1. Cold War Leaders American and Soviet Leaders 1945-1990 13 White Guys who ruled the world

2. You will need to memorize these names and dates 9 AMERICAN LEADERS Truman (45-52) Eisenhower (52-60) Kennedy (60-63) Johnson (63-68) Nixon (68-74) Ford (74-76) Carter (76-80) Reagan (80-88) Bush, G.H.W. (88-92) 4 RUSSIAN LEADERS Stalin (22-53) Khrushchev (53-64) Brezhnev (64-82) Gorbachev (85-91) -------- Andropov and Chernenko were in charge in 83-84. Both died months into their terms.

3. Harry S Truman (Democrat, 45-52) Took over when FDR died, won one election after that. Was the American in charge at the start of the Cold War. Used the A-Bomb on Japan Hated Communism Had both the lowest and highest approval ratings of any US president In order to root out Soviet spies, thousands of Americans were investigated, and many were fired or forced to resign – however, he did not force Americans to swear a loyalty oath. Created THE TRUMAN DOCTRINE

4. Dwight Eisenhower (Republican, 52-60) Very popular President Oversaw America’s economic “golden age” Was the highest ranking solder ever to live Oversaw the creation of NATO Conservative, religious Started the space race, and made nukes a high priority

5. John F. Kennedy (Democrat, 60-63) Was very popular President, but was killed in 63 Oversaw the Cuban Missile Crisis Oversaw the Bay of Pigs invasion Was very important in the creation of the Moon program and space race, and had to deal with the Berlin Wall issue.

6. Lyndon Johnson (Democrat, 63-68) Dealt with domestic problems very well, and put much effort into civil rights, poverty, health care and education. Started the Vietnam war, and was terrified of being the first US president to lose a war.

7. Richard Nixon (Republican, 1968-1974) Was Eisenhower’s VP for 8 years Was very popular, but lost popularity when he radically escalated the Vietnam War, so he negotiated a ceasefire instead, which made the people love him. Nixon was able to be the first President to start normal relations with China, and also negotiated a relaxation of tensions (called détente) with Russia, and almost ended the cold war in the 1970s. His VP, Spiro Agnew, was convicted of tax crimes in 73, making Nixon lose face. Later, Nixon was caught up in the Watergate scandal, and was forced to resign in disgrace.

8. Gerald Ford (Republican, 1974-1976) Was appointed to be Nixon’s VP when Agnew resigned, and took over as President when Nixon resigned – thus, Ford was never elected. Although President for only 2 years, Ford was able to get the Helsinki Agreement signed, which made the borders in Europe permanent. As well, he kept up the policy of detente, and the Cold War was almost a non-issue during his term. The American economy did very poorly under Ford, and the mid 70s were not a good time for the states.

9. Jimmy Carter (Democrat, 76-80) By 76, most people felt like the Cold War was over, so Americans elected a leader who was a “nice guy” who could help promote peace and prosperity. He did just that. He gave the Panama Canal back to Panama, worked on human rights around the world, helped reduce the number of nuclear missiles that both the US and Russia owned (the SALT treaties) and, most importantly, worked on peace in the middle east, including the Camp David Accords, which created peace between Israel and Egypt. In 1979, Afghanistan was invaded by the USSR in what was seen as a return to Cold War sphere of influence expansions. Iran had a revolution where they expelled or kidnapped all Americans in the country. This terrified Americans, who felt that the Cold War was back on, and they needed someone in charge who was pro-military and very anti-communist.

10. Ronald Reagan (Republican, 1980-1988) Regan is seen as a very popular President, both because of and despite the following facts: He got the economy back on track through tax cuts, reduced public spending, restrictions of organized labor, and reduced regulations for businesses. He took care of Russia by investing obscene amounts of money in the military, including rapidly expanding all branches, working on putting missile bases in space, bombing / invading several small countries, and paying for pro-American military movies (like Top Gun) Created the War on Drugs At first, the Cold War seemed to be more dangerous than ever as Russia built up its own army and détente was forgotten. Soon though, it was seen that Soviet communism lacked the resources to build an armed forces to match America’s, and the bankrupted themselves in the failed attempt to do so.

11. George H.W. Bush (Republican, 88-92) Bush came to power as the USSR was falling apart due to economic and political problems at home. Although he did not do much himself to help end the Cold War, the Berlin Wall was torn down, The USSR was dissolved, the START treaties were signed, Germany was reunified, and the Warsaw Pact broken up while he was President. In the last of the Cold War meetings, Bush met with Gorbachev in 1989, on the island of Malta, 45 years after Yalta (the Cold War is sometimes referred to as “Yalta to Malta). Two years later, in 1991, the US and Russia were working together to solve problems in the Middle East. Bush was in charge of the first Gulf War, and as such, saw the shift in world politics from Russia being the problem are, to the Middle East, which still continues today.

12. Joseph Stalin (Communist Party, 1922-1953) Stalin was influential in the creation of the USSR between 1917-1922, and had complete control over it from the mid-20s to his death in 53. Stalin was very strict and controlling, and followed a hardline interpretation of Marxism called Stalinism, which preached a lack of civil rights, complete socialism, a strong central Gov’t and opposition to the West. Stalin created what Russia was supposed to be, and set the groundwork for future leaders. He was well liked in Russia, and saw them through WWII, The Berlin Crisis, the Korean war, the start of the space race, the start of the Cold War, and their nuclear weapons program.

13. Nikita Khrushchev (Communist Party, 53-64) When Stalin died, there was a power struggle within the party to see who would replace him. Those who wanted to keep Stalinism alive lost, and the reformers were able to put Khrushchev in charge. At home, Khrushchev changed many things about the USSR, which was called the Khrushchev Thaw. This included removing many books from the banned books list, allowing more freedom, and denouncing Stalin and Stalinism. This infuriated the party hardliners, who eventually were able to force him to retire. Abroad, Khrushchev tried to open relations to the West, and was sometimes successful, sometimes not. He did visit Disneyland and work with the UN, but he also instigated the Cuban Missile Crisis and invested heavily in missiles, submarines, and other first strike weapons. He broke off relations with China when Mao disagreed with him about communism, and invaded Hungary when they tried to leave the USSR’s sphere of Influence. Khrushchev was very cranky and hard to get along with, and he had a temper, so this helped in his removal from power.

14. Leonid Brezhnev (Communist Party, 64-82) Brezhnev was a protégé of Khrushchev, but helped remove him when he saw his own chance for power. Brezhnev promoted the idea of détente, and during his time in power, relations between the US and USSR got better and better. There were proxy wars, but for the most part, this period of the cold war was quiet, and marked only by occasional peace treaties. In 1979, fearing that Communist Afghanistan would revolt and be taken over by Muslim radicals, he ordered the USSR to invade. This event restarted the Cold War, and Brezhnev died shortly afterwards.

15. Mikhail Gorbachev (Communist Party, 84-91) In the early 80s, it was felt that, as three old Soviet leaders had died over the past two years, younger leadership was needed. Many Soviet politicians were replaced with young members, including their General Secretary. Gorbachev started radical reforms as soon as he was in power. He created glasnost, or a complete political restructuring centering on openness, political freedom, and democracy. He also created perestroika, or an economic restricting that adopted some capitalist ideas. This was done to move the USSR forward, as the cost of completing with Regan’s new military was getting very high. Things quickly got out of hand - it turns out that political oppression and a command economy were the only things holding the 15 republics of the USSR together. Perestroika created economic chaos and poverty, while many people used the freedoms of glasnost to demand actual freedom. First, all the countries in the USSR’s sphere of influence (Poland, Hungary, etc.) voted to break away and become democratic, and then all of the Republics (or provinces) within the USSR voted for this too. Between August and September of 1991, 14 new countries were formed by leaving the USSR. The last and largest Republic, Russia, was the only member of the USSR left, and in December of 1991, it left the USSR too, and created a new country – Russia. Today, many people see Gorbachev as a hero for destroying the USSR and stopping the Cold War (he won the Nobel prize for this), even if this was not his intention. Within Russia, some people love him, and some hate him.