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John Fitzgerald Kennedy: President from 60-63. Personal legacy Red Asia, Overthrough government in Laos in 61 to instill a sympathetic ear to the US in which it was a very strong military regime,
In an effort to overthrow Castro and instill a sympathetic US ear in 1961 Kennedy administrates the Bay of Pigs to infiltrate with the CIA the government like was done at Guatemala. It ends up being a complete failure and has a major effect on how Kennedy would deal with the cuban Missile crisis and his major fear of being seen as a failure.

Kennedys tatics would lead to the spreading of war in places that began to align themself with the Soviets and creating communism.
Lyndon Baines Johnson: Became president after JFK's assassination in 1963 and was president until he announced in 68 that he would not run again. As president he was obcessed with not losing the Vietnam War. In addition to this LBJ wanted to lead the nations towards massive domestic programs that would alleviate poverty. This never occurred because LBJ was consumed by the war. Johnson escelated the war by doing major bombing. He viewed Ho Chi Man as a person equal to Hitler. The turning point was when the orth attacked the South in 1963 in what is referred to as the Tet Offensive. Even though it could have been seen as a military vctory for the South it dramatically changed the domestic support. People saw the deaths of massive Americans and had enough. In the end the result would be that LBJ turned down a relection bid.
Richard Nixon: Nixon was president from 68-74. Nxon is elected into office with the idea of "Vietnamization." His goal was to pull out American troops form Vietnam while at the same time replacing them with Vietnameze troops. By 1972 Nixon had pulled all but 3000 troops from the region. The South however was struggling greatly and so he drops multiple bombs. Under this context he believes that invading Cambodia will help the war by getting rid of the ajor communist stronghold. He does this without congress approval and it failed by only pushing more people towards communism. Nixon then resigns because of the domestic problem f watergate and congress institutes the War Powers Act requiring congressional approval in case of a war, which eventually expires in 1998.
Gerald Ford: Replaced Nixon in 1974 after he resigned. During his administarion the South finally ell to the communists. He was apart of the negotiation of the SALT II agreement that set new limits on nuclear arms.
He also led the Mayaquez rescue needlessly not knowing that the soldiers had already been released. These two events however did not save his presidency and he was defeated by Jimmy carter in 1976.
Jimmy Carter: Became president in 1977. Early in his administration he gained from two main successes.
The Panama Canal Treaty giving back the Canal.
The Camp David Accords which was the final signing of a peace treaty. His majr failure came in the Iranian Hostage Crisis. 55 Americans were captured andheld hostage n Tehran for 44 days. Carter went ahead with the recue mission against Secretry Lance's belief. It ended in disaster when all of the hostages ended up being killed. The crisis looked terrible for the administration and may have been the reason for Carter's loss for relection.
Ronald Reagan: Became president in 1981 after defeating Jimmy Carter.
Regan came into office with 4 cornerstones:
1.Renew the idea that the president was in charge
2.Defined American power in military powers not economic.
3.Focused a fear of communism on the Soviet Union
Drew Distinction between authoritarian regimes and totalitarian regimes.
4.Pushed to rearm America with 1.5 trillion dollar military increase.

Granada occurred under the Reagan administation. The adminsitration attacked with the justification of protecting the medical students in the region, but the true eason was to deflect attention form pullng out of Lebanon.

Some also contend that Reagan's policy of weapons buldup either defeated or contributed to the defeat of the Soviet Union.
Krushchev: Leader of the Soviet Union ofter the death of Stalin. His major impact was in the Cuban Missile Crisis. After the Bay of Pigs failure Castro became more reliant upon the Soviet Union and Kruschev. Kruschev wanted to use this relationship to send medium weapons into Cuba that could then hit the US. The administration debated how to react and decided to quarantine the situation. Kruschev then had the decision of whether to push forward ending up in war or to pull back. The US got mixed signals on what he was doing, but in the end Kruschev decided to pull te weapons out as long as the US removed the Jupiters pointd at them. The Cuban Missle Crisis had an effect of throwing out Kruschev from power, a full-scale built of weapons on the side of the Soviets, democrats win the election in a landslide, shatterred the western alliance, instituted a hotline fr communication between the US, and a bilateral agreement between the two nations to end ground testing of nucler weapons.
Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962: After the Bay of Pigs failure Castro became more reliant upon the Soviet Union and Kruschev. Kruschev wanted to use this relationship to send medium weapons into Cuba that could then hit the US.

There were 3 main reasons for desiring the weapons:
1.The Soviets believed the Americans were going to attempt another attack on Cuba.
2.The Soviets wanted a tit-for-tat because the Americans had put in place weapons in Turkey that could reach parts of the Soviet Union. The Soviets wanted to respond by placing their own weapons.
3. He wanted to product his capital. Believed that without these weapons the US would eventually invade the Soviet Union.

The administration debated how to react and decided to quarantine the situation. Kruschev then had the decision of whether to push forward ending up in war or to pull back. The US got mixed signals on what he was doing, but in the end Kruschev decided to pull te weapons out as long as the US removed the Jupiters pointd at them. The Cuban Missle Crisis had an effect of throwing out Kruschev from power, a full-scale built of weapons on the side of the Soviets, democrats win the election in a landslide, shatterred the western alliance, instituted a hotline fr communication between the US, and a bilateral agreement between the two nations to end ground testing of nucler weapons.
Brezhnev: Came to power after Krushchev and did not take as much risks. He was key in the development of SALT I and SALT II. He also was a major reason for why the Soviet Union went through great stgnation because he ignored fundamental economic problems. He also invaded Afghanistan which led to a long costly struggle with armed Moslem guerrillas.
Ayatollah Khomeini: Overthrew the Shaw in 1979. He played a major importance in the Iranian Hostage Crisis. When the US allowed the Shaw into the US for medical treatment mobs seized 69 hostages. Khimeini declared he supported the hostage cisis believing the Shaw should e tried and executed. In the end they all were released, but it marked a split in US/Iranian relations.
Gamar Abdel Nasser: President of Egypt from 1954-1970. In 1963 there was a revolution in Yemen in which he sent troops in order to stop the revolution. Saudia Arabia opposed this, but Kennedy was worried f he supported Saudia Arabia Egypt would turn to the Soviet Union. Kenndy ended allying with Saudia Arabia. Nassar attempted to cutoff the West Bank to Israel, but they seized the West Bank and many Palestinians from Egypt. This led Nassar to go to war in attempt to win back the land. In the ned the UN intervened and the result was that the Egyptians had torecogniz Israel as a state, but Israel also had to give back the West Bank.
Gorbachev: After he took power he saw it neccessary to get the Soviet Union's economy back in order. In order to do this he began the process of decreasing the military and Perestroika which pushed decentralization of economic planning In an effort to get support for this he instituted Glasnost that allowed people to have fee speech to stat what they felt. He believed in doing this people would like the liberal reforms and support him. It actually backfired on him becuase then the people wanted even greater reforms. In ended in his downfall and overthrow by Yeltzin.
Boris Yeltsin: Took over power after Gorbachev. Instituted dramatic "shock therapy" and declared the Soviet Union dissolved. It ended up failing resulting in inflation running up to 2000%.
Castro (Operation Mongoose): The U.S. wanted to instill someone in Cuba who was more sympthetic to US interests. After the Bay of Pigs failed Operation Mongoose was put in place with an allocation of a hundred million dollars by congress. It had the two following goals:
1.Ruin their economic economy so that they would turn to the US. In order to do this they cut of a lot of trade with Cuba. This had an effect of having Castro turn to the soviet Union.
2.To kill Castro. Exploding cigars. The lord hated Castro and the people should overthrow him.

It ended up failing however because the people actually liked Castro. In the end it only pushed relations between Cuba and the soviet Union closer.
Diem: Leader of South Vietnamese. 1955 instilled into power under Eisenhower adminstration. He is pushed out of office by his own generals.
Alliance for Progress: Policy put forward by Kennedy hen he first comes into office giving 100 billion dollars to Central America in order to help the lower and middle classes. By th 1970s it was a complete failure. There are 5 main reasons behind this:
1.The best land was owned by the rich elites even with the land reform. They were not willing to give up their land for greater equity.
2.Congress despite authorizing 100 billion did not authorize any money for land reforms. Without that the heart of it was to fail.
3.Population issues were a major problem in South America. One of the highest population growths in the world. People needed multiple children to work the land and the Catholic church came out against birth control.
4.Most people who received money for development in Central And South America were the elite, not the peasants. The plant crops that they can export to the US, not the ones that help people to be fed.
5.The US could not create an organization to solve the problems.

The bay of Pigs makes the Alliance look like a hypocracy.
Dien Bien Phu, 1954: The last battle in the first indochina war that marked the end to French control. After the war the country was divided between the North Communist control and the south non-communist control. This would set the stage for the U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Robert Kennedy: Served as United States Attorney General from 1961-64. During this time he was key in developing the response to the cuban Missile Crisis not wanting to repaet the mistakes made during the Bay of Pigs. He was then elected as Senator in 1964 and assassinated during his run for president in 1968.
General Phoumi Nosavan: Lao Military and political leader during second indo-china war. He was backed by the CIA part of the right wing. With the help of the CIA he developed a right wing army. Th administration however turned against him when he refused to merge in a tripartite coalition. Aid from the US was cut to his government an so he turned to selling opium. His power was then toppled by a coupand when he failed to regain power in a coup he fled to Thailand. The importance was that the US was not sending troos into Vietnam yet, but were trying to use covert opperations that had been attempted in the past. (Gutemala, Bay of Pig, Operation Mongoose, etc.)
General Westmoreland: U.S. Army General in Vietnam from 1964-68. He had prospects for the US war in Vietnam. His turning point was in the Tet Offensive when things seemed to begin to head downhill. Westmoreland was still convinced that the war could be won, but public opinion had switched.
General Maxwell Taylor: Was asked by the Johnson administration to come up with a plan for how the US should proceed in the Vietnam War. The Taylor-Rostow report reccomended that the US should increase the amount of troops by 8,000. Within 15 months of the report Kennedy expanded the military commitment from 500 to 10,000. Taylor was vital to the push behind this.
Prince Sihanouk: In early 1970 his government in Cambodia was overthrown by a right-wing military officer Lon Nol. This allowed nixon to attack on Cambodia without the congress approval in what he saw as ridding the state of communsim. The attack however ended up failing and only leading to a greater support for communism. This attack then led to the War Powers Act.
General Lon Nol: Created a commmuist insurgency where here wasnâ€™t one in Cambodia. Overthrew Prince Sihanouk's government in early 1970. President Nixon then used it to prop up people in the US and as a reason to go to war with Cambodia. In the end it only pushed people towards communism and the war was lost. Congress never approved of the war effort in Cambodia and in response instated the War Powers Act.
Thieu: Former president of South Vietnam from 1967-75. H ehelped to lead the coup overthrowing Diem. He tried to get the US to step in and help the South against the offensive by the North. The US declined leading to the Fall of Saigon in 1975.
Shah of Iran: The Shah was restored to power in 1951 in Iran eith the help of the CIA after mossadegh nationalized the oil. The Shaw became important during oil embargo when the US looked to them for help in making up for decrease. The Shah could not help much, but did benefit greatly from the increase on prices.
Yasser Arafat: Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and President[of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). He was a key individual in reaching a peace agreement with the Israeli Prime Minister in 1993. He was a controversial figure that some saw him as hereoic others viewed him as a terrorist. He did however earn the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.
Batista: 1934 General Batista comes to control in Cuba and develops a sort of mafia enforcement. Castro attempts to overthrow, but is put in jail. When Castro gets out of jail he gets a force together to overthrow Castro and succeeded.
Noriega: Seized power of Panama in 1983. He was important to the US in helping to fight the Sandinistas and worked along side the CIA. However in an ironic twist when he gained power the US eventually fought against him trying to overthrow him. George H.W. Bush launched an attack on Panama in which Noreiga fled. He finally surrendered in 1990. He was put on trial for 26 felons, found guilty and remains in jail to this day.
Powell Doctrine: Created by General Colin Powell. It was important in weighing whether or not to go foraward with war. It held you must have overwhelming force, an exit strategy, and minimizing costs.
Granada: Uccurred under Regan . The adminsitration attacked with the justification of protecting the medical students in the region, but the true eason was to deflect attention form pullng out of Lebanon.
Bay of Pigs: Bay of Pigs occurred in 1961 when the Kennedy administration desired to put in place a leader in place of Castro who would be more sympathetic to U.S. interests. They made a plan to infiltrate with the CIA the government like was done at Guatemala. It ends up being a complete failure and has a major effect on how Kennedy would deal with the cuban Missile crisis and his major fear of being seen as a failure. It would also make the Alliance for Progress look like a complete hypocracy, push the people of Cuba towards Castro even more and make the Cuban relationship with the Soviet Union even stronger.
Henry Kissinger: Served as United States Secretary of state in the Nixon administration. He was a key proponent of vietnamization and helped craft the attack on cambodia. In 1973 he negotiated the end to the Yom Kippur War.
Gulf of Tonkin: An alleged pair of attacks --the second of which did not occur -- by North Vietnamese gunboats on two American destroyers, the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy, in August of 1964 in the Gulf of Tonkin. The outcome of the alleged incidents was the Gulf of Tonkin Reolution
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: Passed in 1964 after Gulf of Tonkin incident giving it US President Lyndon B. Johnson approval, without a formal declaration of war, â€œTo take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom.â€[1] Both Johnson and President Richard Nixon used the Resolution as a justification for escalated involvement in Indochina.
Six Day War: When Egypt expelled the United Nations Emergency Force from the Sinai Peninsula, increased its military activity near the border, and blockaded the Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships, Israel launched a pre-emptive attack on Egypt's airforce fearing an imminent attack by Egypt. In the end Israel gained massive territory and this would eventually lead to the Yom Kippur War.
Bombing of Haiphong Harbor (operation linebacker): United States military operation during the Vietnam War. It encompassed bombing and other interdiction operations conducted by the United States Air Force and the United States Navy. Its purpose was to stop a North Vietnamese Army offensive. It was apart of the goal of vietnamization. The goal was to fight off the north from the south without having the use of combat troops.
PLO: The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) a political and paramilitary organization regarded by the Arab League since October 1974 as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Yassar Arafat was the leader of them and recognized Israel as a legitimate state. The PLO is important in establishing a Palestinian state and the overall representation of the Palestinian people.
Camp David Accords: They were signed by by Egyptian President Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Begin on September 17, 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David under the witness of president Jimmy Carter. The accrods served as a foundation for peace between Egypt and Israel.
Osama Bin Laden: A Saudi Arabian militant Islamist and is widely believed to be one of the founders of the organization called al-Qaeda. He was involved in the 1998 bombings in Tanzania and Kenya. He also is said to have been the main mastermind behind the 9/11 attack.
SEATO: Created as a result of the Truman Doctrine and the polcy of containment. SEATO (South East Asia Treaty Organization) was created to oppose further Communist gains in Southeast Asia. The treaty was supplemented by a Pacific Charter, affirming the rights of Asian and Pacific peoples to equality and self-determination and setting forth goals of economic, social, and cultural cooperation between the member countries. SEATO was used to justify the US involvement in vietnam.
First Gulf War (Persian Gulf War): Iraq invades its tiny neighbor, Kuwait, after talks break down over oil production and debt repayment. Iraqi president Saddam Hussein later annexes Kuwait and declares it a 19th province of Iraq (Aug. 2). President Bush believes that Iraq intends to invade Saudi Arabia and take control of the region's oil supplies. Bush organizes a multinational coalition to fight for the freedom of Kuwait. Bush wins congressional approval for his position with the most devastating air assault in history against military targets in Iraq and Kuwait.
Ho Vhi Minh: Coomunist president of North Vietnam from 1955-69. Formed the Viet Minh to fight for independance from the French. In seeing this fight Eisenhower developed his domino theory fearing that if the North won then it was only a matter of time until other countries would fall prey to communism.
Vietnam: Colony of France until they won their independance in 1954. At this time the country split between the north communist and South non-communist. The Us supported Diem to win the presidency and he did in 1955 even though fraud was suspected. He did not hav e support from the people of South Vietnam, but did from the US. He was eventually assassinated leading to thieu coming into power. Thieu was said to be even more corrupt. He asked the Us to come in and help fight against the North, but the US refused to and in 1975 he fled to Taiwan and South Vietnam fell to the communists.

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