Tet Offensive
The name given to a campaign in January 1968 by the Viet Cong to attack twenty-seven South Vietnamese cities, including Saigon. It ended in a military defeat for the Viet Cong, but at the same time, proved that Johnson's "gradual escalation" strategy was not working, shocking an American public that believed the Vietnam conflict was a sure victory.
Civil Right Act of 1964
Passed by Congress in 1964 in honor of the late President Kennedy. This act banned racial discrimination in places such as hospitals and restaurants. This act also gave the government the power to desegregate schools. It led to the creation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Twenty-Fourth Amendment
(1964) abolished the poll tax in federal elections. This joined the blacks with the whites during the civil rights movement.
Voting Rights Act
This act, passed in 1965, outlawed literacy tests and sent federal voter registrars into several Southern states. This act did not end discrimination and oppression overnight, but it helped blacks get a foothold on change.
Operation Rolling Thunder
President Johnson launched Operation Rolling Thunder, a massive air bombardment of North Vietnam, in April of 1965. The targets were directly chosen by the president. These were regular full scale bombing attacks against Vietnam.
Pueblo Incident
In January 1968 during the Vietnam War the North Koreans seized the "Pueblo", a U.S. intelligence ship, evidently in international waters. They imprisoned the crew of some eighty men for eleven months. This episode stirred American anger, but provoked no military response.
Great Society
The Great Society was President Johnson's policy. It was a continuation of the democratic ideals of FDR's New Deal and Truman's Fair Deal. It was a war on poverty in which such issues as health care, education, and welfare were covered and increased in importance. (Medicare and Medicaid)
Tonkin Gulf Resolution
In August 1964 shots were allegedly fired at American navy ships by the North Vietnamese. LBJ quickly ordered an air raid on North Vietnamese bases, and pushed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution through Congress. This gave the president a blank check to uses for further force in Southeast Asia. Because of this, LBJ had total control, and did not need the approval of Congress to enter the war.
nuclear-test ban treaty
(1963) Kennedy and the Russians signed a pact prohibiting trial nuclear explosions in the atmosphere. This was signed following the Cuban missile crisis.
March on Washington
In August of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. organized a massive protest on Washington, D.C. where he gave his "I have a dream" speech. The march was organized to protest racial discrimination and to demonstrate support for major civil-rights legislation that was pending in Congress.
War on Poverty
The name President Lyndon Johnson gave to his crusade to improve the lifestyle of America's poor, especially those in Appalachia. It included economic and welfare measures aimed at helping the large percentage of Americans who lived in poverty.
New Frontier
The New Frontier was the new programs introduced by President Kennedy in the early 1960's. These programs included the space program to the moon and the peace corp.
Peace Corps
Kennedy proposed this which was an army of idealistic and mostly youthful volunteers to bring American skills to underdeveloped countries.
Alliance of Progress
Alliance of Progress - this was a Marshall Plan for Latin America that was suggested by President Kennedy to help the Good Neighbors close the gap between the rich and the poor and to help quiet the communist agitation. It was unsuccessful because there was little alliance and no progress.
Bay of Pigs
Kennedy was told that there were enough people in Cuba that would support an uprising, so he sent American troops along with Cuban exiles to the Bay of Pigs. When no one was there to support the raid, Kennedy withdrew air support. Therefore, Castro was able to defeat the uprising. This was Kennedy's big failure in his foreign policy.
Cuban Missile Crisis
In Oct. of 1962, U.S. intelligence confirmed reports that the U.S.S.R. was constructing missile launching sites in Cuba. President Kennedy rejected a full-scale attack and, instead, delivered a public ultimatum to the U.S.S.R. The U.S.S.R. backed down and the U.S. promised not to overthrow the Cuban government.
Richard M. Nixon
Richard M. Nixon - elected President in 1968 and 1972 representing the Republican party. He was responsible for getting the United States out of the Vietnam War by using "Vietnamization", which was the withdrawal of 540,000 troops from South Vietnam for an extended period. He was responsible for the Nixon Doctrine also. He was involved in D�tente, which was a way to create peaceful relations between the United States and the communist countries of Moscow and Beijing.
Richard M. Nixon
He was the Republican President of the United States during the Vietnam War (1969-1974). He made many improvements for the environment, and he took the United States off the gold standard. As a result of the Watergate Scandal, Nixon was forced to resign. Many other problems hurt his term such as the energy crisis, but mainly Watergate. He removed US troops from Vietnam in 1973 with his Vietnamization policy.
George Wallace
A third party ticket candidate for the American Independent party in 1968 that lost against Nixon. He was a former governor of Alabama and had stood in the doorway to prevent black students from entering the University of Alabama.
Flexible response
Kennedy's plan to deal with foreign powers by not always resorting to nuclear weapons but using specialist like the Green Beret
Credibility Gap
This was the gap between the people and the government that grew as the people became disillusioned with the Vietnam war and Watergate.
Stokely Carmichael
Carmichael was a black civil rights activist in the 1960's. Leader of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee. He did a lot of work with Martin Luther King Jr. but later changed his attitude. Carmichael urged giving up peaceful demonstrations and pursuing black power. He was known for saying," black power will smash everything Western civilization has created."
Eugene McCarthy
a little known Democratic Senator from Minnesota, he represented the Democratic party in the 1968 presidential election. He was a devout Catholic and a soft-spoken, sometimes poet. He used a group of antiwar college students as his campaign workers. He, with the help of his "Children's Crusade", got 42% of the democratic votes and 20 out of 24 convention delegates.
Hubert H. Humphrey
The democratic nominee for the presidency in the election of 1968. He was LBJ's vice president, and was supportive of his Vietnam policies. This support split the Democratic party, allowing Nixon to win the election for the Republicans.
Barry Goldwater
Republican senator from Arizona nominated on the Republican ticket for the Presidency in the election of 1964. He ran against Lyndon B. Johnson and lost the election.
Malcolm X
a black Muslim preacher who favored black separation and condemned the "blue-eyed white devils". He was shot by a black gunmen while giving a speech in New York City.
Robert S. McNamara
Robert S. McNamara was the secretary of defense under Kennedy. He helped develop the flexible response policy. He was against the war in Vietnam and was removed from office because of this.
Charles de Gaulle
President of France, he was suspicious of American plans for Europe, and wanted to recapture the feeling of the Napoleonic era. He constantly vetoed actions by or in the interest of the U.S. that would increase their control in European affairs.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
A leader in the civil rights movement in the 1950's and 1960's. Preached non-violent forms of revolting such as sit-ins and friendly protests. He was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968.
Lee Harvey Oswald
On November 22, 1963, he assassinated President Kennedy who was riding downtown Dallas, Texas. Oswald was later shot in front of television cameras by Jack Ruby.
Lyndon B. Johnson
A democratic egotist. He was Kennedy's vice president, and became president when Kennedy was assassinated. He escalated the war in Vietnam and the failure to win the war was blamed on him. Johnson had a great domestic policy called " The Great Society" and helped push for the passing of the civil rights act to end discrimination. He also issued all federal contractors to take "affirmative action" against discrimination.
John F. Kennedy
He was the youngest most glamorous president ever elected. He won the 1960 presidential election against Nixon. He was the first Catholic president. During his presidency, he sent the Green Beret (Marines) to Vietnam. He helped develop the Peace Corps. His foreign policy was Flexible Response. His domestic program was the New Frontier. He appointed his brother, Robert Kennedy as Attorney General. Robert Kennedy dealt with the Civil Rights issue as well. John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov.22,1963.
