Cold War
Post-WWII (1945–91) ideological conflict between the U.S. and Soviet Union; fought through proxy wars, espionage, arms race, and ideology — never direct war.
Cold WarContainment
U.S. policy of stopping the spread of communism, articulated by George Kennan in his 'Long Telegram' (1946); basis for Cold War foreign policy.
Cold WarTruman Doctrine
Truman's 1947 pledge of U.S. aid to nations resisting communism; formally launched containment and signaled permanent American engagement abroad.
Cold WarMarshall Plan
U.S. 1948 program providing $13 billion to rebuild Western Europe; strengthened economies, prevented communist movements, built lasting alliances.
Cold WarNATO
1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization — U.S./Western European military alliance pledging collective defense; America's first peacetime military alliance.
Cold WarKorean War
1950–53 Cold War conflict after communist North Korea invaded the South; U.S. led UN forces under MacArthur; ended in stalemate at the 38th parallel.
Cold WarMcCarthyism
Senator Joseph McCarthy's 1950–54 anti-communist crusade; accused thousands of being communists without evidence, ruining careers; now synonymous with reckless accusation.
Red ScareHUAC
House Un-American Activities Committee — congressional committee investigating alleged communist influence in Hollywood, government, and labor; produced Hollywood blacklist.
Red ScareGI Bill
1944 Servicemen's Readjustment Act providing veterans with low-cost mortgages, business loans, and college tuition; created the postwar middle class.
Postwar SocietyBaby Boom
1946–64 surge in U.S. births (76 million babies); combined with suburbanization and consumer culture to reshape American demographics for decades.
Postwar SocietyInterstate Highway Act (1956)
Eisenhower's law creating 41,000 miles of interstate highways; enabled suburban growth, car culture, and integrated the national economy.
Postwar SocietyBrown v. Board of Education
1954 Supreme Court ruling that 'separate but equal' public schools were unconstitutional; overturned Plessy v. Ferguson and began the legal end of segregation.
Civil RightsMontgomery Bus Boycott
1955–56 year-long boycott of Montgomery buses after Rosa Parks's arrest; led by Martin Luther King Jr., launched him as the movement's leader.
Civil RightsMartin Luther King Jr.
Baptist minister and SCLC leader; used Gandhi-inspired nonviolent civil disobedience; gave the 1963 'I Have a Dream' speech; assassinated 1968.
Civil RightsCivil Rights Act (1964)
Landmark law banning discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in employment and public accommodations; signed by LBJ.
Civil RightsVoting Rights Act (1965)
Federal law banning literacy tests and authorizing federal oversight of voter registration; doubled Black voter registration in the South within years.
Civil RightsBlack Power
Late-1960s movement led by Stokely Carmichael, Malcolm X, and the Black Panthers; emphasized Black pride, self-defense, and skepticism of integration.
Civil RightsVietnam War
U.S. military involvement (1955–75) to stop North Vietnamese communism; 58,000 U.S. dead; America's longest and most divisive war of the era.
Vietnam WarGulf of Tonkin Resolution
1964 congressional resolution authorizing LBJ to use force in Vietnam without a declaration of war; gave the president unprecedented war-making power.
Vietnam WarTet Offensive
1968 coordinated North Vietnamese/Viet Cong surprise attacks; militarily a U.S. victory but psychological defeat; turned public opinion against the war.
Vietnam WarGreat Society
LBJ's 1964–66 domestic program; created Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, food stamps, federal education aid; modeled on the New Deal.
Great SocietyMedicare & Medicaid
1965 Great Society programs; Medicare provides healthcare for seniors, Medicaid for the poor — the biggest expansion of the welfare state since the New Deal.
Great SocietySecond-Wave Feminism
1960s–70s women's rights movement; Betty Friedan's 'The Feminine Mystique' (1963), NOW, Roe v. Wade (1973), and the ERA debate redefined gender roles.
Social MovementsDétente
Nixon-Kissinger Cold War policy of easing tensions with the USSR; included SALT I arms control treaty and opened U.S. relations with China (1972).
1970sWatergate
1972 break-in at Democratic headquarters by Nixon's committee; cover-up led to Nixon's 1974 resignation — the only president to resign — eroding public trust for a generation.
1970s