Recovery, Prosperity, and Turmoil (1945-1980) Détente • Relaxation of tensions with the

Soviet Union • Occurred during Nixon’s presidency • Both nations passed the SALT I

Treaty (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) to prevent nuclear war o 5 year agreement to lower the

number of missiles in each nation

National Highway Act • Eisenhower • Created interstate highways

throughout the nation that could be used in the event of an emergency

• Decreased travel time

Identify the causes of United States' involvement in Vietnam and examine

how this involvement affected society.

Domino Theory • Belief that

countries will fall to communism

• US believed this must be prevented

What was the problem in Vietnam? • Divided

into Communist North led by Ho Chi

Minh and US supported South • Leader in the South did not give

his people freedom • The Vietcong, a South Vietnamese

communist group, began working with the North Vietnamese

How did the US increase its involvement in Vietnam? Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (August 7, 1964)

• North Vietnamese fired at a US ship that was spying from the Gulf of Tonkin

• Resolution gave President Johnson permission to use force in Vietnam

What was the war like? • Difficult for US

to fight

• We did not know the land • Many South Vietnamese supported

the Vietcong (Who is the enemy?) • US harmed many civilians with

Napalm and Agent Orange that were used to burn the jungles

• US soldiers were drafted and many did not want to be there

• Americans did not understand the war and many were opposed to it

• President Johnson said things were going well but Americans watched the war every night on their TVs

• Protests took place throughout the

US Tet Offensive • Su

rprise attack

against the US by the North Vietnamese and Vietcong

• Attack made Americans realize that we were not winning the war

• Support for the war and President Johnson decreased

My Lai Incident • Over 200 innocent Vietnamese-

mostly women, children and elderly men- were murdered by US soldiers

• Hurt the reputation of US soldiers in the war

• Johnson promised Vietnamization, that the Vietnamese would take over the war instead of US soldiers

Invasion of Cambodia • US troops invaded Cambodia, a

neutral country

• Necessary to stop the passage of weapons from the North to the South

• Very unpopular with much of the world

Kent State Massacre • 9

students who were prote

sting the war were killed by the National Guard

• Intensified the movement to end the war

Pentagon Papers • Documents leaked to the New York

Times revealing that the

government had planned to go to war in Vietnam all along

• People were angry that the government had not been honest about its intentions

• Government took the NYT to court • Supreme Court ruled in New

York Times v. US that the paper could publish the documents

Fall of Saigon • US

agreed to withdraw troops from Vietnam

• Paris Peace Accords • As soon as the US left, the North

Vietnamese took over the South • Capital city of Saigon fell • The US had accomplished nothing

and had lost thousands of soldiers

The Effects of the Vietnam War • 58,000 Americans died or were

Missing in Action (MIA) • War Powers Act was passed

o Limited the President’s power to use force

o President must inform Congress within 48 hours of sending forces into a hostile nation

o Cannot leave troops in the area over 90 days without Congressional permission

• The 26th Amendment was passed giving all Americans over the age of 18 suffrage

Examine the impact of technological innovations that have impacted American life Cold War Technology and the Space Race Sputnik • First satellite

• Launched by Soviet Union • US responded by stepping up its

space program

NASA • National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA) • President Kennedy told Americans

that we would be the first country to land a man on the moon

• National Defense Education Act gave more money to schools to teach science and math