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President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Ike won the election of 1952. He was a war hero as commanding general of the Armed Forces. He was very popular and could have used his popularity to help the Civil Rights movement but instead ignored it. ttp://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/dwight_d_eisenhower.html -
Dienbienphu
A key French garrison was trapped at Dienbienphu and decided to leave Southeast Asia. Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Victory_in_Battle_of_Dien_Bien_Phu.jpg -
Brown v, Board of Education
This case ruled that segregation in public schools was "inherently unequal" and thus unconstitutional. It reversed the results of the Plessy v. Ferguson case that stated "seperate but equal" facilities were constitutional. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0349_0294_ZO.html Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brown-segregation.html -
Operation Wetback
In Operation Wetback Ike responded to Mexico's concern that illegal immigrants would undermine the bacero program by rounding up illegal immigrants and apprehending and returning 1 million immigrants in 1954. ttp://mexicanborder.web.unc.edu/the-bracero-program-3/ Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
Rosa Parks
In Montgomerey, Alabama Rosa Parks sat in the "whites only' section of a bus and refused to give it up to a white person. She was then arrested for violating Jim Crow Laws. Her arrest sparked the yearlong Montgomerey Bus Boycott. Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/01/opinion-its-time-to-free-rosa-parks-from-the-bus/ -
Interstate Highway Act of 1956
Under Eisenhower's presidency the Interstate Highway Act of 1956 passed which was a $27billion plan to build 42,000 miles of highways. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/96summer/p96su10.cfm -
Formation of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Martin Luther King, Jr. formed the Souther Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957 which aimed to mobilize black churches on behalf of black rights. http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_southern_christian_leadership_conference_sclc/ Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
Sit-in movements
Four black college freshmen in Greensboro, North Carolina demanded service at a whites-only lunch counter. A week later a thousand students had joined them. It spread across the south and eventually turned into the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
http://www.sitinmovement.org/history/sit-in-movement.asp
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 tp://www.sitinmovement.org/history/sit-in-movement.asp -
President John F. Kennedy
Kennedy's drawback in the Election of 1960 was that he was Catholic. He was young and handsome. The television debates helped him gain votes. http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/KeoS0TFa-0KbnNJ3IlchLg.aspx -
Peace Corps
JFK established the peace corps to help third world countries espcially in Latin America and Africa espcially with poverty and education. -
Ike seeks to cancel Indian New Deal
Ike also sought to cancel the Indian New Deal by proposing to terminate the tribes as legal entities and return to the assimilation goals of the Dawes Severality Act but most indians resisted and the policy was abandoned. Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9674 -
Freedom Riders
After the sit-in movements,Feedom Riders rode out against segregated facilities serving interstate bus passenters. A white mob torched a Freedom Ride bus near Anniston, Alabama. http://mdah.state.ms.us/freedom/
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
President Lyndon B. Johnson
LBJ was former senator from Texas. He was sworn in on the plane ride back to Washington. He was vain and egotistical. He was a liberal president.
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.bell/background_history
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
Campaign in Birmingham
MLK launched a campaign in Birmingham, Alabama. Blacks made up half of its population but only 15% of its voters. People watched their televisions in horror as peaceful marchers were attacked with dogs, fire hoses, and electric caddle prods.
http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/m_r/randall/birmingham.htm
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
Kennedy's Speech
Kennedy called the civil rights situation a "moral issue" and committed his personal and presidential prestige to find a solution.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
Medgar Evers killed
Medgar Evers was a Mississippi civil rights leader.The same night of Kennedy's speech, a white gunman shot Medgar Evers. Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
March on Washington
Blacks and whites peacefully marched to Washington to support Kennedy's proposed legislature. Here Dr. King gave his "I have a dream" speech.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
Four black girls
Four black girls were at the Baptist church in Birmingham when a bomb exploded the church killing the girls. Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
Maddox attacked
North Vietnamese boats attacked Maddox. A second attack reported led Congress to give LBJ a black check. http://www.maryferrell.org/wiki/index.php/Vietnam_War_Timeline
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
The Great Society
LBJ set out to fight poverty and disease, improve education, healthcare and poverty levels. Through this Medicare and Medicaid were established and poverty levels decreased as U.S. debt increased. Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
Civil Rights Act
It banned racial discrimination in voting practices by federal, state, and local governments, http://www.civilrights.org/voting-rights/vra/ -
Voting Rights Act
This permitted the federal government to oversee voter registration and elections in counties that had used tests to determine voter eligibility or where voter turnout was less than 50% of the population.
http://www.core-online.org/History/voting_rights.htm http://www.core-online.org/History/voting_rights.htm -
Tet offensive
North Vietnam announced a truce but then attacked every major city in South Vietnam, http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/EdMoise/viet8.html -
End of war draft
LBJ announced on television that he would freeze American troop levels despite military leaders' requests for 200,000 more men. Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
MLK's assassination
Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated my a sniper in Memphis, Tennessee. This event triggered violence across the country.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
Orbit around the moon
Three Americans orbited around the moon. LBJ exclaimed, "You've taken ... all of us, all over the world, into a new era. . . . " http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/lyndonbjohnson/ -
President Richard Nixon
He was born in California. He served as a Navy lieutenant commander during World War two and was a Senator. -
Americans land on moon
Thirty-five year old Neil Armstrong landed on the moon for the first time in the history of mankind. http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/F_Apollo_35th_Anniversary.html -
Vietnamization
Nixon announced he would withdraw 540,000 troops in South Vietnam as he gave South Vietnam money and weapons to take over the fight.
http://vietnam.vassar.edu/overview/doc14.html
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
Anti-war protesters killed
Four student protesters were killed at Kent State University by National Guardsmen. http://www.maryferrell.org/wiki/index.php/Vietnam_War_Timeline -
Watergate Scandal
Five men were caught breaking into the Democratic National Committee Headquarters. Nixon was suspected of being involved in the scandal and was forced to resign because of it. Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
President Gerald R. Ford
He went through the biggest background check of any president. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska and was known in Congress for his integrity and openness.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/geraldford
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
Nixon is pardoned
Gerald R. Ford granted Nixon "full, free, and absolute pardon,,,for all offenses". http://millercenter.org/president/ford/essays/biography/4 -
Economic recovery plan
Congress passed a tax cut of 22 billion dollars and increased spending in government programs to improve the economy.Ford believed this was irresponsible but politically had no other options.
http://millercenter.org/president/ford/essays/biography/4
