God in America During the 20th Century

Despite the United states commitment to freedom of religion, religion as still taken a large role in shaping America and continued to do so into the 20th century. During the 1960s and on in particular, the rise in social movements also sparked conservative evangelicals interests in fighting for their cause. The evangelicals did not want the values of the 60s being imposed on upon the people. They evangelicals thought that they were were under attack politically because a lot of the changes that were being imposed went against what they believed in and against what at been done leading up to the 60s. This argument by evangelicals and conservatives continued and in 1979 the Moral Majority organization was founded. This group was associated with the Christian Right and the Republican Party. Francis Shaffer argued for the moral majority that that life should be valued and that people need to get involved in politics. The moral majority was, however, met with the rationale for separation of church and state. Others who were not a part of the movement thought that others should not be able to oppose their values on other Americans and cut them out of society due to their different beliefs. However, even with these conflicting viewpoints, religion continues to still be a large part of shaping America today.

The start of another war...

After World War II in 1945, the USA and the USSR were the worlds strongest nations and were so called the superpowers. Although they had one thing in common, the did not free on how to deal with economic struggles and ideal types of government. The soviet unit on one side was a communist country which meant that the government was in control of the production and resources and had total control over people and their lives. The US, was a capitalist country meaning people ad businesses control the production of good and they were free to decide where they lived and worked.

The cold war began shortly after WWII had ended with the soviet union taking control over eastern Europe (east Germany), on the other side, Britain, France and the US were in control of western Germany.
From there things started degenerating as the soviets started blocking access to Berlin which was located on the eastern part of Germany and conflicts between Korea leading to the outburst of another war.

Summary of the 1960's

The 1960's was a time where ordinary people were switching form ordinary to more laid back individuals the 60's was a period of change where new reforms were being applied to the government and people and some did not like it but the president was sure appealing to many people. Kennedy really seemed to fulfill the needs of American politics., kennedy was also young therefore he was appealing to many young ones. He represented the new and glittering age.

Being a time of civil rights movement, there was a lot of discrimination against minorities such as blacks. Before the civil rights act was implemented, people were not allowed to sell anything to the backs and many were also denied the right to vote. The discrimination and lack of compassion sparked a civil right movement that later led to the signing of the civil rights movement. The black panther party which wanted to equalize the racist police force. This party would walk with rifles and observe the police to make sure they used the right authority on everyone without taking their race into consideration.

Overall the 60's was a time of reform and new laws that benefitted everyone and made everyone free and equal. Although today some do not respect the civil rights act, it is implemented and black americans and even whites make sure it is followed.

Detente Period

In the first part of the Cold War, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. have for a while, with years passing by, having been trying to overpower against each other with their nuclear production in the arms race. However, there is a small period in the Cold War where the Americans and Russians were getting along as almost friendship coming out of the Cold War. This period in time was called Detente and it was probably a good time period during the Cold War. One person in particular becomes pretty significant to this period, the guy being Richard Nixon, who is a politician at the time. He gained a lot of popularity in his early years from being a tough investigator for communist people. Also, another thing that was happening was the planning of the U.S. to finally get out of Vietnam, but it wasn't going to be easy. This concept was also known as Vietnamization. Aside from the formation of Detente, the U.S. did have problems at home. When U.S. president Nixon ordered operations and massive bombings in Cambodia, the Anti-war protests rose, as the American people were seeing the war to become larger and longer. Nixon's respond to the American people (including the Anti-war protestors), knowing that the majority of the Americans support the war, was that he had a "Silent Majority" whereas he stated most Americans support his policies. After this event, there is a new appointed leader in the Soviet Union, and his name is Brezhnev. Brezhnev was a leader that was more open to relationships between them and the U.S.. Not only that, but the people when supported that idea because it will better security and also lessen tension. They still didn't get alone very well, but no war is great. Also, both were open to negotiations. In Germany, there still was the separation of the West and East and because Detente was happening, the West wanted to improve relations with the Soviet East. This time in Soviet and American relations was put to an end when Nixon went to China, because it was to benefit their relations with China and to get China further away from Russia.

American arrival in Vietnam

We know that the Americans got involved in the Vietnam War against the North Vietcong, but it all started when it was still french territory before World War 2. The Japanese have been invading Indochina (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, etc.) the French had lost the territory, not being able to support a colonized territory, half-way around the world. After the start and to the end of World War 2, the Japanese did lose the war and give up Indochina, where the French attempted to regained control on Vietnam. In 1954, the french invasion or battle to get Vietnam under control was called Dien Bien Phu, and it failed drastically for the French. It was in fact the first time a weak, unstable and poor country defeated an industrialized colonizing powerful country. Later after the defeat, there were suppose to be elections held in Vietnam, but this is where the American get involved. The U.S. already knew that the communist were likely to win the election and because of U.S.'s concern on containment and fear of the domino theory, it just gets the Americans to Vietnam more and more by U.S. President Kennedy. At the time, Vietnam was split into two designations, being North (the communists) and South (the non-communist). In the North, the person who lead the liberation of North Vietnam, NV Leader Ho Chi Minh, has looked at as a hero and someone who could save the Vietnamese people. The goal of the Vietcong was to overthrow the South Vietnamese government and Diem. In order to prevent this, the U.S. responds by getting advisors in Vietnam and "fix" the South Vietnamese government. It wasn't until one incident when the U.S. gets very involved with Vietnam. In the Gulf of Tonkin incident, there were to supposed naval attack attempts by the North Vietnamese to the U.S.. From this point on, the U.S. sends troops to Vietnam and protect South Vietnam. The way this war was being fought was the Vietcong attacking and invading the South while the U.S. can't invade the North because it could infuriate the Soviet Union and get them to fight the U.S. in the Cold War era, which most likely will be a nuclear war. Plus the U.S. just got out of the Cuban Missile Crisis. This is why this war was so drastic since the U.S. was fighting to war to not lose, in which you would lose without the option of winning.

The 60s the age of radical rich homies

The reason that many social movements happened in that time period is mostly because people are beginning to question everything around them, including their governmental system. When certain people start to question ideals that have been put into place for many years, and always accepted and followed strictly, it brings about a change that interests the majority of the population. Once one person begins a movement they would quickly increase in the sheer size of followers and support as other people began to think about and question the way they had been governed for years. And once someone begins to question something that has never been questioned, and always just simply accepted as fact, like the government and their ways, then the spark of change can really be ignited in a way that is almost impossible to put out, which again in turn will cause the start of all of these radical movements.

1980's

The 1980's in America was a time of great conservatism as people reacted in differing ways towards the great reforms of the 60's and 70's.

Economics- During the 1980's president Reagan installed his economic policy, commonly known as "Reaganomics." These economic policies include widespread tax cuts, decreased social spending, increased military spending, and the deregulation of domestic markets. It was a pro- business economy and was a reaction to the very large and expensive social programs of the 60's and 70's.

Politics- President Reagan served as President from 1980 through 1988. During his time in office he was an advocate for anti- communism. Credited as the president to pave the path towards the fall of USSR, Reagan funded the military and was known for funding anti communist groups around the world. Reagan supported the Afghanistan resistance to the USSR in the Afghanistan.

Social Aspects- The more conservative movement was also reflected in American Society as the looks and styles became closer to those of the 1950's and earlier eras, compared to the wild trends of the 60's and 70's. Socially America was moving back towards more traditional values. It became acceptable and popular to flaunt wealth compared to the 70's where it was looked down upon. It was now popular to work for big companies and flaunt wealth through nice cars and homes. The term "Yuppy" was commonly used to describe young urban professionals.

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan took office in 1980 after winning the Presidential Election as a Republican Candidate. As the successor to former president and democratic, Jimmy Carter, Reagan brought a new political ideology to the Oval Office. America at this time had seen over a decade of liberal politicians, social changes, and an erosion of traditional values and institutions. Reagan won the election by a landslide against Jimmy Carter due to his charisma, humor, good looks, which all naturally followed from his long career as a Hollywood Actor. 

Reagan being a conservative, valued smaller governments and cut a lot of social programs, such as spending on mental hospitals which many people look back on now as a mistake. The people cut these mental hospitals often ended up homeless. Despite his errors Reagan was widely hailed as a strong opponent to Communism and some people credit him for paving the way to the collapse of the Soviet Union in the Early 90's.

Present day conservatives worship Reagan in a sense in that they feel he was a great leader who reestablished pride in being an American.  

Regents of the University of California vs. Bakke

This was really a substantial decision made by the supreme court.  Essentially when making a decision on a prospective student it allowed race to be a significant factor in the decision process. Basically even though the court had issues a peace to the end of segregation and further more encourages institutions to engage in integration of the students. Many campuses were still prominently white. The Supreme court wanted the admission processors to see whether the student was a minority or not and in hand that would help more hardworking underprivileged students into the prestigious universities.

Television

The television had a drastic effect on the people after its introduction to the public and helped show Americans the truth on some topics of life in other parts of America

One major event that the television helped promote was the Civil Rights Movement and how bad the situation was in the south for many Americans. The images of people being beaten and attacked by dogs helped show viewers the intensity of the protests and how dangerous they were while at the same time promoting the movement.

Another event that was broadcasted majorly on television was the Vietnam War. For the first time, Americans could see the atrocities that war created and how bad it really was to fight in battles. This imagery of the dead and of engagements with Viet Cong helped some Americans realize that Vietnam was unnecessary and was only resulting in a loss of death. Others were convinced by the reporters who went to Vietnam and broadcasted their disapproval of the war, showing Americans the extreme bloodshed and revealing the exaggeration in casualties the Vietnamese had sustained.

Overall, the television was able to connect Americans and show how certain events were worse than it seemed from the perspective you could get from a newspaper or radio. This helped connect Americans and give a perspective they would have otherwise not had.

Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon overall as a president had a shaky career that may have had some successes, such as opening trade with China and improving relations between the USSR and the US, but these successes were marred by the lies and espionage tactics he used to try to maintain power.

Among some of the lies that Nixon told were how he claimed after his coming to power he would try to withdraw the US from Vietnam. While the majority of the public was somewhat satisfied with the Vietnam War at this point, Nixon's order to send troops into Laos and Cambodia to try and flush out the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops was seen as an expansion of the war. This made the public opinion on Nixon drop as they saw this as a lie about Vietnam and what his plan was.

Another dark cloud on Nixon's reputation was the Watergate Scandal. While initially it was viewed as unrelated to the president and was not taken very seriously. But, after money was discovered to have come from the Republican party and funded the criminals, some began so suspect that Nixon had some involvement with the whole scandal. Nixon also refused to release tapes that had recorded the conversations that had been in the Oval Office, making it seem as if Nixon was trying to hide something from public knowledge. And after Nixon was required to release an edited transcript of his conversations did his popularity drop dramatically. This eventually resulted in Nixon having to leave his presidential position in shame with dark clouds covering the good deeds he had fulfilled as president.

Martin Luther king jr ballin out for his foes

Martin Luther king was many things in life like an American baptist minster, activist , a humanitarian but most of all he was a leader for his people. He stood up for his kind, his skin color. He saw the wrong, and wanted to fight for his peoples freedom. He was seen as the person to be behind people believed that he could change it for those African-Americans in America. Many ways that King showed his movement was with many non protest and protest marches, people wanted to march if king was leading them. Some of his movements were the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and he helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. With the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful 1962 struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia, and helped organize the 1963 nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. 

MoMA Exhibit on the 60's

I recently went the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Almost a whole floor was dedicated to art from the 1960's. The exhibit was organized so that each room was about a single year within that decade. They had some older television sets set up with footage from the Women's Liberation movement, showing famous feminists leading protests in big cities, just as we learned about in history class. I learned about this one woman (I've forgotten her name) who was super daring. She basically went around in public with everything below her navel exposed. In another room, I watched part of a fictional film made about the arms race. One of the last rooms had a really short film that basically showed men sitting in/driving really nice cars. The description of the video explained that the film was actually about homosexuality, but it was done in a very subtle way. I thought that was really interesting, especially since we've learned about how homosexuals had to hide and put up with all the discrimination that was coming at them.

Starting Over 1970s Social Movements

During the 1970s, there was a general feeling of discomfort because of stagflation. Stagflation is high unemployment and high inflation. The feeling of the 60s in the younger generation to start social movements and cause change died down. This generation is often called the "me" generation for this reason. Many people found themselves going their own ways and were no longer interested in working to change society. Divorce rates went up because people started pursuing different paths. People had gotten tired of the idea of the “American Dream” and worked to pursue their own dreams. Despite peoples newly found disinterest in social reform, the ideas of a more equal society did not disappear. In Boston, it was ordered the schools be integrated. Minorities were being sent on buses to primarily white schools while white people were sent to minority schools. This made many people upset and caused them to blame African American individuals.  Cops had to escort students in to school and people protested. The gay rights movement also continued into the 70s. The murders of Milk, a gay man in city government, and Moscone, a pro gay rights leader, caused an uproar.  Forty thousand people came out the streets of San Francisco to mourn their loss. White, the man who murdered them, only got 7 ⅔ years in prison and San Franciscans saw it as a tragedy in the justice system. However, the event gave hope for a future in the gay rights movement.

Vietnam War

The Vietnam war that occupied the 1960's was the longest and probably most ineffective wars America has ever fought. Over the course of several presidencies, America wages war in Vietnam in order lay out their containment policy on communism, but never truly succeeded in victory. The Vietnam war was ultimately a failure for the following reasons:
On the American side- Unorganized government at home, no real strategy, lack of total support towards the end, inability to close out.
In Vietnam- Inability to effectively fight the Viet Cong was the biggest part, poor awareness of area, lack of support kinda, lack of knowledge of where to really strike.
It's also important to keep in mind that the overall failure of the war revealed to the Americans how deceived they had been, which ultimately had very negative effects on government popularity.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

This act is a legislation that outlawed discrimination based on color, religion, or national origin.  I ended unequal voters right and segregation in schools and in the workplace and in public facilities.  At first this it was not enforced very strongly, especially in southern states.  Many people backlashed against the Civil Rights Act, and even police officers would not enforce it.  Over the years the act became stronger, and it became more enforced.  This was a huge step  in civil rights, because it was a final law that explicitly stopped discrimination.

4/18/16

The Cold War started to become a War where the big powerhouses like the United States and the Soviet Union would give weapons to their smaller counterparts to fight the war for them. By doing this the United States continually had to make more resources to give out to the other countries. The United States would even provide aid to the anti communist groups which costed them a multitude of their money as well. As a result of these large spending opportunities the United States fell into a great deal of inflation which caused them to increase government spending leading to more taxes and more people who became unemployed.

Discrimination and Oppression really pisses me off

Throughout history all we hear about is the great accomplishments of this fine country and how as a human race we have only further developed everything to make the life of Americans fully worth living. Sadly this life is only ever available to a very select grouping of those who fit a certain type cast. White, rich, and powerful by heredity seems to be the only way to guarantee yourself any rights and or benefits and it is honestly such bull. I am by nature a very passionate person but this only makes my blood boil to the point of blind rage. Why does a stupid predetermined mindset made hundreds of years ago end up ruining the lives of thousands even to this present day. We are given all these things that separate us and give us the opportunity to solidify ourselves as a prosperous and thriving nation, however we let these differences drive deep social wedges between us all. Whether it is ethnicity, race, or religion, the world is always looking for these categories to exploit and it is beyond upsetting.

The Watergate Scandal

Vietnam and Afghanistan

After watching the documentary on the policy of détente in the 1970’s, I started to see some parallels between the US extracting itself from Vietnam and the US removing itself from Afghanistan.
“Vietnamization” was the strategy used by the American government in removing their troops from Vietnam. The purpose was to get the Vietnamese to fight their own war while slowly extracting US troops. This would be done by supporting and training the Vietnamese army so that they could hold their own against the Vietcong and North Vietnamese army.

In 1973, the Paris Peace Accords were drafted. The plan was for the US troops to leave Vietnam, with Southern Vietnam being occupied by North Vietnamese troops and governed by the Saigon government. However, the Vietnamese did not want to sign the accords because if the Americans left, the Southern Vietnamese economy would completely collapse.

I connected this to the United States’ involvement with the war in Afghanistan. I don’t know all the details, but from what I’ve understood from the news, it took the US such a long time to completely pull out of Afghanistan because the Afghani army was not ready to fight on its own. If the US had just left without providing any assistance to prepare, the country would have been left in an even worse place.

I feel like these two examples in our history point to the fact that when the US gets involved in other country’s problems, those countries come to depend on the expertise/mere numbers that the American fighters supply. This makes it hard to quickly get troops in and out of foreign countries.

1960's - Change in America

I viewed the conditions existing in the 1960s creating so many social movements as a result of an era where people were confronting the wrong things happening within America or outside with American involvement. It was sort of a domino effect where if one movement started huge in accomplishing their goals, than another supported movement with happen and so on and on. The 1960’s was a time period for change and many were willing to have that, but some people didn't want that to happen. Most of the movements occurring in the 1960’s were long-lasting tensions of problems in America. There was segregation, the view of mental-illness in homosexuals, the view of woman as property, etc. I see as when one of these tensions in America exploded and exposed itself movement, others were very influenced to do the same for what they suffered long from and want to fight for change. The African-Americans have wanted to be equal as the whites since the time slavery was abolished in America, the Anti-war movement was growing in protestors tremendously since the start of America's involvement in the Vietnam War, and Women's Rights were women for many years felt the inequality between them and men and knew they deserve the rights to do want they feel, whether its being in the kitchen or doing something totally different.

Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement

The overarching theme linking many of the strategies utilized during the Black Civil Rights Movements of the 1950 and 1960s in America is that the best way to prove segregation wrong is to make the oppositions look bad and make others feel more connected to them from their struggles. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Strategies mainly based on using the media, as it was a critical role in getting people to actually follow him and agree with his view of what is the best way to end segregation and result in black’s civil rights. Martin in many cases did non-violent protests marches all across the most supportive states and cities of segregation. Martin strategies didn’t work immediately, but after constant and continuous course of non-violent African-Americans marching and protesting, they get beaten up, pushed, shoved, sprayed with water hoses, etc., the people that pay attention to the media get a serious feeling about change needed to be established in America. In the end, Martin’s philosophy of nonviolent protest, use of media, and support from many many blacks and even whites resulted in the Civil Rights Act they have suffered long for. And later, blacks get the Voting Rights Act as well. Overall what really helped Martin from his protest was strategy. He used the same method that Gandhi had used for his support of the Indian Independence movement, expect MLK has a better advantage from the media.

The Great Society Programs

During the 1960's there has been many acts created in the U.S. in support of the ideal "Great Society" most Americans desired to become a reality. At this time in history, there are also many protests going on and it affects the U.S. overall to change its profile in it's social, political, and economical network. Some acts created in 1964 were Economic Opportunity Act, Tax Reduction Act, and the Wilderness Preservation Act. Each of the acts mentioned have great significance to the "Great Society", where now people see a major decrease in poverty, increase in consumption, increase in capital investments as well as decrease in unemployment. There is also fair share in owning property in the U.S., where some are reserved for environmental or governmental reasons and others for the people. Only after one year these acts were made, many more were created as well in 1965. One very important investment type of act that was created in 1965 was the Social Security Act, in which in the modern day America we Americans still see this as a significant necessity to American lives. In 1966, another very important act was made which not only saved many American lives back in the 1960's, but even today. It was called the National Traffic and Motor Safety Act and it basically was to reinforce new safety standards, like wearing a seat belt, the necessity of having a driver's license to drive, and also enforcing new traffic regulations. The last act created in 1967 that related to the "Great Society" phenomenon was the Air Quality Act. This act affected the future of the U.S. were it supported the idea of pollution reduction from motor vehicles and industrial sources.

Watergate

The watergate scandal was one that showed the lying and corrupt behaviors of the Nixon administration.  During Nixon’s presidency, a man got ahold of something called the pentagon papers, which revealed past deception under the Johnson administration.  It had nothing to do with Nixon’s presidency, but he felt that it would be a threat to the democracy, so he decided he needed to get rid of it somehow.  He decided that the best way to make the scandal go away was to make the man that released the papers look unstable.  To do this, he hired a team to break into his psychiatrist's office and steal his files, which would be released.  These men got caught, and Nixon went under some very elaborate schemes to try to hide his deception.  He even hid evidence from the police.  All of this eventually came out, which led to Nixon’s resignation, but it made people more suspicious of their government for the future.

4/6/16

We began class going over how impeachment works and what the terms for impeachment are.

Discussing Nixon and his impeachment, we watched a documentary and filled out the worksheet, having us write down what he did and how it would've got him impeached.

Nixon really wanted to not be the first President to lose a war.
"Peace with Honor"
Largest Peace Demonstration, Nixon said, "I cannot allow foreign policy to be made by the people in the streets of Washington."

Popular Speech, "To you, the great silent majority..."
He seemed to wanted a quick change and end when he came to office.

Many protests started in colleges, and Nixon remarked that the people in the colleges are lucky, and shouldn't be protesting because they aren't in the war.

The term "traitor" applied to both sides from both sides, as the people who were anti-war said that Traitors were those who support Nixon, and visa versa.

He spent many months into his years attempting to rally his supporters, and denouncing his opposition.

Installation of recording devices in the White House would lead to troubles with Watergate later.

Pentagon Paper wasn't about Nixon, but about the Johnson administration. But Nixon was still afraid because people would begin to think that HE's lying.
Later more papers revealing the arms talks with the USSR infuriated Nixon.

4/5/2016

We went over the "Make Love, Not War" worksheet.
Questions asked were:

1) The people aren't always on the side of the protesters.

 2) The Economy benefited, because they wanted to make ships, ships require people to build, and people got paid to  build it. The more money they pumped into the War effort, they more money got put in the hands of the people.

After that we reviewed the topics we went over earlier, with a power-point.
Vietnam- Eisenhower Period
Dien Bien Phu:
This shows that Imperialism is dying -> Costs a lot of money -> French leaving, but Ho Chi Minh could take over and he's communist. (Opposite of what we're trying do Containment)

Geneva Peace Conference: 
North Vietnam (Communist)
South Vietnam (Not-Communist)
Ho Chi Minh in the U.S. eyes is a bad person. In the eyes of Vietnam is basically their George Washington (to liberate Vietnam from outside influence i.e. Freedom Fighter)
The United States didn't want elections because we knew Minh would win.
Tried to establish a NATO-type system in South East Asia- SEATO.

Vietnam- Kennedy Period
"We have to be flexible" --Don't follow Eisenhower--
Not winning the "Third World" countries/ "non-aligned Nations". Get more on OUR side.
Amount of military advisers increased from a few hundred to about 16 thousand
Diem was killed during the Coup of Diem's government. The U.S. didn't expect that, but it opened the opportunity to put a leader that people would like, which worked, but "it's not about who's running the show, but the show itself"(Mr. Stewart)

Vietnam- Johnson Period
Following policies as same as other presidents. Not really making anything new.
-Fear of being "soft on communism"
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Attacked one, Navy fires.
Attacked twice? Not sure. (Mixed signals, either he lied or didn't wait to announce on it.)
"Rolling Thunder" drag bomb strikes, trying to get all the Vietcong. We get some, but never all.
Escalation: trying to send a message by retaliating.
"Search and Destroy
"There's just a small problem in Vietnam" -But isn't true.

Vietnam- Nixon Period
"Peace with Honor" We're not gonna look like we just bailed.
Vietnamization" This is Vietnam's War. You guys can fight your own war.
Minig of Haiphong Harbor: Force the Vietnamese to negotiate. 
"Bomb them back to the Peace Table"
Paris Accords: Recognized South and North Vietnam, but the North Viet troops were allowed to stay where they were.

Vietnam's Legacy
Paris Accords allowed the U.S. to leave.
South Vietnam left in disarray and was defeated in April of 1975.
War destabilized the whole nearby regions, everything was in chaos.
War between Vietnam and Cambodia; Viet to Cam -> "You're WAY too communist"
Doesn't calm down until the 1980s
Costed about 2 Trillion in modern times.

Make Love Not War

People were able to express themselves however they felt and with whoever they wanted to. You can’t have freedom unless you have personal freedom. America was the leader of the free world. It was young people’s job to horrify older people. The generation where they didn’t really care about life. The older generation were World War 2 Veterans. Nixon campaigned that he was tougher and smarter and people who don’t know what they are doing were in charge of the country at the current time, Nixon also thought that his type of government was stable and they wouldn't let the Russians or the Chinese push them around.

Richard Nixon in Vietnam

Nixon served as president from 1969 to 1974, during the time of the Vietnam war.  Nixon’s strategy in the war was as the “peacemaker.”  He tried to find a way to keep North and South Vietnam at peace, while still keeping both countries stable and happy.  He also did not want to back out of South Vietnam, because they were not communist and were our ally.  It would have also looked bad to the United States if he pulled out of the war so early, because it would have been perceived as a loss to the United States.  He also had to enlarge the war into Cambodia in order to be able to get out of Vietnam.  This angered people because he promised that he would take troops out and lessen the war effort.

McCarthyism

McCarthyism was a practice which consisted in making accusation of treason without proper explanation and valid evidence. The  organization was in charge of accusing people of  possibly being communists. Mccarthyism was even used to humiliate some people and described them as reckless and horrible people. During this era, thousands of americans were accused of being communists or part of a communist sphere. McCarthyist became subject to aggressive investigations and questioned the subject and sometimes forced them to say things that weren’t necessarily true. McCarthyist primary targets were ones who came the middle class and government workers such as teachers, or entertainers. Many were accused without fully understanding the complete evidence and why they had been called up and later accused. The way the members of the group found the evidence was not legal but they did it anyways.