 | Term | Definition |
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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 |
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Robert kennedy |
american politician; attorney general during brothers presidency and was assassinated during his bid for the 1968 Democratic presidential nomination |
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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 |
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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 |
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lyndon b. johnson |
thirty-sixth president of US; took office after assassination of jfk |
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cuban missile crisis |
several days during which the us teetered on the brink of nuclear war with the soviet union |
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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 |
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alliance for progress |
a program that provided economic aid to latin america under president kennedy |
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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 |
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jacqueline kennedy |
American first lady and wife of president kennedy; she was known for her style and social grace |
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new frontier |
the nickname given to kennedys plans for changing the nation |
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mandate |
authorization to act |
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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 |
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warren court |
a term that refers to the years when earl warren served chief justice |
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lee harvey oswald |
the accused assassin of jfk |
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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 |
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vietminh |
group that resisted the japanese occupation in vietnam |
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domino theory |
president eisenhowers idea that if vietnam fell to communism, the other countries of southeast asia would fall to communists |
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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 |
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geneva conference |
international meeting in geneva, switzerland to restore peace in indochina |
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ngo dinh diem |
vietnamese political leader; became president of south vietnam in 1955; assassinated in 1963 |
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vietcong |
military forces of the national liberation front, a group that wanted to overthrow the government in vietnam |
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tonkin gulf resolution |
congressional resolution that in effect authorized military action in southeast asia |
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operation rolling thunder |
a us bombing campaign in north vietnam in march 1965 |
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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 |
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william westmoreland |
american general; was commander of us ground troops in south vietnam during vietnam war |
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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 |
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doves |
people opposed to war |
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hawks |
people who are supportive of a wars goals |
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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 |
