Unit 14 Study Guide: Truman and Eisenhower
Vocabulary
People & Places
Thomas Dewey
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Characteristics of Truman
Strom Thurmond
Henry Wallace
Mao Tse Tung
Kim Il Sung
Syngman Rhee
Pyongyang
Seoul
38th Parallel
Douglas MacArthur
Yalu River
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Eisenhower, military leader
Adlai Stevenson
British Prime Minister Eden
Senator Joe McCarthy
“Hollywood Ten”
Legislation & Politics
“The buck stops here”
“The common man’s common
man”
Goals of domestic transition
“Resurgent GOP”
“Voter fatigue”
1946 congressional midterm
elections
Truman Doctrine
GI Bill of Rights
Employment Act of 1946
(goals, creations)
22nd Amendment
Taft-Hartley Act
Civil Rights commission
report of 1947
1948 Executive Orders of
President Truman
1948 Presidential Election
“Duck and Cover”
1952 Presidential Election
Things
United Nations
Soviet Union
The Marshall Plan
Cold War
Wartime wage / price controls
Berlin Blockade
North Atlantic Treaty Org.
Warsaw Pact
Southeast Asia Treaty Org.
Pusan Perimeter
Inchon Landing
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)
Fission Bomb
Fusion (thermonuclear) Bomb
US nuclear strategy (1950s)
USSR
nuclear
strategy
(1950s)
“The Middle Way”
Fallout Shelter
Dept. of Health, Education Balanced budget
and Welfare
Federal Aid Highway Act
1950s booming economy
Presidential Election of 1956 1955 Geneva Conference
Eisenhower Doctrine
Hungarian Revolution of 1956
Legacy of Eisenhower
Suez Canal Crisis of 1956
Tydings Committee
Military Industrial Complex
House Unamerican Activities Wheeling Speech
Committee
Censure of Joe McCarthy
Study Questions
How was President Truman different from FDR, in style and in substance?
What was the basis of the Cold War? What impact did it have on American politics? American
culture?
What was the Truman Doctrine? How did it reflect the interests of American foreign policy?
How was the Marshall Plan a reflection of the “softer” side of the Truman Doctrine?
What were the differences between the return of veterans from WWII and those from WWI?
Why was their return in 1945 less disruptive to the American economy?
Why was the 1948 election considered a sure win for the GOP? How did the three way split of
the Democratic party seem to play into the hands of the GOP?
Truman’s second term was dominated by foreign policy events – why?
The Berlin Blockade was the first major crisis of the Cold War. What was at stake?
Why was developing a nuclear weapon such a priority for Stalin? How did espionage (spying)
help the Russian effort?
What was the cause of the Korean War? What is the tragic irony of the conflict?
How did the fear of nuclear weapons impact American society in the 1950s?
How were the politics of Eisenhower different than Truman and FDR? How were these
presidents similar? How was the Interstate Highway system a reflection of this difference (and
the similarity)?
Why was 1956 such a tumultuous year? How did America handle these challenges?
What was the Eisenhower Doctrine? What motivated it? How did it tie into the Truman
Doctrine?
What was the legacy of Eisenhower?
How did Senator McCarthy capitalize on the fears of America? What was his downfall?
Trace the development of the House Unamerican Activities Committee. What was the mission
of the Committee? Why did it lose prestige?