Cold War

1. The Cold War
March 5, 1946 - December 25, 1991

2. Introduction
 The wartime alliance between the United States and the Soviet
Union had been little more than a marriage of convenience
 Defeat of the Axis powers had required the two nations to
cooperate, but collaboration scarcely lasted beyond victory
 Especially after FDR’s death in April 1945, relations between the
U.S. and the U.S.S.R. steadily degenerated into a “cold war” of
suspicion and tension

3. Harry S. Truman
1945-1953

4. “Iron curtain” speech
 Who: Sir Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of Great
Britain
 What: The Sinews of Peace address
 When: March 5, 1946
 Where: Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri
 Why (Importance): historians date the formal beginning of
the “Cold War” from this speech with the passage on “the iron
curtain”

6. Atomic Diplomacy
 Who: Test “ABLE” and “BAKER”
 What: Operation Crossroads (atmospheric nuclear weapon
test series)
 When: July 1, 1946 (A) and July 25, 1946 (B)
 Where: Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands
 Why (Importance): Test “ABLE” and “BAKER” were the first
public demonstrations of America’s atomic arsenal

9. The X Article
 Who: George F. Kennan, pseudonym “X”
 What: The Sources of Soviet Conduct
 When: July 1947
 Where: published in the Foreign Affairs
 Why (Importance): the term “containment” became the
catchphrase and foundation for a global, anticommunist,
national security policy

10. The “main element” in any
U.S. policy “must be that
of long-term, patient but
firm and vigilant
containment of Russian
expansive tendencies.”

11. Containment Abroad
 Who: Harry S. Truman, POTUS
 What: Truman Doctrine
 When: March 12, 1947
 Where: Washington D.C.
 Why (Importance): the doctrine pledged political, military,
and/or economic assistance to all democratic nations under
threat from internal or external communist forces (in this
instance - Greece and Turkey)

13. Assistance Abroad
 Who: George C. Marshall, Secretary of State
 What: Marshall Plan (Economic Cooperation Act of 1948)
 When: June 5, 1947
 Where: Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts
 Why (Importance): the comprehensive program rebuilt the
European continent in the interest of political stability and a
healthy world economy

15. Reorganization & Modernization
 Who: Harry S. Truman, POTUS
 What: National Security Act of 1947
 When: July 26, 1947
 Where: Washington D.C.
 Why (Importance): the legislation mandated a major
reorganization of the foreign policy and military establishments
of the U.S. government

17. The first Berlin Crisis
 Who: Harry S. Truman and Josef Stalin
 What: Berlin blockade and airlift
 When: June 24, 1948 (blockade) and July 1, 1948 (airlift)
 Where: Berlin, Germany
 Why (Importance): the Soviet blockade accelerated the
creation of an independent West Germany (Federal Republic of
Germany) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

20. NATO
 Who: United States, Canada, and ten European nations
 What: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
 When: April 4, 1949
 Where: Brussels, Belgium
 Why (Importance): NATO was the first peacetime military
alliance the U.S. entered into outside of the Western
Hemisphere, which was based on collective security

22. “Red China”
 Who: Mao Zedong (Communist Party) and Chiang Kai-shek
(Nationalist Party)
 What: Chinese Revolution (1911-1949)
 When: October 1, 1949
 Where: China
 Why (Importance): the “fall” of mainland China to
communism led the U.S. to suspend diplomatic ties with the
People’s Republic of China (PRC) for decades

25. RDS-1
 Who: Soviet Union
 What: First Lightening or Joe 1 (plutonium implosion device)
 When: August 29, 1949
 Where: Semipalatinsk, Kazakh (Soviet Socialist Republic)
 Why (Importance): Joe 1 marked the end of the U.S. nuclear
monopoly and accelerated the U.S.’s development and
construction of the “hydrogen bomb”

27. NSC-68
 Who: Paul Nitze
 What: National Security Council document 68
 When: April 7, 1950
 Where: Washington, D.C.
 Why (Importance): NSC-68 provided the blueprint for both
the rhetoric and the substance of all future American foreign
policy

28. NSC-68 endorsed the more
vigorous use of covert
action, economic pressure,
propaganda campaigns,
and a massive military
buildup.

29. The Korean War
June 25, 1950-July 27, 1953

30. The Korean Conflict
 The Korean situation was partly a civil war.
 Korea had been occupied by Japan between 1905 and 1945 and
after Japan’s defeat in the Second World War, Koreans expected
to establish their own independent state.
 Against the desires of both North and South Koreans, Korea
became two states, split at the 38th parallel.
North Korea: Kim Il-sung (sponsored by the Soviet Union and Red
China)
South Korea: Syngman Rhee (sponsored by the U.S.)

33. The Korean Conflict
 Kim’s forces crossed the 38th parallel on June 25, 1950, in an
attempt to unify Korea.
 Under attack, Rhee appealed to the U.S. to protect his
government.
 The fighting escalated into an international conflict when the U.S.,
with the backing of the U.N., rushed assistance to Rhee.
 Within three months, Kim’s forces took Seoul, the capital of
South Korea, and reached the southern tip of the Korean
peninsula (Pusan perimeter).

35. The Korean Conflict
 General Douglas MacArthur devised a plan that most
commanders considered crazy:
 an amphibious landing behind enemy lines at Inchon.
 On September 15, 1950, the Marines successfully landed
13,000 troops at Inchon.
 The Marines suffered only 21 deaths and retook Seoul within 11
days.

38. The Korean Conflict
 MacArthur urged moving beyond containment to an all-out war
of “liberation” and reunification.
 Truman allowed MacArthur to carry war into North Korea but
ordered him to avoid antagonizing China.
 MacArthur pushed too far as he advanced toward the Yalu River
on the Chinese-Korean border.
 China responded by sending troops into North Korea and driving
MacArthur back across the 38th parallel.

40. The Korean Conflict
 When MacArthur’s forces regained the initiative, Truman
ordered his general to negotiate a truce at the 38th parallel.
 MacArthur, challenging the president, argued instead for an all-
out victory over North Korea and over China, too.
 Truman therefore relieved MacArthur of his command on April
11, 1951.
Truman cited the U.S. Constitution: Article II, Section 2, which
specified that military officers must obey the orders of the president
who is the commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy.

41. The Korean Conflict
 On July 27, 1953, North Korea and South Korea met in
negotiations and established the borderline at the 38th parallel.
 The negotiation process was hastened with the election of Dwight
D. Eisenhower as president.

42. The Korean Conflict: Why (Importance)
 First, the Korean conflict is an example of the U.S.’s
containment policy.
 The U.S. could not allow for the spread of communism in Asia
while the Cold War was still in its infancy.
 Second, the Korean conflict was one of two, major “proxy wars”
fought between the United States and the Soviet Union.
 This was an actual armed conflict or “hot war.”

43. The Second “Red Scare”
 Who: Joe McCarthy, Republican Senator of Wisconsin
 What: McCarthyism
 When: February 9, 1950
 Where: Wheeling, West Virginia
 Why (Importance): McCarthyism intensified the “Red Scare”
by engulfing the American people with a wave of hysteria and
paranoia on an unbelievable scale

44. “Are you now, or have you ever been, a member
of the Communist party?”

45. Dwight D. Eisenhower
1953-1961

46. The Election of 1952
 Who: Dwight D. Eisenhower (R) and Adlai Stevenson (D)
 What: presidential election
 When: November 1952
 Where: United States
 Why (Importance): Eisenhower was the first military leader
to gain the presidency since Ulysses S. Grant

49. The “Great Fear”
 Who: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
 What: the Atom Spy Case
 When: June 19,1953
 Where: Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York
 Why (Importance): the Rosenbergs became the first U.S.
civilians to be executed for conspiracy to commit espionage

52. The Brown Cases
 Who: Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the U.S.
 What: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
 When: May 17, 1954
 Where: Washington D.C.
 Why (Importance): the “Brown decision” declared that
state-mandated segregation of public schools violated the
constitutional right of African-American students to equal
protection of the law

54. Civil Rights Movement
 Who: Rosa Parks
 What: civil disobedience
 When: December 1, 1955
 Where: Montgomery, Alabama
 Why (Importance): Parks’ act of defiance sparked the
Montgomery Bus Boycott, which vaulted Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. in the national spotlight

57. Dien Bien Phu Falls
 Who: Ho Chi Minh (Communist-Nationalist forces) and
Emperor Bao Dai & France
 What: first Indochina War
 When: May 7, 1954
 Where: Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam in French Indochina
 Why (Importance): concerned about regional instability, the
U.S. became increasingly committed to countering communist-
nationalists in Indochina

59. The Fall of French Indochina
 Who: United States, France, China, and Vietnamese
representatives
 What: Geneva Peace Accords
 When: July 21, 1954
 Where: Geneva, Switzerland
 Why (Importance): the articles of the Geneva Agreement led
to the gradual escalation of tension that would result in a
second Indochina War

61. COLONEL EDWARD LANSDALE
NGO DINH DIEM

62. “Stalin’s Second Funeral”
 Who: Nikita Khrushchev
 What: “secret speech”
 When: February 14, 1956
 Where: Twentieth Congress of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union in Moscow, Russia
 Why (Importance): his speech advocated reform (de-
Stalinization) and a new policy of “peaceful coexistence” with
capitalist nations

64. The Suez Crisis
 Who: Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser
 What: Suez Crisis
 When: July 26, 1956
 Where: Gulf of Suez, Egypt
 Why (Importance): opened the energy-rich Middle East to
Soviet influence - “Nasserism”

67. Action Aboard
 Who: Dwight D. Eisenhower, POTUS
 What: Eisenhower Doctrine
 When: March 1957
 Where: Washington D.C.
 Why (Importance): the doctrine pledged American
economic assistance and/or military aid to any Middle Eastern
country that was being threatened by armed aggression from
international communism

69. The Dawn of the Space Age
 Who: Soviet Union
 What: Sputnik-1 (earth’s first artificial satellite)
 When: October 4, 1957
 Where: low Earth orbit
 Why (Importance): historians date the formal beginning of
the space age to the Sputnik launch, which also fueled a
research-and-development effort to be led by NASA

72. 1958 Alpha 1
 Who: United States
 What: Explorer-1 and Jupiter-C
 When: January 31, 1958
 Where: Cape Canaveral Missile Annex
 Why (Importance): America’s first satellite formally entered
the U.S. into the space race

75. The second Berlin Crisis
 Who: Dwight D. Eisenhower and Nikita Khrushchev
 What: Berlin ultimatum
 When: November 10, 1958
 Where: Berlin, Germany
 Why (Importance): the ultimatum sparked a three year crisis
over the future of the city of Berlin and culminated in the 1961
building of the Berlin Wall

76. U-2 fly-overs
 Who: Francis Gary Powers, CIA pilot
 What: U-2 spyplane incident
 When: May 1, 1960
 Where: Soviet airspace over the Ural Mountains
 Why (Importance): the fallout over the incident resulted in
the cancellation of the Paris Summit

78. John F. Kennedy
1961-1963

79. The Election of 1960
 Who: Richard M. Nixon (R) and John F. Kennedy (D)
 What: presidential election
 When: November 1960
 Where: United States
 Why (Importance): Kennedy became the youngest person
ever to be elected president (43 yr) and the first Roman
Catholic

82. Epic-Failure
 Who: JFK and Fidel Castro
 What: Bay of Pigs fiasco
 When: April 17, 1961
 Where: Bahia de Cochinas, southern coast of Cuba
 Why (Importance): the clandestine invasion became a public
nightmare that spread anti-American sentiment throughout
Latin America and strengthened Castro’s ties with the Soviet
Union

85. The third Berlin Crisis
 Who: JFK and Nikita Khrushchev
 What: Berlin Wall
 When: June 1961
 Where: Vienna, Austria
 Why (Importance): the physical barrier became a symbol of
communist repression

87. Thirteen Days
 Who: United States and Soviet Union
 What: Cuban Missile Crisis
 When: October 15-28, 1962
 Where: coastal waters surrounding Cuba
 Why (Importance): the crisis made the superpowers more
cautious to the possibility of a nuclear conflict and a direct
phone-line was established between Moscow and Washington
D.C.

89. In less than a second, America died…
 Who: John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald
 What: presidential assassination
 When: November 22, 1963
 Where: Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas
 Why (Importance): JFK took a pro-peace stance, refusing to
use war as a means of diplomacy but his assassination allowed
for Lyndon Johnson to assume office and it was his policies that
escalated Cold War tensions (Vietnam)

102. Vengeance for a Nation?
 Who: Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby
 What: prison transfer murder
 When: November 24, 1963
 Where: basement of the Dallas Police Headquarters
 Why (Importance): so many questions were left unanswered

104. “The greatest and grandest of all
conspiracy theories is the Kennedy
assassination conspiracy theory.”

105. Conspiracy Theories
 New Orleans conspiracy
 Military industrial
complex conspiracy
 CIA conspiracy
 Cuban exiles conspiracy
 Mafia conspiracy
 LBJ conspiracy
 Castro conspiracy
 Soviet conspiracy

106. Lyndon B. Johnson
1963-1968

107. America’s FIRST Loss
 Who: South Vietnam (U.S.) and North Vietnam (Soviet Union
and China)
 What: Second Indochina War
 When: November 1, 1955 – April 30, 1975
 Where: Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos
 Why (Importance): the Vietnam War has become a
benchmark for what not to do in all future U.S. foreign conflicts

108. Vietnam War Timeline
 The National Liberation Front (NLF or Viet Cong) use guerilla
warfare against the South Vietnamese (1960)
 Coup d'état and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem (November 2,
1963)
 Gulf of Tonkin resolution (August 7, 1964)
 U.S. combat forces land in Vietnam (March 8, 1965)

110. Escalating the Vietnam Situation
 Who: Lyndon B. Johnson
 What: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
 When: August 7, 1964
 Where: Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam
 Why (Importance): the resolution authorized LBJ to take any
measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to
promote the maintenance of international peace and security
in southeast Asia (legal basis for war in Vietnam)

113. The Village Idiot
 LBJ’s Plans for Success in Vietnam
 The goal for the U.S. was not to win the war but to strengthen
South Vietnam’s defenses until it could support itself
This set the stage for public and troop disappointment when the U.S.
found themselves in a stalemate with the North and the Viet Cong
 From 1965-1969, the U.S. was involved in a limited war
No serious ground assaults were ever launched against the Northern
communists or any attempts to disrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trail (supply
lines)

114. White Feather
 Who: Carlos Norman Hathcock II, Gunnery Sergeant USMC
 What: U.S. sniper
 When: 1966-1969 (2 tours of duty)
 Where: Hill 55, Vietnam
 Why (Importance): Hathcock is the greatest American sniper
to ever have lived…with 93 confirmed kills in Vietnam (two of
which made him a USMC legend)

117. Hell on Earth
 Life in the Jungle
 Any fighting that did occur between U.S. troops and the Viet Cong
occurred in the jungle
 The Viet Cong…
attacked in ambushes,
set booby traps,
traveled through a complex network of underground tunnels
 Just finding the enemy proved to be a difficult task for the far
superior U.S. forces

126. Hell on Earth
 Life in the Jungle
 In every village, U.S. troops had difficulty determining which, if
any, villagers were the enemy
Even the women and children could build booby traps or help fed and
house the Viet Cong
 U.S. soldiers became so frustrated with the fighting conditions
that they…
suffered low morale
became angry and hostile
abused drugs

127. Higher and Higher

129. Losing Public Support
 Who: Ho Chi Minh and various Hanoi leaders
 What: Tet Offensive
 When: January 30/31, 1968
 Where: numerous targets throughout South Vietnam
 Why (Importance): the psychological turning point of the
Vietnam War (the Johnson administration lost all domestic
support)

133. Statements of Regret
 General Westmoreland
smugly declared that
the Communists were
“unable to mount a
major offensive” and
he dared them to “try
something.”

134. Cleaning up the mess
 Who: Lyndon B. Johnson
 What: second term announcement
 When: March 31, 1968
 Where: Washington D.C.
 Why (Importance): the job of finding a way out of Vietnam
was left to the next U.S. president, Richard Nixon (Republican)

135. Cleaning up the mess
 Who: Lyndon B. Johnson
 What: second term announcement
 When: March 31, 1968
 Where: Washington D.C.
 Why (Importance): the job of finding a way out of Vietnam
was left to the next U.S. president, Richard Nixon (Republican)

136. Innocence Lost: Part 2
 Who: Martin Luther King, Jr.
 What: assassination
 When: April 4, 1968
 Where: Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee
 Why (Importance): his death sparked riots across America
and sharply divided the country on racial issues

139. Innocence Lost: Part 3
 Who: Robert Kennedy
 What: California Primary for POTUS
 When: June 5, 1968
 Where: Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles
 Why (Importance): Congress altered the Secret Service’s
mandate to include protection for presidential candidates

143. History’s Biggest Happening
 Who: Woodstock Ventures - John Roberts, Joel Rosenman,
Artie Kornfeld, and Mike Lang
 What: Woodstock Music & Arts Festival
 When: August 15 - 18, 1969
 Where: Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, New York
 Why (Importance): the Woodstock music festival became a
symbol of the 1960s hippie counterculture

144. Continuing Importance
1960S WOODSTOCK
 3 political assassinations
 JFK, MLK, and RFK
 the Cold War
 Bay of Pigs Invasion, Cuban
Missile Crisis, and the
Vietnam War
 racial unrest
 Social harmony
 the Dream of Mass Freedom
 your fullest freedom is best
achieved in the context of a
group
 the possibility of disaster
 riots, looting, and various
forms of catastrophe

146. Woodstock Festival Fact-Sheet
 Ticket prices
 $18: cost in advance ($75 in 2009 due to inflation)
 $24: cost at the gate
 Free: the fence surrounding the venue was cut
 Venue selection
 The concert was originally scheduled for Mills Industrial Park in
Wallkill, NY
 The Town Board and the Wallkill Zoning Board of Appeals officially
banned the festival on the basis of portable toilets (code
violation)

149. Woodstock Festival Fact-Sheet
 Traffic situation
 Abandoned cars littered the highways and reduced roads into
parking lots
 Helicopters were needed to shuttle the performers from their
hotel to the stage
 Various problems
 Bad weather (mud), food shortages, and poor sanitation
30 minutes for water
1 hour for the toilet

153. Woodstock Festival Fact-Sheet
 Birth/Death ratio
 2 births: car in traffic and helicopter
 2 deaths: heroin overdose and tractor accident
 4 miscarriages
 Aftermath
 Woodstock Ventures was in debt $2 million and 70-80 lawsuits
were filed against the venture company
 The movie, Woodstock, financed all settlements that Woodstock
Ventures incurred from the festival

154. Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Janis Joplin,
Joe Cocker, and Creedence Clearwater Revival

155. Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Bob Dylan, the Doors,
the Byrds, and the Beatles

156. Richard M. Nixon
1968-1974

157. New Directions
RICHARD M. NIXON HENRY KISSINGER
 lawyer (Whittier
College/Duke University)
 FDR’s wartime bureaucracy
 1946 California Congressmen
 1950 California Senator
 1952-1960 Vice-President
 political scientist (Harvard)
 1969-1972 National Security
Advisor
 1973-1977 Secretary of State

160. New Directions
 Who: Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger
 What: détente (temporary relaxation or “thawing”)
 When: 1969-1976
 Where: the Soviet Union, China, and southeast Asia
 Why (Importance): détente transformed our foreign policy
stance by pushing to relax all tensions with the Soviet Union, to
normalize relations with China, and to reduce direct military
involvement in southeast Asia

161. Rewriting Old policies into New
 Who: Richard Nixon
 What: Nixon doctrine
 When: July 1969
 Where: Washington D.C.
 Why (Importance): pledged that the U.S. would provide
military assistance to anticommunist governments in Asia but
would require that nation to provide their own combat forces

163. SALT I
 Who: United States and the Soviet Union
 What: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
 When: 1969-1972
 Where: Helsinki, Finland
 Why (Importance): limited further development of both
antiballistic missiles (ABMs) and offensive intercontinental
ballistic missiles (ICBMs)

164. SALT I
 Continued Importance
 The impact was minor because their was no serious
discussion about the limitation of warheads
 However, the fact that the two superpowers could negotiate
on any arms limitations pact signaled an improvement in
relations

166. “the ping heard round the world”
 Who: United States and People’s Republic of China (PRC)
 What: Ping-Pong diplomacy
 When: April 6-17, 1971
 Where: Beijing, China
 Why (Importance): ping-pong contributed to the re-
establishment of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and
China

169. Vietnamization
 Who: Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger
 What: Vietnamization
 When: November 3, 1969
 Where: Vietnam
 Why (Importance): the goal was to gradually remove all U.S.
ground troops without accepting compromise or defeat

171. Another Mistake in Indochina
 Who: United States
 What: military invasion
 When: April 30, 1970
 Where: Cambodia
 Why (Importance): the Cambodian decision set off a new
wave of violent protests across college campuses nationwide

172. Campus Protests
KENT STATE JACKSON STATE
 Location: Kent, Ohio, USA
 Date: May 4, 1970
 Target: student protesters (white)
 Weapon(s): M1 Garand rifles
 Deaths: 4
 Injured: 9
 Perpetrators: Ohio Army National
Guard
 Location: Jackson, Miss, USA
 Date: May 14-15, 1970
 Target: student protesters (black)
 Weapon(s): shotgun
 Deaths: 2
 Injured: 12
 Perpetrators: City and State police

179. “My Lai” Massacre
 Who: William Calley, Second Lieutenant (platoon leader of
Charlie Company)
 What: military tribunal (U.S. Army)
 When: March 29, 1971
 Where: Fort Benning, Georgia
 Why (Importance): once the incident became public
knowledge, it prompted global outrage and increased domestic
opposition to the Vietnam War

183. “the week that changed the world”
 Who: Richard Nixon and Mao Zedong
 What: Nixon’s visit to China
 When: February 21-28, 1972
 Where: Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou
 Why (Importance): Nixon’s visit ended 25 years of isolation
between the two nations and resulted in a significant shift in
the Cold War balance: PRC and the U.S. versus U.S.S.R.

187. Peace with Honor?
 Who: United States (South Vietnam) and North Vietnam
 What: Paris Peace Accords
 When: January 27, 1973
 Where: Paris, France
 Why (Importance): ends American involvement in Vietnam
and initiates the North Vietnamese capture of Saigon and the
fall of South Vietnam

189. Peace with Honor?
 Paris Peace Accords terms:
 immediate withdrawal of American troops
 complete ceasefire in South Vietnam
 North Vietnam forces will retain any territory that they had
captured
 North Vietnam will release all U.S. prisoners of war
 both sides must find a political solution to end the conflict

191. The Aftermath of War
 Between 1960 and 1975, approx. 3.5 million American
servicemen served in Vietnam
 58,000 killed in action
 150,000 wounded in action
 2,000 missing in action (POWs)

192. No More Vietnams!!!
 Why did we fail against a small, barely industrialized nation?
 lacked a clear political and military objective
“failure of will”
victory over communism ≠ U.S. goal
 lacked public support
a disloyal antiwar movement
irresponsible media

193. The Wars of Watergate
 Who: James McCord, Bernard Barker, Frank Sturgis, Virgilio
Gonzalez, and Eugenio Martinez
 What: Watergate break-in
 When: June 17, 1972
 Where: DNC headquarters at the Watergate office complex
 Why (Importance): the public knew of the incident as a
“third-rate burglary” but Nixon and his inner circle launched a
massive cover-up

196. Supreme Declaration
 Who: Richard Nixon
 What: U.S. v. Nixon
 When: July 24, 1974
 Where: Washington D.C.
 Why (Importance): the Supreme Court ruled in a 9-0
decision that executive privilege does not justify Nixon’s refusal
to release evidence needed in a criminal investigation

199. A Presidential FIRST
 Who: Richard Nixon
 What: resignation
 When: August 9, 1974
 Where: Washington D.C.
 Why (Importance): the American public lost faith and
confidence in the institution of the presidency, which added to
their already low sense of morale and patriotism

201. Gerald R. Ford
1974-1976

202. Forgiveness…
 Who: Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon
 What: presidential pardon
 When: September 8, 1974
 Where: Washington D.C.
 Why (Importance): Ford’s “full, free and absolute” pardon,
although quite controversial at the time, brought about much
needed closure to the divisive Watergate affair

205. James E. Carter
1976-1980

206. Crisis of Confidence
 Political assassinations
 JFK, RFK, and MLK
 Vietnam War
 anti-war movement
 Cambodian Invasion
 Watergate break-in
 Nixon’s resignation
 high inflation
 Disco Fever
 U.S. lose gold to U.S.S.R.
 Munich Olympics basketball
(51-50)
 Saigon Falls
 U.S. Embassy evacuated
 Elvis dies
 Oil crisis
 $1.80 (1971) - $30.00 (1979)
 3 Mile Island

213. James (Jimmy) Earl Carter
 In comparison to Nixon and Ford, Carter was seen as
 sincere
 honest
 well-meaning Southerner (Christian - Baptist)
 The Carter administration was
 inexperienced
 paid too much attention to detail
 frequently backed down when confronted by political rivals
and/or foreign countries

215. 444 days
 Who: Imam’s Disciples and United States
 What: Iran Hostage Crisis
 When: November 4, 1979 - January 20, 1981
 Where: American Embassy in Teheran, Iran
 Why (Importance): this crisis continued to display the
weakness of the American spirit and ineffectiveness of the
national government

224. SALT II
 Who: United States and the Soviet Union
 What: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
 When: 1972-1979
 Where: Vienna, Austria
 Why (Importance): limited the manufacture of strategic
nuclear weapons and banned the development of new missile
programs

226. Russia’s Vietnam
 Who: Mujahedeen guerilla movement and Soviet Union
 What: military invasion
 When: December 24, 1979 - February 15, 1989
 Where: Afghanistan
 Why (Importance): the Soviet Union commits the same
errors in judgment in Afghanistan as the U.S. did in Vietnam

231. The Election of 1980
 Who: Ronald Reagan (R) and Jimmy Carter (D)
 What: presidential election
 When: November 1980
 Where: United States
 Why (Importance): Reagan’s election led to the return of a
stronger America: politically, economically, and militarily

234. The GIPPER
 February 6, 1911 - June 5, 2004
 born in Tampico, Illinois
 attended Eureka College
 economics/sociology
 radio/film/television actor
 Knute Rockne, All American
 Chicago Cubs announcer
 General Electric Theater
 Governor of California (1967-1975)

236. Reaganomics
 Who: Ronald Reagan
 What: supply-side economics
 When: summer 1981
 Where: United States
 Why (Importance): sizable tax deductions would stimulate
growth by putting more money in the hands of producers and
consumers

238. START I
 Who: Ronald Reagan/George H.W. Bush and Mikhail
Gorbachev
 What: Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
 When: June 29, 1982 - July 31, 1991
 Where: Moscow, U.S.S.R.
 Why (Importance): START I negotiated the largest and most
complex arms control treaty in history

240. Star Wars
 Who: Ronald Reagan
 What: Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
 When: March 23, 1983
 Where: United States
 Why (Importance): this unrealistic and unscientific initiative
re-ignited an offensive arms race that would led to the downfall
of the Soviet Union

242. Roll Back Strategy
 Who: Ronald Reagan, POTUS
 What: Reagan doctrine
 When: February 6, 1985
 Where: Washington D.C.
 Why (Importance): breaking with the doctrine of
“containment,” Reagan focused on actively pushing back the
influence of the Soviet Union (Iran, Nicaragua, Afghanistan)

244. SALT to INF
 Who: Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev
 What: Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF)
 When: December 8, 1987
 Where: Washington D.C.
 Why (Importance): eliminated nuclear and conventional
ground-launched ballistic and cruise missile with intermediate
ranges (500-5,500 km)

246. The Fall of the Wall
 Who: Ronald Reagan
 What: the speech
 When: June 12, 1987
 Where: Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Wall
 Why (Importance): this speech aided in the eventual fall of
the most potent symbol of cold war division, the Berlin Wall

251. Merry Christmas to All…
 Who: Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet Premier
 What: dissolution of the U.S.S.R.
 When: December 25, 1991
 Where: Moscow, Soviet Union
 Why (Importance): the dissolution of the world’s largest
communist state marked the end of the Cold War and the
creation of 15 independent republics

252. Independent Republics
 Armenia
 Azerbaijan
 Belarus
 Estonia
 Georgia
 Kazakhstan
 Kyrgyzstan
 Latvia
 Lithuania
 Moldova
 Tajikistan
 Turkmenistan
 Ukraine
 Uzbekistan