1960’s & 1970’s
America
Test Review
Answers
1. What was impact of
Television and its effect
on the 1960 presidential
election?
• First televised presidential debate.
• JFK, young and personable, he wears
tv makeup to help the harsh lighting.
• Nixon doesn’t wear makeup,
awkward on tv “looked like death”
• Public perception favored JFK- he
was seen as “winner” of debate
• Contributed to JFK winning the
election
2. What was the New
Frontier?
• Kennedy’s domestic
program to help poor
areas of the country
• Raise government
spending
-ARA: area
redevelopment plan
3. What was the Great
Society? Why is it
called the
“War on Poverty”?
• Johnson started domestic programs
intended to fight poverty in the United
States
• Medicare provides medical assistance to
the elderly
• Medicaid offers medical assistance to
those who are having financial problems.
• Head Start is a program for underprivileged children that assists in
education, health and social services
4. What was the
Cuban Missile Crisis?
• Followed Bay of Pigs failure
• Put us on the brink of
WWIII
• Major success of Kennedy’s
presidency
• Led to the Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty
5. How did the Cold War
affect the economics of the
United States?
• During the Cold War,
government spending
on nuclear arms and the
space race increased
dramatically
6. What is a Hotline
and why was it
established?
• Direct line between
Washington D.C. and Moscow
for times of emergency
• Established after the Cuban
Missile Crisis
7. What is
Containment?
• The United States policy to stop
the spread of communism during
the Cold War
8. What is the 26th
Amendment and what is it
a direct result of?
• This amendment lowered the voting
age from 21 to 18.
• This was a direct result of the
Vietnam War
• The rationale is that if a soldier at
18 is old enough to fight and die for
the country, they are then old
enough to vote for its leaders
9. What was the Tet
Offensive?
• Mass, surprise attempt by the North
Vietnamese to strike out against the
American/South Vietnamese forces
• Occurred on the Vietnamese New Year
(Tet) a day that had normally been a
cease-fire
• In most part it was unsuccessful, but it
appeared as a failure to the American
media and public
• Made the U.S. realize we were in an
“unwinable” war
10. What is the
Domino Theory?
• The idea that if Vietnam falls to
communism, then the rest of
South East Asia will follow as
well
• Ended up not being true..
11. What is Guerilla
Warfare?
• Irregular warfare, conflicts in which a
small group of combatants
use military tactics, such
as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the
element of surprise, and
extraordinary mobility to harass a
larger and less-mobile
traditional army, or strike a
vulnerable target, and withdraw
almost immediately.
• Used by the North Vietnamese during
the Vietnam War
12. What is a
Quagmire, and how
does it apply to the
Vietnam War?
• A difficult or precarious situation; a
predicament; A perilous, mixed up
and troubled situation; a hopeless
tangle
• The Vietnam War is often seen as a
“quagmire” because the enemy was
"grinning at us" knowing we couldn't
win it (without taking drastic
measures), and we couldn't withdraw
from it without looking like fools.
13. What was the
Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution?
• After a U.S. Navy ship is
fired upon in the Gulf of
Tonkin- next to VietnamCongress gives President
Johnson a “blank check” to
deal with matters in
Vietnam
• Virtually grants him
whatever he needs to help
South Vietnam
14. What are some
examples of Chemical
Warfare, and how was it
used during Vietnam?
• The use of napalm, cluster
bombs and agent orange to
clear foliage in Vietnam
• The North Vietnamese were
a hidden enemy so these
were used to try and
overcome that
15. What was the
Public’s Opinion of
the Vietnam War?
• As the war continued, the
American people began to
wonder why we were over there
• The more American lives that
were lost, the more people
questioned the war and became
critical of it
• Television only made the public
less supportive
16. What was
Woodstock?
• Large, 3 day long music festival
that took place in New York in
1969
• Symbolic of the Counter Culture
movement
17. What was the
debate about laws
protecting women?
• The League of Women
Voters and the National
Women’s Party were two
different groups that
supported the Women’s
Rights Movement but
disagreed on what laws they
were trying to get passed.
18. Who is Betty
Friedan?
• Major Women’s Rights leader
• Wrote the Feminine Mystique,
which launched the Women’s
Movement
• The book interviewed women she
had graduated college with, and she
found that most felt unfulfilled
• Organized NOW in 1966
19. What is Title IX?
• Part of the 1972 Educational
Amendments
• Prohibited federally funded
schools from discriminating
against girls in nearly all
aspects of their operations,
from admissions to athletics
20. What happened
in the Supreme
Court case Roe v.
Wade?
• Supreme Court case that ruled that state
governments could no longer regulate
abortion during the first three months of
pregnancy, a time within a woman’s
constitutional right to privacy.
• This gave rise to the right-to-life
movement, whose members considered
abortion morally wrong.
22. What started the
Counter Culture
movement?
• The youth were
unhappy with LBJ and
the Vietnam War, and
so it spurred the youth
to form a massive
rebellious movement
23. What is
Affirmative Action?
• President Johnson declares that the
Civil Rights Act is not enough to end
discrimination and segregation
• Issued Executive Order 11246,
called Affirmative Action
• Businesses/schools have to actively
employ/accept minority groups
• They’re required to have a certain
percentage of minority group
involvement
24. What were the opposing
views of government during the
Counter Culture movement?
• the mainstream view of the
American government was
“love it or leave it”
• The Counter Culture
movement viewed the
government with mistrust,
that it should be questioned
25. What is Communal Living?
And how did it fit into the
Counter Culture movement?
• The idea of mixed families living all
together, sharing everything
• Mainstream believed this defied the
American tradition of suburban life
• Counter Culture view that people
shouldn’t live in isolation supported this
type of lifestyle
26. How did music change
during the Counter Culture
movement?
• Before the Counter Culture movement, the
sole purpose of music was personal
enjoyment, it was innocent and
entertaining
• During the Counter Culture movement,
music began to be created to make a
political statement or send a message. It
also began to include drug and sexual
references
27. What was Watergate’s
impact on America?
• American’s lost faith in the
federal government
• This lead to a general decline
in trust in the
president/government
• Americans no longer
“idolize” the president
28. Who are the two
reporters that broke the
story?
• Carl Bernstein
• Bob Woodward
29. Why did the
burglars break-in to
Watergate?
• Watergate is a hotel/office
building complex
• It was the head of the Democratic
National Committee
• The burglars were intending to
steal campaign information and
set up wire taps
30. How was Nixon
involved?
• He
ordered the
cover-up of the
break-in
31. Who was Spiro
Agnew?
•
-Nixon’s first Vice
President
-He was forced to
resign because he
had been caught
taking bribes
32. What was Nixon’s
“Enemies List”?
• It was a list of people
who Nixon thought were
trying to sabotage his
presidency.
-It included people from
many different spectrumspoliticians, actors, sports
figures etc.
33. What were the
Watergate Tapes?
• The tapes were records of conversations
from the oval office that Nixon had
recorded.
- The court requested them after Nixon
was suspected of having part in the
break-in
-He claimed executive privilege and that
the tapes would be a threat to national
security if handed over
- The courts still demanded them and
when he turned them over, they had been
altered and provided evidence that he had
ordered the cover-up
34. Why did Nixon
resign?
• So that he could
leave office with
some dignity left,
instead of being
voted out, which
would have
happened
35. What was
significant about
Nixon’s visit to
China?
-First
president to go
to China
- opens relations with
China for the first
time in 25 years
- major success,
lasting impact