timeline

By mulu
  • Period: to

    Foreign and Domestic Policy

  • DP: GI Bill

    Low-interest mortgages loans and subsidies for education for vets.

  • DP: House Un-American Activities Committee put to work against Communism

    Investigations into the movie industry for anyone involved with the Communist party.

  • DP: Levittowns pop up

    William Levitt creates four towns for his workers, with all the houses following the same prefabricated design, consturcted in assembly line fashion. This marks the beginning of suburbia.

  • FP: Truman Doctrine

    The United States will assist any democratic country resisting communism. This was seen when Congress authorized payment of $400 million in aid to Greece and Turkey.

  • DP: Loyalty Review Board put into place

    3-4 million government employees are examined to see if they hold communist ties. Some 100 workers lost their job due to this.

  • DP: Taft-Hartley Act

    If any strike affected the health and safety of the country, then the president could call for an 80-day cooling off period, during which negotiations between unions and employers could take place. Union leaders had to declare they were not communist. Union contributions of individuals could not be used in federal elections. Union leaders weren't thrilled.

  • FP: George F. Kennan proposes his containment policy

    Containment policy wanted the US to attempt to contain communism from spreading, which would eventually lead to it crumbling from its own weight

  • FP: Rio Pact

    Defense alliance of most Western Hemisphere nations.

  • DP: Desegregation of armed forces

    Truman orders the desegregation of the armed forces and for an end to discrimination in federal hiring.

  • FP: Berlin Airlift

    American and British pilots airdropped food and supplies to West Berlinners for nearly 15 months. Brought to an end in May 1949, when Stalin lifted the previously in-place blockade on West Berlin.

  • FP: Marshall Plan

    The US provides nearly $13 billion to European countries to help rebuild. Meant to keep Western Europe from collapsing.

  • FP:Israel created, US begins backing them, relations with Middle East turn real sour

    The UN announces support for a plan to divide Palestine into Jewish and Arab sections, leading to much backlash from the Arabs. US supports Israel during this time, leading to resentment and anger towards America from the Arabs.

  • DP: Fair Deal

    President Truman planned for national health care and civil rights legislation, a repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act, and increase government spending on public housing and education.

  • FP: NATO forms

    The US, Canada, and ten Western European countries all enter a pact to assist each other militarily in the event of an attack on any of the member nations.

  • FP: US "loses" China

    China becomes a communist state under Mao Tse-tung. US provides aid packages to the fleeing nationalist government.

  • DP: The rise of Joseph McCarthy

    Small-time Senator Joseph McCarthy claims to know 205 communists working in the State Department and sparks a massive witch hunt for communists, with the accused usually having little evidence against them. This is called McCarthyism.

  • DP: McCarran Internal Security Act

    All communist-front organizations had to register with the government, and members of these organizations could not work in any job related to national defense.

  • FP: Korean War

    North Korea invades South Korea; UN forces lead by Douglas MacArthur go deep on North Korea, but are met by Chinese forces. War ends in an armistice that divides the Koreas by the 38th parallel. 57,000 Americans died in this "forgotten war."

  • DP: McCarran-Walter Act

    Greatly limited immigration from Asia and Eastern Europe in order to limit the influx of communism. Vetoed by Truman, passed by Congress.

  • DP: Checkers Speech

    Vice President Richard Nixon makes a speech addressing the charges that supporters set up an illegal campaign fund for his personal use. Nixon said his wife wore "a very respectable Republican cloth coat" and that the only thing given to him was a dog named Checkers. This saved his political career, and allowed him to remain on the ticket.

  • DP: Rosenbergs executed

    Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were charged with passing atomic secrets to the Soviets, found guilty, then executed.

  • FP: CIA intervention in Iran

    The CIA orchestrates the removal of anti-imperialist Iranian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadeq from office, replacing him with a prime minister more loyal to the brutal Shah of Iran. The people of Iran were not happy with this, and have since harbored deep resentment towards America.

  • DP: Army-McCarthy Hearings

    Following accusations towards the US Army, President Eisenhower decides to expose McCarthy publically. Revealed that McCarthy had asked for special favors for his drafted aide, doctored graphs, and was a bully. Army attorney Joseph Welsh famously asked McCarthy if he had any "sense of decency," CBS reporter Edwin R. Murrow aired a negative report on McCarthy and his tactics, and McCarthy was shortly censured by the Senate, all leading to his quick downfall.

  • FP: CIA overthrows Guatemalan president

    The Guatemalan president had been too friendly with the Soviets, and was removed by the CIA. American businesses were restored to American hands in the process.

  • FP: Geneva Accords

    Vietnam is split into north and south, with the north being communist and lead by Ho Chi Minh, and the south remaining democratic and lead by Emperor Bao Dai. US supplies military aid to South Vietnam.

  • DP: Brown v. Board of Education

    Supreme Court decision deciding that schools cannot be seperate but equal and that local districts should desegreate as soon as possible.

  • FP: "Massive retaliation"

    Secretary of State John Foster Dulles suggests the US should use nukes wherever necessary, and that the US "make communism retreat" wherever possible.

  • FP: Vietnam War

    An extremely lengthy conflict in which American forces attempted to repeal communist forces in Vietnam. Became extremely costly and had high casualties on both sides, as well as being highly controversial on the homefront in America. Eventually lead to the US leaving South Vietnam, allowing it to fall to communism.

  • DP: Montgomery bus boycott

    After Rosa Parks refused to move from her seat on a bus and is arrested, a boycott on buses in Montgomery begins. In response to bus companies refusing to change policy, the Supreme Court stated that segregation on city buses was unconstitutional.

  • FP: Hungarian revolution fails

    Despite promises of support from the CIA, the US allows anti-communist rebels in Hungary to be crushed by Soviet forces.

  • FP: Suez Canal Crisis

    Egypt wants to purchase arms from the Soviet Union because US said no, so Britain and US cut all loans to Egypt. In response, Egypt seizes the British-owned Suez Canal. Britain and France attack Egypt as a result. However, due to Soviet threats of involvement, the US convinces Britain and France to back out.

  • FP: Eisenhower Doctrine

    American arms would be used to prevent communist aggression in the Middle East. Invoked in Beirut, Lebanon to put down a rebellion.

  • FP: Space race begins

    The Soviet satellite Sputnik is launched as American satellite tests fail. Americans begin increasing science and math courses in colleges and high schools to keep up with the Soviets.

  • FP: Castro comes to power

    Fidel Castro overthrows Fulgencio Batista in Cuba, seized American businesses, and begins trade with the Soviet Union, marking the beginning of a bad relationship with the US. The US cuts trade with Cuba in 1960, then stops diplomatic relations altogether.

  • DP: New Frontier

    President Kennedy plans to stimulate the economy and attack poverty in the US.

  • FP: American spy plane captured

    American U-2 spy plane is downed by the Soviets, leading to the capture of pilot Francis Gary Powers. The US initially does not admit what happened, but Eisenhower takes responsibility for it.

  • FP: Bay of Pigs

    Failed invasion of Cuba by CIA-trained Cubans living in America. Pretty much the entire invasion force was either killed or captured by Cuba.

  • FP: Berlin Wall constructed

    The Soviets construct a wall dividing the communist East Berlin from the democratic West Berlin.

  • FP: Cuban Missile Crisis

    After reconaissance planes spotted nuclear missile silos being built in Cuba, a blockade was placed onto it by President Kennedy, who also told Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev to remove the missiles from Cuba. Following a very tense stand-off, Krushchev backed down and removed the missiles, but not before having the US do the same in Turkey. This lead to the signing of the Limited Test Ban Treaty, and the installation of a hot line connecting the White House and the Kremlin.

  • DP: Warren Commission

    Formed to investigate the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. This has been highly debated since.

  • DP: Civil Rights Act of 1964

    The same standards had to be used to register both black and white voters.

  • FP: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

    Following supposed attacks on US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin, this passed, giving the president the power to prevent further aggression in Vietnam by controlling the war without consulting Congress. This leads to the escalation of the Vietnam War.

  • DP: VISTA

    President Johnson institutes a program to organize volunteers to work in the poorest communities of the US.

  • DP: Great Society

    President Johnson stated it would be possible to end poverty in America.

  • DP: Head Start

    Program to help disadvantaged preschool students put into place by President Johnson.

  • DP: Medicare and Medicaid

    Medicare provided hospital insurance and medical coverage for senior citizens. Medicaid assisted Americans of any age who could not afford health insurance.

  • DP: Kerner Commission

    Formed to investigate the cause of riots in LA, Chicago, Newark, and Detroit. Determined that two societies existed: a rich white one, and a poor black one.

  • FP: Détente

    A policy used by President Nixon that lowered tensions between the Soviet Union and the USA.

  • FP: SALT I

    Agreement between the US and the Soviet Union to stop producing nuclear ballistic missiles and to lower antiballistic missiles to 200 each.

  • DP: Deficit spending

    A strategy employed by President Nixon, similar to what FDR did to combat economic problems during the Great Depression.

  • FP: Nixon visits China

    A historic visit to China by President Nixon. Determined that trade talks would begin between China and America, as well as cultural exchanges. Nixon also agreed to support China's admission to the UN.

  • DP: Watergate

    After a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters, it was determined that the White House was involved. Things escalated until President Nixon resigned from office to escape being impeached.

  • DP: Roe v. Wade

    Legalized abortion.

  • FP: America exits Vietnam

    The last American troops leave Vietnam. Two years later, Saigon falls, bringing an end to the war.

  • FP: Camp David Accords

    Israel promises to give back occupied land to Egypt in return for official recognition for the right to exist by Egypt.

  • FP: Iranian hostage crisis

    After the US grants the ailing Shah of Iran asylum to get cancer treatment, outraged Iranians seized the US embassy in Tehran, taking 66 Americans hostage. They remained in hostage for 444 days, finally becoming free as President Carter left office and President Reagan entered office.

  • DP: Supply-side economics

    President Reagan's economic policy. Stated that if more money was put in the hands of wealthy Americans, then it would be invested, thus creating more jobs and facilitating growth.

  • DP: New Federalism

    Federal money spent was determined by states and not the government. Deregulation was intensified. Funding for the Environmental Protection Agency was reduced. Unions were actively destroyed by the government.

  • FP: Iran-Contra Affair

    Arms were sold to Iran so that money could be sent to Nicaraguan contras This presented a double-sided problem: America had pushed for a trade embargo on Iran, and Congress had enacted specific legislation regulating how much funding could go to the contras. This violated both of these. Nearly a dozen officials of the Reagan administration were forced to resign due to this.

  • FP: Bombing of Libya

    Libyan air bases are bombed by the US after Muammar al-Qadhafi ordered Libyan gunboats to challenge American ships sailing close to Libya.

  • DP: Tax Reform Act of 1986

    Dramatically reduced federal tax rates.