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Chapter 26-The Origins of the Cold War-



The Cold War

US distrust of the USSR went all the wayback to the turn of the century

Democracy and Communism could not co-exist

In the closing days of WWII, the Big Three: Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill metin Yalta

There they agreed to work out the futureof Germany and Poland



The Cold War

At the conference, Roosevelt workedclosely with Stalin

They agreed to partition Germany

There would be four zones in Germanydivided by the victors

Roosevelt also needed soviet help todefeat Japan

He agreed to give the USSR two Japaneseislands for their help



The Cold War

The next nation they discussed wasPoland

Stalin wanted to create a buffer statebetween the USSR and Germany

He wanted the nation to be communistbut he reluctantly agreed to allow

political elections at wars end

Roosevelt felt he had power over Stalin

Only Churchill realized the wily wit of

Josef Stalin



The Cold War

The final issue at Yalta was the issue ofinternational peace

The League of Nations was transformedinto the UN

Its purpose was to prevent worldwideconflict

In 1945, delegates from 50 nationsadopted a charter that effectively createdthe United Nations



The Cold WarOn April 12, 1945, President Rooseveltdied

Harry S. Truman took charge and saw the

end of the War in Europe

In July of 1945, following the War, theBig 3 met again at Potsdam, Germany

This was a new group from what had metin Yalta

Stalin remained, but Roosevelt wasreplaced by Truman and Churchill by

Clement Atlee



The Cold War

The US and USSR grew further andfurther apart

The US sought to treat Europe withkindness and spread democracy

The Soviets wanted to protect Russia andsought to build up satellite nations

These were nations that would beinfluenced by the soviets

It would protect the USSR from further

incursions



The Cold War

Elections did not take place in Poland fortwo more years

When they did, the Soviets had purged allpolitical opposition

They used Poland as a template to takeover other European nations

By 1948 they had Albania and Bulgaria

That same year the Czech Republicadopted communism



The Cold War

In Finland, a treaty was signed thatallowed mutual cooperation

The Fins had to remain neutral in foreignaffairs and were allowed to rulethemselves

In Yugoslavia, a communist dictator cameinto power “Tito”

He opposed Stalin and adopted a form ofcommunism separate from the USSR



The Cold WarIn 1946, Stalin predicted that communismwould take over the earth

That same year, Winston Churchill

traveled to the USHe spoke to Americans in Fulton, Missouri

There he condemned the division ofEurope and the spread of communism

He told Americans that an Iron Curtainhad descended upon Europe

Stalin and Churchill’s speeches set the

tone for the Cold War



Chapter 26-The Cold War Heats Up-



The Cold War

In 1946, George Kennan, an AmericanDiplomat in Russia sent a telegram to theUS

He outlined his belief that the US andUSSR could not co-exist

He stated that victory over communism

would not come easily and that the USneeded to be patient

He advocated that the US try to halt thespread of communism across the world



The Cold War Taking Kennan’s advice, the US adopted apolicy of containment

The US acknowledged they had losteastern Europe but vowed communismwould spread no further

The policy was one of patience and

firmnessKennan saw that within the USSR werethe seeds of its own decay

It turned out he would be right



The Cold War The containment policy soon took effectwith Turkey

The USSR had made threats of invading

Turkey since the end of WWII

Stalin wanted control of the Dardanelles,a narrow strait that would give theSoviets ports on the Black Sea

Turkey and Greece had been under thecontrol of Great Britain

It was key that this territory of the world

not fall to communism



The Cold WarIn February of 1947, Britain announcedthey could no longer support the area

They asked the US to take charge in theregion

That month the US accepted

The US inherited the job of world leader

with all of its burdens and glory

The US quickly acted to assist Greece and Turkey and prevent a communisttakeover



The Cold War

Truman spoke to congress and started anew policy called the Truman Doctrine

He pledged the US would send $400million to Turkey and Greece

It was a pledge to help the free people ofthe world resist the spread ofcommunism

Any nation that asked for help, the USwould give it



The Cold War The US and its allies sought a new plan tohelp Europe

The purpose was to prevent a similarmistake that occured following WWI

They also wanted to prevent the spread ofcommunism

Nations who were financially weak wereviewed as being at risk

21% of Europe was homeless followingthe War



The Cold War1 out of every 5 houses was destroyed ordamaged

Industry and transportation was in ruins

The world was on the brink of anothereconomic collapse

US Secretary of State George C. Marshall

told congress they needed to send morefinancial aid to Europe

With money, the US would bring backEurope, strengthen democracy and

prevent communism



The Cold WarIn 1948 the Marshall Plan was approved

Over the next 4 years, 13 billion dollarsin grants and loans flowed into Europefrom the US

Anyone in Europe who applied for help,received it

It was even open to the USSR though theyrefused

Economies were quickly restored and theUS gained strong trading partners



The Cold War

The Allies did now know what to do withGermany

In March of 1948 they combined theirterritories into one

The area would be re-united to create aRepublic called West Germany

The Soviet Union responded by callingtheir occupied sector East Germany

It would be communist



The Cold WarBerlin became a war ground

West Berlin would become part of WestGermany

The USSR also countered

Many in East Berlin fled to the westernside, others to Europe and the US

Stalin looked for a way to stop the exodus

When the US introduced a new currency forWest Germany, Stalin seized theopportunity and shut Berlin off from the

West



The Cold War The blockade threatened allied suppliesinto East Germany

All shipments to Berlin had to passthrough East Berlin to which the US didnot have access

East Berlin had depended on US goodsfor survival

At risk were 2.5 million people

Transporting goods by road would riskwar with the USSR



The Cold War Truman decided the best decision wouldbe to airlift food and supplies to WestBerlin

During the next 15 months, British andAmerican planes made 2000 flights andsupplied 13,000 tons of food

Gail Halverson would toss candy from the

plane via small parachutes to Germanchildren

The Airlift made the American’s heroes tothe German people and the Soviets

enemies



The Cold War

Realizing what the Airlift was doing,Stalin ended the blockade

Berlin had been saved but was not yet“safe”

The US had won the first fight of the ColdWar

The issue of Berlin would remain at thecenter of the US, USSR conflict until theend of the Cold War



Chapter 26-The Red Scare-



The Cold WarFollowing WWII, the creation of the UNwas a great step forward

Major nations on the UN board had the

power to veto certain actions

One of the major member nations wasthe USSR

The US continually sought to hold theSoviets in check in the UN but they vetoedtheir initiatives

A movement began to grow for a new

council to deal with the communists



The Cold WarAmerican’s especially expressed greatinterest in a new council

Some however contended against a new

council

They said its purpose would not be peacebut war

In April of 1949, the US, Canada,Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France,Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands,Norway and Portugal formed NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization



The Cold WarAll of these nations were democratic andbent of stopping the spread ofcommunism

They agreed on member security, that anattack on one by the USSR would beviewed as an attack on all

The US was now fully involved in the

affairs of Europe The Soviet Union countered NATO with acouncil of its own

COMECON or the Warsaw Pact joinedcommunist nations against democratic



The Cold WarIn 1949 the Soviet Union detonated itsfirst atomic bomb

The US was no longer the onlysuperpower in the world

The US was alarmed at how fast theSoviets had developed their bomb

The only way the Soviets could have thattechnology would have been throughespionage

A new Red Scare gripped the nation



The Cold WarPeople became obsessed with rooting outcommunist spies

Prior to WWII a committee was

established to root out spies

The committee was called, HUAC, TheHouse of Un-American ActivitiesCommittee

This committee was re-evisioned duringthe Cold War

It would now be used to root out

communists within the US



The Cold WarHUAC first went after the movie industry

They felt movies had a strong influenceof people and socialist sympathies would

not be tolerated

Many actors were active members of thecommunist party

HUAC produced a number of actors andmovies producers they claimed hadradical political views

They became known as the Hollywood

Ten



The Cold War

HUAC put them on trial and asked themto confess if they were members of thecommunist party

The Hollywood 10 refused to answer thequestions and were put in jail

Studios compiled Blacklists, lists of names

of people accused of being communists

More people joined the Hollywood 10

Paranoia continued to spread



The Cold WarIn 1948, HUAC accused a top governmentofficial of espionage

Alger Hiss was tossed into federal prisonon shaky charges

Months after Hiss’s trial, two more peoplewere accused of espionage

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, a marriedcouple, were accused of passing atomicsecrets to the USSR

The trial was highly controversial



The Cold WarIn the end, both Julius and Ethel werefound guilty in 1953 and put to death

For years people debated the legitimacy

of the trial

Careful work by historians has revealedthat Julius Rosenberg and Alger Hiss wereguilty of their crimes, not Ethel

During the Rosenberg Trial, WisconsinSenator Joseph McCarthy held up a pieceof paper and declared it contained 205names of communists in the US Gov.



The Cold WarIt increased the already great hysteriaacross America

No one knew whose names were on the

list

Edward Murrow challenged McCarthy andproved it was more of an attentionscheme than reality

McCarthy developed a new type of smeartactic

Just being accused by McCarthy caused

people to lose their jobs and reputations



The Cold WarMcCarthy went so far as to accuseSecretary of State George Marshall acommunist

He charged the army to be full ofcommunists after his friend was sent tothe Korean War

He received national attention as his

accusations against the military weretelevised across the country

On TV, the American public saw him forthe fraud he was and he lost his

credibility



The Cold WarCapitalizing on the hysteria, in 1952,Congress passed the McCarran-Walter Act[Truman tried to veto]

The Act determined that immigrants fromCentral and Eastern Europe were mostlycommunist

It enacted a quota to limit people coming

to the US from designated nations

Truman remarked it was one of the mostun-American Acts in history

The Red Scare had officially peaked



Chapter 26-Conflict in Asia and the Korean War-



The Cold WarMost of America’s attention was devotedto Europe and stopping the spread ofcommunism

Meanwhile, war torn China had a hugecrisis on their hands

In 1911, China’s last dynasty crumbled

A massive power vacuum ensued aspeople vied to control the nation

Many European powers dominated Chinaas a puppet state and proclaimed it a

republic



The Cold War The people of China were torn over whatkind of government to adopt

They had little control due to European

imperialism

Some wanted democracy and they ralliedaround the young leader Chiang Kai Shek

Other wanted communism

They saw communism as the cure toChina’s economic woes

They rallied around Mao Zedong



The Cold War

As the two political idealists fought tocontrol China, War enveloped the world

Imperial Germany held vast amounts ofterritory in China

Following WWI, German territories werepassed to Japan

Japanese power spread across China likean infection during WWII

They even went so far as to seize Korea



The Cold WarFollowing WWII, Mao and Chiangresumed their fight for the political futureof China

Chiang sought the support of the US todefend against communism

The US was occupied with re-buildingEurope and paid little attention to China

In addition, Chiang’s regime grew moreand more corrupt

He raised taxes and persecuted people

who opposed his rule



The Cold War

Chiang’s corruption led the US to stopsupporting his democratic movement

Russia meanwhile continued to supportMao

Promising to end the corruption andredistribute wealth and land, the people

sided with Mao

In 1949 the communists defeated ChaingKai Shek and his democratic regime fledto Taiwan



The Cold WarIn Korea, the Japanese were exceedinglyharsh

They forced the Korean to abandon their

traditions and language

They forced them to take Japanesenames

Many women were taken as “ServiceWomen” for the Japanese men occupyingChina

Following WWII, the US and USSR agreed

to divide Korea in half



The Cold WarSoviets accepted Japanese surrenderalong the 38th parallel

This became the border between theoccupying forces of the US and USSR

It was meant to be temporary but as theCold War started, both sides fought tocontrol Korea

The South, with its capital of Seoulbecame a pro-american/democraticnation

The North, with its capital of Pyongyang

became a communist nation



The Cold WarIn 1948, American and Russian forcespulled out of a divided Korea

Koreans on both sides wanted the nation

to be re-united though they differed intheir political views

In June of 1950, the North Koreansdecided to invade the south and unify it

under communism

They were led by the bold Kim Il Sung

American’s thought that Russia was to

blame for the invasion



The Cold WarPresident Truman took a strong stand

He spoke to the UN and sought actionagainst North Korea

The UN voted in the American’s favor andcalled on member nations to defendsouth Korea and restore peace

The UN made the US the commandingnation of the effort

16 Nations took part in the Korean Warbut the US represented 80% of the force



The Cold War The US acted swiftly by sending the navyand air force to protect South Korea

Within a matter of weeks, the North

Koreans had captured Seoul and pusheddeep into South Korea

Truman gave command of the US forcesto WWII hero Douglas McArthur

McArthur landed UN forces in thesouthernmost part of Korea, Pusan

Then he orchestrated one of the greatest

tactical movements in history



The Cold WarMcArthur realized the North Koreanswould attempt to take Pusan

He knew their supply lines would be

stretched thin

He took the Navy north near the 38thparallel

He invaded at Inchon, caught the NorthKoreans by surprise and took back Seoul

The Koreans found themselves trappedbetween two opposing forces



The Cold War

Like a vice, forces began to surround theNorth Koreans

Many found an escape route and movedback across the 38th parallel

The UN had a critical choice to make

Should they be content and end the waras it had started?

Or should they invade the north and endcommunism in Korea?



Chapter 26-The Korean War-



The Cold War

At the 38th parallel, US and S. Koreanforces considered invading the North

China was alarmed at the discussion

They were a new communist nation anddid not want democracy on their doorstep

Douglas McArthur did not care aboutChina

On November 24, 1950 US and S. Koreanforces poured across N. Koreas border



The Cold War The N. Koreans reeled under theAmerican invasion

Soon, American forces approached the

Yalu River

Seeing the American’s so close andfearing an invasion, China joined the war

The US was unprepared for a war againstChina

Chinese and North Korean forces pushedthe US back across the 38th parallel



The Cold WarWith American forces now reeling, the USsent in General Matthew Ridgeway

Ridgeway helped clean up McArthur’s

mess and pushed back to the original38th parallel

McArthur pushed to open a new front inorder to win the war

He pushed Truman to support Chiang KaiShek’s return to power

He wanted to use Chaing’s forces in a

landing of the Chinese mainland



The Cold WarMcArthur even went so far as to considerdropping atomic bombs on China

Truman strongly opposed McArthur’s

plans

McArthur then went to the House MinorityLeader and attacked Truman’s policy

He sought to circumvent the president ofthe US

The letter was made public and Trumanfired McArthur for insubordination



The Cold WarMcArthur returned back home to the USwith a grand hero’s welcome

Most American’s supported McArthur over

Truman

Following McArthur’s removal, the warstalemated at the 38th parallel

Truman tried to negotiate peace but itcontinued to fail

In 1952, Dwight Eisenhower becamepresident



The Cold WarEisenhower wanted to see the war end ina truce

He, like McArthur, threatened China with

atomic bombs least they negotiate peace

In 1953 a truce was signed dividingKorea in half

A demilitarized zone was built on theboarders

The War caused a great deal offrustration at home



The Cold War

American’s had a hard time justifying thedeath of 53,000 Americans and another103,000 wounded

Many questioned how devoted the US wasto stopping communism

Would the US always adopt a policy of

limited warfare [not using the a-bomb]

There were a great deal of changes to USpolicy following the War



The Cold War

It was the first time in history that AfricanAmericans and White Americans fought inthe same units

The Korean War led to an increase inmilitary spending

Where it used to take up less than 1/3

the budget, it swelled to over 1/2

The US began stationing troops in foreignnations around the world



The Cold War The War led to a powerful Miltary-industrial-complex

The military developed links to science

and business

The Korean War led the US to sign apeace treaty with Japan

It poisoned the US relationship with Japan

The two nations would continuethereafter to affront one another



Chapter 26-The Arms Race-

h ld



The Cold WarAmerican policy changed when DwightEisenhower became president in 1953

The Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles

was a harsh anti-communist

He believed Truman’s policy ofcontainment was too lenient

Dulles called for a policy to roll backcommunism from areas in which it hadspread

Eisenhower had to constantly keep

Dulles’s radicalism in check

h ld



The Cold War

In 1953, East Germany revolted. The USkept its distance

In 1956, a rebellion erupted in Polandand in Hungary. Again the US stayed outof it

Eisenhower feared action would lead to

world conflict

In 1953, chaos ensued when Josef Stalinabruptly died

h ld



The Cold WarStalin had been busy collecting names fora future purge

That night, as he retired to bed, he

suffered a stroke

He informed his guards before bedtimenot to disturb him

No one dared enter until nearly 24 hourshad passed

Stalin was found in poor condition anddied of a brain hemorrhage 3 days later

h ld



The Cold War

The Cold War also played out in theMiddle East

The jews, since the turn of the century,had been returning to Jerusalem

In 1947, the UN took control of Palestineand partitioned it creating Israel

Arabs attacked the new state and lost

Israel gained support from the US whilethe Arabs sought Soviet support

h ld



The Cold WarAt risk was oil for both the US and SovietUnion

In Iran, elections voted in a pro-

nationalist leader

The US feared he would side with theSoviets so they supported his overthrow

The Shah, or king, was placed back inpower

This decision would eventually come backto haunt the US

h ld



The Cold WarIn 1956, Abdel Nasser of Egypt seized theSuez Canal from Britain

That year, British and French forces

attacked in order to take the canal back

The Soviets threatened the US, andcoerced them to stay out of the fight

The US and NATO backed off and theSuez was turned over to the Egyptians

In 1958, US troops landed in Lebanonand put down an uprising to remove the

pro-American government

h C ld



The Cold War

The US got its hands dirty in LatinAmerica as well

Since the turn of the century, Americanbusinesses had dominated the affairs ofLatin America

The United Fruit Company had purchased

most of the land in Guatemala, Hondurasand Nicaragua

Business manipulated political campaignsand even carried out assassinations

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The Cold War The Sandinistas attacked American holdings

In 1954, when the president of Guatemalathreatened the US by turning communist, theUS intervened

The CIA overthrew the government and tookback confiscated property

Such actions angered the USSR

In addition, it alienated many Latin Americannations

The OAS was formed in attempt to keeppeace and promote democracy

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The Cold War

The 1950’s saw an incredible surge in thecreation of nuclear arms

When the Soviet Union tested its firstnuclear bomb, the US raced to build abetter bomb

The original atomic bombs operated on

fission, splitting the atomIt was thought fusion, smashing atomstogether, would generate a morepowerful bomb

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The Cold WarIn 1952, the US detonated the first fusionbomb which they named Ivy Mike

The Fat Boy was a 16 kiloton bomb

Ivy Mike was a 12 megaton bomb

It was an incredible explosion that onceagain put power back in American hands

It was short lived however

In 1953, the USSR tested its first H-Bomb

America was rife with spies

Th C ld W



The Cold War

These two incidents kicked off the armsrace, a race between the USSR and US togain weapon superiority

The US adopted a new policy ofDeterrence

It was thought that the US could regain

superiority in weapons and scare anyonefrom the idea of attacking them

Between 1954 and 1958 the US tested 19hydrogen bombs

Th C ld W



The Cold War The bomb tests threatened the world withradioactive contamination

Fisherman in Japan suffered burns fromthe atomic blasts

In 1956, Dulles explained that the USwould go the to verge of nuclear war inorder to get what it wanted

The idea became known as Brinkmanship

Bring your enemy to the brink of nuclearwar

In essence, it was Russian Roulette

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The Cold WarBoth nations now had incredible power todestroy

The problem was delivery

Both nations raced to develop ICBM’s[Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles]

The USSR gained the upper hand due tocaptured German scientists

In 1957, the USSR sent a small satellitecalled Sputnik into space

While the satellite was of little worry, the

rocket that launched it was

Th C ld W



The Cold War

Where the Soviets had rocket superiority,the Americans had better planes

The US and created a new airplane calledthe U2

It could fly so high into the atmosphere

that no Soviet craft could reach it They Americans could spy and the Sovietscould do nothing to stop them

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The Cold WarIn 1960, US Pilot Gary Powers was shotdown in his U2 plane

They Soviets had used a guided missile to

reach him

In created an international crisis

Powers was supposed to take cyanide but

chickened out The US had to acknowledge it was spying

It would take the US a decade to take thetechnological lead back from the USSR



Chapter 27-The Postwar Economy/Innovations-

Th C ld W



The Cold War

WWI taught America a great deal

Don’t be harsh in your punishment ofopposing nations

Don’t treat veterans poorly

The US improved in both regards

Life for Americans was incrediblefollowing WWII

Returning soldiers came back with arenewed value for life and family

Th C ld W



The Cold War

From 1945 to 1960 the per capita incomein the US jumped from $1,223 to $2,219

New businesses boomedGM, Ford and Chrysler overshadowed allcompetitors in the auto industry

GE and Westinghouse did the same forelectricity

Businesses had also learned from theprevious age, the Great Depression

Th C ld W



The Cold WarBusinesses realized that it was better todiversify their products in order to surviveeconomic downturns

This gave rise to conglomerates,businesses that were made up of 2 ormore unrelated businesses

International telephone service purchased

Avis car rental

In San Bernardino, California, arevolution took place in the restaurantbusiness

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The Cold WarIn 1940, Richard and Maurice McDonaldstarted applying assembly linetechniques to their restaurant

They simplified the menu, made itemscheap and most importantly, fast

The idea blossomed, they could hardlykeep up with all their orders

Ray Kroc sold multi-mixers and his saleswere plummeting

He noticed that one small company inCalifornia had purchased 8

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The Cold WarUpon further investigation, he discoveredthe booming McDonald’s restaurant

A single McDonald’s had 8 multi-mixers

and made 40 milkshakes at a timeKroc figured if he purchased the business,he could open more and sell more multi-mixers

Kroc bought the business, its name andits assembly line technology

Kroc then spread the restaurant throughthe idea of franchising

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The Cold War

A franchise is locally owned and operatedbut relies on goods and services from theparent company

Franchise owners assume less risk as theproduct is well known and presumableliked by consumers

The franchise system flourished in the1950’s

Other businesses took advantage ofMcDonald’s assembly line process

Th C ld W



The Cold War Technology developed during the Warmade its way into American homes

During the 1920’s and 30’s technology

for television emerged

However, during the depression no onecould afford it

After the War, television becameenormously popular

By 1955, American’s averaged 3.5 hoursin front of the tv each day

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The Cold War

Children grew up on, “Howdy Doody”and “Mickey Mouse Club”

Teenagers watched “AmericanBandstand”

Other popular programs were “I LoveLucy” and “Father Know’s Best”

TV brought families together, offeredcheap babysitting, spread advertising,and saved money by offering cheapentertainment

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The Cold WarComputers technology also grew

In the 1950’s businesses began buyingthe first computers to simplify tasks

dealing with numbersGrace Hopper at Harvard pioneered theuse of software to run hardware

She introduced the term, “debugging”when a large computer shutdown after amoth was caught in a computer relay

Transistors were born in 1947 and madetechnology smaller

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The Cold War

Nuclear technology did not just destroy

Nuclear power could be harnessed though

the generation of heat This inexpensive reaction could powerfactors and cars

Many were optimistic about the potentialof nuclear energy

In 1954, the US tested the first nuclearsubmarine

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The Cold War

The US also made great gains inmedicine

In 1954, Dr. Jonas Salk and ThomasFrancis conducted the first successfulvaccination

Polio killed more than 20,000 children in

the US each year

Their vaccinations ended polio as well asother dangerous diseases

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The Cold War

In 1928, penicillin was discovered as anantibiotic

Advancements lead to widespreadantibiotic use

The War also pioneered new surgicaltechniques

Doctors could now treat heart defects

They also toyed with replacement hipsurgery



Chapter 27-Attitudes During the 1950’s-

The Cold War



The Cold War

Following the War, Americans had agreater appreciation for life

Returning soldiers wanted to get marriedand have a family

The result was a massive Baby Boom

Prior to the War there were 19 births per1000 people

Following the War the number soared toabove 25 per 1000

The Cold War



The Cold War The US learned a great deal followingWWI

It determined to treat its servicemen

better

In 1944, the government passed the GIBill

This gave servicemen low interestmortgages and educational stipends

Most veterans went to college and earnedhigh paying careers

The Cold War



The Cold War

Prior to WWII, most Americans were bluecollar, jobs that depended on manuallabor

With the GI Bill, veterans became collegegraduates and moved into more whitecollar jobs

By 1956, most American’s had becomewhite collar workers

With many American’s hard at work,there was a 33% rise in unions

The Cold War



The Cold WarWilliam Levitt realized there was moneyto be made from the GI Bill

Many veterans sought homes to purchase

with their new low interest ratemortgages

Levitt built massive urban communitiescalled suburbs

These houses were built quickly, usingmass production techniques

Levittown on Long Island had 17,000homes

The Cold War



The Cold WarUrban sprawl communities impactedother realms of the economy

Many needed reliable cars to commute to

the city

More automobiles were produced to meetdemands

In 1956 the Highway Act saw theconstruction of several interstates acrossthe nation

Part of its purpose was War

The Cold War



The Cold War

America saw the rise of car culture

Car sales soared by 50%

Each year, new models of cars wereproduced

Gas stations, restaurants and drive insfollowed Americans across the country

People used their new found automotivefreedom to travel, go camping and visitamusement parks

The Cold War



The Cold War

With American’s buying cars andappliances to furnish homes, affordablecredit emerged

It was similar in style to cheap credit ofthe 1920’s

By the end of the 1950’s American

Express, Diners Credit and Visa appeared

Credit debt went from $8 billion in 1946to $56 billion in 1960

The Cold War



The Cold War The previous generation of Americanyouth sought individuality

During the 1950’s conformity ruled

Everyone dressed alike and had similarhaircuts

TV shows such as “Leave It to Beaver”and “Father Knows Best” displayed howthe youth was to act and dress

Girls wore bobby socks and poodle skirts

Boys wore letterman’s jackets

The Cold War



The Cold War

New magazines appeared, “Seventeen”and “Teen”

These magazines showed the youth howconformity was best and what was cool

Most girls married right after high school

Close to half of all brides in the US werein their teens

The Cold War



The Cold WarReligion also saw a huge revival during the1950’s

During the 1930’s many American’s driftedaway from religion

After the War, religion was king

In 1954, congress added “Under God” to thepledge of allegiance

“In God We Trust” was added to all currency

Family prayer was common and 95% of allAmericans said they were part of a religiousorganization

The Cold War



The Cold War

Men and Women developed strong rolesin the family

Men were to go to school, get a collegeeducation and support their families

Women were to support their husbands

They were to keep the house clean, cookmeals and raise children

Few strayed away from the norm

The Cold War



The Cold War

Many women had taken important jobsduring WWII

While most turned their jobs back to menfollowing the War, some stayed in theworkplace

In 1950, 24% of American women held

jobs

Most held jobs as teachers, nurses,secretaries and sales clerks

The Cold War



The Cold WarIn 1963, Betty Friedan wrote theFeminine Mystique

It lashed out at the culture that had

subjugated women to being housewives

It was a growing movement that receivemore momentum in the coming decade

In the late 1950’s many of the youthbegan to lash back at conformity

James Dean embodied rebellion in hismovie “Rebel Without a Cause”

The Cold War



The Cold WarIn 1951, Alan Freed began hosting aradio show in Cleveland, Ohio

He aired black rhythm and blues

Freed was wildly popular amongstteenagers

His show, “Moondog Rock n’ Roll Party”

gave rise to Rock n’ Roll music

New musicians arose, such as ChuckBerry, Little Richard, The Comets, JerryLewis and Buddy Holly

The Cold War



The Cold War

The best known Rock n’ Roll singer wasElvis Presley

His flamboyant style attracted theattention of young teenage girls

Rock n’ Roll spread to Europe and Asia

No band however was more popular than

The Beatles

Their early music was highly inspired byAmerican Rock n’ Roll

The Cold War



The Cold WarMembers of this generation of musicrevolution were called Beatniks

Beatniks were traveling musicians and poets

The most popular was Jack Kerouac

They stressed spirituality and release frommoney and property

Beatniks challenged conformity

They used drugs, practiced unbridledsexuality

They gave rise to the later Hippie movement

of the 60’s



Chapter 27-Domestic Politics and Policy of the 1950’s-

The Cold War



The Cold War

President Truman had large boots to fillfollowing Roosevelt’s death

He saw the War through and made thedecision to drop the atomic bomb

With the War at and end, many wonderedwhat Truman’s policies would be

Truman’s first policy was Re-conversion

He wanted to make a smooth economic andsocial transition from war to peacetime

The Cold War



The Cold War Truman brought most soldiers home fromabroad by 1946

The economy proved more challenging

Most American’s had to sacrifice during theWar

Following the War they wanted to purchasegoods, and they wanted sanctions lifted and

production to resume

Many manufacturers wanted an increase inwages, when they didn’t get it they went onstrike

The Cold War



The Cold War

Truman fought strikes in many ways

A railroad strike in 1946 was ended bydrafting the strikers into the army and

forcing them to work

In 1947, Congress passed the Taft-Hartley Act

If strikes hurt American industry, thepresident could call for an 80 day cooling offperiod

This period would force workers back to thejob while a deal was worked out

The Cold War



The Cold War

Truman started his own agenda which hecalled, “The Fair Deal”

It aimed to help raise wages, giveunemployment benefits, provide housing, putforth a national health insurance programand limit nuclear energy

The program was a scattershot and not

concise

It fell under sever scrutiny by bothcongressional parties

The Cold War



The Cold War Truman fought to end discrimination

He fought discriminatory practices in hiring

He also ordered and end to discrimination in

the army

In 1948, Truman ran for a second term

Republicans nominated Thomas E. Dewey

The Democrats, in many ways, turned theirback on Truman

He ran anyway, though considered alongshot

The Cold War



The Cold War

Truman’s campaign centered on attackingcongress as “do-nothings” especially therepublicans

His campaign hit a chord and despite beingan underdog, he won re-election

Democratic control angered republicans

They sought to instate a term limit on thepresidency

In 1951, the 22nd amendment limited thepresident to two terms in office

The Cold War



The Cold War

Four years later, Truman decided not to runagain [he could have technically sought a3rd term]

Dwight Eisenhower, commander of the alliedforces ran on the republican ticket

Eisenhower had an easy going manner,opposed to the scrappy nature of Truman

He was a talented diplomat, who effectivelyput together several peace negations duringWWII

The Cold War



The Cold War

Eisenhower focused on a simple K1C2initiative

K1 was Korea, C 1 was communism and C 2

was corruption

Eisenhower’s nomination for VP was RichardNixon

Where Eisenhower’s campaign proceededsmoothly, it hit a snag with Nixon

Nixon was accused of having a secret moneyfund, given to him by wealthy Republicans

The Cold War



The Cold War

Eisenhower left Nixon to redeem himself,despite many urging him to dump Nixon

Nixon went on TV, outlined his funds and

earnings

He said the only gift he had received fromRepublicans was a dog he named Checkers

American’s became enamored with Nixon’scharm

Eisenhower avoided disaster and was electedPresident

The Cold War



The Cold WarPresident Eisenhower wanted to reduce thepower of the president

Power that had grown since Roosevelt

He sought to curb spending, reduce taxes andbalance the budget

His program was called “ModernRepublicanism”

He sought to be conservative with money andbe liberal with people

Eisenhower favored big business

The Cold War



The Cold WarEisenhower’s money management caused aneconomic slump

The deficit grew and revenues fell

Eisenhower ensured all American’s had access

to Social Security

He also rose minimum wage by 75c

In the face of the Russian launching Sputnik,

Eisenhower created NASA

He also signed the National Defense Act whichsought to improve math and science in USschools

The ultimate goal, to surpass the USSR



Chap t e r 28: Se c t ion 1

The 60’sThe Demand for Civil Rights

The 60’s



The 60 s

Prior to WWII, Americans were not treated as equals

Following the War, the timeseemed right for a movementof change

There were several factors forthe timing of the movement

1) African American Migration

Between 1910 and 1940,450,000 blacks live in New York City

The 60’s



The 60 s

New York City was not theonly place, many other topnorthern cities saw African American populations swell

African American’s gainedmore voice in political affairs

2) The New Deal

Roosevelt sought African America votes in order to pass

his New Deal programs

Many African Americans, as aresult, started to work for thegovernment

The 60’s



The 60 s

3) WWII

Many African Americans worked hard for the country

during the War

They held prominent workpositions

Also, the holocaust highlighted

the horrors of discrimination

People feared what racialdiscrimination could lead to

The 60’s



The 60 s

4) Rise of the NAACP

The NAACP worked hard toeliminate segregation laws

Segregation of race wasconstitutional as long asfacilities were equal

This was rarely the case and it was challenged across thecountry

Spearheading the NAACP wasThurgood Marshall

The 60’s



The 60 s

In 1951 a pivotal court caserocked the nation

Oliver Brown sued Topeka,Kansas Board of Education toallow his black daughter toattend a white only school

Thrugood Marshall fought forBrown in the supreme court

The Supreme Court found the

idea of “Separate but Equal”unconstitutional

All public schools wereordered to desegregate

The 60’s



The 60 s

The ruling received mixedreactions

African Americans rejoiced while many whites went up inarms

President Eisenhowerdisagreed with the ruling butcommitted to obey it

The Deep South promised tofight the decision

The 60’s



The 60 s

The Klu Klux Klan, once again,saw a surge in membership

90 members of Congresssigned the “SouthernManifesto”

It pledge they would do all intheir power to reverse thecourt decision

In 1955, the Civil RightsMovement took to the streets

The 60’s



The 60 s

Rosa Parks of Montgomery, Alabama decided to sit in the white section of a segregated bus

When a white man got on the bus and the driver orderedParks to the back, she refused

At the next stop, she wasarrested

African American leadersordered a bus boycott of allMontgomery Busses

The 60’s



The 60 s

Martin Luther King Jr., a 26 year old baptist minster became the movementsspokesperson

“There comes a time whenpeople get tired...tired of beingsegregated and humiliated. We have no alternative but toprotest”

Over the next year, 50,000people stopped riding the bus

The bus company refused togive in

The 60’s



The 60 s

In 1956, the Supreme Courtruled that bus segregation wasalso unconstitutional

The Montgomery boycottcreated a new wave of leadersand movements

In 1957, Arkansas governorOrval Faubus declared hecould not keep order if he hadto enforce integration

He posted the National Guardat Central High School inLittle Rock to prevent theentry of black students

The 60’s



The 60 s

There were 9 students in all,they became known as theLittle Rock Nine

Crowds also gathered toprevent the students fromentering

Eisenhower viewed this as adirect violation of theconstitution

He seized the national guardand told them to lead thestudents into the school

The 60’s



The 60 s

African American’s were notthe only minority groupseeking change

Latin American’s also facedhardship and segregation

In the case of Delgado vsBastrop, segregation amongstLatin Americans was also

declared unconstitutional

Native American’s also facedproblems

The 60’s



The 60 s

In 1953, the US governmentsought to end reservations

They wanted to assimilateNative Americans into society

The “termination” movement was met with severe resistance

The US government decided toabandon the idea

Discrimination, poverty andhardship for Native Americanscontinued




The 60’s Leaders and Strategies



worksheet




The 60’sThe Struggle Intensifies

The 60’s



The 60 s

In the early 1960’s, the CivilRights Movement metstronger resistance

In 1943, the first Sit-Inoccurred in Chicago

Diner’s and restaurants acrossthe nation continued to besegregated

African American’s foughtthese institutions by stayingput in their chair until they were served

The 60’s



The 60 s

At first, they were successfulas many owners gave in ratherthan lose business

In time they became more violent, people putting outcigarettes, pouring hot coffee

In most cases, African Americans were arrested, notthe whites

Martin Luther Kingconsidered arrests a badge ofhonor

The 60’s



The 60 s

In 1960, the US SupremeCourt ruled that segregation in busses was unconstitutional

CORE and SNCC memberstraveled south to test whetherthe south would obey

They became known asFreedom Riders

At first, the riders met littleresistance; that all changed when they arrived in the deepsouth

The 60’s



The 60 s

In Anniston, Alabama, a heavilyarmed mob met the first bus

The bus attempted to leave butthe mob slashed its tires

More whites surrounded the bus, armed with weapons

One person held the door closed while windows were busted outand a fire bomb was tossed in

Many were injured, someescaped only to be beaten by themob of whites

The 60’s



The 60 sThe SNCC debated giving up

Even though they realized goingon might result in death, theycontinued

The nation was horrified to seehow the South treated theFreedom Riders

Attorney General RobertKennedy sent Federal Marshals

to protect the riders

Kennedy pushed the justicedepartment to sue localcommunities that did notcomply

The 60’s



The 60 s

In 1961, James Meredith, and African American soughtadmission into Ole Miss

After being rejected, he filed alaw suit against the school

Defying the courts decision,the school would not letMeredith attend

The US Government sent USMarshal’s to protect Meredithas he attended school

The 60’s



The 60 s

Violence erupted on campus

Protesters destroyed vehicles,threw bottles and made deaththreats

Police responded with teargas, and two people werekilled

The National Guard had to be

sent in to restore order

Eventually, Meredith wasaccepted by his whiteclassmates

The 60’s



Th 0 s

In Birmingham, Alabama,Reverend Fred Shuttlesworthinvited Martin Luther King totown

King declared Birmingham to be the most segregated placein the US

The police promised they would arrest King if he causedany problems

When King arrived, many African American’sparticipated in Sit-Ins and boycotts

The 60’s



King called upon the youth tomarch with the adults for CivilRights

The police arrested 100’s andothers they dispersed with firehoses and police dogs

King was arrested, but let goafter a week

American’s across the nation watched in horror as scenesplayed out on TV

The 60’s



It made a strong impression

Even those against the CivilRights Movement started to

have sympathy

Non-Violent protest began to win out

City facilities were ordered de-

segregated

Businesses adopted fair hiringpractices

The 60’s



The Civil Rights Movement was about to gain a new leader

Malcolm Little, born inOmaha, Nebraska grew up a

devote Baptist

His father was a leading figureof Marcus Garvey’s “Back to Africa” movement

His father died while Little was young

His mother moved to theGhettos of Detroit Michigan

The 60’s



In Detroit, Little turned tocrime

He was arrested for burglaryand served 7 years in prison

While in jail, he joined theNation of Islam, a group ofBlack Muslims

They viewed white society as

oppressive

They sought black separationand self-help

The 60’s



The leader of the Black Nation was Elijah Muhammad

He taught that Allah would bring about a Black Nation

That whites were their mortalenemies

Members of the Black Nationawaited for Allah to create theBlack Nation

The 60’s



Little emerged as a topspokesperson for the group

He changed his name toMalcolm X

He used the X symbolically tomean slave

Malcolm X was a fieryspokesperson

He spread the ideas of BlackNationalism, a belief in aseparate community for African Americans

The 60’s



Malcolm X rejected the CivilRights Movement

He questioned why any Black would grovel before whites

In 1964, Malcolm X traveled toMecca

He realized he was in the wrong and sought to joinMartin Luther's movement

The Nation of Islam felt betrayed and he was gunneddown during a speech in New York

The 60’s



Stokely Carmichael, a member ofthe SNCC was influenced byMalcolm X

He rose to lead the SNCC

He transformed the group into aradical organization

He was tired of the beatings andmistreatment by whites

He forbade whites entry in theSNCC

He told protesters to carry weaponsand defend themselves against whites

The 60’s



With Carmichael, the CivilRights Movement split

In Mississippi, Kings followers

chanted “We shall overcome” while Carmichael’s shouted,“We shall overrun”

Carmichael sought many ofthe same things the early

Malcolm X did

He wanted a separate blackcommunity

Stokley Carmichael



y

“This is the 27th time I have been arrested and Iain’t going to Jail no more! ...The only way we

gonna stop them white men from whippin’ us is totake over. We have been saying freedom for sixyears and we ain’t got nothin. What we gonna

start saying now is “Black Power!”

The 60’s



In the Fall of 1966, a newBlack militant group called theBlack Panthers was formed

Panthers wanted African Americans to lead their owncommunities

They demanded thegovernment rebuild theghetto’s

Panthers were frequentlyinvolved in violent conflicts with police



Chap t e r 28 & 29: Se c t ions 5 and 1

The 60’sThe Political Response

The 60’s



September 26, 1960 foreverchanged America

It was the first time that twopresidential candidates faced

off in a television debate

Nixon was the Republicancandidate

He had incredible experience

and most Americans knewhim well

He appeared on TV following agrueling political tour

The 60’s



Campaigning across thenation, Nixon had a seriousknee injury

He was hospitalized for weeks,and had lost a lot of weight

On TV he appeared tired, hada six o’clock shadow and hisclothes were too big

On the other side,representing the democrats was the young John F.Kennedy

The 60’s



Kennedy had been in California

He had a tan, appeared relaxedand handsome

Kennedy spoke directly to thecamera, and paid little attentionto Nixon

Who won the debate?

70% of those who saw the

debate on TV said it wasKennedy

Those who listened by radiosaid Nixon

The 60’s



John Kennedy came from a wealthy American family line

His father was a senator who was bold and had a take no prisonerapproach to politics

The Kennedy’s were as close to aRoyal family as America could get

John Kennedy was 43 years oldand a devout Catholic

The youngest president in UShistory was Teddy Roosevelt

No President in US history hadever been Catholic

The 60’s



Kennedy and his VPnomination, Lyndon Johnson,

won the presidency by a narrowmargin

Being such a narrow victory,

Kennedy arrived without a clearmandate [strong publicapproval]

As Kennedy was sworn in, hetook office with vigor andconfidence declaring:

“My Fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”

The 60’s



In an early speech, Kennedysaid the US stood at the edgeof a New Frontier

That name stuck to his

presidential initiative

The first component of theNew Frontier was theeconomy

Kennedy wanted to promoteeconomic growth

In 1962, US Steel raised pricesto $6 a ton

The 60’s



Kennedy fought the firm tolower prices

When they did, the stockmarket fell to its lowest level

since 1929

Kennedy then proposed a taxcut

This would create a national

deficit but hopefully increasespending

His tax cut initiative was hungup in congress

The 60’s



Kennedy was concerned withthe nations poor

Kennedy proposed anambitious plan to give federalaid and medical care to theelderly

Congress shot it down

He was successful at raisingminimum wage and providingequal pay for equal work

The 60’s



When congress thwarted Kennedy, heinitiated executive orders including:

Food for the unemployed

Boosted missile programs

Retirement benefits at 62

A program to help juvenile delinquency

Construction of the world’s largest power

plant

Food and drug laws

Nuclear testing ban

The 60’s



Kennedy promised to fight forequal rights when hecampaigned

When he became president,Civil Rights initiatives slowed

He appointed ThurgoodMarshal to become a CircuitCourt Judge

He would later become thefirst African Americansupreme court justice

The 60’s



As violence swept across thenation, Kennedy took a stand

He started work on a strongCivil Rights Bill

It was during this time that African American’s marchedon the Nations Capital

Martin Luther King spoke onhis dream for a future

America, untainted bysegregation

Kennedy’s bold Civil RightsBill was hung up in congress

The 60’s



Kennedy’s greatest challenge when he came to office was theSoviet Union

The Island nation of Cuba hadexperienced a great deal ofturmoil since independence

The US had supported adictator in Cuba named

Fulgencio Batista

Batista was a staunch anti-communist

The 60’s



Under Fulgencio’s control,Cuba became an Americanplayground

Behind the backdrop however was extreme poverty

American’s businesscontrolled 75% of Cuba andprofited greatly

Many lower class citizenspushed for change

The 60’s



The movement found voice ina young attorney, Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro attempted tooverthrow the government

and failed

He and his followers wereexiled to Mexico

In Mexico, the movement

grew

They gained a strong idealistin the form of ErnestoGuevara from Argentina

The 60’s



Ernesto was born to a semi- wealthy family in Argentina

He lived during a time of politicalupheaval in Argentina

He went to school to study to become a doctor, with particularinterest in leprosy

Nearing graduation, he and afriend decided to take a year off of

studies to see the world

They embarked on a year ofadventure traveling through Latin America



The Cuban Missile Cr isis

The 60’sThe Political Response

The 60’s



Ernesto saw many things on his journeys

He saw the poverty and struggles ofLatin Americans everywhere

Many problems were blamed on the US

In time, his anger turned to rage and hesought to change Latin America for the better

His journeys eventually took him to

Central America where he came intocontact with Castro’s men

Cuba’s situation interested him, hedesired to become a part of it

The 60’s



Castro and others nicknamedErnesto “Che” due to his birthplace

Castro soon left Mexico andlanded in Cuba

He started the Cuban revolution which succeeded in overthrowingBatista

After gaining the victory, he

traveled to the US

While there, America warned himagainst taking US businesses,Castro did not listen

The 60’s



Castro immediately began asystem of land reform, giving land back to Cubans

He took it by force from Americans earning him a greatenemy

When a movement arose againsthim, Castro began systematicexecutions to ensure he stayed inpower

Back in the US, a plan wasconceived to overthrow Castro



Crisis in Cuba



The invasion was a huge failure

Castro was ready and sent theattackers reeling

The US began to plan a secondattempt

This gave Castro no choice

He decided to make an ally of Americas greatest enemy

The Soviet Union

Crisis in Cuba



With that, Cuba slowly turned toCommunism

Those who disliked the change fled tothe US as refugees

In the summer of 1962, US spy planesdiscovered the construction of nuclearmissile bases in Cuba

The US reacted quickly by warning Cuba

and the USSR to remove the missiles

A massive invasion force was built in theUS as well as an embargo of the island

Crisis in Cuba



The US told the USSR, under thethreat of war, to remove the missiles

It also disallowed any other ships toarrive to the island

The brink of WWIII came when Sovietand US ships participated in a stare-down at sea off the coast of Cuba

The Soviet ships ultimately backeddown and the US and USSR agreed to

peace talks

The result was the removal of both USand Soviet missiles

Crisis in Cuba



The relations between the US andCuba spoiled more over the years

An embargo of the island remainsin effect this very day

Many wonder what the future ofCuba will be after the death ofCastro

Many refugees, still in the Americas, await for the day theycan return home

The 60’s



Following the Cuban MissileCrisis, Kennedy andKrushchev established a hotline

It was a phone used to preventa nuclear war

In 1963, in order to avoidnuclear destruction, the US,Britain and USSR agreed to

only test nuclear weapons below ground

It was called the Nuclear TestBan Treaty

The 60’s



The Cuban Missile Crisiscaused Kennedy to realize theneed to protect the America’s

Many nations in Latin America saw hope in breakingfrom US control by turning tocommunism

Kennedy launched the Alliance for Progress

The program pledged 20 billion in aid to Latin Americaover ten years

The 60’s



The program was a hugeundertaking

Its main purpose wasthreefold 1) Stop communism

2) Help the poor and 3) Helprebuild US reputation

Many nations feared theprogram would come withstrings attached

The US took a strong stanceagainst communistic regimesin Latin America

The 60’s



Ernesto Guevara stoodopposed to those plans

He left Cuba, helpingcommunist movements in

Africa

Then he returned to South America

He sought to unify South

America under communism

The CIA hunted him down andended his dream

The 60’s



Another conflict brewed inEurope on the heals of the Bayof Pigs invasion

With Stalin dead, Nikita

Krushchev controlled theUSSR

When Krushchev metKennedy, he attempted to bully him out of Germany

After the meeting, Kennedy boosted US defenses in a showof force

The 60’s



He asked Americans to buildfallout shelters across thenation

The Soviet response was building a wall across Berlin

Berlin had previously beenseparated by a series of gatesand fences

Now, a full scale wall rose

Kennedy promised WestBerlin he would protect it bydeclaring, “I am a Berliner” inGerman

The 60’s



The Berlin Wall, the CubanMissile Crisis, and an increasein arms, the Cold War was back at the forefront

The US was worried theSoviets had surpassed them intechnology

They had caught up in nucleartechnology and surpassed the

US in rocketry

The US was shocked in 1957 when the Soviets launchedSputnik

The 60’s



NASA was born to catch up thethe Soviet space program

The US and Soviet union raced toput the first man in space

In 1961, the Soviets were the first

In order to calm US fears,Kennedy made a commitment

He stated that the US was

committed to be the first to put aman on the moon

It was to be done before thedecade was complete



The Space R ace

The 60’sChapter 29

The 60’s



Following WWII, there was amassive race between the USSRand US to grab the Nazi scientists

Nazi scientists had created

incredible machines during the war

The US scored the first victory

They were the first to find

Wernher von Braun

He was the chief scientist over the V1 and V2 self guided rockets

The 60’s



The US was primarily interestedin keeping a nuclear edge

Werner’s skills were not put togood use

In 1957, the USSR stunned the US when it launched Sputnik

The US scrambled to catch up

Many US rockets were failures

The USSR had developed ICBM’screating massive tension at home

The 60’s



In 1958, the US launched its firstprobe into space, it was calledExplorer I

Both nations raced to put a manin space

The Soviets won, putting YuriGagarin into orbit in 1961

He orbited around the earth in

108 minutes

The US was not far behind

The 60’s



NASA’s program to put a maninto space was called Mercury 7

Top pilots were sought and testedto become the first American in

space

In May of 1961, Alan Shepard, aNavy pilot was the first Americanin space

His trip was very short, he did not

orbit the earth

He was launched into space via Werner Braun’s Saturn V rocket

The 60’s



In 1962, John Glenn became thefirst American to orbit the earth

He saw strange lights

That same year, PresidentKennedy promised the US would be the first to put a man on themoon

Telestar, the world’s firstcommunication satellite was

launched later that year

The first communication satellitein history

The 60’s



Following the success of theMercury program, the US movedto develop procedures to move tothe moon

Out of this came the Gemini

Program

Again the Soviets won, having thefirst space walk

The US did many space walks

itself

Notable Gemini members were:Buzz Aldrin, Jim Lovell, GusGrissom and Neil Armstrong

The 60’s



The final space program wascalled Apollo

It’s sole purpose was to land onthe moon

On July 16, 1969, the Apollomission accomplished its goal before the Soviets

Neil Armstrong became the firstperson to set foot on the moon

It was watched by people acrossthe world

It was a feat unlike any other inhistory

The 60’s



The Soviets, being beat, decidedto concentrate their efforts on building a space station

In 1971, the Soviet Salyut Station

was the first in history

It was followed by Skylab andcontinues today with theInternational Space Station

The US landed on the moon 9

times

The last landing occurred in 1972, we have not been back since

The 60’s



The 1970’s and 80’s also saw arace amongst satellites

The US and Soviets raced to takepictures of the planets, moons

and conduct landings

The most interesting of these craft were the Voyager’s 1 and 2

Both were launched in 1977

Both continue to makeobservations and beam back datafrom the far reaches of space



The End o f Came lo t


The 60’s



In 1960, broadway performedCamelot

It depicted the legendary kingdomof King Arthur

Many regarded PresidentKennedy’s term in office asCamelot

Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline

brought style, enthusiasm, andhope to the White House

All of that would fall apart in 1963

The 60’s



On November 22, 1963, Kennedytraveled to Dallas, Texas to garnersupport for re-election

There they met John Connally

and his wife Nelly

Together they rode in an open toplimousine through downtownDallas

They were surrounded by police

and Secret Service Agents

Huge crowds had gathered tocatch a glimpse of the President

The 60’s



The motorcade turned a corner infront of the Texas School BookDepository

As the limousine drove down thestreet, a shot rang out

Many thought it was a car backfiring or perhaps afirecracker

John Connally knew it was a high

powered rifle

He craned his head to where heheard the sound

The 60’s



A second later, another shot rangout

This bullet struck PresidentKennedy in the back and exitedthrough his throat

The bullet hit Connally as well,exiting through his chest and wrist

The President’s wife leaned in to

see why Kennedy had raised hisarms in pain

Then, a third and final shot rangout

The 60’s



The third bullet hit the Presidentin the back of the head and exitedthrough the front of his forehead

Jacqueline crawled over the backof the car and yelled, “They havekilled my husband and I have his brains in my hand”

The car speed away to a nearbyhospital

Kennedy was pronounced dead30 minutes later

Zapruder Film



Zapruder Film



The 60’s



Across America, people stood indisbelief

Millions wept for PresidentKennedy and his wife

Police scrambled to find theshooter

In the book depository, LeeHarvey Oswald hid his rifle, a6.5mm Carcano, under some

boxes

He left the building just a fewminutes after the shooting

The 60’s



He returned home, he gathered afew belongings and headed backout

45 minutes after the shooting, apolice officer pulled aside Oswald

who was walking down thesidewalk

They spoke briefly, then theofficer got out of his car

Oswald pulled a pistol, shot himfour times and fled

He was captured by police in anearby theater

The 60’s



2 days later, Oswald was beingtransferred to the country jail

As he was handcuffed and being

taken to the car, Jack Rubystepped forward

He was a local nightclub ownerand distraught over Kennedy’sdeath

He pulled and pistol, shot andkilled Oswald

Shooting of Oswald



Shooting of Oswald



The 60’s



Due to the peculiar circumstancesof the killings, many weresuspicious

American’s felt there was more tothe assassination that was beinglet on

The Warren Commission was setup to investigate the assassination

They concluded that Oswald had

acted alone

Many American’s have feltotherwise

The 60’s



American’s did not accept the WarrenCommissions investigation

Several conspiracy theories havearisen

1) There were two gunman

2) It was the CIA. Kennedy said he wanted to tear the CIA apart

3) It was Lyndon Johnson who wantedthe presidency

4) The Mob, whom Kennedy wasfighting against

5) The Russian KGB

The 60’s



In 2003, an ABC poll found that 73%of American’s believe it was aconspiracy

The truth lies with Lee Harvey Oswald

Oswald had a rough childhood

He was not popular and wasfrequently abused

He joined the Marines, in an attempt

to gain appreciation and do something

There he also found himself ridiculedand abused

The 60’s



Hated by America, Oswald delved intoMarxism

He decided to defect to the USSR

The Soviet’s found him unstable and

of little use. The sent him back to theUS

Now considered a communistsympathizer, the abuses continued

Rejected by the USSR, Oswald turned

to Fidel Castro of Cuba

Cuba rejected his efforts to gain apassport and join the revolution



Zapruder Film Analysis



The Gr e a t Socie t y


“All I have I would have given gladly not to be standing here today... No words are sad



g y

enough to express our sense of loss. No words are strong enough to express ourdetermination to continue the forward

thrust of America that “Kennedy” began.The ideas and the ideas which he so nobly

represented must and will be translated intoeffective action”

-Lyndon B. Johnson

The 60’s



90 minutes after Kennedy waskilled, Lyndon B. Johnson wassworn into office

Johnson was ready to becomepresident

He was incredibly ambitious

Johnson had a bold, no nonsensecharacter

He used intimidation to get hisprograms through congress

The 60’s



Johnson wanted action in order toheal a wounded nation

Johnson’s agenda includedKennedy’s Civil Rights and Tax

Cut Bills

He enhanced public education,provided medical care for theelderly and sought to eliminatepoverty

In a speech Johnson encouraged American’s to pursue becoming aGreat Society

The 60’s



Johnson’s early success atpresident earned him election in1964

Johnson pushed a plan for

Medicaid and Medicare

Medicaid provides low cost healthinsurance to those who cannotafford insurance

Medicare provides hospitals and Americans with low cost healthinsurance to those 65 years of ageand older

The 60’s



There were a number of foreignissues that haunted Johnson'soffice

In the Dominican Republic, there was a rebel group that threatenedto take the government

Johnson wrongfully suspected acommunist plot

He sent in the marines whodispelled the rebells

The 60’s



The bigger ordeal took place in Vietnam

Vietnam was passing thoughcircumstances not unlike Korea

The nation was being torn apart between communists and thosefavoring democracy

In 1964, Johnson committed theUS to prevent a communisttakeover in Vietnam

During 1965, money and troops were sent to South Vietnam toprop up the government

The 60’s



5 years following Kennedy’sassassination, America wasrocked by another string ofmurders

Martin Luther King continued his

crusade to end segregation

In 1968, he was traveling thenation fighting economic injustice

It was his feeling that poverty bread violence

King gave a powerful speech inMemphis, Tennessee about livingto see the promised land

The 60’s



The next day, as he stood on the balcony of a motel he was shot

The bullet struck him in the rightcheek, hit his spine, and traveleddown his neck

It destroyed his spine and jugularand lodged in his shoulder

He was rushed to a local hospitaland died about an hour later

Police arrested James Earl Ray

He died in prison at age 70 in1998

The 60’s



That same year, the Vietnam War was escalating

President Johnson’s first term was coming to an end

Running on the democratic ticketfor President was Robert F.Kennedy

RFK ran supporting the CivilRights Movement

He also sought to withdraw American troops from Vietnam

The 60’s



When Johnson declared he didnot seek a second term, Kennedy became the frontrunner forpresident

RFK won a key victory inCalifornia

He gave a short victory speechand was lead out the back of theconference room

As he passed by throngs of people,a man by the name of SirhanSirhan approached with a .22caliber pistol



The 60’s



Sirhan Sirhan said his motive behind the killing was to protectPalestine

Kennedy was a supporter of Israel

He felt the killing savedPalestinian lives

It is the first known act of violencein the US involving the Israel-Palestine conflict

Sirhan Sirhan is still alive and isserving a life sentence inCalifornia

The 60’sThe 1960’s were an absolute



The 1960 s were an absolutenightmare for Americans

The decade started with acts of violence involving the Civil RightsMovement

The Cuban Missile Crisisthreatened nuclear holocaust

The President and other leaders were assassinated

All this occurred while the Vietnam War raged in the East

It was the most tumultuousdecade in American history



The Vie t nam War




• The French exploited Vietnam byestablishing rubber plantations

• They put down uprisings during the1930’s and stripped the Vietnamese ofthe freedom of speech

• Ho Chi Minh became the leader ofVietnam’s independence movement

• The French condemned him to deathand Minh fled the country



• In 1941, Japan invaded and seizedcontrol of Vietnam

• The French were forced to leave

• Following WWII, Minh returned toVietnam and sought independence

• He worked with the US seeking todraft a constitution

• In 1945, Ho Chi Minh stood amidst acrowd in Hanoi and declared Vietnamindependent



• The US told Ho Chi Minh to hold offon independence

• In 1946, the French returned

• War torn France sought to revitalizeits economy by taking over Vietnam

• The US switched sides and supportedthe French invasion

• Nearly $2.6 billion US dollars went tosupport the French



• During the 1950’s, the US becameembroiled in Korea

• They felt the French were fighting forthem by preventing the spread ofcommunism

• In 1953, Eisenhower negotiated peacein Korea

• In 1954, Eisenhower announced hisdomino theory

• If one more nation in Asia fell victimto communism, all of Asia would fall



• Despite US support, the French couldnot re-take northern Vietnam

• In 1954, the French began a massivepush to take the North

• They parachuted nearly 10,000French soldiers into Dien Bien Phu

• The Vietminh surrounded the outpostand bombarded it with artillery for 50days

• Trapped and without aid, the Frenchsurrendered



• The US, France, China, Great Britain,the Soviet Union, Laos and Cambodiaall met to negotiate peace

• The Geneva Accords temporarilydivided Vietnam along the 17thparallel

• Ho Chi Minh, and his communistswere given the North and its capitalHanoi

• Anti-communists were given theSouth with its capital Saigon



• Diem did not give land to peasants

• Being Catholic, he also suppressedBuddhism across South Vietnam

• In 1957, a pro-communist movementemerged in the South

• They were known as the Vietcong

• They sought to overthrow Diem’sregime and unify the nation with theNorth



• Ho Chi Minh saw an opportunity

• He supported the Vietcong by givingthem money and weapons

• Arms were smuggled to VC leadersvia a secret road called the Ho ChiMinh trail

• The South grew incredibly unstable

• The US had to decide to sink or swimwith Diem



• Kennedy sought to renegotiate peacethrough Diem

• 16,000 American soldiers were sentto South Vietnam to restore order

• Diem failed to cooperate

• He continued to mistreat the poor byrelocating them to protected areas

• He attacked Buddhist monks anddestroyed their temples

S l B ddhi t k i d ld



• Several Buddhist monks gained worldattention through acts of selfimmolation

• Horrified, the US urged Diem to stoppersecuting Buddhists

• Diem refused, the US determined toremove him from power

• In November of 1963, Diem wascaptured by US soldiers and executed

• Kennedy was against the operation,he was assassinated a few weeks later



• Just before his assassination, Kennedyhad announced his intent to pull outof Vietnam

• President Lyndon Johnson took an

opposite stance

• New leaders were propped up by theUS, when they failed to obey, they toowere assassinated

• Johnson did not want to appear weakin front of a world stage

• Johnson felt if the US pulled out of

Vietnam it would encourage



Vietnam it would encouragecommunist everywhere to rise up

• In August of 1964, a NorthVietnamese patrol boat fired on theUS Destroyer Maddox

• The US ship was patrolling off thecoast of North Vietnam in the Gulf ofTonkin

• Two days later, a second wave of

attacks occurred against US ships

• Some aboard the US ships laterreported never seeing Vietnameseships

• President Johnson used this attack to

escalte the conflict in Vietnam



escalte the conflict in Vietnam

• He asked congress for the power todo whatever necessary to repelattacks against the US

• Congress approved with only twopeople voting in opposition

• The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution wasdrafted, it gave Johnson broad military

power in Vietnam

• In the next year, 50,000 Americantroops were sent to South Vietnam



• The US entered the War thinking their



• The US entered the War thinking theirsuperior technology would win out

• They were unprepared to fight in the Jungles of South East Asia

• The US and Vietcong differed greatlyin military strategy

• The US fought in a way that wasreminiscent of Chess

• The Vietcong fought using Sun Tzu’sArt of War

T h Vi i b hid



• To the Vietcong, it was better to hide,harass, and wear down the enemy

• They utilized a strategy similar to theChinese game of Go

• They knew the War would drag on,that the US had better technology

• They would fight “Hit and Run”

• They would surround, surprise, andwear down the US

• US Generals continued to search for al l



• US Generals continued to search for alarge scale engagement

• They felt US technology would havethe upper hand

• The Vietcong denied them any chancefor a large scale battle

• American soldiers were told to movethrough the jungle and find theVietcong

• US soldiers did not know with theVietcong looked like

• They would come across a villageh ld i th ldi



• They would come across a villagewho would praise the soldiers

• They would give gifts and shout,“America #1”

• That night, the same people wouldsurround and attack Americansoldiers

• This proved to be an incrediblydifficult way for American’s to fight

• They were surrounded by enemiesand the dangers of the jungle



• The Vietcong employed a variety ofbooby traps in the jungle

• Early traps were primitive in nature

• They used punji pits and stakes

• Traps used to kill wild animals

•American Soldiers never knew whatthey were walking into



Whip Trap

Arrow Trap



Tiger Trap Mace Trap

• Making matters worse the Vietconghad dug underground tunnels



• Making matters worse, the Vietconghad dug underground tunnels

• They began these tunnels during thewar with the French

• The tunnels were incredibly hard tofind

• At times, Americans would walk overentire armies

• The Vietcong would then emerge,surround and harass US forces thendissapear



• American soldiers soon becameincredibly frustrated



• American soldiers soon becameincredibly frustrated

• Generals would tell the soldierswhere the enemy was, in most casesthey were traps

• Soldiers lost confidence in leadership

• Many generals sought to becomeheroes where the soldiers onlywanted to survive

• The top US General wasWestmoreland

• General Westmoreland wanted towear down the enemies moral



• General Westmoreland wanted towear down the enemies moral

• He felt the American’s would prevailthrough a war of attrition

• The Vietcong were fighting for theirfreedom

• History had taught them to resist at allcosts for as long as it took

• Ho Chi Minh declared, “You can kill10 for every one of us, but we willstill win”

• The US changed its approach to the



The US changed its approach to theconflict

• Soldiers feared the jungle

•The US developed a leaf killing toxicchemical on the jungle to kill foliage

• This would allow the soldiers to traveland see the enemy

• The chemical was called AgentOrange because it arrived in orangebarrels

• Agent Orange had a terrible sideeffect



g O geffect

• It got into the water supply andcaused birth defects and braindamage

• It harmed the Vietcong, theVietnamese and American soldiers

• American soldiers soon had hadenough with traitorous villagers

• They began to employ Search-and-Destroy tactics



Birth Defects From Agent Orange



Birth Defects From Agent Orange

• Search and Destroy was similar to

what General Sherman did in theA i Ci il W



American Civil War

• Destroy everything in your path

•Villages were searched, houses weretorched, animals and livestock wereslaughtered

• In addition, the US began majorbombing campaigns across Vietnam

• They sought to destroy the Ho ChiMinh Trail, Hanoi, and any enemyhideouts



Napalm Burns

• The War became a battle for heartsand minds



and minds

• But the Americans were losing

• Many Vietnamese, having villagesburned and children killed by napalmand Agent Orange switched sides

• Americans in the US were horrified athow US soldiers were behaving

• Public opinion began to swing againstthe War



• As the conflict in Vietnam intensified, thegovernment re instituted the draft



government re-instituted the draft

• When men turned 18, they had to registerwith their local draft board

• During time of war, men from the age of18 to 26 could be drafted into militaryservice

• Thousands of men refused to participate inthe war

• These men could dodge the draft bygetting a medical deferment

• Others would join the National Guard orCoast Guard to avoid Vietnam



• Cassius Clay, controversially, joined theMuslims and cited it was against hisreligion to go to war

• Some received college deferments, whichcould postpone military service

• Those who were white and wealthy couldavoid conflict where the lower class werestuck

• 80% of the soldiers in Vietnam were fromminority groups and lower classes

• Some Americans dodged the draft byfleeing to Canada



• African Americans represented 10% of theUS army but accounted for 20% of thedeaths

• Many African Americans experienced

severe racial issues during the War

• Females were not allowed to serve in theWar as soldiers

• Many joined the Red Cross and became

army nurses

• While many sought ways out, 1000’s joined bravely to serve their nation

• Politically, a new group of anti-wari i d d i h Vi



activists emerged during the Vietnamconflict

• They were known as the New Left

• The Old Left existed in the 1930’s andsought communism

• The New Left demanded changes inAmerican government

• This movement tended to centralizearound universities and college students

• SDS, Students for a Democratic Societyformed in Michigan



• They felt that the US was lead by biggovernment and large corporations

•They wanted the nation to be lead by thepeople

• FMF, Free Speech Movement, was alsoborn out of university students in Berkley,California

• They sought much of the same, limitationof big business controlling the USgovernment

• As the Vietnam War grew more violent andclaimed more American lives, these groups



claimed more American lives, these groupsbegan to protest the war

• In 1965, SDS organized a march onWashington

• Johnson responded by changing universityrequirements for draft deferment

• Students could not just be in college, theyhad to be in good academic standing

• Campuses around the nation erupted inprotest

• The reasons for discontent with theVi t W i d



Vietnam War varied

• Some protested that the War was a CivilWar and the US had no part

• Others protested the US becoming apolice state

• Still others thought War was simplymorally unjust

• The protests soon spilled over into themusic industry furthering the discontent

• In 1967, protest turned into resistance



• 500,000 protesters gathered in New York’scentral park to burn their draft tickets

• The US government arrested more than200,000 draft dodgers

• 10,000 fled to Canada

• When protesters marched on thePentagon, they were dispersed by militaryforce

• 1,500 protesters were injured in theskirmish

• By 1967, America was strongly dividedover the War



over the War

• Those strongly opposed to the War werecalled Doves

• Those in favor of continuing the conflictwere known as Hawks

• Despite the protests, most Americans werestill committed to the War

• Undeterred, Johnson continued escalatingthe War in Vietnam

• One of the worst protest incidents took

place at Kent State University



• There, students banded together andburned the ROTC building

• In response, the mayor called out the

national guard

• The guard opened fire on a crowd ofstudents who were throwing rocks

• The gunfire wounded 9 people and killed4

• Ten days later, Jackson State had a similarincident

• Jackson State was an all black university



• Jackson State was an all black university

• There too, guardsman opened fire on araucous crowd of protesters

• 12 students were shot and two killed

• Many American’s supported the NationalGuards actions

• The War in Vietnam was tearing the nation

apart



• By 1965, most battles had been fought in

the dense jungle



• US soldiers were growing frustrated,looking for a large fight

• Search and Destroy missions were

launched

• Operation Rolling Thunder began

• The Operation targeted major bases inNorth Vietnam

• Many pilots were shot down and becameprisoners

• Captured pilots were placed in the HanoiHilton



• While there, many POW’s were tortured

• Torture methods were used to get US pilots

to criticize the US government

• They would televise POW’s praising NorthVietnam and air it over television

• In 1973, 591 US soldiers were releasedback to the US

• 1,350 still remain unaccounted for

• One of the great challenges the US faced



• One of the great challenges the US facedwere SAM’s

• A solution was hatched to use US pilots todeploy SAM’s

• These pilots flew F-150 Thunder Chiefs

• There were called the, “Wild Weasels”

• Their bravery allowed US bombing raids of

North Vietnam to continue

• In August of 1965, the US scored itsi f h W



greatest victory of the War

• At Chu Lai, US forces killed 700 VC whileonly losing 45

• It lead many to believe the War wasturning in US favor

• 1966 saw many small scale battles

• The year claimed 6,000 American lives tothe VC’s 61,000

• In 1967, US forces advanced north inattempt to capture the Iron Triangle



attempt to capture the Iron Triangle

• Americans saw little resistance andcaptured several large VC ammo dumps

• In May, the US shot down 26 VC pilots andgained the upper hand in the skies

• All but one Mig base in the north had beenheavily damaged by US bombing

• The general feeling following 1967 waspositive

• In Autumn of 1967, the US received



intelligence that the North was conductinga troop build up

• In January, the US sought to counter thisbuild up by massing troops in the North atKhesanh

• US forces at Khesanh came under heavyattack from VC forces

• They surrounded US forces and conducted5 months of continual artillery attacks

• January 30th was the Vietnameseequivalent of New Years Eve



q

• Throughout the day, 1000’s of villagersstreamed into S. Vietnam cities to celebrate

• A week long truce was proclaimed for theweek of Tet

• At the same time, many funerals were heldfor those killed in the War

• Many of the buildup soldiers came southand snuck into major southern cities

• VC disguised themselves as partygoers for

Tet



• Coffins smuggled ammunition and gunsinto the South

• That night, the surprise attack began

• Over 100 cities and towns across Vietnamerupted into battle

• The VC briefly took over the US embassyin Saigon

• Attacks continued for a month before USforces drove the VC out

• During the chaos of Tet, Saigon chief ofpolice Nguyen Ngoc Loan shockedA i



America

• The Tet offensive played out live acrosstelevisions in the US

• It did not portray America well

• With NBC cameras filming the fighting,Loan led a VC officer, handcuffed, into thestreets

• He drew his pistol and executed him onlive TV

• Many American’s felt they were being lied

to



• Tet made it appear as though the US waslosing the conflict

• Loan’s execution showed the chaotic stateof Saigon

• General Westmoreland proclaimed Tet tobe a massive US victory

• During the month long attack, the VC lost32,000 soldiers to the US 3,000

• Journalism however had painted a verydifferent picture

• Another incident spread dissent about theVietnam War



• In March of 1968, US forces erupted in abrutal scene of violence

• Soldiers moved on the small town of MyLai, thought to be harboring 250 VC

• Rather than find VC, they found women,children and old men

• US Lieutenant William L. Calley Jr. orderedhis company to round up the villagers

• After gathering around 400 people, they

were ordered to kneel on the ground

US ldi ld l li



• US soldiers were told to leave none alive

• Soldiers massacred over 400 women,children, and old men

• A helicopter crew stopped the massacrebefore it became worse

• They landed their helicopter between thepeople and US soldiers

• Chopper commander, Lawrence Colburnordered his gunner to fire on US soldiers ifthey did not stop

• At first, the incident was covered up



• When it came to light, the trial was madepublic

• Calley was sentenced to life in prison

• Nixon reduced it to 20 years

• The three men who stopped the massacrewere awarded the Soldiers Medal

• The My Lai massacre weighed heavily onthe conscience of America

• Before Tet, 28% of American’s calledthemselves Doves



• Following Tet, 40% became Doves

• Walter Cronkite proclaimed the War wasmoving towards a stalemate

• President Johnson was scrutinized

• 60% of Americans disfavored Johnson’spresidency

• Robert McNamara, Secretary of Stateresigned following the debacle

• Robert Kennedy gained groundcampaigning that he would end the War



• Political camps were deeply divided forthe upcoming election

• President Johnson told American’s the USwould seek negotiations to end the War

• Then Johnson shocked America bydeclaring he would not run for a secondterm

• This paved the way for Richard Nixon



• In May of 1968, Peace talks in Paris began



• They failed to produce a resolution to thefighting in Vietnam

• When Nixon became president, he started

a new policy called, “Vietnamization”

• This involved removing American soldiersand replacing them with S. Vietnamsoldiers

• The US trained the S. Vietnamese to takeover the conflict and gradually began topull out

• The US would still provide support to thesouth and even continued bombing raids

• One of the great problems with the War in



• One of the great problems with the War inVietnam was the neighboring nations ofCambodia and Laos

• The Ho Chi Mihn Trail passed to the westand could not be attacked

• Nixon promised to end this problem

• When troops crossed into Cambodia, it setthe stage for a Civil war

• Nixon’s actions brought a new wave ofprotests

• Protests in America intensified



• A faction of SDS turned violent

• They armed themselves with clubs, pipes,

rocks and chains at attacked police inChicago

• They called themselves the Weatherman,after a Bob Dylan line

• The violence in American cities causedmany to petition for an end to the War

• Nixon felt the protests were the acts ofradicals

• He still felt he had the majority of



America’s interests

• He called upon the “Silent Majority” tohelp stop the protests

• Nixon experienced the same amount ofsuccess in peace negotiations as Johnsondid

• In 1972, National Security Advisor, Henry

Kissinger announced, “Peace is at Hand”

• Days later, another massive attackoccurred against South Vietnam

• Nixon intensified US bombing against

Northern capitals



• In January, Nixon finally reached a peaceagreement with North Vietnam

• 1) The US would withdraw all forces in 60

days

• 2) All prisoners of war would be released

• 3) All parties would end attacks onCambodia and Laos

• 4) The 17th parallel would divide thenation until it could be reunited

• The US pulled out its troops by 1973 andleft South Vietnam to itself

• Fighting continued for two more years



g g y

• In 1975, a major North Vietnam campaignpushed south

• The South Vietnamese could not contain it

• As forces marched into Saigon, the USrushed planes and helicopters to rescuethe last democratic people of the south

• 6,000 people were airlifted to safety

• On April 30th, 1975, Saigon fell

• One reason the US involved itself inVietnam was to stop the spread ofcommunism



communism

• Laos and Cambodia fell to communism,but no further

• Worst of the two was Cambodia

• The Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot killed 1.5million people thought to support the west

• Many who escaped came to the US forsafety

• The Vietnam war cost 58,000 Americanlives and an additional 300,000 wounded

• 2,500 Americans have been declared MIA



2,500 Americans have been declared MIAor POW

• Returning veterans were treated poorly byAmericans

• Most gave their lives fighting for theircountry and freedom

• All across the US they were hated,despised, and ridiculed

• A recent study found that 152,000 Vietnamvets have committed suicide

• The Vietnam War divided Americans more

than any conflict in the nations history



• Issues were so difficult that it took years forthe government to create a monument

• In 1979, a group of veterans started to

raise a fund to create a memorial

• Congress supported the idea and it wasagreed to be built near the LincolnMemorial in Washington D.C.

• How could the monument honor thosewho gave their lives and avoid the criticalpolitical issues surrounding the war?

• They decided to hold a contest for themonument

• The winner was a 21 year old colleged M Li Li



student names Maya Ling Lin

• She proposed a black granite wall with thenames of those who lost their lives

• She chose black granite for its reflectivequalities, and a below ground placement

• The names are not alphabetical but in theorder the victims died

• The memorial has been highly praised byall sides for helping heal the wounds of theWar

american history unit:9

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