- alliance for progress: a program that provided economic aid to latin america under president kennedy
- Bay of pigs invasion: an attempt by cuban exiles in southern cuba to overthrow cuban socialist government of fidel castro; the effort was funded by US and was famously disastrous
- cuban missile crisis: several days during which the us teetered on the brink of nuclear war with the soviet union
- dien bien phu: town in vietnam that was the site of a battle b/w the french and the vietminh in 1954; the french lost the battle and control of the country of vietnam
- domino theory: president eisenhowers idea that if vietnam fell to communism, the other countries of southeast asia would fall to communists
- doves: people opposed to war
- earl warren: american jurist and politicain; chief justice of the supreme court from 1953-1969. under his leadership the court made many notable decisions that extended individual rights and freedoms
- Fidel Castro: Communist political leader of Cuba, helped overthrow the Cuban government in 1959 and seized control of the country, exercising total control of the government and economy
- flexible response: a response strategy to nuclear tensions that involved strengthening conventional us forces so the nation would have options other than nuclear weapons in times of crisis
- geneva conference: international meeting in geneva, switzerland to restore peace in indochina
- hawks: people who are supportive of a wars goals
- ho chi minh: vietnamese revolutionary leader and president of the democratic republic of vietnam from 1945 to 1969; he wanted to bring communism to south vietnam
- ho chi minh trail: a network of paths from north vietnam to south vietnam; north vietnamese used the trail to send weapons, soldiers, and supplies to the vietcong in south vietnam
- j. william fulbright: american politician and us senator from arkansas; was chairman of senate foreign relations committee from 1959-1974 and strongly advocated peace talks in vietnam war
- jacqueline kennedy: American first lady and wife of president kennedy; she was known for her style and social grace
- John F. Kennedy: 35th president of US; he was youngest person and 1st roman catholic to be elected president. Assassinated in Dallas, TX in 1963
- lee harvey oswald: the accused assassin of jfk
- lyndon b. johnson: thirty-sixth president of US; took office after assassination of jfk
- mandate: authorization to act
- new frontier: the nickname given to kennedys plans for changing the nation
- ngo dinh diem: vietnamese political leader; became president of south vietnam in 1955; assassinated in 1963
- operation rolling thunder: a us bombing campaign in north vietnam in march 1965
- pacification: program in vietnam war in which us troops would move to south vietnamese from their villages and burn the villages down so the vietcong could not use them
- peace corps: a program that trains and sends volunteers to poor nations all over the world to serve as educators, health care workers, agricultural advisers, and in other jobs
- Robert kennedy: american politician; attorney general during brothers presidency and was assassinated during his bid for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination
- tonkin gulf resolution: congressional resolution that in effect authorized military action in southeast asia
- vietcong: military forces of the national liberation front, a group that wanted to overthrow the government in vietnam
- vietminh: group that resisted the japanese occupation in vietnam
- warren court: a term that refers to the years when earl warren served chief justice
- william westmoreland: american general; was commander of us ground troops in south vietnam during vietnam war