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In an address to Congress, President Harry Truman states that the foreign policy of the United States is to assist any country whose stability is threatened by communism. The policy becomes known as the Truman Doctrine.
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North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), was formed. Countries it included: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States.
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The spread of McCarthyism begins. Joe McCarthy begins Communist witch hunt and loyalty tests. People begin to get arrested based on the accusation of communism.
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On June 27, 1950, the United States officially entered the Korean War. The U.S. supported the Republic of Korea, commonly called South Korea, in repelling an invasion from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly called North Korea.
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In a speech, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower says the fall of French Indochina to communists could create a “domino” effect in Southeast Asia. This so-called domino theory guides U.S. thinking on Vietnam for the next decade.
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Warsaw Pact formed, those countries include: Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland Romania, and the USSR.
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In 1962 the Soviet Union began to secretly install missiles in Cuba to launch attacks on U.S. cities. The confrontation that followed, known as the Cuban missile crisis, brought the two superpowers to the brink of war before an agreement was reached to withdraw the missiles.
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The attacks in the Gulf of Tonkin spur Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which authorizes the president to “take all necessary measures, including the use of armed force” against any aggressor in the conflict.
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President Johnson calls for 50,000 more ground troops to be sent to Vietnam, increasing the draft to 35,000 each month.
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Huge Vietnam War protests occur in Washington, D.C., New York City and San Francisco.
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President Ford rules out any further U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.