Cold War PRESIDENTS Truman Eisenhower Kennedy Johnson Nixon Ford Carter Reagan

Cold War PRESIDENTS• Truman• Eisenhower•Kennedy• Johnson•Nixon• Ford •Carter•Reagan

New Frontiers / Rebellion and Reaction


• The KOREAN WAR•How did the surrender of the

Japanese in Korea set up the conflict between Soviet influenced North Korea and U.S.-influenced South Korea? •What was General MacArthur’s

strategy for retaking Korea? •Why did President Truman remove

MacArthur from command?


New Frontiers / Rebellion and Reaction• SPACE RACE• On October 4, 1957, the Russians launched

the first satellite into orbit. • Though it was little more than a radio

transmitter, Americans were shocked to see the advances of the Soviet space program and feared that soon space could become a war zone. • The United States would respond by

increasing the spending on new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). • NATO members would soon request missiles

from the United States to defend themselves and the National Aeronautic and Space Agency (NASA) would be established.


• The Berlin Wall (1961-1989)• Two West Berliners communicate with family members

on the East Berlin side of the newly constructed Berlin Wall.

• The wall physically divided the city and served as a wedge between the United States and the Soviet Union.


The Cuban missile crisis Photographs taken from a U.S. surveillance plane on October 14, 1962, revealed both missile launchers and missile shelters near San Cristóbal, Cuba.


• Indochina• French Indochina (modern-day

Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam) •Much like Germany and Korea, the

country of Vietnam was divided between a Communist north and free south. • The south would be supported by

the United States.



• Vietnam’s Communist forces leader was Ho Chi Minh. • He and his forces

would work to overthrow the French there, and at the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, they were able to trap the French forces.


• South Vietnam was still being supported by the might of the United States.

• However, the premier was showing an unwillingness to govern his people wisely or listen to American advice.

• As Communist forces continued to invade the south, Kennedy dispatched military advisers to the region to train the soldiers.

• In the fall of 1963, the United States supported a coup against Premier Ngo Dinh Diem (above) and he was murdered.


• LBJ inherited the policy of preventing Communist supremacy in Indochina. • On August 7, 1964, LBJ appeared on TV and

informed the American public that the USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy had been fired on by North Vietnamese vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin. • He did not mention that they had been

monitoring South Vietnamese attacks on North Vietnamese troops planned by American advisers.

• He asked Congress for a resolution authorizing the president to take all necessary steps to repel attacks against U.S. forces. He would receive it. • By March 1965, combat troops began to arrive in

Vietnam.


• LBJ’s decision to go into Vietnam was consistent with the foreign policies of all presidents back to Truman. • At the time, military

intervention was the logical next step for him to take. In a battle of wills, the North Vietnamese won, as public support in the United States eroded. • Soldiers were FIRST sent as

noncombatant advisors.



• On January 31, 1968, the Viet Cong launched an attack on South Vietnam that was dubbed the “Tet Offensive.” due to it occurring on the Vietnamese New Year.

• Although it was beaten back and was a staggering loss for the Viet Cong, the American public viewed it as a tremendous loss.

• LBJ’s popularity would decline 35 percent, leading him to announce that he would not seek a second term on his own in the 1968 election.


•When Nixon was inaugurated, the United States had over 530,000 soldiers in Vietnam. • He believed that victory was

unattainable and planned to gradually withdraw American troops as a sufficient number of South Vietnamese troops were trained to replace them. • In 1973, he did away with the draft

and the army became purely voluntary.


• The slow withdrawal of troops had a horrific effect on the military’s morale. •No one wanted to be the last to

leave or to possibly die in Vietnam. • The events in the Mai Lai Massacre

further eroded American support for the war back home.


• Peace talks in Vietnam preceding the 1972 presidential election did not amount to much. • Eventually, an agreement was signed to end the war and

restore peace in the land. • The North did not keep its side of the agreements and left

150,000 soldiers in the South. • On March 29, 1973, the last combat troops left and 600

prisoners of war were released. • Within two years of American evacuation, South Vietnam

would fall to northern forces. • Fall of Saigon (above), April 30, 1975


Kent State University National guardsmen shot and killed four student bystanders during anti-war demonstrations on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio.

Documents

Cold War PRESIDENTS Truman Eisenhower Kennedy Johnson Nixon Ford Carter Reagan