2. 1950- Senator Joseph McCarthy gave a speech to the Senate accusing 205 federal workers of being members of the Communist Party Many other politicians, actors, or union activists were accused of being communist, and some were fired or even went to jail. 1954- McCarthy was censured (“condemned”) by the Senate which marked the weakening of McCarthyism until it eventually died out.

3. 35 th President of the U.S., 1961-63 Served in WWII Senator from Massachusetts Popular president

4. http://www.history.com/topics/space-race/videos/the-space- race

5. October 4, 1957- The U.S.S.R launched the Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to be put in space. 1958- The U.S. put their own satellite, Explorer I, in space. President Dwight D. Eisenhower also established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). April 1961- Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, became the first person to orbit Earth May 1961- President John F. Kennedy claimed that the United States would land a man on the moon by the end of the decade. July 20, 1969- Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon, effectively winning the space race for the U.S.

6. In 1959, Fidel Castro successfully overthrew the Cuban president and set up a communist dictatorship. This caused President Eisenhower to fear a growing relationship between Cuba and the Soviet Union.

7. 1960- The CIA began to secretly train Cuban exiles for a military invasion of Cuba in hopes of overthrowing Fidel Castro. February 1961- President Kennedy authorizes the invasion. April 17, 1961- The Cuban exiles land along beaches at the Bay of Pigs and are immediately met with heavy resistance. By April 20, 1961, all of the trained Cuban exiles were either killed or captured by Castro’s forces This failed invasion was a large source of embarrassment for the new Kennedy administration.

8. Can anyone guess what this political cartoon is guessing?

9. 1962- Following the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Nikita Khrushchev (Soviet leader) began to place nuclear missiles in Cuba. The United States had already had nuclear missiles in Turkey and Italy, and Kennedy demanded that Khrushchev removed the missiles from Cuba immediately. This confrontation lasted for 13 days, and was the closest the United States was to nuclear conflict during the Cold War.

10. October 14, 1962- Nuclear missiles are placed in Cuba. October 19, 1962-President Kennedy announced a naval blockade to prevent more weapons from being delivered in Cuba. The blockade worked and Khrushchev removed the missiles from Cuba on October 28, 1962. Above: Nikita Khrushchev

12. Can anyone remember the events that led up to the Vietnam War?

13. Vietnam used to be a French colony during the age of imperialism, but France lost some of its control during World War II. Ho Chi Minh and his communist party, the Viet Minh, took control of North Vietnam. France announced it’s intention to take back North Vietnam in 1946. North Vietnam was being supported by the Soviet Union and China, and France eventually withdrew from South Vietnam in 1954. Vietnam remained divided at the 17 th PARALLEL with the North being a communist government under Ho Chi Minh, and the South was a republic that was supported by the United States. Ho Chi Minh continued to try forcibly push communism into South Vietnam.

14. President John F. Kennedy began to offer military, political, and economic support to South Vietnam to allow it to defend itself from the armies led by Ho Chi Minh in 1961. Kennedy helped South Vietnam increase its army to 170,000 troops and managed to send in 1,000 U.S. military advisors. Over the next two years, Kennedy increased military aid as the Viet Cong, a communist organization allied with North Vietnam, rose up in South Vietnam.

15. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. He was pronounced dead at 1:00 PM and his vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, was swiftly sworn into office. Under Lyndon B. Johnson, American involvement greatly increased in Vietnam.