question

A. Philip Randolph

answer

labor and civil rights leader in the 1940s who led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; he demanded the FDR create a Fair Employment Practices Commission to investigate job discrimination in war industires. FDR agreed only after he threatened a march on Washington by African Americans

question

Agricultural Adjustment Administration

answer

New Deal program that paid farmers not to produce crops; it provided farmers with income while reducing crop surpluses and helped stabilize farm production. The Supreme Court declared major parts of this law unconstitutional

question

Al Smith

answer

first Catholic ever nominated for president; he lost in 1928 because of the nation's prosperity, but his religion, urban background and views on Prohibition cost him votes as well

question

American Liberty League

answer

a conservative anti-New Deal organization, members included Alfred Smith, JOhn W. DAvis, and the Du Pont Family. IT criticized the "dictatorial" policies of Roosevelt and what it perceived to be his attacks on the free enterprise system.

question

Atlantic Charter

answer

joint statement issued by President Roosevelt and Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill of principals and goals for an Allied victory in World War II; it provided for self-determination for all conquered nations, freedom of seas, economic security, and free trade. Later, it became the embodiment of the United Nation's charter.

question

Black Cabinet

answer

an informal network of black officeholders in the federal government; led by MAry McLeod Bethune, William Hastie, and Robert Weaver, they pushed for economic and political opportunities for African American in the 1930s and 1940s.

question

Bonus Army

answer

group of jobless World War I veterans who came to Washington to lobby Congress for immediate payment of money promised to them in 1945; Hoover opposed payment, and when he used the U.S. Army to drive the veterans out of the capital, he was portrayed as cruel and cold-hearted.

question

Brain Trust

answer

name applied to college professors from Columbia University such as Rexford Tugwell, Adolf Berle, and RAymond Moley who adviseed Roosevelt on economic matters early in the New Deal; this grouop took on the role of an "unofficial Cabinet" in the Roosevelt Administration

question

Charles Coughlin

answer

Catholic priest who sued his popular radio program to criticize the NEw Deal; he grew increasingly anti-Roosevelt and anti-Semitic until the Catholic Chruch pulled him off the air

question

Court-packing plan

answer

Roosevelt's proposal in 1937 to "reform" the Supreme Court by appointing an additional justice for every justice over the age of 70.

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Fireside chats

answer

Roosevelt's informal radio addressees throughout his presidency; they gave the people a sense of confidence that he understood their problems and was trying to help solve them.

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Frances Perkins

answer

Roosevel's secretaryt of labor; the first woman to serve as a federal Cabinet officer, she had a great influence on many New Deal programs, most significantly the Social Security Act.

question

Francis Townsend

answer

retired physician who proposed an Old Age Revolving Pension Plan to give every retiree over age 60 $200 per month, provided tht the person spend the money each month in order to receive their next payments; the object of Townsend's plan was to help retired workers as well as stimulate the spending in order to boost production and end the Depression

question

Franklin D. Roosevelt

answer

president; elected four times, he led the country's recovery from the Depression and to victory in World War II. He died in office, however, just weeks before Gernamn's surrender. He is generally considered the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln.

question

Harry Hopkins

answer

close advisory to Roosevelt and FDR's czar of relief of programs; he headed the Federal Relief Administration, and Works Progress Administration and later undertook diplomatic missions to the USSR

question

Harry S. Truman

answer

vice-president who became president when FDR died; he was elected on his own in 1948. Truman odered the usedof atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II, set the course of postwar containment of communism in the Cold War, and created a Fair Deal program to carry on the New Deal's domestic agenda

question

Hawley-Smoot Tariff

answer

raised the duties on imported foreign goods to all-time highs; intended to boost American industry and employment, it actually deepened the Depression when European countries could not repay their loans (World War I war debts) and retaliated against American exports

question

Herbert Hoover

answer

president who is blamed for the Great Depression; althugh he tried to use government power to bring on recovery, his inflexibility and refusal to give direct relief doomed his programs and his presidency.

question

Hoovervilles

answer

camps and shantytowns of unemployed and homeless on the outskirts of major cities during the early days of the Depression; they were symbols of the failure of Hoover's program and the way the nation held him responsible for the hard times

question

Huey Long

answer

flamboyant Louisiana governor and U.S. senator; he challenged FDR to do more for the poor and needy and proposed a popular "Share-Our-Wealth" program to tax the wealthy in order to provide a guaranteed income for the poor. He was assassinated in1935.

question

Hundred Days

answer

term applied to the first weeks of the Roosevelt Administration, during Congress passes 13 emergency relief and reform measures that were the backbone of the early New Deal; theseincluded the Civilian Conservation Corp, the Glass Stegal Act (FDIC), Agricultural Adjustment Act, Federal Emergency Relief Act, and the National Industrial Recovery Act.

question

Lend Lease

answer

program authorizing the president to lend or lease equipment to nations whose defense was deemed vital to the US security; it was designed to help a bankrupt Britain continue fighting the Nazis. By 1945, the United States had extended $50 billion in wartime aid to Britain and the Soviet Union

question

National Labor Relations Act

answer

created a board that could compel employers to recognize and bargain with unions; this law helped promote the growth of organized labor in the 1930s and for decades thereafter

question

National Recovery Administration

answer

agency that created a partnership between business and government to fight the Depression; it allowed major industries to fix prices in return for agreeing to fair practice codes, wage and hour standards, and labor's right to organize. Major parts of the law that created the NRA were declared unconstitutional in 1935.

question

Neutrality Acts

answer

series of laws that provided Americans could not ship weapons, loan money, travel on belligerent ships, extend credit or deliver goods to any belligerent countries; they were high tide of isolationism, and all were repealed between 1939 and 1941

question

New Deal

answer

Roosevelt's program of domestic reform and relief, the three Rs of Relief, Reform and Recovery did not end the depression, but they gave hope and security and made government more responsive to the people in bad economic times.

question

Pearl Harbor

answer

United States naval base in Hawaii that was attacked by Japan on Decermber 7, 1941, with serious US losses: 19 ships sunk or destroyed and over 2,000 deaths; the attack brought the United States into World War II.

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Reconstruction Finance Corporation

answer

Hoover's economic recovery program that provided government loans to businesses, banks, and railroads; it was "pump priming," but it was too little ($300 million) too late to make any real improvement in the economy

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Rugged Individualism

answer

Hoover's philosophy that called on Americans to help each other during the Depression without direct government relief; he feared too much government help would weaken the American character, endanger liberty, and lead to totalitarianism in the United States

question

Second Front

answer

proposed Anglo-American invasion of France to relieve the Soviets, who were fighting a German invasion of the USSR; originally scheduled for 1942, it was not delivered until D-Day in June 1944. This was a divisive issue in Soviet relations with the United States and Britain during the war and after.

question

Second New Deal

answer

name given to a series of proposals that FDR requested and Congress passed to reinvigorate the NEw Deal as recovery from the Depression began to lag; they were antibusiness in tone and intent and included the Public Utility Holding Company Act, SOcial Security Act, National Labor Relations Act, and the Wealth Tax

question

Social Security Act

answer

required both workers and their employer to contribute to a federally run pension fund for retired workers;it also provided federal disability and unemployment assistance. Although benefits were meager, it was the first significant government program to provide for retired, disabled, or unemployed Americans

question

Bay of Pigs

answer

US supported invasion of Cuba; intended to overthrow Communist dicator Fidel Castro, the operation proved a fiasco, Castri's forces killed 114 of the invaders and took nearly 1200 prisoners. The disaster shook the confidence of the Kennedy administration and encouraged the Soviet Union to become more active in the Americas.

question

Camp David Accords

answer

agreement reached between the leaders of Israel and Egypt after protracted negotiations brokered by President Carter; Israel surrendered land seized in earlier wars and Egypt recognized Israel as a nations. Despite high hopes, it did not lead to a permanent peace in region, however.

question

Chiang Kai Shek

answer

ineffective and corrupt leader of China in 1930s and 1940s; he was a wartime ally of the United States, but was unable to stop Communists from seizing power in 1949. Chiang's exile to Taiwan was a major American setback in the early days of the Cold War

question

Cuban Missile Crisis

answer

a confrontation between the United States and the USSR resulting from a Soviet attempt to place long-range nuclear missiles in Cuba; Kennedy forced the Soviets to remove them with a blockade and the threat of force. The crisis enhanced Kennedy's standing but lead to a Soviet arms buildup.

question

Dien Bien Phu

answer

French fortress in northern Vietnam that surrendered in 1954 to the Viet Minh; the defeat caused the French to abandon Indochina and set the stage for the Geneva Conference, which divided the region and led to American involvement in South Vietnam

question

Domino Theory

answer

Eisenhower's metaphor that when one country fell to Communists, its neighbors would then be threatened an dcollapse one after another like a row of dominoes; this belief became a major rationale for US intervention in Vietnam

question

Douglas MacArthur

answer

World War II hero who led United Nations forces during the Korean War; his outspoken opposition to President Truman's decisions to limit the war cost him his command. He wanted to bomb China, and Truman rejected the idea as too reckless

question

Dwight Eisenhower

answer

World War II hero and president; his internationalist foreign policy continued Truman's policy of containment but put greater emphasis on military cost-cutting, the threat of nuclear weapons to deter COmmunist aggression, and Central Intelligence Agency activities to halt communism

question

Fidel Castro

answer

Communist leader of Cuba who led a rebellion against the US-backed dictator who tood power in 1959; President Kennedy tried to overthrow him with the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 but failed. Castro became closely allied with the Soviet Union, making the Kennedy Administration increasingly concerned about Soviet influence in the Western Hermisphere

question

George Kennan

answer

state department official who was architect of the containment concept; in his article "The Source of Soviet Conduct" he sid the USSR was historically and ideologically driven to expand and that the United States must practice "vigilant containment" to stop this expansion

question

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

answer

an authorization by Congress empowering President Johnson "to take all necessary measures" to protect US forces in Vietnam; it was issued following reported attacks on US destroyers off the Vietnam coast. Congress later regretted this action as the Vietnam War escalated, and questions emerged about the legitimacy of the attacks

question

Henry Kissinger

answer

advisor to the Presidents Nixon and Ford; he was architect of the Vietnam settlement, the diplomatic opening to China, and detente with the Soviet Union

question

Ho Chi Minh

answer

communist leader of North Vietnam; he and his Viet Minh/Viet Cong allies fought French and American forces to a standstill in Vietnam. Considered a nationalist by many, others viewed him as an agent of the Soviet Union and China

question

Iran-Contra Affair

answer

scandal that erupted after the Reagan administration sold weapons to Iran in hopes of freeing American hostages in Lebanon; money from the arms sales was used to aid the Contras (anti-Communist insurgents) in Nicaragua, even though Congress had prohibited this assistance. TAlk of Reagan's impeachment ended when presidential aides took the blame for the illegal activity

question

Iran Hostage Crisis

answer

incident in which Iranian radicals, with government support, seized 52 Americans from the US embassy and held them for 444 days

question

Jimmy Carter

answer

president, he aimed for a foreign policy "as good and great as the American people". his highlight was the Camp David Accords; his low point, the Iran Hostage Crisis. Defeated for reelection after one term, he became very successful as an ex-president

question

John Foster Dulles

answer

Eisenhower's secretary of state, moralistic in his belief that COmmunism was evil and must be confronted with "brinkmanship" (the readiness and willingness to go to war) an d"massive retaliation" (the threat of using nuclear weapons)

question

Joseph Stalin

answer

ruthless leader of Soviet Union; he industrialized the nation and led it in World War II and the early stages of the Cold War

question

Lyndon Johnson

answer

president, his escalation of the Vietnam War cost him political support and destroyed his presidency. He increased the number of US troops in Vietnam from 16,000 in 1963 to 540,000 in 1968. After the Tet Offensive, he decided not to seek reelection

question

Mao Zedong

answer

Communist Chinese Leader who won control of China in 1949 a wary ally of the Soviet Union,he was an implacable foe of the United States until the 1970s.

question

Marshall Plan

answer

secretary of state george marshall's economic aid program to rebuild war-torn western europe; it amounted to an enlarged version of the truman doctrine, with billions of dollars going to revive european economies and contain communism

question

massive retaliation

answer

idea that united states should depend on nuclear weapons to stop communism aggression prompted by the frustration of the korean war stalemate and the desire to save money on military budgets, the concept reduced reliance on conventional forces

question

Ngo Dinh Diem

answer

american ally in south vietnam from 1954 to 1963 his repressive regime caused the communist viet cong to thrive in the south and required increasing american military aid to stop a communist takeover. he was killed in a coup in 1963

question

Nikita khrushchev

answer

soviet leader he was an aggressive revolutionary who hoped to spread communism into africa asia and latin america. blame for the cuban missile crisis eventually cost him his leadership position in the USSR

question

North Atlantic treaty organization

answer

military alliance of the united states, ten western European countries and canda it was considered a deterrent to soviet aggression in europe with an attack on one nato nation to beconsidered as an attack on all members

question

peaceful coexistence

answer

period in soviet american relations marked by less tension and by person diplomacy between khrushchev and eisenhower; the two leaders recongnized that in a nuclear age copetition betwen their nations must be peaceful this that in the cold war was ended by the U2 spy plane incident over the soviet union in 1960

question

richard nixon

answer

president he exracted the united states from vietnam slowly, recognized communist china, and improved relations with the soviet union. his foreign policy achievements were overshadowed by the watergate scandal

question

tet offensive

answer

a series of communist attacks on 44 south vietnamese cities; although the viet conf suffered a major defeat the attacks ended the american view that the war was winnable and destroyed the nation's will to escalate the war further

question

truman doctrine

answer

the announced policy of president truman to provide aid to free nations who faced internal or external threats of a communist takeover; announced in conjunction with a $400 million economic aid package to greece and Turkey, it was successful in helping those countries put down communist guerrilla movements and is considered to be the first us action of the cold war

question

yalta conference

answer

meeting of roosevelt stalin and winston churchhull to discuss postwar plans and soviet entry into the war against japan near the end of worl war II disagreements over the future of poland sufaced during the red scare of the 1950s, some americans considered the meeting to have been a sellout of the soviets

question

alger hiss

answer

state department official accused of spying for the soviet union richard nixon became famous for his pursuit of hiss which resulted in a perjury convition and prison for hsis although long seen as a victom of nixons ruthless ambition and the red scare, recent scholarship suggests that hiuss was indeed a soviet agent

question

barry goldwater

answer

unsuccessful presidential candidate against lyndon johnson he called for dismantling the new deal escalation of the war in vitnam and the status quo on civil rights many see him as the grandfather of the conservative movement of the 1980s

question

black power

answer

rallying cry for many black militants in the 1960s and 1970s it called for blacks to stand up for their rights to reject integrations to demand political power to seek their roots and to embrace their blackness

question

brown vs. board of education

answer

supreme court decision that overturned the plesssy vs. ferguson decision led by chief justice earl warren the court ruled that spearate but equal schools for blacks were inherently unequal and thus unconstitutional the decision energized the civil rights movement in the 1950s and the 1960s

question

civil rights act of 1964

answer

proposed by john kennedy and signed by lyndon johnson it desegregated public accommodations libraries parks and amusements and boradened the powers of federal government to protect individual rights and prevent job discrimination

question

civil rights act of 1965

answer

sometimes called voting rights act it expanded the federal government's protection of voters and voter regristration it also increased federal authority to investigate voter irregularites and outlawed literacy tests

question

earl warren

answer

controversial chief justice of the supreme court he led the court in far reaching racial social and political rulings including school desegregation and protecting rights of persons accused of crimes

question

fair deal

answer

trumans legislative program it was largely an extension of the new deal of the 1930s and truman had little success convincing congress to enact it

question

federal highway act

answer

largest public works project in united states history eisenhower signed the law which built over 40000 miles ofhighways in the united states at a cost of 25 billion dollars and created the interstate highway system

question

freedom rides

answer

civil rights campaign of the congress of cracial equality in which protestor traveled by bus through the south the desgregate bus staions white violence against them prompted the kennedy administration to protect them and become more involved in civil rights

question

george wallace

answer

alabama governor and third party candidate for president in 1968 and 1972 je ram pm a segregation and law and oder platform paralyzed by an attemped assassination in 1972 he never recovered politically

question

house un-american activities committee

answer

congressional committee formed in the 1930s to investigate percieved trheats to democracy in the 1940s the committee laid foundation for the red scare as it investigated allegatiosn of communist subversion in hollywood and persued alger hiss

question

hubert humphrey

answer

liberal senator from minnesota and lyndon johnson's vice president who tried to unite the party after the tumultuous 1968 democratic national convention in chicago he narrowly lost the presidency to richard nixon that year

question

john kennedy

answer

president and the youngest president ever elected as well as the first catholic to serve he had a moderately progressive domestic agenda and a hardline policy against the soviets his administration eneded when lee harvey oswald assassinated him

question

Joseph mccarthy

answer

junior senator from wisconsin who charged hundreds of americans with working for or aiding the soviet union during the cold war

question

julius and ethel rosenberg

answer

an engineer and his wife who were accused tried and executed in the earlt 1950s for running an espionage rin in new york city that gave atomic secrets to the soviet union long considered unjustly accused victimsof the red scare recent evidence suggests that julius was indeed a soviet agent

question

lyndon johnson

answer

president who took over for jennedy and created the great society a reform program unmatched in the twentieth century however his vietnam policy divided the country and his part and he retired from politics in 1969

question

malcolm x

answer

militant mblack leader associated with the nation of islam he questioned martin luther kinds strategy of nonviolence and called on blacks to make an aggressive defense of their rights he was assassinatied by fellow muslims in 1965

question

martin luther king jr

answer

america's greatest civil rights leader his nonviolent protests gained national attention and resulted in government protection of afrian american rights he was assassinated in 1968 in memphis tennessee

question

nation defense education act

answer

law that authorized the use of federal funds to improve the nations elementary and high schools inspired by cold war fears that the united states was falling behind the soviet union in the arms and space race, it was directed at improviig science, math and foreign language education

question

richard nixon

answer

controversial vice president and president who made his politcal reputation as an aggressive anticommunist crusaderhis presidency ended with his resignation during the watergate scandal

question

robert kennedy

answer

john kennedys brother who served as attorney general and gradually embraced growing civil rights reform later as senator from new york he made a run for the democratic presidential nomination an assassin endeed his campain

question

rosa parks

answer

naacp member who initiated the montgomery bus boycott in 1955 when she was arrested for violatign jim crow rules on a bus her action and the long boycott that followed became an icon of the quest for civil rights and focused national attention on boycott leader martin luther king jr

question

sit-ins

answer

protests by black college students who took seats at "whites only" lunch counters and refused to leave until served

question

Sputnik

answer

soviet satellite launched the launch set off a panic that the communists were winning the space race and were superior in math and science education led to nation defense education act to improve schools

question

strom thurmond

answer

democratic governor of south carolina who headed the states rights party he ran for president in 1948 agaisnt truman and his mild civil rights proposals and eventually joined the republican party

question

taft-hartley act

answer

antilabor law passed over truman's veto it provided a coolinmg off period wherein the president could force striking workers back to work for 80 days it also outlawed closed shops and allwed states to pass right-to-work laws

question

thomas dewey

answer

twice-defeated republican candidate for president his overconfidence and lackadaisical effort in 1948 allowed truman to overcome his large lead and pull off the greatest political upset in american history

question

thurgood marshall

answer

leading attorney for naacp in 1940s and 1950s who headed the team in brown vs. board of education case later lyndon johnson appointed him the first black justice on the supreme court

question

betty friedan

answer

author of the feminine mystique

question

equal rights amendment

answer

proposed amendment to the us constitution passed by congress and submitted to the states for ratification in 1971 outlawing discrimination based on gender it was at first seen as a great vicotroy by womens rights groups the amendment fell 3 states short of the38 required for ratification

question

george mcgovern

answer

unsuccessful democratic candidate for president in 1972 he called for immediate withdrawel from vietnam and a guarenteed income for the poor when his vice presidentrial choice got into trouble he waffled in his defense which cost him further with the electorate

question

gerald ford

answer

presdient who served without being elected either president or vice president appointed vice presdident under the therms of the 25th amendment when spiros agnew resigned he assumed the presidency when nixon resigned

question

h. r. haldeman

answer

a key aide to president nixon who ordered the cia and fbi not to probe too deeply into the watergat breakin he helped privde money to keep the burglars quiet and was later sentenced to prison for his role in watergate

question

hippies

answer

members of the useful counterculture that dominated many college campuses in the 1960s rather than promoting a political agenda they challenged conventional sexual standards rejected traditional economic values and encouraged the use of drugs

question

james mccord

answer

one of the plumbers who worked for the white house to plug leaks to the media he committed illegal break ins and serveilances his revelations in 1973 that he was being paid to keep quiet began the unraveling of the watergate coverup

question

john dean

answer

white house aide who participated in the watergate coverup in a plea bargain he testified that president nixon knew and participated in the cover up many did not believe his testimony until the white house tapes surfaced

question

john mitchell

answer

nixons first attorney ggeneral and his close friend and adviser many people believe he ordered the watergate breakin heparticpated in the coverup and served nineteen months in prison for his role

question

kate millett

answer

author of sexual polices

question

new left

answer

label for the political radicals of the 1960s influenced by old left of the 1930s which had criticized capitalism and supported successed of communism the new left supported civil rights and opposed american foreign policy especially in vietnam

question

national organization for women

answer

founded by betty friedan and others in 1966 it focused on womens rights in the workplace fought against legal and economic discrimination agianst women and lobbied for the ewual rights amendment

question

organization of petroleum exporting countries

answer

cartel of oil exporting nations which used oil as a weapon t alter america's middle east policy it organized a serioes of oil boycotts that roiled the united states econdomy throughout the 1970s

question

reagan revolution

answer

the policies of the first reagan administration which increased defense spending reduced social programs and cut taxes they were based on supply side theory of growing the economy by cutting government interference and taxes

question

ronald reagan

answer

president who led a coservative movement agaisnt detente with the soviet union and the growth of the fedreal governemnt some people credit him wiht americas vicotory in the cold war while others fault his insensitive social agenda and irresponsible fiscal policies

question

saturday night massacre

answer

name given to an incident in which nixon ordered attorney general elliot richardson to fire archibald cox the special prosecutor who was relentlessly investigating watergate richarson refused and resigned along with his deputy who also refused to carry out nixons order a subordinate then fired cox the incident created a firestorm of protest in the country

question

silent majority

answer

label nixon gave to middle class americans who supported him and wanted peace with honor in vietnam

question

spiro agnew

answer

vice president and a vocal critic of antiwar and civil rights oppononets of the nixon administration

question

stagflation

answer

name given to economic condition throughout most of the growth in the 1970sin which prices rose rapidly but without economic growth

question

students for a democratic society

answer

radical political organization founded by tom hayden and others it set forth its ideals in the port huron statement: government should promote equality fairness and be responsive to people

question

Warren burger

answer

chief justice of the supreme court although considered more conservative in leadership than earl warren his court uphelp school busing a woman's right to an abortion and ordered nixon to surrender the watergate tapes

question

watergate scandal

answer

name applied to a series of events that began when the nixon white house tried to plac eillegal phjone taps on democrats in june 1972 the burglars were caught and rather than accept the legal and political fall out nixon and his aides obstructed the investigation which cost him his office and sent several of his top aides to prison

question

woodstock

answer

a threeday rock music festival held on a farm in new york's sullivan county

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