Fifth Party System [1933–1972] VI

Question 1

Review - Timeline: Post-War Prosperity and Cold War Fears, 1945-1960

Answer 1

1946: George Kennan sends Long Telegram from Moscow. 1947: Truman Doctrine announced; first Levittown house sold. 1948: Berlin Airlift begins. 1950: North Korean troops cross 38th parallel. 1952: Dwight D. Eisenhower elected president. 1953: Julius and Ethel Rosenberg executed for espionage. 1954: Supreme Court rules on Brown v. Board of Education; Bill Haley and ‘His Comets’ record “Rock Around the Clock”. 1955: Montgomery bus boycott begins. 1957: Little Rock’s Central High School integrates; USSR launches Sputnik.

Question 2

Timeline: Contesting Futures - America in the 1960s

Answer 2

1960: Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins inspire student-led demonstrations. 1961: CIA orchestrates ‘Bay of Pigs’ invasion. 1962: ‘Cuban Missile Crisis’. 1963: John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas. 1964: Congress passes ‘Gulf of Tonkin’ resolution. 1965: Congress passes ‘Voting Rights Act of 1965’. 1966: ‘National Organization for Women’ founded. 1968: ‘Tet Offensive’ launched; Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated in Memphis. 1969: Apollo 11 lands first humans on Moon.

Question 3

Timeline: Political Storms at Home and Abroad, 1968-1980

Answer 3

1968: Vietnamese massacred at My Lai; Richard Nixon elected president. 1969: Woodstock festival held. 1970: National Guard fires on students at Kent State University. 1972: Nixon goes to China. 1973: ‘Roe vs. Wade’ legalizes abortion nationally; Paris Peace Accords end U.S. role in Vietnam; OAPEC proclaims oil embargo. 1974: Nixon resigns due to Watergate scandal. 1976: Jimmy Carter elected president. 1978: ‘Camp David Accords’ signed. 1979: Iranian protesters storm U.S. Embassy in Tehran and take hostages.

Question 4

Harry Truman - Trying to continue the expectations of FDR’s New Deal

Answer 4

Truman inherited not only FDR’s power, but also the responsibility to cement his domestic reforms, oversee the end of the war, and rebuild America in peacetime. It was not an enviable position to be in. Truman tried to build upon FDR’s reform program of the New Deal with his own set of domestic and foreign policies called the ‘Fair Deal’.

Question 5

Harry Truman - U.S. Economy after WWII

Answer 5

America had entered the war in 1941, just as FDR’s New Deal policies were finally starting to overcome the crisis of the Great Depression. However, it was the ramped up wartime production that ultimately solved unemployment and finally restored American economic strength. On the surface, things looked good as businesses started making commercial products again, consumers eagerly spent their money, and the economy grew. However, new technologies developed during the war also led to more mechanized production, eliminating many factory jobs. Labor unrest began to swell as more working class men and women found themselves out of work.

Question 6

Harry Truman’s ‘Fair Deal’ - Economic Reform.

Answer 6

The main focus of the ‘Fair Deal’ was economic reform, especially aimed at providing security to the working class first and foremost. Truman swore to continue the legacies of the New Deal by increasing minimum wage, expanding public housing, repealing laws that banned labor unions, promoting federal health insurance, building social security, and creating a Department of Welfare. Together these policies were meant to provide for the wellbeing of the working class and maintain the government’s new role as an active provider of welfare.

Question 7

Harry Truman’s ‘Fair Deal’ - Civil Rights

Answer 7

The other big issue that Truman began addressing with his ‘Fair Deal’ was Civil Rights, or social and political equality, particularly for African Americans. It was Truman who finally desegregated the U.S. Military and he sought to further combat segregation by abolishing prejudicial laws, fighting lynching in the South, and establishing the ‘Fair Employment Practices Commission’ to ensure equal employment opportunities in the federal government.

Question 8

Response to Truman’s Fair Deal.

Answer 8

By the late 1940s, the middle class was booming and the average American was wealthier than ever before. After 15 years of depression and wartime rationing, Americans didn’t want to put their money into welfare programs. They wanted to spend it on luxuries they couldn’t afford before, like televisions and cars. After the end of the war, Americans decided it was time for a less centralized government and Republicans briefly controlled both the Senate and House of Representatives from 1947 to 1949. These Republicans opposed Truman’s attempts to maintain a strong, centralized government, as well as the hefty cost of maintaining the welfare state.

Question 9

Truman’s Legacy

Answer 9

Most of Truman’s policies were rejected, but he did manage to ensure the survival of social security and federal welfare and increase minimum wage, as well as align the federal government with Civil Rights.

Question 10

Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)

Answer 10

As supreme commander of Allied forces in Western Europe during World War II, Dwight D. Eisenhower led the massive invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe that began on D-Day (June 6, 1944). In 1952, leading Republicans convinced Eisenhower (then in command of NATO forces in Europe) to run for president; he won a convincing victory over Democrat Adlai Stevenson and would serve two terms in the White House (1953-1961). During his presidency, Eisenhower managed Cold War-era tensions with the Soviet Union under the looming threat of nuclear weapons, ended the war in Korea in 1953, and authorized a number of covert anti-communist operations by the CIA around the world. On the home front, where America was enjoying a period of relative prosperity, Eisenhower strengthened Social Security, created the massive new Interstate Highway System, and maneuvered behind the scenes to discredit the rabid anti-Communist Senator Joseph McCarthy. Though popular throughout his administration, he faltered in the protection of civil rights for African Americans by failing to fully enforce the Supreme Court’s mandate for the desegregation of schools in Brown v. Board of Education (1954).

Question 11

Describe the features and importance of Eisenhower’s New Look policy.

Answer 11

In 1953, Eisenhower’s ‘New Look’ policy combined moderation and toughness to combat communist expansion through diplomacy, containment, and brinkmanship. He hoped that rapprochement (or establishment of cordial relations), would cool tensions. Eisenhower’s policy replaced ground forces with nuclear arms and CIA covert programs. The overriding goal was to combat communism without bankrupting the economy. Eisenhower stood firm against international communist expansion. He supported brinkmanship, which called for escalating tensions so that the opponent falters. He engaged communism in Egypt, Guatemala, and the Philippines.

Question 12

Explain what foreign actions Eisenhower took to combat against the Cold War - Soviet Union

Answer 12

In 1953, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin died and was replaced by more moderate Nikita Khrushchev, which made diplomacy between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. more flexible. Eisenhower and Khrushchev agreed to temper nuclear testing and Khrushchev promoted the idea of peace between the two nations and came to the U.S. to promote his diplomatic accord. However, there was still suspicion on both sides causing them to further heighten security in different areas of the world. Eisenhower expanded the ‘North Atlantic Treaty Organization’ (NATO) and he created the ‘Central Treaty Organization’ (CENTO) to bond several Middle Eastern countries together. Pro-democratic radio waves also hit the air as ‘Radio Free Europe’ and ‘Radio Liberation’ were launched as a propaganda effort against the Soviet Union.

Question 13

Explain what foreign actions Eisenhower took to combat against the Cold War - Soviet Union - U2 spy plane incident.

Answer 13

An international diplomatic crisis erupted in May 1960 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) shot down an American U-2 spy plane in Soviet air space and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers (1929-77). Confronted with the evidence of his nation’s espionage, President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) was forced to admit to the Soviets that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been flying spy missions over the USSR for several years. The Soviets convicted Powers on espionage charges and sentenced him to 10 years in prison. However, after serving less than two years, he was released in exchange for a captured Soviet agent in the first-ever U.S.-USSR “spy swap”. The U-2 spy plane incident raised tensions between the U.S. and the Soviets during the Cold War (1945-91), the largely political clash between the two superpowers and their allies that emerged following World War II.

Question 14

Explain what foreign actions Eisenhower took to combat against the Cold War - CIA and Containment in Third-World Nations - Suez Canal in Egypt.

Answer 14

The Suez Canal in Egypt, located in the northeast corner of Africa, became a hotspot of activity. This was because of the canal’s importance in linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. In 1954, Eisenhower supported Gamal Abdel Nasser’s nationalization of the Suez Canal. However, after Nasser seemingly aligned with the Soviet Union in 1957, Eisenhower quickly established pro-democratic governments in Jordan and Lebanon. Both of these nations sit just to the east of Egypt, which makes them great locations to monitor Egypt and the Suez Canal.

Question 15

Explain what foreign actions Eisenhower took to combat against the Cold War - CIA and Containment in Third-World Nations - Latin America.

Answer 15

In Guatemala in 1954, Eisenhower eliminated President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman’s suspected communist government. Eisenhower also helped begin an embargo on Cuba after Fidel Castro assumed power in 1959.

Question 16

Explain what foreign actions Eisenhower took to combat against the Cold War - CIA and Containment in Third-World Nations - Iran, Philippines, and South Vietnam.

Answer 16

Eisenhower and the CIA also had a hand in the removal of Mohammad Mossadegh in Iran, the rise of democracy-supporting Ramon Magsaysay in the Philippines, and an infusion of financial aid to the Ngo Dinh Diem regime in South Vietnam.

Question 17

Explain what domestic actions Eisenhower took to combat against the Cold War - ‘Communist Control Act of 1954’ and ‘McCarron Act of 1950’.

Answer 17

Eisenhower’s hard line against international communism was also felt domestically. In 1954, Eisenhower approved two pieces of legislation that had a profound effect on suspected communists. First was the ‘Communist Control Act of 1954’, which barred communist candidates from running in a national election. The second, an extension of the ‘McCarron Act of 1950’, required communist candidates to register with the federal government, as well as limited European immigration in order to avoid threats to national security.

Question 18

Explain what domestic actions Eisenhower took to combat against the Cold War - ‘National Defense Education Act of 1958’

Answer 18

The most significant piece of domestic Cold War legislation passed by Eisenhower was the ‘National Defense Education Act of 1958’. Eisenhower believed that students in the United States were drastically falling behind their communist counterparts due to the fact that the wrong skills were being taught. He encouraged a readjustment to the national curriculum, which called for a focus on academics, such as math and science.

Question 19

Explain what domestic actions Eisenhower took to combat against the Cold War - military-industrial complex

Answer 19

Upon leaving office in 1961, President Eisenhower gave a memorable farewell address. He encouraged the United States to continue embracing democracy while combating communist subversion. However, he admonished against the military-industrial complex, which is the relationship between the military and defense industry that had formed in the nation. Eisenhower believed that advancement could not be achieved through defense spending and politico-military relationships, but by rationalization and responsibility.

Question 20

John F. Kennedy (D)

Answer 20

Elected in 1960 as the 35th president of the United States, 43-year-old John F. Kennedy became one of the youngest U.S. presidents, as well as the first Roman Catholic. He was born into one of America’s wealthiest families and parlayed an elite education and a reputation as a military hero into a successful run for Congress in 1946 and for the Senate in 1952. As president, Kennedy confronted mounting Cold War tensions in Cuba, Vietnam, and elsewhere. He also led a renewed drive for public service and eventually provided federal support for the growing civil rights movement. His assassination on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, sent shockwaves around the world and turned the all-too-human Kennedy into a larger-than-life heroic figure. To this day, historians continue to rank him among the best-loved presidents in American history.

Question 21

The Kennedy Promise

Answer 21

The arrival of the Kennedys in the White House seemed to signal a new age of youth, optimism, and confidence. Kennedy spoke of a “new frontier” and promoted the expansion of programs to aid the poor, protect African Americans’ right to vote, and improve African Americans’ employment and education opportunities. For the most part, however, Kennedy focused on foreign policy and countering the threat of Communism—especially in Cuba, where he successfully defused the Cuban Missile Crisis, and in Vietnam, to which he sent advisors and troops to support the South Vietnamese government. The tragedy of Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas brought an early end to the era, leaving Americans to wonder whether his vice president and successor, Lyndon Johnson, would bring Kennedy’s vision for the nation to fruition.

Question 22

Define Kennedy’s New Frontier.

Answer 22

Kennedy’s ‘New Frontier’ called for action in four areas: economics, civil rights, social welfare, and a strengthened foreign policy.

Question 23

Define Kennedy’s Flexible Response policies.

Answer 23

‘Flexible Response’ was a defense strategy implemented by John F. Kennedy in 1961 to address the Kennedy administration’s skepticism of Dwight Eisenhower’s New Look and its policy of massive retaliation. Flexible Response calls for mutual deterrence at strategic, tactical, and conventional levels, giving the United States the capability to respond to aggression across the spectrum of war, not limited only to nuclear arms.

Question 24

Name and describe the programs Kennedy created to combat communism - ‘Peace Corps’ and ‘Alliance for Progress’.

Answer 24

Kennedy developed the ‘Peace Corps’, which promoted democracy and shunned communism. He also established the ‘Alliance for Progress’, which dedicated billions of dollars to Latin American countries that were willing to establish democratic institutions.

Question 25

Name and describe the programs Kennedy created to combat communism - Space Race

Answer 25

The Soviets, in 1957, had triggered the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States when they launched 'Sputnik 1' into orbit. Several years later, in 1961, the Soviets launched Yuri Gagarin into space; he became the first man to orbit the Earth. Kennedy called for increased funding for the U.S. space program and the creation of ‘Project Apollo’, commencing the race to the moon. While NASA and the United States had achieved incredible progress through several early Gemini and Apollo missions, the hallmark of the space program came in July 1969 when American men walked on the moon. This was the Apollo 11 mission.

Question 26

Kennedy - Foreign Relations - U.S.S.R. and Germany

Answer 26

In June 1961, Nikita Khrushchev demanded that Berlin become apart of Soviet-controlled East Germany. This was because Germans were leaving authoritarian East Germany for democratic West Germany devastating the eastern economy. Kennedy refused because he was unwilling to allow Berlin to fall into the hands of communist East Germany. In defiance, the communists erected a wall, which separated East and West Berlin, in August of 1961. The 'Berlin Wall', as it came to be known, was a grim reminder of the animosity found in the Cold War.

Question 27

Kennedy - Foreign Relations - 'Bay of Pigs'

Answer 27

In 1961, President Kennedy's attempted to engage in a coup d'état against communist-supporting Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Kennedy ordered trained anti-communist Cuban forces to land at the Bay of Pigs in an attempt to secretly invade and neutralize Castro. Unfortunately, the plan backfired when the anti-communist forces were captured and placed in jail. Kennedy attempted to conceal the Bay of Pigs fiasco, but it was too late.

Question 28

Kennedy - Foreign Relations - Cuban Missile Crisis

Answer 28

In 1962, the United States received intelligence that the Soviet Union had been delivering nuclear missiles to Cuba. With a nuclear threat only 90 miles from the United States, Kennedy responded by demanding the Soviets return the weapons to their own territory. Additionally, Kennedy ordered the United States Navy to envelop the island to prevent any additional missiles from entering. The standoff between the United States and Soviet Union over Cuba was as close as both nations came to nuclear war. Fortunately, Khrushchev complied and returned the missiles to the Soviet Union.

Question 29

Kennedy - Foreign Relations - Laos

Answer 29

Eisenhower stressed the importance of maintaining a communist-free Laotian nation to Kennedy. However, by 1961 Laos began to turn toward communism, and interested parties, the Soviet Union and the United States, attempted to intervene and manipulate the balance of power. By 1962, the question became whether or not Laos would become a communist nation. This was solved when several nations, including the United States, met at Geneva and agreed to neutralize the nation. This meant that Laos was expected to not side with either ideology, communism or democracy, and the nation was free from external interference.

Question 30

Vietnam War - Recall how long the Vietnam War lasted.

Answer 30

American involvement in the Vietnam War ranged from 1950 to 1975.

Question 31

Vietnam War - Define ‘proxy war’.

Answer 31

Proxy wars occur when one or more opposing powers instigates a war and then uses third parties to fight on their behalf (in this case, the Soviet Union and China supported North Vietnam).

Question 32

Vietnam War - Summary I - Explain why the ‘First Indochina War’ began.

Answer 32

American involvement in the Vietnam War ranged from 1950 to 1975. Following the Second World War, Ho Chi Minh was successful in regaining control of Indochina. However, France soon returned to power. The 'First Indochina War' (1946-1954) broke out as a result of the conflict between Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh forces and the French. France was eventually crushed at the 'Battle of Dien Bien Phu' (1954) which resulted in peace talks opening at the 'Geneva Conference' (1954).

Question 33

Vietnam War - Describe the ‘Domino Theory’.

Answer 33

‘Domino Theory’ claimed that if one nation fell to communism, the rest would fall, like dominoes.

Question 34

Vietnam War - List the provisions of the Geneva Conference.

Answer 34

Talks opened between Ho Chi Minh’s forces and the French, as well as the United States, at the Geneva Conference on April 26, 1954. By July 21, the meetings at Geneva established provisions that included the removal of France from Indochina and partitioned the country at the 17th parallel, but called for reunification elections in 1956. The country's name was also changed from Indochina to Vietnam. The United States didn't sign the accords, but instead created the state of South Vietnam, under the leadership of Ngo Dinh Diem, as a shield against communist expansion in Southeast Asia. The United States even went one step further and created the 'Southeast Asia Treaty Organization' (SEATO) to protect its allies from communist expansion.

Question 35

Vietnam War - 'National Liberation Front' or 'Viet Cong'

Answer 35

The ‘National Liberation Front’, or ‘Viet Cong’, was the revolutionary political arm of North Vietnam. The goal of the Viet Cong was to recruit support for the war in South Vietnam. It is important to understand that the Viet Cong fought in the southern reaches of South Vietnam, while the North Vietnamese battled closer to the 17th parallel.

Question 36

Vietnam War - Ho Chi Minh Trail

Answer 36

Created in 1959 by the Viet Cong, the 'Ho Chi Minh Trail’ was a series of elaborate trails running from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia.

Question 37

Vietnam War - Summary II - Kennedy and Johnson Administrations.

Answer 37

The United States decided to support the division of Vietnam at the 17th parallel and endorsed Ngo Dinh Diem. Both Kennedy and Johnson attempted to win the war in Vietnam by enlarging the effort through the 'Strategic Hamlet Program', an influx of advisers, a massive air campaign known as 'Operation Rolling Thunder' (1965-68), and the introduction of ground forces, respectively. The ‘Tet Offensive’ (1968) proved to be the breaking point for the United States as the American public caught a glimpse of a failing effort. By the end of 1968, the United States was looking to honorably end the war in Vietnam.

Question 38

Vietnam War - Kennedy Administration - Counterinsurgency

Answer 38

In 1962, the Kennedy Administration started employing the tactics of ‘counterinsurgency’, which is a comprehensive civilian and military efforts taken to simultaneously defeat and contain insurgency and address its root causes.

Question 39

Vietnam War - Kennedy and Johnson - Strategic Hamlet Program

Answer 39

In 1962, the ‘Strategic Hamlet Program’ forced the South Vietnamese into protective reservations away from the influence of the Viet Cong.

Question 40

Vietnam War - Kennedy Administration - 'Battle of Ap Bac’ and assassinations of Ngo Dinh Diem and Kennedy in 1963.

Answer 40

In 1963, South and North Vietnamese faced off in their first major confrontation, knows as the 'Battle of Ap Bac', with the former suffering a defeat. Ngo Dinh Diem was assassinated after he tried to suppress Buddhists, thus America lost their strongest South Vietnamese leader. And, Kennedy was assassinated later in the same month (for obviously unrelated reasons).

Question 41

Lyndon B. Johnson (D)

Answer 41

Lyndon B. Johnson was the 36th president of the United States; he was sworn into office following the November 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Upon taking office, Johnson launched an ambitious slate of progressive reforms aimed at creating a “Great Society” for all Americans. Many of the programs he championed—Medicare, Head Start, the Voting Rights Act, and the Civil Rights Act—had a profound and lasting impact in health, education, and civil rights. Despite his impressive achievements, however, Johnson’s legacy was marred by his failure to lead the nation out of the quagmire of the Vietnam War. He declined to run for a second term in office, and retired to his Texas ranch in January 1969.

Question 42

*Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society*

Answer 42

Lyndon Johnson began his administration with dreams of fulfilling his fallen predecessor’s civil rights initiative and accomplishing his own plans to improve lives by eradicating poverty in the United States. His social programs, investments in education, support for the arts, and commitment to civil rights changed the lives of countless people and transformed society in many ways. However, Johnson’s insistence on maintaining American commitments in Vietnam, a policy begun by his predecessors, hurt both his ability to realize his vision of the Great Society and his support among the American people.

Question 43

Vietnam War - Johnson Administration - Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Answer 43

On August 2, 1964, North Vietnamese attack boats fired on the United States destroyer, Maddox, which was stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin. Several days later, on August 4, the Maddox and destroyer Turner Joy allegedly reported being fired on again (there was never conclusive evidence). As a result of the incident, Johnson decried unnecessary aggression and was awarded a blank check from Congress known as the 'Gulf of Tonkin Resolution' to take whatever action was deemed necessary to combat the North Vietnamese.

Question 44

Vietnam War - Johnson Administration - 'Operation Rolling Thunder'.

Answer 44

Derived on February 12, 1965, 'Operation Rolling Thunder' was the largest air campaign in United States history. Beginning on March 2, it lasted three years (1965-1968) and dropped hundreds of thousands of tons of bombs on North Vietnam. But the massive bombing campaign was ineffective, and Johnson moved to send troops into the region. The original goal was to destroy the North Vietnamese war-making ability, infiltrate the supply route of the Ho Chi Minh trail, and force negotiations.

Question 45

Vietnam War - Johnson Administration - Introduction of ground forces.

Answer 45

The first troops, a Marine division, landed at Danang on March 8, 1965. Johnson would eventually send several thousand troops over the next few months, but the major escalation came in July. Advised to send additional troops to expedite the end of the war, Johnson approved the transfer of 125,000 American soldiers to Vietnam.

Question 46

Vietnam War - Johnson Administration - MAC-V Commander General William Westmoreland’s three-phase plan to defeat the North Vietnamese.

Answer 46

The goal for the remainder of 1965 and 1966 was to carry out Phase I and Phase II of MAC-V Commander General William Westmoreland's three-phase plan to defeat the North Vietnamese. This included pacification, or eliminating the Viet Cong presence in South Vietnam hamlets and villages, and search-and-destroy, which was a war of attrition that aimed to eliminate North Vietnamese armed forces in South Vietnam. Phase III, the ultimate objective, was to gain additional troop support and conduct a major offensive against the North Vietnamese in 1967. This was never realized.

Question 47

Vietnam War - Johnson Administration - ‘Tet Offensive'

Answer 47

January 31, 1968, the 'Tet Offensive’, as it was labeled, witnessed over 80,000 North Vietnamese soldiers invade South Vietnam from different points along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Cities such as Saigon, Pleiku, and Hue became major battle sites. This was a definitive turning point in the war, as Americans at home watched the horrors of the invasion unfold on television. The public had been made to believe that the war was being won, yet the offensive proved otherwise. While American servicemen were able to stem the tide of the ‘Tet Offensive’ and repel the enemy, the hope for victory in Vietnam was shattered due to the public outcry against the conflict. As a result, requests for more troops were denied and Johnson announced that he would not seek reelection.

Question 48

Vietnam War - Johnson Administration - Number of U.S. troops in Vietnam reaches its peak.

Answer 48

US troop numbers peaked in 1968 with President Johnson approving an increased maximum number of US troops in Vietnam at 549,500. The year was the most expensive in the Vietnam War with the American spending US$77.4 billion (US$ 557 billion in 2019) on the war.

Question 49

Richard Nixon (R)

Answer 49

Richard Nixon (1913-94), the 37th U.S. president, is best remembered as the only president ever to resign from office. Nixon stepped down in 1974, halfway through his second term, rather than face impeachment over his efforts to cover up illegal activities by members of his administration in the Watergate scandal. A former Republican congressman and U.S. senator from California, he served two terms as vice president under Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969) in the 1950s. In 1960, Nixon lost his bid for the presidency in a close race with Democrat John F. Kennedy (1917-63). He ran for the White House again in 1968 and won. As president, Nixon’s achievements included forging diplomatic ties with China and the Soviet Union, and withdrawing U.S. troops from an unpopular war in Vietnam. However, Nixon’s involvement in Watergate tarnished his legacy and deepened American cynicism about government.

Question 50

Vietnam War - Summary III - The Nixon Administration and the end of the war.

Answer 50

President Richard Nixon attempted to achieve that sought-after end through strategies such as Vietnamization (or turning the war over the the South Vietnamese), minor incursions into Cambodia and Laos and the massive Linebacker bombing campaigns. Eventually, the United States and North Vietnam entered into the 'Paris Peace Accords' which officially ended American involvement in the war. Without the assistance of the United States, South Vietnam capitulated under the pressure of the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong on April 30, 1975. The North Vietnamese achieved victory and the war in Vietnam was officially finished.

Question 51

Vietnam War - List the initiatives Congress passed to keep the United States out of the Vietnam War.

Answer 51

Simultaneously with the Paris Peace Accords, Congress implemented initiatives of its own in order to keep the United States from remaining and/or re-entering in the war. This included the passage of the Cooper-Church Amendment in 1971, the Case-Church Amendment in 1973, and the War Powers Act, also in 1973.