Terms
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution- An act of Congress where LBJ received a blank check and Congress abdicated its war declaring powers.
Quagmire-
Operation Rolling Thunder- A massive bombing of the north by America in the Vietnam War.
General William Westmoreland- The commander of US troops in Vietnam.
War of Attrition- A war where the goal of the war is to wear down the other side’s forces.
Vietcong- The Communist party who led the North and used guerilla warfare against the South.
Agent Orange- A herbicide that defoliated the forests and sickened troops.
Credibility Gap- A name given to the increase in questioning of the War due to moral justification eroding and horrific scenes of devastation and suffering on the news.
Arrogance of Power-
Students for a Democratic Society- A Campus-based political organization who threw its energies against the Vietnam War, and who spawned an underground Terrorist organization known as the Weathermen.
Free Speech Movement- A student movement which took place at Cal-Berkley and protested limitations placed on political activities on campus.
Counterculture- An alternative to mainstream values and behaviors, which was usually practiced by hippies.
“Pill”- The common term for a contraceptive pill.
Timothy Leary- A 60s advocator of psychedelic drugs, including mushrooms and LSD.
“Woodstock”- A huge concert which took place in the Northeast, and was advertised as “3 Days of Peace and Music”.
Selective Service System- The American system for acquiring names for the draft should it be used. It requires that all males aged 18-25 be registered.
War on Poverty- Lyndon Johnson’s billion dollar program which took a main concern for Appalachia and inner cities.
VISTA- The Volunteers In Service To America, who were a domestic Peace Corps- like group who believed that they could help fight the War on Poverty.
Office of Economic Opportunity- The agency responsible for administering most of the programs in the War on Poverty under LBJ’s Great Society program.
Head Start- An LBJ program that provided schooling for underprivileged youth.
Medicare- A government program that provides healthcare to the elderly.
Great Society- LBJ’s policies as president, including the Civil Rights act of 1964 and the War on Poverty.
Kerner Commission- A commission created in 1967 by LBJ to investigate the causes of race riots.
Tet Offensive- An attack on 27 Southern cities, including Saigon, by the North, which was a military defeat for the Viet Cong.
Robert Kennedy- A Senator and candidate in the Election of 1968 before being assassinated in California.
1968 Democratic Convention- The convention in 1968 where the Chicago 7 protested.
“Yippies”- Members of the Youth International Party, which fought for a more youth-oriented US based on counterculture.
Abbie Hoffman- A founder of the Yippies and a member of the Chicago 7.
Richard Daley- The mayor of Chicago and a major supporter of Hubert Humphrey in the election of ’68.
NOW- The National Organization for Women, which is the largest American feminist group and was formed 1966.
Brown Berets- A group of Mexican American activists in Chicago in the 60s, comparable to the Black Panthers.
Cesar Chavez- A co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association, and one of the greatest Civil Rights leaders in US History.
American Indian Movement- An American Indian activist organization in the US.
“Trail of Broken Treaties”- A cross-country protests by American Indians in 1972 trying to bring awareness to their low standard of living and many needs.
Pine Ridge Reservation- An American Indian reservation in South Dakota that is the 8th-largest in America.
AAPA- The Asian American Political Alliance, one of the first pan-Asian political organizations. It brought together Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino activists.
Election of 1968- Election where Tricky Dick Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey.
Southern Strategy- The Republican doctrine stating that they knew they could not get black votes, and that they want to get votes from formerly Democratic white Negrophobes.
“Silent Majority”- The presumed majority who silently supported the War.
Henry Kissinger- The National Security Advisor during Nixon and Ford’s presidencies.
“Vietnamization”- The war strategy of the US to get out of Vietnam that meant the Southern soldiers would eventually have to take over the fighting, although they would be aided by US money, weapons, training, and advice.
Kent State- A protest at Kent State University over the invasion of neutral Cambodia in the Vietnam War.
My Lai Massacre- The massacre of 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians by US soldiers in the hamlet of My Lai.
“China Card”- The US strategy in becoming friends with China and therefore having an ally against the USSR.
SALT 1- A group of talks and treaties between the US and the USSR.
Environmental Protection Agency- The US Agency that was assigned by Richard Nixon in 1970 to repair damage already done to the environment and to create a cleaner, safer America.
“The Plumbers”- The group of people hired by Tricky Dick Nixon to stop leaks of information out of the White House and to dig up dirt on Nixon’s political rivals.
Pentagon Papers- A report of the Pentagon published in the NY Times in 1971 that talk about how the US secretly got into Vietnam.
Watergate- The scandal that resulted from some Cuban “plumbers” being found in the Watergate Hotel, where the Democratic National Convention was being held, searching at night to find the strategies of the party in the election of 1972.
Gerald R. Ford- The President who took over for Richard Nixon after he resigned due to Watergate.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution- An act of Congress where LBJ received a blank check and Congress abdicated its war declaring powers.
Quagmire-
Operation Rolling Thunder- A massive bombing of the north by America in the Vietnam War.
General William Westmoreland- The commander of US troops in Vietnam.
War of Attrition- A war where the goal of the war is to wear down the other side’s forces.
Vietcong- The Communist party who led the North and used guerilla warfare against the South.
Agent Orange- A herbicide that defoliated the forests and sickened troops.
Credibility Gap- A name given to the increase in questioning of the War due to moral justification eroding and horrific scenes of devastation and suffering on the news.
Arrogance of Power-
Students for a Democratic Society- A Campus-based political organization who threw its energies against the Vietnam War, and who spawned an underground Terrorist organization known as the Weathermen.
Free Speech Movement- A student movement which took place at Cal-Berkley and protested limitations placed on political activities on campus.
Counterculture- An alternative to mainstream values and behaviors, which was usually practiced by hippies.
“Pill”- The common term for a contraceptive pill.
Timothy Leary- A 60s advocator of psychedelic drugs, including mushrooms and LSD.
“Woodstock”- A huge concert which took place in the Northeast, and was advertised as “3 Days of Peace and Music”.
Selective Service System- The American system for acquiring names for the draft should it be used. It requires that all males aged 18-25 be registered.
War on Poverty- Lyndon Johnson’s billion dollar program which took a main concern for Appalachia and inner cities.
VISTA- The Volunteers In Service To America, who were a domestic Peace Corps- like group who believed that they could help fight the War on Poverty.
Office of Economic Opportunity- The agency responsible for administering most of the programs in the War on Poverty under LBJ’s Great Society program.
Head Start- An LBJ program that provided schooling for underprivileged youth.
Medicare- A government program that provides healthcare to the elderly.
Great Society- LBJ’s policies as president, including the Civil Rights act of 1964 and the War on Poverty.
Kerner Commission- A commission created in 1967 by LBJ to investigate the causes of race riots.
Tet Offensive- An attack on 27 Southern cities, including Saigon, by the North, which was a military defeat for the Viet Cong.
Robert Kennedy- A Senator and candidate in the Election of 1968 before being assassinated in California.
1968 Democratic Convention- The convention in 1968 where the Chicago 7 protested.
“Yippies”- Members of the Youth International Party, which fought for a more youth-oriented US based on counterculture.
Abbie Hoffman- A founder of the Yippies and a member of the Chicago 7.
Richard Daley- The mayor of Chicago and a major supporter of Hubert Humphrey in the election of ’68.
NOW- The National Organization for Women, which is the largest American feminist group and was formed 1966.
Brown Berets- A group of Mexican American activists in Chicago in the 60s, comparable to the Black Panthers.
Cesar Chavez- A co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association, and one of the greatest Civil Rights leaders in US History.
American Indian Movement- An American Indian activist organization in the US.
“Trail of Broken Treaties”- A cross-country protests by American Indians in 1972 trying to bring awareness to their low standard of living and many needs.
Pine Ridge Reservation- An American Indian reservation in South Dakota that is the 8th-largest in America.
AAPA- The Asian American Political Alliance, one of the first pan-Asian political organizations. It brought together Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino activists.
Election of 1968- Election where Tricky Dick Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey.
Southern Strategy- The Republican doctrine stating that they knew they could not get black votes, and that they want to get votes from formerly Democratic white Negrophobes.
“Silent Majority”- The presumed majority who silently supported the War.
Henry Kissinger- The National Security Advisor during Nixon and Ford’s presidencies.
“Vietnamization”- The war strategy of the US to get out of Vietnam that meant the Southern soldiers would eventually have to take over the fighting, although they would be aided by US money, weapons, training, and advice.
Kent State- A protest at Kent State University over the invasion of neutral Cambodia in the Vietnam War.
My Lai Massacre- The massacre of 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians by US soldiers in the hamlet of My Lai.
“China Card”- The US strategy in becoming friends with China and therefore having an ally against the USSR.
SALT 1- A group of talks and treaties between the US and the USSR.
Environmental Protection Agency- The US Agency that was assigned by Richard Nixon in 1970 to repair damage already done to the environment and to create a cleaner, safer America.
“The Plumbers”- The group of people hired by Tricky Dick Nixon to stop leaks of information out of the White House and to dig up dirt on Nixon’s political rivals.
Pentagon Papers- A report of the Pentagon published in the NY Times in 1971 that talk about how the US secretly got into Vietnam.
Watergate- The scandal that resulted from some Cuban “plumbers” being found in the Watergate Hotel, where the Democratic National Convention was being held, searching at night to find the strategies of the party in the election of 1972.
Gerald R. Ford- The President who took over for Richard Nixon after he resigned due to Watergate.