Lee Harvey Oswald

Assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

Iron Curtain Speech

Given by the former Prime Minister of Britain, Winston Churchill, in Missouri, in which he talks about the dangers of communism engulfing Europe.

"missile gap"

The term used in the United States for the perceived disparity between the number and power of the weapons in the U.S.S.R. and U.S. ballistic missile arsenals during the Cold War.

Thomas Dewey

He was the Governor of New York (1943-1955) and the unsuccessful Republican candidate for the U.S. Presidency in 1944 and 1948. As a leader of the liberal faction of the Republican party he fought the conservative faction led by Senator Robert A. Taft, and played a major role in nominating Dwight D. Eisenhower for the presidency in 1952.

Eugene McCarthy

1968 Democratic candidate for President who ran to succeed incumbent Lyndon Baines Johnson on an anti-war platform.

U-2 Incident

Occurred on May 1, 1960 when an American spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union. At first, the United States government denied the plane's purpose and mission, but was forced to admit its role as a covert surveillance aircraft when the Soviet government produced its remains (largely intact) and surviving pilot, Gary Powers. The incident was a great embarrassment to the United States and prompted a marked deterioration in its relations with the Soviet Union.

38* Parallel

The dispute over the border between North and South Korea.

Berlin Airlift

After the Soviet Union declared that the Autobahn leading into Berlin from West Germany was "closed for repairs," Truman chose to drop supplies on West Berlin with planes. Lasted for a year until the Soviet Union removed their blockade. Major American success.