• Became president in
1945 after FDR died
• Made decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan
• Reelected in 1948

• Pent up consumer demand after the war
• GI Bill- assistance with college tuition, home loans, and unemployment for veterans.
• Baby Boom- population boom after WWII.
• Growth of suburbs
(Levittown)
• Rise of Sunbelt
• Continued spending on military

• Fair Deal- Truman’s economic program that was an extension of FDR’s New Deal. It proposed national healthcare but was defeated.
• Dixiecrats- Southern
Democrats who didn’t like
Truman’s civil rights emphasis.
• Strom Thurmond- Dixiecrats presidential candidate. He was
Governor of South Carolina and later Senator.

• 22 nd Amendmentlimits presidency to two terms
• Desegregation- end segregation in American life.
• Jackie Robinson- first
African American to play major league baseball

• Hector P. Garcia-
WWII veteran, doctor, civil rights advocate
• GI Forum- Hispanic civil rights and veteran’s organization founded by Dr.
Garcia.
• Longoria Incident- Felix
Longoria was a Mexican-
American WWII hero killed in the Philippines. The undertaker in his hometown refused to provide funeral services because it may upset the whites. He was finally buried in Arlington National
Cemetery with the help of then-Senator Lyndon
Johnson.

• Mendez v. Westminster
1947- federal court case that challenged racial segregation in Orange
County, California schools. The ruling held that the segregation of
Mexican and Mexican
American students into separate "Mexican schools" was unconstitutional.
• Delgado v. Bastrop ISD
1948- ended the segregation of Mexican-
American children in
Texas.

• Important Supreme Court decision that stated
Mexican-Americans have equal protection under the 14 th Amendment.
• First case argued before the Supreme Court by
Latinos.
• Argued case two weeks before Brown v. Board of
Education (1954)

• Cold War- a conflict between the United
States and the Soviet
Union in which neither nation directly confronted the other on the battlefield. It would dominate global affairs and US foreign policy from 1945-1991.

• Truman Doctrinesending economic and military support to countries resisting communist takeover.
• Marshall Plan- postwar economic aid to Europe.
• NATO- North Atlantic
Treaty Organization formed in 1949 and pledged military support to one another in case any member was attacked.

• Containment- a policy proposed by American diplomat George
Keenan in 1946 means preventing an extension of communist rule to other countries.
• Satellite nations-
Eastern European countries dominated by the Soviet Union.
• Iron Curtain- a quote from a Churchill speech that came to stand for the division in Europe.
• United Nationsorganization created in
1945. Representatives from member nations meet to promote peace.

British, French, and
Americans wanted to reunify Germany. Soviet
Union did not want to.
They blocked roads and railways to West Berlin.
No food could reach the
2.1 million residents.

• American and British officials started to fly food and supplies into
West Berlin.
• For 327 days over
277,000 flights brought
2.3 million tons of supplies.
• The Soviet Union ended the blockade in May
1949

Nationalists: Chaing Kai-shek Communists: Mao Zedong

• Civil war erupted in
China as Nationalists and Communists fight for control.
• US supported the
Nationalists, giving military equipment and supplies but not committing troops.
• Corruption and abusive practices pushed the peasants to the
Communist side.
• Chaing and his government fled to the island of Taiwan while the communists took control of mainland
China.

• When WWII ended
Japanese north of the
38 th parallel surrendered to the
Soviets while those south of the 38 th
parallel surrendered to the US.
• Syngman Rhee led
South Korea and Kim Il
Sung led North Korea.
• On June 25, 1950 North
Korea invaded South
Korea, with support from the Soviets, starting the Korean War.
• With the support of the
UN, troops were sent to aid S. Korea, 90% of which were American.

• Douglas MacArthur led an attack that pushed the N.
Koreans almost to China.
• Macarthur wanted to invade
China. He publicly criticized the president and was fired by Truman as a result.
• China aided N. Korea with
300,000 troops and pushed
UN forces out of the north.
• In 1951 there was a ceasefire and the war ended in
1953.

• 2 nd Red Scare- Anti-
• Alger Hiss- a former communist hysteria
State Department gripped the US in the late official accused of
1940s and early 1950s spying for the Soviets.
• The House Un-American
• Ethel and Julius
Activities Committee
Rosenberg- accused of
(HUAC)- investigated being spies who passed
Communist influence. on secrets that enabled
They gained fame when
Soviet scientists to they investigated the film create an atomic bomb. industry in 1947.

• Joe McCarthy was a republican Senator who charged that Communists were taking over the government. These attacks on suspected communists became known as
McCarthyism.
• Army-McCarthy Hearingsthis was McCarthy’s downfall as he made accusations against the US
Army. His bullying of witnesses on national TV cost him public support.

• Warsaw Pact- Military agreement between the
Soviet Union and seven other nations in response to NATO.
• Dwight D. Eisenhower-
WWII General who became president
(1953-1961).

• Domino Theory- If one SE
Asian countries becomes communist, they all will.
• Arms Race- competition for more weapons.
• Space Race- competition to explore space.
• Sputnik- first satellite was launched by Soviets in
1957.
• Nation building- financial support in exchange for alliances
• Shah of Iran- abusive leader of Iran supported by the US.
• OPEC- Organization of
Petroleum Exporting
Countries.
• Fidel Castro- a communist, took control of Cuba in
1959 and received aid from the Soviets.

• Nikita Khrushchevbecame leader of the
Soviet Union in 1953 when Stalin died.
• U-2 Incident- US spy plane shot down over
Soviet air space.
Tension increased between the two nations.

• Vietnam was trying to become independent under communist Ho
Chi Minh. France did not want to give up the colony.
• Geneva Accord- 1954 agreement to divide
Vietnam until 1956 elections that never took place.

• Sweat v. Painter- 1950 • Thurgood Marshall-
Supreme Court ruled state lawyer who argued law schools must admit black
Brown v. Board, fought applicants.
for civil rights, and later
• Brown v. Board- 1954 became 1 st African-
Supreme Court ruled school segregation violated 14 th
Amendment.
American Supreme Court
Justice.
• NAACP- National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People founded to end segregation.
• Rosa Parks- 1955 refused to give up her seat to a white man breaking the law and leading to the
Montgomery bus boycott.

• Martin Luther King Jr.pastor and civil rights leader who organized the
Montgomery bus boycott.
• Civil Rights Act of 1957increased federal power to protect voting rights and established civil rights division of Justice
Department.