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Dwight D. Eisenhower Becomes President
The new President strove to balance the federal budget and guard the nation from Socialism. He also supported the transfer of control of offshore oil fields from the federal government to the states. "Ike" was a popular president among the American people.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Dwight D. Eisenhower's Inaugaration -
President Eisenhower Ends the Korean War
The Korean War
After visiting Korea, Eisenhower concluded that American and Korea could not stand forever on the front and continue to accept casualties without any progressing results. Eisenhower signed a truce ending organized combat operations and leaving the Korean Peninsula divided like it was after World War II. -
Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
Brown V. Board of Education
The decision of the Brown V. Board of Education case was that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. Conservatives were stunned because "separate but equal" facilities were no longer allowed. Because of the court decision, desegregation started to arise in the country.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
Geneva Conference Splits Vietnam
This conference split Vietnam at the seventeenth parallel. Ho Chi Minh controlled the North while Ngo Dinh Diem controlled the South. Ho Chi Mihn agreed to this split if there was a Vietnam-wide election in the next two years. These elections were futile because communists were certain to win.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Geneva Conference -
Emmett Till Murder
While visiting family in Money, Mississippi, Emmett Till was kidnapped by two white men who beat him and shot him in the head. The men were tried for murder but were never sent to jail because an all-white male jury aquitted them. The murder stimulated the rising civil rights movement.
Emmett Till Biography. -
Montgomery Bus Boycott
On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks, an African American seamstress, was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white man. Back then, because of the segregation, whites sat in the front while blacks sat in the back. Because of this arrest, black Americans boycotted riding the buses for one day.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott -
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations Formed
This organization was once two different groups before they merged together. They had different views of spreading the Labor Movement and promoting workers' rights. They realized they were stronger together and merged together.
AFL-CIO. -
Eisenhower's Interstate Highway Act of 1956
This act was the largest public works project in American history. It cost $32 billion. This brought us the freeways. 41,000 miles of new highways were built.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Eisenhower Opening The Highways -
The Founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The goal of the SCLC was to bring back America's soul through nonviolent resistance. It's goal was to organize the actions of local protest groups throughout the South. Martin Luther King Jr. was the leader of this organization. Black churches supported the SCLC the most.
SCLC -
Integration at Little Rock's Central High School
Orval Faubus assembled the National Guard to prevent nine black students from enrolling in the High School. Eisenhower reacted by sending troops to escort the students to their classes. There were massive riots infront of the school.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Black Students Attending School -
The National Defense and Education Act Gets Passed
This act sought to advance education in math, science, and physics. Students that received loans from the NDEA had to sign loyalty oaths. It also helped ensure that individuals would be available to help America compete with the Soviet Union in science.
The National Defense and Education Act
Students Doing A Lab In Science Class -
The Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959 Approved
The Landrum-Griffin Act, also known as the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act, provided for regulation of internal union affairs, including regulation and control of union funds. Union members are protected against abuses by a bill of rights.
The Landrum-Griffin Act of 1959
Workers in a Factory -
Greensboro Sit-In
Four black college students went to Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina and sat in the "whites-only" lunch counter and refused to leave after not receiving service. In the weeks and months to come more students joined them causeing sit-in protests to spread through the South.
Greensboro Sit-In -
John F. Kennedy Elected President
John F. Kennedy's Inaugaration
Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic and the youngest person to be elected president. He was strongly supported by workers, Catholics, and African Americans. This was the first election where the presidential debates were televised.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
Engel V. Vitale Of New York
Boy in Class
Engel V. Vitale Court Case
This court case was a landmark in the United States that determined that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools. Parents of the students felt that those prayers were opposed to their children's beliefs or religious practices. -
Launching of the Birmingham Campaign in Birmingham, Alabama
This march was launched with a series of mass meetings, direct actions, lunch counter sit-ins, marches on City Hall, and a boycott of downtown merchants. It ended with Martin Luther King Jr. going to jail and the blacks either getting attacked by police dogs or sprayed with water.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Birmingham Campaign -
Medger Evers Murdered
Medger Evers
Evers was an NAACP lawyer. After Evers made a speech on television, threats of his life increased. After returning from listening to John F. Kennedy's speech, Evers was shot infront his house in Jackson in the back and died in the hospital 50 minutes later. -
President John F. Kennedy, Soviet Union, and United Kingdom Sign Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
President Kennedy Signing the Treaty
The treaty allowed nuclear weapon tests under water or in the atmosphere, underground nuclear tests, participants to work towards an end to the nuclear weapons race, and an end to contaminating the environment by radioactivity.
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty -
South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem Assassinated
When U.S. troops entered Vietnam to foster political stability, the Kennedy administration agreed to an overthrow of Diem. This resulted in the assassination of Diem but the United States. The Kennedy administration tried to prevent this from happening but it back fired on them.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
President Ngo Dinh Diem -
President John F. Kennedy Assassination
The Kennedy's were driving through Dallas, Texas when there was gunfire. Kennedy was shot in the neck and brain and fell over towards his wife. He was pronouced dead within seconds. Lee Harvey Oswald was the alleged assassin.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
President Kennedy in His Limo Before Assassination -
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson Becomes President
Lyndon B. Johnson's Inaugaration
Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as president on the airplane where John F. Kennedy's dead body laid. He handled a distinguished and well-organized transition, ruling with Kennedy’s policies. He also supported New Deal measures throughout his term.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
War on Poverty Begins
Johnson Visiting Poor People
The War on Poverty began with President Lyndon Johnson's visit to Tom Fletcher's front porch in Martin County, Kentucky. It was proposed by Johnson in response to a national poverty rate of around nineteen percent. The speech led the United States Congress to pass the Economic Opportunity Act.
War on Poverty -
Twenty-fourth Amendment Ratified
Twenty-Fourth Amendment
This amendment prohibited both Congress and the states from ordering the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax. It was proposed as a Civil Rights measure due to southern states using the poll tax to keep blacks from voting.
Black Man Going to Vote -
Lyndon Johnson Signs Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and a Community Relations Service to help both black and white communities solve racial disputes. Desegregation finally arrived.
Civil Rights Act of 1964 -
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Young Vietnamese Children Running
This resolution gave approval for the expansion of the Vietnam War. The military had many of ideas for attacking the North but President Johnson feared that society would not support an expansion of war. Eventually, troops controlled over almost half of South Vietnam.
The Gulf of Tonkin -
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 Passed
Johnson Signing The Voting Rights Act
This act was the last of President Johnson's four biggest reforms. The act did not end discrimination in the South but it placed a lever for change in African American's hands. Blacks had the power to vote and whites began to court black votes as never before.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
The Tet Offensive Touched Widespread Protests in the U.S.
The United States kepy launching attacks on twenty-seven key South Vietnamese cities after a feeling that their win would possibly turn into a loss. Eventually, the Tet Offensive ended in a military defeat but a political victory for the Viet Cong.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
American Soldiers -
Martin Luther King Jr. Assassination
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee standing on his balcony in front of his room when unexpectedly was shot. That same night, King was officially pronounced dead at the nearby hospital. James Earl Ray was arrested for this crime. -
Richard Nixon Becomes President
Richard Nixon's Inaugaration
On his inaugaration, Nixon told the American people to "stop shouting at each other." He was torn with the disagreement over Vietnam and race relations. He was a very paranoid president who would also say bitter resentments over liberal establishments.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006 -
Nixon "Vietnamizes" the Vietnam War
President Nixon met with South Vietnam's President Nguyen Van Thieu to informs him that U.S. troop are going to be reduced. Nixon's "Vietnamization" policy involved building up South Vietnam's military strength in order to facilitate a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops which would prepare the South Vietnamese to defend themselves against Communists.
Nixon's "Vietnamization" Policy
Nixon Speaking To Nation -
The Creation Of The Environmental Protection Agency
The EPA was created for the purpose of protecting human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress. It was proposed by President Richard Nixon after he signed an executive order.
EPA Program
William D. Ruckelshaus Becomes Administrator of EPA -
Endangered Species Act of 1973 Passed
Endangered Species Act
This act was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction. It was one of many United States environmental laws passed. President Nixon was the one who signed and passed this law.
Nixon Signing Endangered Species Act -
President Nixon Resigns from Office
Because of the Watergate Scandal, Nixon decided to resign from office. He annouced his resignation in a television appearance. He was the first president to resign. He admitted to his faults but insisted that he had always acted for the best interests of the nation.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Nixon's Resignation Speech -
Gerald R. Ford Becomes President
Gerald R. Ford's Inaugaration
Gerald Ford was the first man to become president by a vote of Congress. Ford also forgave Nixon for any crimes he may have committed as president. He also first wanted to continue the detente with the Soviet Union that Nixon had created.
Kennedy, David., et al. The American Pageant. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
