Modern_American_Identifications

Modern America Identifications Vietnamization: President Nixon’s announced policy, called to withdraw the 54,000 US troops in South Vietnam over an extended period. The South Vietnamese—with American money, weapons, training, and advice—could then gradually take over the burden of fighting their own war. Nixon Doctrine: Proclaimed that the US would honor its existing defense commitments in South Vietnam but that in the future, Asians and others would have to fight their own wards without the support of large bodies of American ground troops. “Silent Majority”: People who presumably supported the war. Nixon delivered a televised appeal to them on November 3, 1969. Spiro Agnew: Nixon’s vice president My Lai: Vietnamese village where in 1968 American troops massacred women and children. Kent State and Jackson State: Kentà National Guard fired into a crowd, killing four and wounding many more. Jacksonà Mississippi; highway patrol discharged volleys at a student dormitory, killing two blacks. 26th Amendment: 1971, lowered voting age 18 Pentagon Papers: New York Times published a top-secret Pentagon study of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. It leaked to the Times by former Pentagon official Daniel Ellsberg and deceptions of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Henry Kissinger: Nixon’s national security advisor. In 1969, the former Harvard professor began meeting secretly on Nixon’s behalf with North Vietnamese officials in Paris to negotiate an end to the war in Vietnam. “China Card”: When Nixon traveled to Moscow in May, 1972 to play this card game in a high-stakes diplomacy in the Kremlin. It dealt with the Soviets. Détente: It means relaxed tensions. Ushered in with China and USSR by Nixon’s visits. It resulted in several significant agreements. And example is a three-year agreement by which the food-rich United State agreed to sell the Soviets at least $750 million worth of wheat, corn, and other cereals. ABM and SALT treaties: ABM= anti-ballistic missiles. It limited each nation to two clusters of defensive missiles. SALT= Strategic Arms Limitation Talks; froze the numbers of long-range nuclear missiles for five years. Earl Warren: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Warren Court: Made series of decisions that drastically affected sexual freedom, the rights of criminals, the practice of religion, civil rights, and the structure of political representation. Their decisions reflected its deep concern for the individual, no matter how lowly. The Griswold Case: The Court struck down a state law that prohibited the use of contraceptives. Even among married couples. The court proclaimed a “right of privacy” that soon provided for decisions protecting women’s abortion rights. The Gideon, Escobedo, and Miranda decisions: All the defendants in serious criminal cases were entitled for legal counsel, even if they were too poor to afford it. It ensured the right of the accused to remain silent to enjoy other protections when accused of a crime. NY Time vs. Sullivan: Court ruled unanimously that public figures could sue for libel only if they could prove that “malice” had motivated their defamers. The decision opened a wide door for free-wheeling criticism of the public actions as well as the private lives of politicians and other officials. Abington vs. Schempp: Voted against required prayers and Bible reading in public schools. It was based on the First Amendment, which requires the separation of church and state. Warren Burger: Succeeded retired Earl Warren as chief justice AFDC: Aid to Families with Dependant Children; it targeted single mothers of young children. The Philadelphia Plan: It required construction-trade unions working on federal contracts in Philadelphia to establish “goals and timetables” for the hiring of black apprentices. It required thousands of employers to meet hiring quotas or to establish “set-asides” for minority subcontractors. Affirmative action: Nixon escalated and transformed AA into a program that conferred privileges on certain groups. EPA: Environmental Protection Agency created in 1971. OSHA: Occupational Health and Safety Administration; Along with the EPA, their births climaxed two decades of mounting concern for the environment. Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring: She was an author, and her book gave environmental movement a huge boost in 1962. It exposed the poisonous effects of pesticides. Wage and Price freeze: In 1971, Nixon called for this 90 day act due to rising inflation. George McGovern: Senator from South Dakota. He was a democrat, and he promised to pull troops out of Vietnam, and he tried to run against Nixon, but his running mate’s psychiatric care forced him to resign. Watergate Scandal: June 17, 1972; Five men were arrested for breaking into the Watergate apartment. They were working for the Republican Committee, and this forced the White House aides and advisors to reisgn. Nixon was accused of obstructing justice, and he refused to give up tape recordings, and eventually he had to fire his “special prosecutor,” resignations of attorney general, and deputy attorney general because they refused to fire Cox (special prosecutor). War-Powers Act: 1973; It required the president to report to Congress within 48 hours, after committing troops to foreign conflict or substantially enlarging American combat units in foreign country. The “New Isolationism”: Bombing ended in Cambodia, and the draft ended in 1973, and the future members of the armed forced were well paid volunteers. The army was reduced because some 300,000 troops remained in Europe. Six-day War: 1967, Israel conquered new territory. Syria and Egypt attempted to regain this during a surprise attack in 1973. Arab Oil Boycott: Because America backed Israel, the Arab nations embargoed oil to the US and any other country supporting Israel. Nixon’s Resignation: Nixon was forced to reveal all of the tapes, and he was forced to resign in 1974 or else he would face impeachment. Gerald Ford: He was the 1st man to become president solely by the vote of Congress. He faced prejudices as a dumb jock. He claimed pardon to president Nixon, previously the vice president, and attempted to enhance the détente with the USSR. The Fall of South Vietnam: Without American aid, the South Vietnamese were quickly crushed. Title IX and ERA: Title IX of Education Amendments, this amendment passed by Congress passed by Congress in 1972 prohibited sex discrimination in any federal assisted education program or activity. This also created opportunities for girls’ athletics at schools and colleges. Equal Rights Amendment, began in 1972, declared equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United State or any other state on the account of sex. Roe vs. Wade: 1972 landmark case in which the Court struck down laws prohibiting abortion, arguing that a woman’s decision to terminate pregnancy was protected by the constitutional rights of privacy. “Reverse Discrimination”: White workers who were denied the advancement and white students refused college admission continued to complain. They said their rights had been violated by employers and admissions officers who put more weight on racial or ethnic background than on ability or achievement. The Bakke Case: 1978; Allan Bakke, his claim was upheld that his application to medical school had been turned down because the admissions program favored minority applicants. Thurgood Marshall: He was the only black justice to the Supreme Court, and he warned against the Bakke case because all the progress made by civil rights movements could be washed away. Camp David Accord: President Carter invited the leaders of Egypt and Israel to a summer conference at Camp David. This accord was the promise of peace, succeeded and Israel withdrew of the territory conquered in the 1967 war, and Egypt respected Israel’s borders. Recognition of China: The US resumed full diplomatic relations with China in 1979. Panama canal: Two treaties were proposed that turned the ownership and control of the canal over to the Panamanian by the year 2000. Iranian Hostage Crisis: US occupants were taken hostage in 1979, and the captors demaned the return of the Iranian shad. Carter was waiting for a stable government, and he tried and failed at a rescue mission. This crisis dragged through the rest of Carter’s term. Ayatollah Khomeini: White bearded Muslim holy man who inspired the revolutionaries. He accused the US of attacking the sacred Muslim city of Mecca. Afghanistan invasion: Soviet army invaded Afghanistan in 1979, and it appeared to be poised for a thrust at the oil-jugular of the gulf. The US called an embargo on the export of grain and high-tech machinery to the USSR, and Olympic games were boycotted, and Carter took any measure to protect the Persian Gulf.