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The Iran-Contra Affair was an American political scandal where officials of the Reagan administration illegally supplied arms to Iran, an enemy, and further used the proceeds to illegally fund the Nicaraguan terrorist group Contra.
The Affair took place in the 80's, particularly between 1983 and 1988.
The affair is historically significant because it shows the continuing degradation of core democratic values by the corruption of the U.S. government, raising public cynicism and distrust similar to Watergate. |
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| 1968 Miss America Contest |
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| The 1968 Miss America Contest was a Miss America contest held in Atlantic city famous for its protest by feminists, including many public dramatizations and displays of disapproval, to comment on the social standards of women. The pageant took place September 7, 1968. It was historically significant because it became a public cry for women all over the United States and played a large role in the feminist movement, resulting in many changing such as doing away with bras, girdels, and skirts. |
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| The Yalta Conference was a convention by "the Big Three" - Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin - to plan and discuss a course of action and plan for peace in the post-war world. The meeting took place from February 4 to 11 in 1945. It is historically significant because it shaped the outcome of the war and the modern world greatly, including German distribution and the Soviet Union's involvement in the UN. |
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| Los Alamos is a city in New Mexico known for its national laboratory and involvement in the Manhattan project in which the country's top physicists convened to create the world's first atomic bomb. The Manhattan project ran from 1941 to 1946, and the first testing of the bomb took place in Alamogordo in 1945. It is historically significant because it significantly changed modern war tactics and weaponry to a state of mass destruction with extremely detrimental effects, as first seen in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. |
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| The Truman Doctrine was a proclamation by Pres. Harry S. Truman stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet Union. It was given by Truman on March 12, 1947. It is significant in marking the start of the Cold War and publicizing the nation's changing methods of foreign relations. |
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| Proxy wars are wars fought by two powers through the means of a third party to supplement or substitute for fighting each other directly. Proxy wars have been used for generations, but one popular example is the Cold War, taking place from the late 1940s to early 1990s. They are historically significant because they illustrate how to countries both want the optimal outcome with minimal casualty or conflict, such as nuclear escalation in the case of the Cold War. |
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| Joseph McCarthy was a U.S. Republican Senator of Wisconsin who became a public figure during the Second Red Scare for his support of anti-communist action. He was born November 14, 1908. He is historically significant is propelling the anti-communist craze, appropriately named "McCarthyism" after him, and being a personification of America's heightened paranoia and deterioration of democratic core values during the war time. |
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| Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act |
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| The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act was a U.S. law and form of welfare that worked essentially as a cash stipend to the indigent with young children. The Act was enacted on August 22, 1996. The Act is historically significant because it fundamentally shifted both the method and the goal of federal cash assistance to the poor. |
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| Vietnamization was a cornerstone to Nixon's so-called "Nixon Doctrine" and basically stated the country's policy of buying time, building South Vietnam forces and weaponry, and withdrawing from the war over time. The idea became used by Nixon during the 1968 elections and widely apparent during American withdrawal from Vietnam between 1969 and 1974. It is historically significant because it foreshadowed the U.S. "losing" the war and proved the country had no real strategy to ending the war with "peace and honor" as originally said. |
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| The My Lai Massacre was a massacre in which U.S. troops slaughtered and murdered hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians, particularly women and children. It occurred March 16, 1968. It is historically significant because it prompted widespread outrage and greatly reduced support of U.S. involvement and the war. |
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| "Smoking Gun" tape recording |
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| The "smoking gun" tape recording refers to a section of one tape of a series of subpoenaed tapes of White House recordings in which Nixon agrees to approaching the head of the CIA to ask the FBI to hault investigation of the Watergate break-in, six days after it occured. The tape was released in July, 1974 and contained conversation from June 27, 1972. It is significant because it raised the red flag, hence the name "smoking gun", to Nixon's involvement in the scandal and ultimately incriminated him and pushed toward his resignation. |
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| Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee |
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SNCC was a principal organzation of the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's, playing a lead role in events like the Freedom Summer, Freedom Rides, and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
It was formed in April of 1960.
It was significant because it greatly increased the involvement of youth and students in a formal sanction and legitimized their action by demonstrating that they were not merely a counter-cultural movement. |
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Jo Ann Gibson Robinson was a Civil Rights activist and educator in Alabama who became involved in the movement after being verbally attacked by a bus driver and believed something should be done.
She was born on April 17, 1912.
She is historically significant for becoming greatly involved in the Montgomery bus boycott after the arrest of Rosa Parks, and gave hope to other black women from similar conditions of becoming involved. |
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| Detente is a French term that means to relax or ease, primarily used in reference to the reduction of tension between the Soviet Union and the United States. The "thawing" of the Cold War took place between the 1960s and 1980s, but the terms has been most popular in politics since the 70s. The thawing of the Cold War is historically significant because it ultimately brought a peaceful end to one of the longest conflicts in U.S. history and prevented nuclear war. |
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| The Cuban Missile Crisis was a conflict during the Cold War between the U.S., the Soviet Union, and Cuba, after recon photographs were shown to president JFK of missile installations in Cuba, heightening the tensions between the countries and threatening the war. The Crisis began after the photographs were shown to JFK on October 14, 1962, and ended two weeks later. It is historically significant because it was one of the closest moments in world history to the escalation of nuclear war. |
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| Fannie Lou Hamer was a voting rights activist and civil rights leader known for her role in organizing the Freedom Summer and being Vice-Chair of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. She was born October 6, 1917. She was historically significant for being brought up in harsh conditions, a large family and almost no education, and demonstrating how anyone has the potential and ability to make changes. |
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The War on Poverty is the name for legislation first introduced by LBJ proposed in response to the difficult economic conditions associated with the national poverty rate of then 19% with many tentative projects to counteract.
It was first introduced in LBJ's State of the Union address on January 8, 1964.
It is historically significant because it's lasting effects are controversial, especially since the poverty rate dropped to 11% after it's implementation and has never returned above 15%. |
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The Feminine Mystique is a book written by Betty Friedan claiming that women are suffering "the problem with no name" - that they have been fed a lie that there is no fulfillment or happiness outside of marriage and the home.
It was released in 1963.
It is historically significant in changing how women thought about their social roles and propelled controversy and action in the feminist movement that still exists today. |
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Proposition 13 was a ballot initiative to lower and amend the constitution of California to limit property tax; it was passed and upheld by the Supreme court.
It was enacted by voters on June 6, 1978.
It is historically significant in showing the rise of modern demographics in conservative and suburban trends, specifically taxpayer resentment. |
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The Tet Offensive was a series of suprise attacks and operational offensives by the Viet Kong and North Vietnam to attack Southern and American strongholds in the Vietnam War.
The offensive took place from January 30, 1968 to June 8, 1968.
The Tet Offensive is historically significant for being a major turning point in the war, particularly by becoming the war's largest battle despite U.S. claims that everything was going smoothly, humiliating the government and decreasing support for the war. |
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Ngo Dinh Diem was the first president of South Korea, installed by the United States government and CIA in order to cancel the elections and prevent support of communism.
He was born January 3, 1901.
He is historically significant for portraying the American government's manipulation and abuse of power to maintain control, ultimately raising distrust, cynicism and skepticism of the government and their upholding of core democratic values. |
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The Moral Majority was a political organization within the U.S. pursuing the agenda of evangelical Christians oriented in political lobbying.
It was formed by Rev. Jerry Falwell in 1979 and disbanded in 1989.
It is historically significant in showing the rise of one of the largest political forces in modern day history, evangelical Christians, and the amount of power they can potentially exert. |
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| National Organization of Women |
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The National Organization of Women was an American feminist group with over 500,000 members in all 50 states, focused on public issues, such as it's support the Equal Rights Amendment in the 70's.
It was founded June 30, 1966.
It is historically significant for continuing to remain active in lobbying legislatures and media outlets on women's issues. |
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Roe v. Wade was a Supreme Court case dealing with the regulation and restriction of abortion, arguing that such action is a violation of constitutional rights by the 14th amendment and an invasion of privacy.
It began in 1971 and was determined in early 1973.
It was historically significant because it outlawed state and federal laws outlawing or restricting abortions that were not consistent with the Supreme Court's. |
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Executive Order 9066 was a presidential order issued by FDR that gave the War Department the authority it needed to evacuate Japanese Americans from the west and intern them in relocation camps for the rest of the war.
It was issued in early 1942.
It is historically significant because it shows America's ongoing periods of heightened xenophobia and racism during war time, and the country's lack of upholding the core democratic values. |
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George Kennan was an American Advisor, diplomat, and political scientist, best-known as "the father of containment" and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War.
He was born February 16, 1904.
He is historically significant in influencing both the Truman Doctrine and the U.S. foreign policy of "containing" the Soviet Union during the Cold War. |
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| Presidential Commission on the Status of Women |
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The Presidential Commission on the Status of Women was a commission established to advise the president on issues concerning the status of women, partly established as "pay-back" for women advocation of JFK's election.
It was created after executive order 10980 was signed December 14, 1961.
It is historically significant in demonstrating one example of the government's protection of the core democratic values, and for specifically helping to aid in women's struggle for equality and political power. |
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| North Atlantic Treaty Organization |
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NATO is a military alliance organized to establish a system of collective defense in which member countries agree to mutually defend one another if attacked by any external party.
It was established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on April 4, 1949. It is significant because it remains as the world's largest military alliance to this day, with 26 current members and potential for anyone to join, reflecting the world's movement toward global peace similar to the UN. |
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| North America Free Trade Agreement |
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NAFTA was a plan of economic action to gradually fade out tariffs and increase corporation regulation and cooperation of environmental laws and concerns.
It came into effect January 1, 1994. |
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Kent State is a public university in Ohio famous for the shooting that occurred between student protesters and the Ohio National Guard, resulting in 4 dead and 9 injured.
It took place on May 4, 1970.
It is significant in raising public awareness of domestic turmoil and blacklash from the war, particularly sparking an increase in student protest and involvement, and further divided the country along political lines. |
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| Office of Homeland Security |
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The Office of Homeland Security is a cabinet department of the federal government responsible for protecting U.S. territories from terrorist attacks and responding to natural disasters.
It was established November 25, 2002.
It is historically significant because it shows reflects the nation's response the aftermath of 9/11. |
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The Silent Majority is a term referring to a hypothetical large number of people who do not express their political beliefs and opinions publicly, specifically used by Nixon in contrast to those that vocalized their proest of Vietnam.
It was first used in speeches by Nixon in 1969.
It is historically significant because it was used by Nixon as a rationale to dismiss obvious protesting and as part of his southern strategy to gain presidency, which it helped him do, while foreshadowing his paranoid personality. |
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John Dean was a White House Council to Nixon, heavily involved in the Watergate break-in and subsequent cover-up, often referred to as "the master manipulator" of the entire scandal.
He was born October 14, 1938.
He is historically significant for being the first official to accuse Nixon of direct involvement with the scandal and cover-up, ultimately leading to a series of accusations and Nixon's resignation. |
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The Endangered Species act was one of many environmental reforms during the 1970's,focused on protecting endangered species from extinctin.
It was signed into law December 28, 1973.
It is historically significant for showing the government's increasing involvement in social issues, particularly environmental issues and worldly affairs. |
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| House Un-American Activities Committee |
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HUAC was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives well-known for their anti-communist actions, particularly blacklisting of Hollywood figures.
It was formed in 1938 and abandoned in 1975.
It is historically significant for showing the government's lack of respect for privacy invasion and disconcern for personal rights at the cost of national security. |
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| Gulf of Tonkin Resolution |
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The Gulf of Tonkin resolution was Congress resolution in response to a naval conflict, giving LBJ the authority he needed to do as he saw fit with Vietnam.
It was passed August, 1964.
It his historically significant because of it's controversial implimentation and giving LBJ power to engage in the Vietnam War without a Declaration of War. |
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Southern Strategy is a term coined by Nixon strategist Kevin Phillips to refer to the focus of the Republic Party winning U.S. elections by securing electoral votes of the U.S. south.
It first appeared in a NY Times article in 1970 and continues to be used in politics today.
It is historically significant because it is still a widely used policy and has greatly shifted the focus of themes to ideas such as gay marriage, abortion, and religion. |
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