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NSC-68
NSC-68 was a 58 page classified report written in February 1950 by Paul Nitze and issued by the United States National Security Council on April 14, 1950, during the presidency of Harry Truman. The report was written after the decision to build a hydrogen bomb. This was declassified in 1977 and has become one of the classic historical documents of the Cold War era. After the fighting in Korea NSC-68 was accepted throughout the government as the foundation of American foreign policy. -
Sending Troops to Korea - Rollback Ideology
After Dwight Eisenhower was elected,he implemented this rollback ideology.Rollback is the strategy of forcing change in the major policies of a state,usually by replacing its ruling regime.Eisenhower believed this would be appropriate strategy and they made it happen.The U.S sent troops June 27th 1950,while Truman was still president.Truman belived in more of the containment role.John Dulles was the Secretary of the State.Allen Dulles was the CIA Director.Korea is now divided between communism. -
ANZUS Treaty
This treaty was between The U.S., New Zealand and Australia. It came about because of the close relations we had in WW2. During WW2, Australia was attacked for the first time, by Japan. Us not liking Japan decided it would be a good decision to sign the treaty for many reasons. Some advantages: 1.We have a very powerful military ally in the USA.2.The high-level access Australia has in Washington is of value to the extent that it can be translated into influence. -
New Look Policy - NSC 162/2
After Eisenhower was elected he got to work quickly and started this "New Look Policy". This focused on our military - growing it and making it stronger during the Cold War. NSC 162/2 stated that the United States needs to maintain "a strong military posture, with emphasis on the capability of inflicting massive retaliatory damage by offensive striking power", and that the United States "will consider nuclear weapons as available for use as other munitions." -
Eisenhower Doctrine
On January 5th, 1957, Eisenhower put into effect his "Eisenhower Doctrine". Basically, under the Eisenhower Doctrine, a Middle Eastern country could request American economic assistance or aid from U.S. military forces if it was being threatened by armed aggression from another state. The purpose was to scare the USSR into submission by constantly threatening all-out nuclear war. Another goal was for countries and states have political freedom- mostly communism-free. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion all started with a group of people who all had the same goal- destroying communism. A group of Cuban refugees, who were trained by our CIA, landed in Cuba trying to overthrow the Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The result was failure. Castro remained in power. This later led to other disputes such as the Cuban Missile Crisis. -
1960s Space Race
During this time of the Cold War, space innovation was a big deal. No one had ever been until the Soviets did so by having someone orbit it in 1961. This was a big deal and being the first to do it was a big deal. This led then-president, JFK, to start spending more money in the NASA department because our goal was to send a man to the moon within the next 20 years. It only took 8. This showed not only Americans, but people around the world that the U.S.A. was still a superpower in the world. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missle Crisis arose when the USSR began installing nuclear missiles in Cuba. President JFK refused to permit nukes so close to the United States and blockaded Cuba to prevent any additional missiles from being delivered. He also demanded that the installed missiles be dismantled and removed from Cuba. This caused a great deal of tension around the world as it played out. The U.S and USSR made an agreement that we would never invade Cuba during Castro's period. -
Partial Test Ban Treaty
This treaty was between the U.S. and the USSR. The treaty banned the testing of nuclear weapons in space, atmosphere or underwater. They could only test the nuclear weapons underground. This was for the safety of the citizens of all nations. It ended up being signed by over 100 nations, except France and China. -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
The resolution was president Johnson's plan that would give him, the president and commander in chief, the power to take any necessary measures to repel attacks and prevent aggression in Vietnam. This was our response to Vietnam when our ships were attacked. To this day some say that the whole boat incident was a hoax so president Johnson would have a reason to send troops. -
Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
This was an agreement signed by major nuclear nations and even non-nuclear nations in 1968. The main goal was to stem the nuclear weapon research and to halt all use of nuclear weapons. This treaty is still in use today and it known to be very effective in that it set a precedent for cooperation between nations with and without nuclear weapons. -
Detente Poilicy
Detente was the idea of easing tensions between two nations. During the late 60's and early 70's, the "Cold War" was starting to become stale. Nothing too exciting was going on in either country that pertained to one another. The goal of détente was to continue to resist and deter Soviet adventurism while striving for "more constructive relations" with the Communist world. The effect would be that no harm would be done to one another. To this day we are content with Russia. -
Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty (SALT)
During the late 1960's we began to learn more and more about Russia and what they had been building and planning. Two things we found out about were that they were building an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile and an Anti-Ballistic Missle. Both are extremely dangerous. To keep us safe and to prevent conflict or war we made SALT. Although it was impossible to destroy all nuclear weapons, this prevented any use of these weapons for the U.S. and USSR. This was known to be an important treaty. -
Paris Peace Treaty
The U.S., South Vietnam, Viet Cong, and North Vietnam all sign an agreement to end the war, all with the same goal in mind- restore peace. After over 211,000 U.S casualties, the agreement also included that the U.S. would remove all remaining troops- about 23,000. In doing so, North Vietnam would release all POW's. Vietnam would still remain divided on the 17th parallel. -
The Draft / Conscription abolished
As the Vietnam war came to a close, we stopped sending troops and changed the way people served in the armed forces. The draft was no longer a thing. The military was now and still is a voluntary service. There hasn't been a draft since the Vietnam war. One of Nixon's presidential campaign sayings was that he would end the draft. He believed this was a good political tactic against the anti-war movement.
