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Chapter 40 - The Eisenhower Era

Sputnik
The first satellite ever launched into space, was launched by the Russians; began the "race for space" where Americans competed with the Russians to get farther into space. Was launched on Oct. 4, 1957 (Sputnik I).

Missile Gap
The United States and the Soviet Union were involved in a race to discover who had more missiles and war equipment. The missile gap was the difference in how much the United States had compared to how much the Soviet Union had.

National Defense and Education Act
(NDEA) After the Russian satellite "Sputnik" was successfully launched, there was a critical comparison of the Russian to the American education system. The American education system was already seen as too easygoing. So in 1958 Congress made the NDEA, authorizing $887 million in loans to needy college students and in grants for the purpose of improving the teaching of the sciences and languages.

U-2 Incident
Under Eisenhower administration just before the "summit conference" in Paris scheduled for May 1960, the American U-2 spy plane was shot down over Russia. Eisenhower was forced to step up and assume personal responsibility for the incident. Francis Gary Powers was the pilot that was captured by the Russians but returned. Incident kept Khrushchev from meeting with Eisenhower.

Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis: when President Nasser of Egypt announced his intention to build a damn in the Suez to provide power and irrigation to Egypt, the United States offered its financial support, withdrawing it when Nasser spoke with the Communists on the subject. Nasser responded by nationalizing the Suez canal, which was previously owned by British and French stockholders. This hurt Europe by crippling their oil supply, most of which came from the Persian Gulf.

Eisenhower Doctrine
1957 - Congress and US President pledged US military and economic aid to Middle Eastern nations threatened by communist aggression. Under the Doctrine the US was able to openly land several thousand troops and help restore order without taking a single life.

Landrum-Griffith Act
America was in desperate need of labor reform. Union leaders and big industries were involved in many scandals. In 1959 Congress passed the Landrum-Griffith Act. It would prevent bullying tactics and would make labor leaders keep accurate financial records.

South East Asia Treaty Organization
SEATO was introduced by secretary Dulles as a prop for his shaky policy in Vietnam. (Similar to NATO)

Hungarian Revolt
When the Hungarians tried to win their freedom from the Communist regime in 1956, they were crushed down by Soviet tanks. There was killing and slaughtering of the rebels going on by military forces.

desegregation
During the 1960's, integration of southern universities began. President Kennedy supported black's civil rights. Some desegregation was painless, but much of it resulted in violent campaigns and riots.

massive retaliation
John Foster Dulles formulated this policy for Eisenhower. He was Eisenhower's secretary of state in the 1950's. It stated that America would be willing to use nuclear weapons against aggressor nations instead of "limited" warfare. This led to the stockpiling of nuclear weapons.

military-industrial complex
During the Cold War military funding increased tremendously and at the end of Eisenhower's administration he warned about forming a "military-industrial complex" in which industry received huge government contracts to build for the military.

Brown v. Board of Education
The case brought before the Supreme Court in May 1954 in which the Court ruled that segregation of races in public schools was unconstitutional.

Geneva Conference
The Geneva conference split the nation of Vietnam roughly in half along the seventeenth parallel., and established a shaky peace in the nation of Laos.

Gamal Abdel Nasser
The hard-nosed Arab-nationalist president of Egypt during the Suez Canal crisis in 1956. He seized the Suez Canal from the English and French. England and France were willing to use force to get it back. Soviets try to interfere. Eisenhower made them back down when he put the Strategic Air Command on alert.

Nikita Khrushnev
The premier of Russia during the race to get satellites into space between Russia and the United States. He used many propaganda techniques to try to fool the world of Russia's intentions. President's Eisenhower and Kennedy dealt with his communist attitudes.

Fidel Castro
He engineered a revolution in Cuba in 1959. He denounced the imperialists and took valuable American property for a land-distribution program. When the U.S. cut off U.S. imports of Cuban sugar, Castro took more U.S. land and resulting from that his dictatorship became similar to Stalin's in Russia. (Communism in the Western Hemisphere)

John F. Kennedy
He was the youngest president ever elected, as well as the only Catholic to take office. He represented the democratic party with his "New Frontier" platform in the 1960 election. He was a major contributor to the space program and to the civil rights movement. He was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963.

McCarthyisim
McCarthyism was the communist witch hunts of the 1950's. This fear of Communism ruined many lives and families. The Senate hearings on communism were run by Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Earl Warren
Chief Justice and former governor of California; brought originally taboo social issues, such as civil rights to African Americans, to the attention of Congress and the country. Known for the "Brown v. Board of Education" case of 1954.

Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks a seamstress and a secretary for the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP, was known as the "mother of the civil rights movement." In December of 1955, Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white rider. She was jailed and fined $14 for the offense. This led to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Ho Chi Minh
The Vietnamese leader who believed in Asian nationalism and anti-colonialism in his country. He was trying to get rid of the French colonial rule in Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh's beliefs were discouraged by the Cold War and he became increasingly communist. He lead the North Vietnamese against the U.S. and the south Vietnamese. He was the enemy in Vietnam.

Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngo Dinh Diem, a strong anti-communist, proclaimed South Vietnam a republic on Oct. 26, 1956 and became its first president. He was formerly the Premier of Vietnam. He was assassinated by a military coup d'etat.

Dwight Eisenhower
when elected President, he was the most popular American; "I like Ike!" button; elected to two consecutive terms in 1952 and 1956. President during the prosperous 1950's. Modern Republicanism---didn't undo the New Deal of the Democrats.

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