The US and The World: Politics and Administration - Leaving Cert Notes and Sample Answers

Timeline: The US and the world, 1945-1989

Perspective: Politics and Administration

Important contextual information: US Government structure
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The Federal System

Washington DC = home to the federal government who deal with nationwide issues
Each state has a government that deals with internal state affairs
Separation of powers= system which separates the federal government into 3 branches, the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary in order to prevent the President from having too much power

The Executive = the President

Enforces laws
Deals with foreign affairs
Chooses government officials
Is Commander-in-Chief of the military
Appoints heads of state departments, called secretaries
Vice President = succeeds the President if he dies or resigns
The Bureaucracy = civil service

The Legislature = Congress

US parliament = Congress
The Lower House = the House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is elected based on state population, so bigger states have more congressmen
The Upper House = the Senate
Every state has 2 senators
Bills can come from the President, members of Congress or lobbyists who are paid by groups such as businesses, unions and farmers
A bill that passes is sent to the President who can then sign it into law or veto it
Congress can overturn the President’s veto if they have a 2/3 majority

The Judiciary = The Supreme Court

Ensures that all laws passed by the Federal and State governments are constitutional
Rulings are absolutely final
There are 9 Supreme Court judges who hold their seats for life
The head Supreme Court Justice is the Chief Justice

Checks and Balances

System in place to make sure that no one government branch has too much power
The President can veto laws passed by Congress
The Supreme Court can declare laws passed as unconstitutional
Congress can impeach a President and force them to resign

Changing the Constitution

The US Constitution can only be changed amendment which must be passed through both Houses of Congress and ¾ of states in a vote
There have been 27 amendments since 1789

Political Parties

Republicans = the Grand Old Party (GOP), favour conservatism and traditional institutions such as big businesses, stress individual initiative and gain
Democrats = social and economic issues such as education and healthcare

US Presidents

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933 – 45), Democrat
Harry S. Truman (1945 – 53), Democrat
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953 – 61), Republican
John F. Kennedy (1961 – 63), Democrat
Lyndon B. Johnson (1963 – 69), Democrat
Richard M. Nixon (1969 – 74), Republican
Gerald Ford (1974 – 77), Republican
Jimmy Carter (1977 – 81), Democrat
Ronald Reagan (1981 – 89), Republican

Cold War Phase One: 1945 – 72

Origins of the Cold War

1941: The US was opposed to Communism but allied with the USSR during WW2
February 1945: Stalin, Winston Churchill and Roosevelt met at Yalta to make plans for the end of the war
They decided to divide Berlin into 4 areas under the control of the French, the USSR, the Americans and the British
They also agreed to hold free elections in Eastern Europe but Stalin never followed through on this
They argued over Poland and the rest of Germany
July 1945: Stalin, Churchill and Truman (Roosevelt’s successor) met at Potsdam outside Berlin
They continued to argue over Germany and Poland
During the conference, Truman authorised the use of newly developed atomic bombs on Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Stalin, when he learned of this, was mad that Truman had not informed him of his plans

Communism in Eastern Europe

Stalin wanted total domination over the East
Stalin rigged elections and had opposition arrested, ensuring his success across East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Albania, Romania and Czechoslovakia
In the US, an already present fear of communism was increased by the development of what Winston Churchill described as an Iron Curtain between the West and the East
Poor conditions across Europe after WW2 lead to the establishment of many Communist parties

The Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan: 1947

1947: the UK announced that they wouldn’t be able to support the Greek and Turkish governments against communist guerrillas any longer
Truman sent aid to Turkey and Greece and swore to support any governments battling a communist revolution
The Doctrine established a policy of containment, which aimed to stop the spread of communism
American Secretary of State George Marshall introduced his Marshall Plan, which gave billions of dollars’ worth of aid to Europe

The Berlin Crisis: 1948 – 9

Background: Germany had been divided between the French, the British, the Americans and the Russians
France, Britain and the US joined their areas together and Stalin established a Communist state in his soviet area
Berlin had also been split between the four but was located within Stalin’s soviet area of Germany
Stalin had to let the Allies into their zones through roads and air corridors within his area of Germany
June 1948: the deutschmark, a new currency, was introduced into the Allies’ West Germany and the Western zones of Berlin
Stalin feared that this would allow the Allied areas of Berlin to be more prosperous than the surrounding Soviet East Germany
He ordered the Berlin Blockade, closing roads and railways into West Berlin in an attempt to drive the West out of Berlin
The US launch Operation Vittles to fly supplies to West Berlin
The Berlin Airlift lasted 320 days with planes landing every 90 seconds with supplies at the peak
May 1949: the Soviets admit defeat and lift the blockade
1949: NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) was set up to co-ordinate the West’s defensive against Russia
Germany was officially divided into the Western Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviet Eastern German Democratic Republic

The Red Scare and McCarthyism: 1947 – 1954

1947: Truman established the Federal Employee Loyalty Program to investigate and remove employees of the federal government who supported communism
The revival of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) turned the search for communists into a witch hunt
HUAC investigated film industry
HUAC interrogated actors, directors, producers and screenwriters, pressuring them to name communists in the industry
If people refused, they were added to a blacklist and studios were not allowed to hire them
The famous Hollywood Ten refused to speak and were sent to jail
Arthur Miller and Charlie Chaplin were among the 320 names blacklisted
1948: Alger Hiss, a government employee, was accused of spying for the communists
Hiss denied all allegations and was found not guilty, but was put in prison having been accused of lying to Congress
1949: The Soviets successfully tested atomic weapons and Mao Tse-tung lead a communist revolution in China, increasing anti-Communist sentiment in the US
1950: HUAC discovered a network of spies including the scientist who had worked on Operation Manhattan (America’s atomic bomb programme)
1953: American communists Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed for giving atomic secrets to the Soviets

McCarthyism

1950: Senator Joseph McCarthy exploited the nationwide communist paranoia in order to gain support in elections
He claimed to have a list of 205 communists working in the government but never produced evidence
The Republican Party and the FBI encouraged McCarthy
1952: McCarthy used his growing popularity to ensure Eisenhower’s victory in the election
He exaggerated the presence of communism greatly and used the media to his advantage
People accused by McCarthy lost their jobs, regardless of whether they were actually innocent, and companies risked being blacklisted if they refused to fire suspects
McCarthy gained support but also countless enemies
1954: McCarthy overstepped boundaries and accused the army of hiding communists
McCarthy was investigated, the Senate censured him(criticised him) and the Republican party withdrew their support, ending his career

The Korean War: 1950 – 53

1945: Korea was a Japanese colony that was divided along the 38^th parallel after WW2 between the USSR (north) and the US (south)
The south became the Republic of Korea and the north became the Communist People’s Republic of Korea under Kim Il Sung
June 1950: North Korea invaded the South
The US believed that Stalin was behind the invasion although it was likely the North acting on their own
The UN Security Council condemned the display of aggression
The UN sent a military force to defend South Korea, most men were from the US, under American General Douglas McArthur
The troops landed at Inchon behind North Korean lines
The UN troops moved quickly towards the Chinese border but were warned by the Chinese to come no closer to the Yalu River
The UN pushed forwards and the Chinese retaliated with 300,000 men, driving the UN back into Korea
MacArthur began criticising Truman’s tactics and broke the tradition of Generals being uncritical of their leaders, being replaced by General Matthew Ridgeway for his actions
The war front settled close to the original North-South border
November 1951: peace talks took place in Panmunjom
1953: Eisenhower suggested that he would cross Chinese borders and use nuclear weapons, in order to push a peace agreement
Stalin’s death lead to a truce and the establishment of a De-Militarised Zone along the 38^th Parallel, re-establishing a North-South border
In total, 2,500,000 people died in the war, including 33,000 Americans

East-West Relations in the 50s

1953: Stalin was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev
1956: Khrushchev announced plans to co-exist peacefully with the West
Anti-communist protests in the UUSR’s satellite states increased but Khrushchev’s government relied on the support of these satellite governments so quickly crushed these protests
The US accepted that the East of Europe was under Soviet rule and would not intervene in Eastern affairs
Eisenhower was eager to negotiate with the Soviets instead of fighting
1957: The launch of Sputnik I, Russia and the World’s first satellite, lead to criticism of Eisenhower for allowing a “missile gap” to develop
1960: Eisenhower’s policies were further damaged when an American spy plane was spotted and shot out of the sky over the USSR

Second Berlin Crisis: 1960 – 1961

West Germany was economically sound in contrast with the much poorer East
Nearly 3 million East Germans began to flee to West Berlin and then on to the rest of West Germany
These lost citizens angered Khrushchev and undermined the communist government
Khrushchev pressured the West to give him West Berlin but Eisenhower refused
1960: John F. Kennedy won the Presidential campaign – Khrushchev believed he was weak-willed and would give in to pressure
Khrushchev attempted to bully Kennedy into giving up Berlin but Kennedy refused
13 August 1961: the Berlin Wall was built between East and West Berlin to stop people fleeing the Soviet East

The Cuban Missile Crisis: 1962

Cuba, off the coast of Florida, had been used by rich Americans as a holiday destination and the US sugar trade dominated the Cuban economy
1959: Communist Fidel Castro overthrew Cuba’s dictatorship General Batista and took control of companies, including those owned by Americans
1961: Kennedy agreed to help the Cubans overthrow Castro and landed 1500 men at the Bay of Pigs – they were easily defeated
Castro asked Khrushchev for help against the US, who was happy to set up a base so close to US soil
1962: Khrushchev secretly placed medium-range nuclear missiles on the island, which were within striking distance of major cities like Washington DC and New York
The CIA quickly realised that there was an increased number of Soviet ships going to Cuba and took pictures of the missile base under construction
Kennedy had the option to launch an air strike but opted instead to blockade or quarantine Cuba
The US Navy were sent to stop and search all ships headed to Cuba, and to turn away any boats found to have weapons on board
Kennedy sent his brother Robert with a message to the Soviets – if Khrushchev removed his missiles from Cuba, the US would also stay out of Cuba and take their troops out of Turkey
October 28 1962: Khrushchev, concerned by how out of control the crisis had become, agreed and withdrew from Cuba
Kennedy wanted to reduce the role of the military in the Cold War and established a direct hotline between the White House and the Russian Kremlin
1963: The Test Ban Treaty banned the testing of weapons in the atmosphere, underwater and in space, but allowed testing underground

The Vietnam War, 1963 – 1973

US involvement in Vietnam

Communist Ho Chi Minh lead the Vietminh (nationalist organisation) in fights against French colonisation of Vietnam and then fought the Japanese when they occupied Vietnam during WW2
After WW2, the Vietminh took control in the North and declared a communist state
The US pledged to help France recover Vietnam and by 1954 were paying 80% of France’s war costs, also sending advisors to the French
The US failed to recognise that while Ho Chi Minh was a communist, he was primarily a nationalist – they feared that he would implement communism in surrounding countries too, which became known as the Domino Theory

The Division of Vietnam

1954: France was forced to surrender to the Vietnamese
The Geneva Accords split Vietnam between the North and South until elections could be held, but they never happened
The US placed Vietnamese nationalist Diem in control of South Vietnam
Diem was anti-communist and anti-Buddhist and was hated by many Vietnamese
Ho Chi Minh ordered the Vietminh in the South to take action and they attempted to reunify the country, becoming known as the Vietcong

JFK’s attitude towards Vietnam

Kennedy agreed with the Domino Theory and upped the amount of financial and military aid for Vietnam
As the Vietcong grew in strength and numbers, they used the Ho Chi Minh Trail through Laos and Cambodia to gather supplies
1963: anti-Diem protests, including that of a now famous monk who set himself on fire, spread throughout Vietnam
The US were fed images of riots and protests by the media and began to question Diem’s suitability as a leader
Diem was overthrown and murdered
Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 and succeeded by Lyndon B Johnson

Johnson’s attitude towards Vietnam

Johnson was inexperienced in foreign affairs when he became President and believed he had to keep on Kennedy’s policies and advisors
He turned to Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara and Secretary of State Dean Rusk for help, both of whom were anti-communist and pushed for action in Vietnam
Johnson did not want to be the one to lose Vietnam but did not want a war either
He had planned on funnelling funds into his “Great Society”, with focus on education and healthcare
Johnson eventually settled on plans for a contained war to force peace in Vietnam but it quickly escalated into a full blown war

The Gulf of Tonkin Incident: 1964

August 1964: The US were drawn totally into the war by the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, when an American ship reported attacks from and fired at North Vietnamese boats
Johnson ordered bomb offensives against North Vietnamese bases, creating a war without any formal declaration
Johnson’s actions were very popular, with app. 85% support in America
1964: Johnson fought the Presidential election against Barry Goldwater
Goldwater was eager to send troops into Vietnam but Johnson won the campaign by insisting that he was not going to send US troops to support the Vietnamese anti-communists

Operation Rolling Thunder: 1965

Throughout the election, Johnson secretly planned to commit more troops to Vietnam and organised a huge bombing offensive called Operation Rolling Thunder
Americans were weary of the Chinese and did not want to damage relations with the USSR so were unable to attack airbases in Vietnam for fear of killing Soviets
February 1965: Operation Rolling Thunder began and was intended to last for 8 weeks but actually dragged on for 3 years
The Operation failed and the North used the 500,000 deaths as propaganda

The US send in troops: 1965

March 1965: Johnson sent the first foot troops into Vietnam
By 1968, there were 500,000 American troops there
Conscription was introduced – soldiers were drafted for one year tours of duty
The draft was easy to avoid for the wealthy, as they could enrol in university or leave the country so the US army in Vietnam was largely made up of the working class, black men and other minorities such as the Hispanic community

Conditions in Vietnam

The Vietcong were a guerrilla force that hid in the jungles and disguised themselves as peasants
The US troops were effectively fighting an unseen enemy and never knew when an attack was coming
Troops began to destroy the Vietcong’s dense jungle cover and crops with herbicides such as Agent Orange
They also made use of chemical weapons to burn the Vietcong such as napalm and phosphorous bombs
Surrounded by mosquitoes in a humid climate and fighting an invisible force, soldiers’ morale began to collapse
Many soldiers deserted and went AWOL (absent without official leave) or turned to drugs, more than 30% of American troops used hard drugs in Vietnam and 60% were using marijuana
American soldiers also began to view their officers and generals as a threat to their safety and began the practice of fragging, using fragmentation grenades to murder their superiors

Attempts for peace

Opposition to the war developed first in the universities
The media also had huge influence in creating anti-war sentiment as there was no censorship of the media
Journalists were unhappy that they had been told that they were winning the war when this was evidently not true
Martin Luther King, Norman Mailer and Muhammad Ali were famously opposed to the war
The US troops’ brutality shocked the masses and the My Lai Massacre in 1968 which saw the murder of 347 Vietnamese men, women and children horrified Americans
Both sides tried to negotiate a truce but failed

The Tet Offensive: 1968

January 1968: the Vietcong launched attacks against Southern cities during the Vietnamese New Year, the Tet
The US embassy was attacked during the campaign and the offensive marked the turning point in the war
Americans were horrified by the sight of the Vietcong on US property and lost faith in the government
The “Wise Men”, a group of elder state officials, strongly advised Johnson pull out of Vietnam

Johnson’s resignation: 1968

During the 1968 presidential election, Johnson was opposed from within his ow party by Bobby Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy
Johnson decided not to stand for re-election

US withdrawal from Vietnam

Johnson’s successor Richard Nixon introduced a policy of Vietnamization in 1969, which intended to slowly take US troops out of Vietnam while strengthening the Southern Vietnam Army to defend themselves
Nixon continued to bomb the Ho Chi Minh Trail throughout this process
Anti-war protests continued but angered the working class because the middle and upper class demonstrators were not made to fight
1970: Four students (two of whom were not protesting) were killed by police at a protest in Kent State University, Ohio
Two students in Jackson State University in Mississippi were also shot for protesting
The Pentagon Papers were published by the New York Times, showing that Johnson had lied to the public about the war, swinging public opinion
1972: Nixon forced the North Vietnamese to agree to a ceasefire by launching Operation Linebacker, a bombing campaign
January 1973: The Paris Peace Accords were signed, American troops left and the Northern Vietnamese were allowed to take the South in 1975
Thousands of anti-communists were executed and 1 million fled
Laos and Cambodia later fell to Communism

Cold War Phase Two, 1973 – 89

Détente and SALT: 1969 – 1979

Détente = cooperation between East and West
Richard Nixon and his national security adviser Henry Kissinger wanted to improve relations with the USSR and their new leader Leonid Brezhnev, who also wanted to soften tensions
Robert McNamara developed a theory of Mutual Assured Destruction : if the US and USSR were nuclear equals then neither would dare to use their weapons for fear of retaliation
1969: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) began
1972: SALT I was signed when Nixon was in Moscow, which restricted use of anti-ballistic missiles to two places in each country and prevented the two sides from growing their Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile stores, marking the start of détente
1973: Brezhnev visited Washington
Gerald Ford succeeded Nixon as President and continues Détente
The US and the USSR collaborated on the Apollo-Soyuz space project
1976: Jimmy Carter succeeded Ford and signed SALT II in 1979 to further limit nuclear weapons, marking the end of détente

The End of Détente

Human rights were a central part of Carter’s presidential policy and he made the USSR mad by supporting anti-communist protestors within soviet states
1979: the Iran Hostage Crisis saw US embassy staff in the Iranian capital Tehran held hostage for 444 days
1979: The Soviets invaded Afghanistan
Carter feared that the Soviets were trying to take control of the oil in the Persian Gulf and provided military aid to the Afghan guerrillas who tried to resist the invasion

Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars: 1983

Ronald Reagan, Carter’s successor, sent $4 billion in aid to El Salvador to help end a communist revolt
March 1983: Reagan released plans for his Strategic Defence Initiative, nicknamed Star Wars, which explored the idea of blocking Soviet missiles with space lasers
The Soviets did not take kindly to Reagan’s announcement and realised they would never be able to match American military advancements
Soviet officials became convinced that an attack from the US was coming, surprising Reagan into calling for negotiations

The End of the Cold War: 1985 – 89

1985: Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the USSR and introduced policies of perestroika, or economic restructuring, and glasnost which was a promise of greater freedom and openness within Soviet states
He also thought that the US did not pose a threat to the USSR but recognised that the he could not afford to keep up the arms race and was willing to improve relations with them
1987: Reagan and Gorbachev agreed to eliminate nuclear weapons
Communism fell across Eastern Europe and the Berlin Wall came down in 1989
1991: Gorbachev was pushed out by anti-communist Boris Yeltsin and the USSR fell apart