Unit 8: Period 8: 1945-1980 Notes | AP United States History

8.1 Truman and the Beginning of The Cold War (1945-1953)

Post-WWII Issues

• Survival of combatants
• Rebuilding war-torn countries
• Political and economic shape of the new world
• Formation of new political alliances

The Cold War

• Power struggle between capitalism (US) and communism (USSR)
• Truman's Foreign Policy:
  • Differences between Soviet and American goals
  • Truman Doctrine and Containment Policy
  • Marshall Plan - $12 billion to Europe
  • Formation of NATO

Berlin Crisis 1948

• Germany divided into 4 sectors
• Soviet blockade of Berlin
• Truman ordered airlifts

8.2 McCarthyism

Red Scare & Anti-Communism

• Truman's investigations for "security risks"
• Alger Hiss guilty of consorting with a communist spy

Joseph McCarthy

• Claimed over 200 communists in State Department
• Campaign of innuendo, blacklists
• Downfall after Army accusations

8.3 Truman's Domestic Policy and the Election of 1948

Economy

• Post-war unemployment and inflation
• Truman's New Deal-style solutions

Civil Rights

• Truman's agenda upset Southern voters
• Desegregated Armed Forces

Election of 1948

• Truman's campaign against "do-nothing" Congress
• Wins re-election

8.4 The Korean War

Conflict Outbreak

• North Korea invaded South Korea, June 1950
• US, under UN, initially aimed to repel invasion
• China's entry in the war

Political Impact

• MacArthur's dismissal
• Eisenhower elected in 1952

8.5 The Eisenhower Years (1953-1961)

1950s Society and Politics

• Consensus of values, consumerism
• G.I. Bill of Rights
• Civil Rights Movement continues

Domestic and Cold War Politics

• Eisenhower's conservative fiscal policies
• Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1960

8.6 Third World Politics

Superpower Influence

• Post-WWII decolonization in Asia, Africa, South America
• US and USSR vied for influence

America's Role

• CIA operations in Iran, Guatemala
• Suez Canal Crisis involvement

8.7 The 1960 Presidential Election

Kennedy vs. Nixon

• Kennedy's youth, television debate performance key
• Eisenhower's warning on military-industrial complex

Kennedy’s Domestic and Foreign Policy

• New Frontier programs
• Civil Rights support
• Cuban Missile Crisis

8.8 Kennedy and Domestic Policy

Civil Rights Movement

• JFK's initiatives and assassination impact

Lyndon Johnson's Actions

• Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Voting Rights Act of 1965
• Great Society programs

The Civil Rights Movement

Legislative and Judicial Successes

• Warren Court decisions
• Twenty-Fourth Amendment

Growing Black Community Outrage

• Shift from nonviolence to Black Power

8.10 The New Left, Feminism, and the Counterculture

1960s Cultural Shifts

• Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)
• Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique"
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 1970

Vietnam War Involvement

• US intervention to curb communism
• Tet Offensive turning point

The Summer of 1968 and the 1968 Election

Major Events

• King and Kennedy assassinations
• Democratic Convention protests

Election Outcome

• Nixon's victory

8.11 The Counter-Counterculture

Conservative Resurgence

• Opposition to 1960s liberal changes
• Phyllis Schlafly's anti-ERA campaign

Nixon Administration

• Vietnamization policy
• Detente with USSR and China
• Watergate Scandal

Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter

Ford's Presidency

• Pardoned Nixon
• Economic challenges
• Defeat in 1976

Carter's Presidency

• Economic woes and stagflation
• Camp David Accords
• Iran Hostage Crisis
• Focus on human rights

These notes cover the significant political, social, and economic events in the United States from 1945 to 1980, highlighting major wars, domestic policies, civil rights movements, and shifts in cultural dynamics.