Chap 37 Eisenhower era (1952 -1960) (in 16th ed called the American Zenith)

The Feminine Mystique (1963)
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The Feminine Mystique (1963)
Best selling book by feminist thinker Betty Friedan. This work challenged women to move beyond the drudgery of suburban houswifery and helped launch what would become second-wave feminism.
Rock 'n' roll
"Crossover" musical style that rose to dominance in the 1950s, merging black rhythm and blues with white bluegrass and country. Featuring a heavy beat and driving rhythm, rock 'n' roll music became a defining feature of the 1950s youth culture.
Checkers speech (1952)
Nationally televised address by vice presidential candidate Richard Nixon. Using the new mass medium of television shortly before the 1952 election, the vice presidential candidate saved his place on the ticket by defending himself against accusations of corruption.
Operation Wetback (1954)
A government program to roundup and deport as many as one million illegal Mexican migrant workers in the US. The program was promoted in part by the Mexican government and reflected burgeoning concerns about non-European immigration to America.
Federal Highway Act of 1956
Federal legislation signed by Dwight D. Eisenhower to construct thousands of miles of modern highways in the name of national defense. Officially called the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, this bill dramatically increased the move to the suburbs, as white middle-class people could more easily commute to urban jobs.
Policy of boldness (1954)
Foreign policy objective of Dwight Eisenhower's Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, who believed in changing the containment strategy to one that more directly engaged the Soviet Union and attempted to roll back communist influence around the world. This policy led to a build-up of America's nuclear arsenal to threaten "massive retaliation" against communist enemies, launching the Cold War's arms race.
Hungarian uprising (1956)
Series of demonstrations in Hungary against the Soviet Union. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev violently suppressed this pro-Western uprising, highlighting the limitations of America's power in Eastern Europe.
Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954)
Military engagement in French colonial Vietnam in which French forces were defeated by Vietnam Minh nationalists loyal to Ho Chi Minh. With this loss, the French ended their colonial involvement in Indochina, paving the way for America's entry .
Suez crisis (1956)
International crisis launched when Egyptian president Gamal Abdul Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, which had been owned mostly by French and British stockholders. The crisis led to a British and French attach on Egypt, which failed without aid from the United States. The Suez crisis marked an important turning point in the post-colonial Middle East and highlighted the rising importance of oil in world affairs.
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Cartel comprising Middle Eastern states and Venezuela first organized in 1960. OPEC aimed to control access to and prices of oil, wresting power from Western oil companies and investors. In the process, it gradually strengthened the hand of non-Western powers on the world state.
Sputnik (1957)Soviet satellite first launched into Earth orbit on October 4, 1957. This scientific achievement marked the first time human beings had put a man-made object into orbit and pushed thee USSR noticeably ahead of the US in the Space Race. A month later, the Soviet Union sent a larger satellite, Sputnik II, into space, prompting the US to redouble its space exploration efforts and raising American fears of Soviet superiority.Kitchen debate (1959)Televised exchange in 1959 between Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and American VP Richard Nixon. Meeting at the American National Exhibition in Moscow, the two leaders sparred over the relative merits of capitalist consumer culture versus Soviet state planning. Nixon won applause for his staunch defense of American capitalism, helping lead him to the Republican nomination for president in 1960.Military-industrial complexRefers to the relationship between the government, the military, and the businesses that make things for the military. For example, the businesses can give money to politicians in elections. In his farewell speech, Pres. Eisenhower warned of the dangers of allowing a Military-Industrial Complex to take control of the US.Abstract expressionismAn experimental style of mid-twentieth-century modern art exemplified by Jackson Pollock's spontaneous "action paintings," created by flinging paint on canvases stretched across the studio floor.International styleArchetypal, post-WWII modernist architectural style, best known for its "curtain-wall" designs of steel-and glass corporate high-rises.Beat generationA small coterie of mid-twentieth century bohemian writers and personalities, including Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs, who bemoaned bourgeois conformity and advocated free-form experimentation in life and literature.Southern RenaissanceA literary outpouring among mid-twentieth-century southern writers, begun by William Faulkner and marked by a new critical appreciation of the region's burdens of history, racism, and conservatism.New frontier (1961-1963)President Kennedy's nickname for his domestic policy agenda. Buoyed by youthful optimism, the program included proposals for the Peace Corps and efforts to improve education and health care.Peace CorpsA fed agency created by Pres. Kennedy in 1961 to promote voluntary service by Americans in foreign countries. The Peace Corps provides labor power to help developing countries improve their infrastructure, health care, educational systems, and other aspects of their societies. Part of Kennedy's New frontier vision, the organization represented an effort by postwar liberals to promote American values and influence through productive exchanges across the world.Apollo (1961-1975)Program of manned space flights run by America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The project's highest achievement was the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon on July 20, 1969.Berlin WallFortified and guarded barrier between East and West Berlin erected on orders from Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in 1961 to stop the flow of people to the West. Until its destruction in 1989, the wall was a vivid symbol of the divide between the communist and capitalist worlds.European Economic Community (EEC)Free trade zone in Western Europe created by Treaty of Rome in 1957. Often referred to as the "Common Market," this collection of countries originally included France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The body eventually expanded to become the European Union which by 2005 included 27 member states.Bay of Pigs invasion (1961)CIA plot in 1961 to overthrow Fidel Castro by training Cuban exiles to invade and supporting them with American air power. The mission failed and became a public relations disaster early in John F. Kennedy's presidency.Cuban missile crisis (1962)Standoff between John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in October 1962 over Soviet plans to install nuclear weapons in Cuba. Although the crisis was ultimately settled in America's favor and represented a foreign policy triumph for Kennedy, it brought the world's superpowers perilously close to the brink of nuclear confrontation.Richard M. Nixon (p. 875)Was VP to Pres. Eisenhower (and he was later Pres) , its others, he put the Eisenhower administration's new "policy of boldness" to the test by advocating to intervene in a Indochina crisis on behalf of the French by sending in American bombers to help bail out the French. Eisenhower, however, held back.Betty Friedan (p. 861)Feminist who, in 1963 gave focus and fuel to women's feelings in 1963 when she published The Feminine Mystique, a runaway best seller and a classic of feminist protest literature that launched the modern women's movement. Friedan gave speeches against housewifery.Elvis Presley (p.863)Chief revolutionary in transforming popular music in the 50s. White singer born in 1935 in Mississippi. He fused black rhythm and blues with white bluegrass and country -- rock 'n' roll, "crossover" music, carrying heavy beat & driving rhythms across cultural divide that separated black and whit music traditions. He inspired John Lennon & Paul McCartney to form a band that would become the Beatles.Earl WarrenChief Justice of the Supreme Court that decided Brown v. Board of Education and decisions that addressed other social issue that the Congress and Pres. Eisenhower preferred to avoid. Brown v. BOE found that segregation in public schools was "inherently unequal" and thus unconstitutional.John Foster DullesSecretary of State in President Eisenhower's administration. He promised not to merely stem the "red tide" (of communism) but to "roll back" its gains; and the new administration promised to balance the budget by cutting military spending. To achieve these goals, Dulles came up with a POLICY OF BOLDNESS (1954). This involved building up the US air fleet of super bombers that would inflict "massive retaliation" on the Soviets or the Chinese if they got out of hand. -- at the SAME time, Pres. Eisenhower sought a thaw in the Cold War through negotiations with the new Soviet leaders after Joseph Stalins 1953 death. This "massive retaliation" doctrine was futile because it was too dangerous to use.Nikita Khrushchev (p. 874)The Soviet leader after Joseph Stalin's 1953 death. -He rejected Eisenhower's call in 1955 for an "open skies" mutual inspection program over both the Soviet Union and the US. -He engaged in the kitchen debate with Nixon in 1959 in which they debated American consumerism v. Soviet economic planning. -at a "summit-meeting" in Paris, in 1960 Khrushchev collapsed the conference because he was angry at the US for it sending an American U-2 spy plane that was shot down by Russia.Ho Chi Minh (p.874)Nationalist and communist leader who employed guerrilla forces (Vietnam Minh) to fight French colonial rule. He was victorious in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, and agreed to halving Vietnam - he controlled the North, and the south was a pro-Western government under NGO Dinah Diem.Gamal Abdel Nassar (875-876)President of Egypt, an ardent Arab nationalist, at the setter of the "Suez crisis." President Nassar sought funds to build an immense dam on the upper Nile for irrigation & power. America & Britain tentatively offered financial help, but when Nassar veered toward communism, US Sec. of State Dulles w/drew the dam offer. Nassar then nationalized the Suez Canal (that was owned mostly by British & French stockholders). Britain & France attacked Egypt (concerned about oil supplies) & turned to US for oil supplies. The US/Eisenhower refused to release emergency oil supplies, and France and Britain w/drew their troops from Egypt, and the United Nations police force was sent to maintain order. The event is referred to as the "Suez crisis."Fidel CastroOrganized overthrow of Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista, in 1959, and became Cuba's leader. Castro denounced US imperialism and US cut off imports of Cuban sugar. Castro retaliated with wholesale confiscations of US property and made his left-wing dictatorship an economic & military satellite of Russia. Anti-Castro Cubans came to US esp. Florida. US had a trade embargo w/Cuba (strengthened by Helms-Burton Act in 1996). Russia's Khrushchev proclaimed Monroe Doctrine was dead & threatened US if it attacked Castro.John F. Kennedy (p. 878-879)-Massachusetts Senator democratic nominee in 1960 election (Nixon was Repub nominee) -youngest president elected and 1st Roman Catholic (at a time of bigotry against Catholics) -acceptance speech called on Americans to sacrifice to achieve their potential greatness ("the New Frontier") -Kennedy readily acknowledged Soviets had gained on US (w/nuclear bombs & Sputniks satellites)Lyndon Barnes Johnson-Texas Senate majority leader ran against Kennedy for Dem nominee in 1960 -Kennedy won the nomination, but LB Johnson became Kennedy's VPJackson Pollock (p.880)Artist who pioneered abstract expressionism in the 1940s & 50s, flinging paint on huge flats stretched across his studio floor. He & artists like William de Kooning strove to create spontaneous "action paintings" that expressed the painter's individuality & made the viewer a creative participant in defining the painting's meaning.Andy Warhol1960s "pop" artist (pop was short for popular), put on canvas mundane items like soup cans & soda bottles.Jack Kerouac (p. 884)Coined the term "Beat Generation" and wrote the landmark novel "On the Road" (1957). It was a pocket "bible" for social rebels in the late 1950s, written on 120 ft. Roll of tell type paper over the course of only 20 days.Allen Ginsberg (pp. 884, 885)Most eloquent spokesman and poet of the Beat Generation, wrote the famous poem "Howl" (1955), introduced the Beat Generation to the literary world. Poem had unruly verse & riotous content encapsulated the Beat generation's contempt for listless, middle class suburban conformity of the WWII weary Americans. Strove for liberation.Arthur Miller (pp. 883 & 886)Playwright wrote novels displaying searching probes of American values. -Death of a Salesman - Miller play that was an indictment of the American dream of material success. -The Crucible - Miller play that treated the Salem witch trials as a dark parable warning against the dangers of McCarthyismRalph Ellison (p. 886)Realist novelist, author of "Invisible Man" (1952), novel narrated by a nameless black person who finds that none of his supposed supporters, white philanthropists, black nationalists, communist party members, can see him as a real man.Robert Kennedy (p.889, 893) (aka Bobby Kennedy)-JFK's brother -attorney general for JFK -set out to change FBI priorities to pay more attention to organized crime and civil rights violations, he was stoutly resisted by J. Edgar Hoover -was assassinated June 6, 1968 when he was a presidential candidate.Robert S. McNamara-left presidency of Ford company to take over Defense Department in JFK administration. -helped implement JFKs "flexible response" (opposite of Eisenhower's "massive retaliation" threat) - developing an array of military "options" that could be precisely matched tot he gravity of the crisis at hand.Ngo Dinh DiemLeader of the pro-Western government of South Vietnam. Supported by the US, as communist guerrillas of North Vietnam heated up their campaign against Diem . Diem turned out to be corrupt right wing - Kennedy ordered increase of "military advisers" in South Vietnam to try and protect Diem from communist forces long enough for him to enact basic social reforms favored by the Americans. Eventually Kennedy administration encouraged a successful coup against Diem in 1963.James Meredith (p. 896)29 year old Air Force veteran who attempted to register in University of Mississippi ("ole Miss") in 1962 and encountered violent opposition. President Kennedy had to send in 4k federal marshals & 3k troops to enroll Meredith in his first class - colonial American history.