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President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Eisenhower was nominated by the Republican party for the 1952 presidential election. His Vice President was Richard Nixon. Eisenhower was the clear favorite-- a war hero with the "I Like Ike" slogan. As president, Ike handled the military well. He was above petty political splits but could have used his popularity to propel the Civil Rights movement (he largely ignored it). -
Korean War Armistice signed
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Seven months after the inauguration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, an Armistice was signed. This ended organized combat operations and left the Korean Peninsula divided North/South at the 38th parallel. -
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Decision
The case of Brown v. Board of Education challenged the legality of segregation laws within the school systems.The outcome overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling of 1856, "seperate but equal" which had allowed schools to legally segregate students. However, the new ruling stated that, “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal".This sparked integration in the US & the Civil Rights Movement.
Brown v. Board of Education -
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Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott began Dec 1, 1955 and lasted a year. It was an attempt by blacks to resist the discrimination and segregation that they faced in public. Sparked by the arrest Rosa Parks, the boycott ended with the ruling by the Supreme Court that segregation on public busses is unconstitutional.
<a href='http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_montgomery_bus_boycott_1955_1956/' >Montgomery Bus Boycott<
schoolworkhelper.net -
Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Eisenhower signed the Federal AId Highway Act of 1956. This further lead to the US interstate highway system. -
Formation of SCLC
Southern Christian Leadership ConferenceThe SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) was led by Martin Luther King Jr and was supported by black churches. It functioned as an umbrella organization and worked with local organizations rather than seek individual members. The SCLC coordinated mass protest campaigns throughout the south by joining together different movement groups. -
Formation of SNCC
Student Nonviolent Coordinating CommitteeThe Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was founded by leaders of the sit-in movement that began February 1 by four black college students. King hoped that the SNCC would be a youth wing to the SCLC, but they were independent and created their own projects seperate from the SCLC. However, they did work together during the first few years of the Civil Rights movement -
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President John F. Kennedy
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
JFK was the youngest man to be elected president. He served from 1961 up until his assassination in 1963. He was a democratic nominee, winning against Richard Nixon. He put together a young cabinet that included his brother Robert Kennedy as Attorney General and spoke of a New Frontier, hinting that the US was on the brink of something newly great. He was optimistic and idealistic. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.
The Bay of Pigs Invasion occured in 1981, in which the CIA secretly trained Cuban exiles with goals of invading Cuba, rallying all the people, and overthrowing Castro. Castro's troops met and halted the attack at the Bay of Pigs as JFK would not provide air support. JFK took full responsibility for the attack, increasing his popularity amongst Americans.
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Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a major confrontation that occured between the US and USSR due to aerial photos that showed USSR putting nuclear missiles in Cuba, 90 miles from Florida. JFK placed a naval blockade around Cuba for several days and the US and USSR were on the brink of war. But finally Soviet leader Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in return for the US to remove missiles from Turkey and to never invade Cuba. This was the closest the world has been to nuclear war. -
Birmingham Desegregation Campaign
Birmingham DemonstrationsThe Birmingham Desegregation Campaign occured in Birmingham, Alabama in which nonviolent protestors were met with police attack dogs. King was arrested on April 12 which is when he wrote his "Letter From A Birmingham Jail". Then on May 3, police used high pressure hoses to again break up nonviolent protestors (mostly students), which caught the attention of the public and brought about federal attention. This helped gain national support for the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. -
March on Washington
In the March on Washington, 200,000 participants listened as Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have A Dream" speech at the nation's capital. The march was successful as it resulted in the passing of key improvements in the civil rights movement such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
March on Washington
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President Lyndon B. Johnson
LBJ became president after the assassination of JFK in 1963.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.
He was supported by the Democratic party as president and spoke of his vision, the "Great Society", a continuation of New Deal type programs. He also launched a "war on poverty". -
24th Amendment passed
The 24th Amendment
The 24th amendment was key to the civil rights movement in the sense that it ended the mandatory poll taxes that prevented many blacks from voting. Poll taxes were one of the main factors that prevented African Americans from having political power (especially in the South), exercising the practice of Jim Crow laws in an attempt to segregate voters. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964 pased
The Civil Rights Act of 1964The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination, ending the legality of the Jim Crow laws which permitted discrimination and "seperate but equal", passed by the Supreme Court in the Plessy v Ferguson case. The bill was signed into a law by President Johnson and paved the way for future anti-discrimination legislation such as the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. -
Gulf of Tonkin Incident
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
On August 2nd, North Vietnamese torpedo patrol boats attacked the USS Maddox at the Gulf of Tonkin. The USS Ticonderoga sent aircraft to repel the enemy and sunk one boat while also damaging other enemy vessels. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed August 7, 1964 in response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. It gave President Lyndon B. Johnson a blank check to escalate US involvement in Vietnam. -
Medicare
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Medicare for elderly and Medicaid for poor was passed by LBJ. It would become the staple rights and a major cause for national debt. -
Voting Rights Act 1965 approved
The Voting Rights Act of 1965The Voting Rights Act was passed in response to the attack on peaceful protestors by state troopers in Selma, Alabama. The president and Congress determined that it had come time to establish an "effective voting rights legislation". This would later become the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which prohibited the discrimination towards blacks by eliminating factors that restricted blacks from voting such as literacy tests. -
Immigration Reform
U.S. Immigration Legislation: 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act (Hart-Cellar Act)
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 got rid of the old quota system since 1921. Visa restrictions were set at 170,000 per year, not including immediate family of US citizens or "special immigrants". -
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Tet Offensive
Tet Offensive: Turning Point in Vietnam WarThe Tet Offensive was a military campaign launched by the NVA and VC against the South Vietnamese and US. It consisted of surprise attacks in Vietnam. It was a turning point of the Vietnam War and left a huge impact on Americans, physically as well as psychologically. -
Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated
Martin Luther King Assassination
King was killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee where he was killed by a single shot that hit his neck and face. He was shot at 6:01 PM and pronounced dead later at 7:05 PM at St. Joseph Hospital. James Earl Ray was arrested on June 8 and sentenced 99 years in prison for murder on March 10, 1969. -
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President Richard Nixon
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Richard Nixon was in office from 1969-1974. He was the first and only president to resign from office and was succeeded by Gerald Ford. He was a genius in foreign policy however his downfall came in the Watergate scandal . -
US bombs Cambodia
Cambodia
President Nixon launched the carpet bombing of neutral Cambodia, keeping the bombings secret from Congress for several months saying that they were targeted at Vietnamese forces. The US dropped 540,000 tons of bombs killing 150,000-500,000 civilians. -
US invades Cambodia
Cambodia Invasion
President Nixon ordered US forces to invade Cambodia, the country that neighbored Vietnam to the west. The NVA and VC used Cambodia as a refuge and source of weapons/supplies. The invasion had weakened the Communists significantly, as it is estimated that they had lost "10, 000 men, over 22, 000 weapons, 1, 700 tons of munitions, and 6, 800 tons of rice" just from the invasion. -
Watergate Scandal
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.
The Watergate scandal unfolded when 5 men were caught breaking into the offices of the Democratic National Committee. They were in the process of installing/repairing eavesdropping and photography equipment to take pictures of contents of filing cabinets. It became a scandal when people began to wonder whether Nixon had known about the wrongdoings & helped cover them up. CRP broke in. -
Nixon's Resigns
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Due to the Watergate scandal, Nixon lost the trust of the American people and thus his approval rating plummetted. He resigned, putting an end to the Watergate scandal and leaving the presidency in the hands of Gerald Ford. -
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President Gerald Ford
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Gerald Ford was Vice President to Richard Nixon and became President upon Nixon's resignation. During his term, he pardoned Nixon and ended US involvement in the Vietnam war. -
President Ford Pardons Nixon
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum
President Gerald Ford pardoned ex-President Nixon for any crimes he may have committed as President (including those at Watergate). This stunned the public and his approval ratings plummetted. -
Ford orders evacuation of US personel and high-risk South Vietnamese Nationals
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum
As the NVA approached and took over the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon, President Ford ordered the evacuation of US personel along with any high-risk South Vietnamese nationals.
