Sunday, February 28, 2010

Kennedy and the Promise of the Sixties Book

Note from the Kennedy Book:
pg. 2 - Hoover, Hershey, Meany, Spellman
pg. 3 - Sometimes the 50's were called the Great Barbecue
pg. 4 - On Baby Boomers
pg. 10 - J. Edgar Hoover followed JFK's romance with Inga Arvad (before he was president). A 700 pg. file later got him the FBI director job.
pg. 9 - JFK made money from his England Paper "Why England Slept". Thesis was about England failing to prepare from War World II. The money from the Thesis bought him a RED Buick.
pg. 9 - While healing from a back operation in 1955, JFK produced, with lots of help from his assistant Theodore Sorensen, "Profiles in Courage". This book won him the Pulitzer. The book helped Kennedy earn national recognition.
pg. 9 - Rose (JFK's mom) made household staff pay for their own cup of coffee.
pg. 11 - Kennedy was selling himself - IMAGE MAKING BASED ON POLLS! Wealth was crucial to the Kennedy's.
pg. 12 - Cultivating votes. Delegates at retail.
pg. 12 - JFK suffered from Addison's disease. Took cortisone to control adrenalin insufficiency.
pg. 14 - Won primary with 61% of vote. Humphrey quite primaries, Democrat runner.
pg. 15 - Politician as celebrity was being created.
pg. 16 - JFK picked Lyndon Johnson as his running mate. Liberals were opposed.
pg. 16 - Richard Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge running for the G.O.P party (republicans)
pg. 17 - African-Americans shifted to Kennedy after he called MLK's wife after MLK was arrested.
pg. 17 - JFK got 68 % of the African-American votes.
pg. 18 - Narrowly beat Nixon. Election broke religious lines.
pg. 19 - JFK's administration people listed.
pg. 20 - Hub & Spoke system
________
pg. 23-4 - Cold War brought high taxes to many people
pg. 24 - Cold War was domination of post world war
pg. 25 - 1956 - FBI began cointelpro harass & destroy Communist party
pg. 27 - SANE - Sane Nuclear Policy
pg. 28 - about CUBAN war *Russia set up Nuclear Weapon plant in Cuba*
pg. 34 - JFK gets beat by Soviet Union Summit Meeting (people in Vienna)... wa?
pg. 35 - East Berlin people wanted tp get to West Berlin because the Economy was booming. So, the leader ordered a wall be built, dividing the two sides. This was to stop the flow of people.
pg. 38 - JFK and 6 of his problems
pg. 38 - Many people thought the chances of no war in the coming years was slim
pg. 39 - Communism was on everyones minds.
pg. 40 - By 1961 realized that nuclear superiority was meaningless.
pg. 43 - Dr. Strange Love <3
pg. 49 - JFK's ranks dropped because of the Missile Crisis. Once Russia pulled out nuclear weapons, JFK's poll ranking rose again.
pg. 51 - Hancock, Peterborough, Rindge quote.
pg. 54 - WSP - Women's Strike for Peace
pg. 55 - GREAT quote about war loving men...
pg. 56 - In 1962 - voting age was still age 21.
pg. 56 - SPU - Student Peace Union
MORE TO COME!!





Strom Thurmond

Strom Thurmond - was an American politician who served as the 103rd Governor ofSouth Carolina and as a United States Senator. Ran for President as a Dixicrat against Truman (D) and Dewey (R). Switched to the Republican Party. Thurmond holds the record for the longest servingDean of the United States Senate in U.S. history at 14 years. He conducted the longest filibuster ever by a lone senator in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957, at 24 hours and 18 minutes in length, nonstop.

Solid South

Solid South - The Democratic Party was also a vehicle of segregation in the South during the time when whites fully controlled the Party, whose primaries were tantamount to electionin most of the region. Erosion of the South's largely one-party apparatus, as blacks began regaining voting rights and identifying with the Democratic Party, rendered the region free to return to the two-party competition which characterizes the United States as a whole and which had even characterized the South prior to the American Civil War and Reconstruction.

Red Scare

Red Scare -denotes two distinct periods of stronganti-communism: the First Red Scare, from 1917 to 1920, and the Second Red Scare, from 1947 to 1957. The Scares were characterized by the fear that communism would upset the capitalist social order in the United States; the First Red Scare was about worker revolution and political radicalism. The Second Red Scare was focused on (national and foreign) communists infiltrating the federal government. Fueled by anarchist bombings and spurred on by Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer.

NOTES FROM CLASS:

  • See how Cold War creates the Red Scare. Progressivism (did not lead directly to Red Scare) - effort to reform American Society.
  • Fear of a Communist take over
  • Red Scare made people unionize
  • Anarchy - a state of lawlessness and disorder (usually resulting from a failure of government).
  • Red Scare began at the end of War World II
  • Immigration: Chinese, Asians, Italians (HUGE arrival). People did not like Italians because they were Catholic - issue of Difference - Negatively perceived.
  • Fueled by anarchist bombings and spurred on by Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer, it was characterized by illegal search and seizures, unwarranted arrests and detentions, and deportation of hundreds of suspected communists and anarchists. Mitchell Palmer began Red Scare, very good at scare tactics.
  • REASONS FOR RED SCARE:
  1. Korean War - communist administration.
  2. NOT Sure What This Means - BAD not taking :P- anyways - June 4th 1950 Communist Korean Armies invaded? The Strategic / China has just fallen to Communist Power.
  3. Soviet presence in Truman's factor to contain this quickly. USA will play a leadership role - Truman needed VICTORY in Korean War.
  • DOMINO EFFECT!! Dean Acherson came up with that phrase. One country falls to Communism, than another one will fall - etc.
  • Limited War
  • Douglas McArthur commanded the ground troops into Korea. STAIL MATE.
  • Espionage (practice of spying, or using spies) - fear of communist lies. Racism is prominent. Atomic Bomb fear.

Dean Gooderham Acheson

Dean Gooderham Acheson - April 11, 1893 – October 12, 1971) was an American statesman and lawyer; as United States Secretary of State in the administration of President Harry S. Truman during 1949–1953, he played a central role in defining American foreign policy during the Cold War. He likewise played a central role in the creation of many important institutions, including Lend Lease, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, together with the early organizations that later became the European Union and the World Trade Organization. His most famous decision was convincing Truman to intervene, in June 1950, in the Korean War. Historians have argued, "Dean Acheson was more than 'present at the creation' of theCold War; he was a primary architect.

Adlai Stevenson

Adlai Stevenson - was an American politician, noted for his intellectual demeanor, eloquent oratory, and promotion of liberal causes in the Democratic Party. He served as the 31st Governor of Illinois, and received the Democratic Party's nomination for president in 1952 and 1956; both times he was defeated by Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination for a third time in the election of 1960, but was defeated by SenatorJohn F. Kennedy of Massachusetts. After his election, President Kennedy appointed Stevenson as the Ambassador to the United Nations; he served from 1961 to 1965. He died on 14 July 1965 in London, England after suffering a fatal heart attack at age 65.

Fair Deal

Fair Deal - In September of 1945, United States President Harry Truman addressed Congress and presented a 21 point program of domestic legislation outlining a series of proposed actions in the fields of economic development and social welfare. The proposals to congress became more and more abundant and by 1948 a legislative program that was more comprehensive came to be known as the Fair Deal. In his 1949 State of the Union Address to Congress on January 5, 1949. Truman stated that "Every segment of our population, and every individual, has a right to expect from his government a fair deal." Despite a mixed record of legislative success, the Fair Deal remains significant in establishing the call for universal health care as a rallying cry for the Democratic Party. Lyndon Johnson credited Truman's unfulfilled program as influencing Great Society measures such as Medicare that Johnson successfully enacted during the 1960s. The Fair Deal faced much opposition from the many conservative politicians who wanted a reduced role of the federal government.

The series of domestic reforms was a major push to transform the United States from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy. In a context of postwar reconstruction and entering the era of the Cold war, the Fair Deal sought to preserve and extend the liberal tradition of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal. During this post-WWII time people were growing more conservative as they were ready to enjoy the prosperity not seen since before The Great Depression. The Fair Deal faced opposition by Republicans and conservative Democrats. However, despite strong conservative opposition there were elements of Truman’s agenda that did win congressional approval.

Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Khrushchev - First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 1953-1964. Certainly the most colorful Soviet leader, Khrushchev is best remembered for his dramatic, oftentimes boorish gestures and "harebrained schemes" designed to attain maximum propaganda effect, his enthusiastic belief that Communism would triumph over capitalism, and the fact that he was the only Soviet leader ever to be removed peacefully from office--a direct result of the post-Stalin thaw he had instigated in 1956. Khrushchev honestly believed in the superiority of Communism, and felt that it was only a matter of time before it would destroy the Capitalist system once and for all. He set bold (and ultimately unattainable) goals of "overtaking the West" in food production, initiating massive programs to put vast tracts of virgin lands in Kazakhstan and Siberia under the plow with the help of thousands of urban Komsomol volunteers who brought little but their enthusiasm with them to the open steppes. Despite being hailed as an expert on agriculture, Khrushchev miscalculated when, after a trip to Iowa in 1959, he became a huge enthusiast of corn and decided to introduce it to his country, most of which has an unsuitable climate. On the industrial front, Khrushchev relaxed Stalin's emphasis on military production somewhat, resulting in a wider array of consumer goods and an improved standard of living for ordinary Soviet citizens.


Douglas MacArthur


Douglas MacArthur

Douglas MacArthur was one of the best-known American military leaders of World War II, when he commanded Allied forces in the southwest Pacific. In 1935 he was sent to the Philippines to organize defenses in preparation for their independence. In 1937 he retired from the Army rather than leave his Philippine project uncompleted, but he was recalled to active duty when it became clear that war with Japan was imminent. Overrun by Japanese forces at Bataan, MacArthur was ordered by President Franklin Roosevelt to withdraw to Australia. Before MacArthur and his family escaped, he made the famous vow, "I shall return." In 1942 he was made the supreme commander of Allied forces in the southwest Pacific and by 1945 had liberated the Philippines on the way to a planned invasion of Japan. MacArthur accepted the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945, then led the occupation forces in the reconstruction of Japan. After North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, MacArthur was put in charge of United Nations forces and successfully drove the invaders back. His enthusiasm for pushing on and attacking areas of China was not shared by President Harry Truman, who relieved MacArthur of his command in 1951.



New Frontier


New Frontier

The term New Frontier was used by John F. Kennedy in his acceptance speech in the 1960 United States presidential election to the Democratic National Convention at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as the Democratic nominee. Originally just a slogan to inspire America to support him, the phrase developed into a label for his administration's domestic and foreign programs.

We stand on the edge of a New Frontier—the frontier of unfulfilled hopes and dreams, a frontier of unknown opportunities and beliefs in peril. Beyond that frontier are uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered problems of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus.

Significance: the term served as a powerful metaphor for where Kennedy wanted to lead the United States.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Tuskegee Airmen

Tuskegee Airmen - is the popular name of a group of African American pilots who fought in World War II as the 332nd Fighter Group of the US Army Air Corps. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American military aviators in the United States armed forces. During World War II, African Americans in many U.S. states were still subject to Jim Crow laws. The American military itself was racially segregated. The Tuskegee Airmen were subject to racial discrimination, both within and outside the Army. Despite these adversities, they flew with distinction. They were particularly successful in their missions as bomber escorts in Europe.

Depression-era U.S. poster advocating early syphilis treatment. Although treatments were available, participants in the study did not receive them.

The Tuskegee syphilis experiment[1] (also known as the Tuskegee syphilis study or Public Health Service syphilis study) was a clinical study conducted between 1932 and 1972 in Tuskegee, Alabama, by the U.S. Public Health Service. Investigators recruited 399 impoverished African-American sharecroppers with syphilis for research related to the natural progression of the untreated disease, in hopes of justifying treatment programs for blacks.[1]Tuskegee Airmen - is the popular name of a group of African American pilots who fought in World War II as the 332nd Fighter Group of the US Army Air Corps. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American military aviators in the United States armed forces. During World War II, African Americans in many U.S. states were still subject to Jim Crow laws. The American military itself was racially segregated. The Tuskegee Airmen were subject to racial discrimination, both within and outside the Army. Despite these adversities, they flew with distinction. They were particularly successful in their missions as bomber escorts in Europe.

Plessy vs. Ferguson

Plessy vs. Ferguson -

is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding the constitutionality of racial segregation even in public accommodations (particularly railroads), under the doctrine of "separate but equal".

The decision was handed down by a vote of 7 to 1 (Justice David Josiah Brewer did not participate in the decision), with the majority opinion written by Justice Henry Billings Brown and the dissent written by Justice John Marshall Harlan. "Separate but equal" remained standard doctrine in U.S. law until its repudiation in the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education.

Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington

was an American political leader, educator, orator and author. He was the dominant figure in the African American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915.

Washington received national prominence for his Atlanta Address of 1895, attracting the attention of politicians and the public as a popular spokesperson for African American citizens.

Washington's efforts included cooperating with white people and enlisting the support of wealthyphilanthropists, which helped raise funds to establish and operate thousands of small community schools and institutions of higher education for the betterment of blacks throughout the South, work which continued for many years after his death.

Vietnam War


Vietnam War - was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from September 26, 1959[1] to April 30, 1975. The United States entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of containment. Military advisors arrived beginning in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with U.S. troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962.[13] U.S. combat unitswere deployed beginning in 1965.

Harry S. Truman

Harry S. Truman -

was the 33rd President of the United States(1945–1953). As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice-president and the 34th Vice President of the United States, he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his fourth term.

Truman faced challenge after challenge in domestic affairs. The disorderly postwar reconversion of the economy of the United States was marked by severe shortages, numerous strikes, and the passage of the Taft–Hartley Act over his veto. He confounded all predictions to win re-election in1948, helped by his famous Whistle Stop Tour of rural America. After his re-election he was able to pass only one of the proposals in his Fair Deal program. He used executive orders to begin desegregation of the military and to create loyalty checks which dismissed thousands of communistsupporters from office, even though he strongly opposed mandatory loyalty oaths for governmental employees, a stance that led to charges that his administration was soft on communism. Truman's presidency was also eventful in foreign affairs, with the end of World War II and

his decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan, the founding of the United Nations, the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, the Truman Doctrine to contain communism, the beginning of the Cold War, the Berlin Airlift, the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Korean War. Corruption in Truman's administration reached the cabinet and senior White House staff. Republicans made corruption a central issue in the 1952 campaign.