| A | B |
|---|
| Cold War | A struggle for political; economic; and military superiority between the United States and the Soviet Union between 1945 and 1991. |
| Containment | American policy of resisting further expansion of communism around the world |
| Marshall Plan | A United States program of economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe. |
| Truman Doctrine | President Truman's policy of providing economic and military aid to any country threatened by communism or totalitarian ideology |
| Soviet Union | A Communist nation; consisting of Russia and 14 other states; that existed from 1922 to 1991. |
| Harry S. Truman | The 33rd U.S. president; who succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt upon his death in April 1945. Best known for making the controversial decision to use two atomic bombs against Japan. After the war; was crucial in the implementation of the Marshall Plan and the Truman Doctrine. |
| Korean War | 1950-53 war between communist North Korean forces and U.S.-backed South Korean forces. |
| G.I. Bill of Rights | Aid program for returning World War II veterans that included low-interest home loans; extended unemployment benefits; and money to attend college. |
| National Interstate and Defense Highways Act | 1956 law that created a national system of highways. Though originally designed as a means to transport military troops and supplies throughout the country; the Act changed population patterns and led to the growth of suburbia. |
| McCarthyism | The term associated with the search for communists in America during the early 1950s. |
| Executive Order 9981 | Establishes equality of treatment and opportunity in the Armed Services for people of all race; religions; or national origins |
| Brown v. Board of Education | 1954 - The Supreme Court overruled Plessy v. Ferguson; declared that racially segregated facilities are inherently unequal and ordered all public schools desegregated. |
| Sputnik I | The first space satellite; launched by Soviet Union. Lead to an increase in science and math education funding. |
| North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) | 1949 alliance of non-Communist nations that agreed to band together in the event of war and to support and protect each nation involved. |
| Warsaw Pact | An alliance between the Soviet Union and other Eastern European nations. |
| Iron Curtain | Winston Churchill's term for the Cold War division between the Soviet-dominated East and the U.S.-dominated West. |
| Mao Zedong | Chinese Communist leader from 1949 to 1976. |
