary of defense during the Cuban Missile Crisis and helped prevent nuclear fallout
Robert Macnamara
Riots at this during the summer of 1968 were largely due to clashes between police and anti-war protesters.
Democratic National Convention
Act that created the Job Corps and sought to put more Americans to work.
Economic Opportunity Act