However, Kennedy also engaged in controversial and potential volatile encounters such as the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba and the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War would prove to be one of the most tumultuous periods in modern American history and when Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 his vice president and successor Lyndon Baines Johnson continued the bloody and extended process of engaging and then withdrawing from Southeast Asia. Lyndon Johnson's problems in Vietnam were partially offset by the great strides his administration made in securing Civil Rights laws. Moreover, Johnson would initiate other social service programs such as Medicare. Johnson's legacy would nevertheless be perpetually obscured by his more dynamic predecessor and successor: Kennedy and Nixon, respectively. Johnson's successor, Republican Richard M. Nixon will probably be remembered most for his participation in the Watergate Scandal and his resignation from the office of President. Nixon had served under Eisenhower as Vice President of the United States. Nixon's notoriety obscures some of the great strides he made in office. For instance, Nixon abolished the gold...
Nixon also created the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Both OSHA and Nixon's promoting of affirmative action programs would transform American labor laws. None of the post-war presidents can be reasonably named as "best" or "worst" but taking into account their overall contributions to American society, Truman and Nixon may have left the most enduring marks.8 billion. The Occupation authorities also helped the Japanese government overcome postwar economic chaos, especially rampant inflation, by balancing the government budget, raising taxes and imposing price and wage freezes, and resuming limited foreign trade" (Kesselman et al., 203). The U.S. aid not only helped to rebuild the country, but also ensured that Japan was stable enough so that renegade seedlings of Communism or comparable institutions didn't suddenly flourish. The
As the Cold War began, U.S. found itself in a war with the U.S.S.R. On several levels and the only method that could have given U.S. The supremacy it desired was through the good use of intelligence. Espionage, military, industrial, and technological developments were all part of the weapons used during the Cold War. This is why the intelligence revolution was very much needed and useful in the end. In
In 1953, Congress amended the National Security Act to provide for the appointment of a Deputy Director of the CIA by the President with Senate's advice and consent. Commissioned officers of the armed forces, active or retired, could not occupy the top two positions at the same time (CIA). Intelligence Reform Needed Countless reorganizations of the intelligence community since the end of the Cold War have not produced satisfactory results (Harris
freedom. The South Vietnamese anti-communist leaders were dictators, not democrats, and had been allied with the wildly unpopular French, then with the Americans. In contrast, the National Liberation Front (NLF) or 'Viet Cong' (as it was called by the Americans) had deep, longstanding support in the Vietnamese countryside. American military decision-makers proved unable to process this fact, given that they viewed Vietnam through its own biases, not through the
This is significant, because it would give the U.S. A way of being able to maintain this kind of balance of power in the region. As the trade embargos / economic sanctions against Iran and Iraq would serve as an example of inappropriate behavior. This is because they were being punished, for different activities that were in violation of international law such as: the support of terrorism or the
President Johnson became even more fearful of a communist take-over. In 1964, when two American ships were attacked by the North Vietnamese in the Gulf of Tonkin "the American Senate gave Johnson the power to give armed support to assist any country requesting help in defense of its freedom," effectively beginning the Vietnam War without a formal declaration of war (BBC 2009). The wide-scale bombing of the North in 'Operation
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now