Today we did blog discussion.
Harry Truman
- Background:
- 33rd President of the United States (Republican)
- Became Vice President for FDR in January, 1945
- In office 1945-1953
- Took over after FDR died in April 1945
- One of the most unpopular presidents of all time when he left office- 22% approval rating
- Rating has improved greatly over the last 60 years
- His wife was a gold digger!
- Only election he was in was the 1948 Election
- He did not get 50% of the vote in this election. He got 49.6% of the vote
- His democratic opponent, Thomas E. Dewey was supposed to win by a landslide
- His other democratic opponent, Stron Thurman was very rascist and won in the southern states
- Accomplishments:
- He decided to use the atomic bombs against Japan.
- Helped organize and later join the United Nations
- Took a stance against Communism and the Soviet Union- Policy of Containment
- Desegregated the US military
- Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan were passed
- Created the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and the National Security Council. CIA wasn't very powerful and did some shady things, like wire tapping in and out of the US.
- "The Buck Stops Here" He said this to show that he would take responsibility for things that happened in his presidency.
- The Fair Deal- Very similar to the New Deal under FDR. Most of his proposals never got through Congress because he was such an unpopular president.
- Got the US involved in Vietnam by giving aid to France (gave them money)
- Berlin Airlift
- NATO established
- McCarthyism
- Korean Conflict and firing of General Douglass MacArthur
Dwight Eisenhower
- Background
- 34th President of the US (Republican)
- In Office: 1953-1961
- Was a famous WWII general
- Joined Republican Party after WWII, which pretty much guarenteed him the win in the 1952 election
- Richard Nixon was his VP
- Diagnosed with Crohn's Disease and had a minor stroke while president
- One of the oldest, if not the oldest president elected into office
- Election
- Ran against Adlai Stevenson- 1952
- Didn't start out as Republican or Democratic, but ended up being Republican
- Aimed his campaigning towards women
- He won 55.2% of the popular vote
- He was a very popular president because of his time in WWII
- In 1956 Election, he defeated Stevenson once again
- Accomplishments
- General in WWII
- He won 2 elections
- Continued New Deal Programs from FDR
- One of the older presidents
- He is known for setting up the interstate system
- He came up with the idea of deturrance (having nuclear weapons and saying we're going to use them in war, means that we won't go into a nuclear war)
- 1954 saw the very famous the Brown v. Board of Education that said that segregation was no longer allowed. He worked for desegregation.
- Dominated by the Cold War- Containment Policy
- Eisenhower Doctrine- US would give money and military aid to middle eastern countries to fight off Communists
- Ended the Korean War as promised in his election
- Increased US involvement in Southeast Asia (Vietnam)- US advisors sent
- NASA was created due to the Soviet Sputnik launch
- US spy plane (U-2) was shot down over USSR
- Deported around 1 million illegal immigrants (mostly Mexicans
- Allowed McCarthy to do his thing but privately did not approve
John F. Kennedy
- Background
- 1st and only Catholic President
- One of the youngest presidents elected
- Served in WWII
- Married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier
- Assassinated in 1963 in Dallas, TX by Lee Harvey Oswald
- Election
- 1960 Election he went up against Nixon, who had been VP
- Kennedy went to the swing states and bigger states for the electoral college
- Kennedy was a Democrat, and there were many more Democratic votes that year
- Got young people's interests, young people's votes
- Young people loved Kennedy
- 1st presidential televised debates took place
- Won 49.7% of popular vote, Nixon won 49.6% of popular vote so it was very close
- Accomplishments
- Bay of Pigs Invasion- 1961
- Cold War Issues dominated Kennedy's presidency
- Berlin Wall was built in 1961
- Cuban Missle Crisis
- Kennedy increased the number of helicopters, military advisors and undeclared US Special Forces in the Vietnam
- The CIA helped the new Ba'ath Party government overthrow Communists in Iraq. This new party systematically murdered large numbers of Iraq's educated elite- killings in which Saddam Hussein himself is said to have belonged.
- The New Frontier:promised funding for: education, medical care for the elderly, economic aid to rural regions and government intervention to halt the recession, end racial desgression
- Peace Corps
- Moonshot Speech
- Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
- Assassination
- Friday November 22, 1963
With his wife and governor of Texas
In presidential limousine
Announced dead around 1 pm
Lee Harvey Oswald was found guilty after a ten month investigation
He was being transported to another prison when he was shot by Jack Ruby on live television
Last president to be assassinated
When he got to the hospital, they said he had no chance of survival
- Performed an autopsy
- Zapruder Film: Only one man got footage of Kennedy's Assassination
- Kennedy was pronounced dead at Parkland Hospital
- Lyndon Johnson was sworn into presidency on Air Force 1 just after Kennedy was announced dead
- Lee Harvey Oswald- the assassin
- Joined the marines and was a sharp shooter
- He was a Communist
- Was discharged from the marines and became a citizen of the USSR
- Married Marina and had a baby named June
- Moved back to the US, and got involved in Fair Play for Cuba
- Moved to Texas and worked at the Texas School Book Depository
- Shot Kennedy from the 6th floor of this building (Sniper's Nest)
- Oswald leaves building nonchalantly and police let him go
- Goes to his apartment, gets his handgun. JD Tippet stopped Oswald and Oswald shot and killed JD Tippet
- Oswald was arrested in the Texas Theatre
- Jack Ruby killed Oswald when Oswald was being transported to a jail\
- Jack Ruby was a strip club owner in Dallas, he was also said to have Mafia ties
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