1970's Vocabulary
Affirmative action- positive discrimination a policy designed to counter discrimination against minority groups and women in areas such as employment and education
Brezhnev, Leonid- A Soviet political leader of the twentieth century. He seized the leadership of the Soviet Communist party from Nikita Khrushchev in 1964. Brezhnev eventually became the head of government of the Soviet Union and served until his death in 1982. Brezhnev had the Soviet army invade Afghanistan in 1979 to keep a government friendly to the Soviets in power. He also sent soldiers into Czechoslovakia in 1968 to depose a government he considered unacceptable. He reached agreements with the United States on reducing the two nations' stock of nuclear weapons. The Soviet Union under Brezhnev was marked by a stagnating economy and widespread corruption.
Camp David Accords- a peace treaty between Israel and egypt issuing from talks at Camp David between Egyptian President Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Begin, and the host, U.S. President Carter: signed in 1979
Carter, Jimmy- 39th President of the United States
Détente- a relaxing of tension, especially between nations, as by negotiations or agreements.
ERA- Equal Rights Amendment: proposed 27th amendment to the U.S. constitution that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex.
Ford, Gerald- A political leader of the twentieth century who served as president from 1974 to 1977. A prominent Republican in Congress, Ford was named vice president in 1973, after the resignation of Spiro Agnew. He succeeded to the presidency in 1974, when President Richard Nixon was forced to resign. Ford sought to pursue moderate policies and to communicate better with Congress and with the public than Nixon had. He refused approval, however, of a large number of bills passed by Congress, which was controlled by Democrats, saying they were too costly. He pardoned Nixon in a widely criticized effort to end division over the Watergate scandal. Ford lost the presidency to James Earl Carter in the 1976 election.
Impeachment- the presentation of formal charges against a public official by the lower house, trial to be before the upper house.
Iran- Republic in the Middle East, bordered by Armenia, the Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan to the north; Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east; the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south; and Iraq and Turkey to the west. Its capital and largest city is Teheran.
Kissinger, Henry- A scholar and government official of the twentieth century. As an adviser and later secretary of state under President Richard Nixon, Kissinger prepared for the opening of diplomatic relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China. During the Vietnam War, he helped Nixon plan and execute a secret bombing of Cambodia, and his negotiations with the government of North Vietnam helped produce a cease-fire in that war. He was cowinner of the Nobel Prize for peace in 1973.
Nixon Doctrine: the policy declared by President Nixon in 1969 that the U.S. would supply arms but not military forces to its allies in Asia and elsewhere.
Nixon, Richard M. : vice president under Eisenhower and 37th President of the United States; resigned after the Watergate scandal in 1974 (1913-1994)
NOW: national organization for women
OPEC: Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries: an organization formed in 1961 to administer a common policy for the sale of petroleum. Its members are Algeria, Angola, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. Ecuador and Gabon were members but withdrew in 1992 and 1995 respectively
Pardon: a release from the penalty of an offense; a remission of penalty, as by a governor or the document by which such remission is declared.
SALT: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks- negotiations between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics opened in 1969 in Helsinki designed to limit both countries' stock of nuclear weapons
Title IX: a clause in the 1972 educationact stating that no one shall because of sex be denied the benefits of any educational program of activity that receives direct federal aid.
Vietnam: a conflict, starting in 1954 and ending in 1975, between South Vietnam (later aided by the U.S., South Korea, australia, the philippines, Thailand, and New Zealand) and the Vietcong and North Vietnam.
Vietnamization: a U.S. policy during theVietnam War of giving the South Vietnamese government responsibility for carrying on the war, so as to allow for the withdrawal of American troops.
Watergate: a White house political scandal that came to light during the 1972 presidential campaign, growing out of a break-in at the Democratic party headquarters at the Watergate apartment-office complex in Washington, D.C., and, after Congressional hearings, culminating in the resignation of President Nixon in 1974.
Women’s Rights Movement: The effort to secure equal rights for women and to remove gender discrimination from laws, institutions, and behavioral patterns.
Zedong. Mao: 1893-1976. Chinese Communist leader and theorist. A founder of the Chinese Communist Party (1921), he led the Long March (1934-1935) and proclaimed the People's Republic of China in 1949. As party chairman and the country's first head of state (1949-1959) he initiated the Great Leap Forward and the founding of communes. He continued as party chairman after 1959 and was a leading figure in the Cultural Revolution (1966-1969). In the 1970s he consolidated his political power and established ties with the West.
Brezhnev, Leonid- A Soviet political leader of the twentieth century. He seized the leadership of the Soviet Communist party from Nikita Khrushchev in 1964. Brezhnev eventually became the head of government of the Soviet Union and served until his death in 1982. Brezhnev had the Soviet army invade Afghanistan in 1979 to keep a government friendly to the Soviets in power. He also sent soldiers into Czechoslovakia in 1968 to depose a government he considered unacceptable. He reached agreements with the United States on reducing the two nations' stock of nuclear weapons. The Soviet Union under Brezhnev was marked by a stagnating economy and widespread corruption.
Camp David Accords- a peace treaty between Israel and egypt issuing from talks at Camp David between Egyptian President Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Begin, and the host, U.S. President Carter: signed in 1979
Carter, Jimmy- 39th President of the United States
Détente- a relaxing of tension, especially between nations, as by negotiations or agreements.
ERA- Equal Rights Amendment: proposed 27th amendment to the U.S. constitution that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex.
Ford, Gerald- A political leader of the twentieth century who served as president from 1974 to 1977. A prominent Republican in Congress, Ford was named vice president in 1973, after the resignation of Spiro Agnew. He succeeded to the presidency in 1974, when President Richard Nixon was forced to resign. Ford sought to pursue moderate policies and to communicate better with Congress and with the public than Nixon had. He refused approval, however, of a large number of bills passed by Congress, which was controlled by Democrats, saying they were too costly. He pardoned Nixon in a widely criticized effort to end division over the Watergate scandal. Ford lost the presidency to James Earl Carter in the 1976 election.
Impeachment- the presentation of formal charges against a public official by the lower house, trial to be before the upper house.
Iran- Republic in the Middle East, bordered by Armenia, the Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan to the north; Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east; the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to the south; and Iraq and Turkey to the west. Its capital and largest city is Teheran.
Kissinger, Henry- A scholar and government official of the twentieth century. As an adviser and later secretary of state under President Richard Nixon, Kissinger prepared for the opening of diplomatic relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China. During the Vietnam War, he helped Nixon plan and execute a secret bombing of Cambodia, and his negotiations with the government of North Vietnam helped produce a cease-fire in that war. He was cowinner of the Nobel Prize for peace in 1973.
Nixon Doctrine: the policy declared by President Nixon in 1969 that the U.S. would supply arms but not military forces to its allies in Asia and elsewhere.
Nixon, Richard M. : vice president under Eisenhower and 37th President of the United States; resigned after the Watergate scandal in 1974 (1913-1994)
NOW: national organization for women
OPEC: Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries: an organization formed in 1961 to administer a common policy for the sale of petroleum. Its members are Algeria, Angola, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. Ecuador and Gabon were members but withdrew in 1992 and 1995 respectively
Pardon: a release from the penalty of an offense; a remission of penalty, as by a governor or the document by which such remission is declared.
SALT: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks- negotiations between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics opened in 1969 in Helsinki designed to limit both countries' stock of nuclear weapons
Title IX: a clause in the 1972 educationact stating that no one shall because of sex be denied the benefits of any educational program of activity that receives direct federal aid.
Vietnam: a conflict, starting in 1954 and ending in 1975, between South Vietnam (later aided by the U.S., South Korea, australia, the philippines, Thailand, and New Zealand) and the Vietcong and North Vietnam.
Vietnamization: a U.S. policy during theVietnam War of giving the South Vietnamese government responsibility for carrying on the war, so as to allow for the withdrawal of American troops.
Watergate: a White house political scandal that came to light during the 1972 presidential campaign, growing out of a break-in at the Democratic party headquarters at the Watergate apartment-office complex in Washington, D.C., and, after Congressional hearings, culminating in the resignation of President Nixon in 1974.
Women’s Rights Movement: The effort to secure equal rights for women and to remove gender discrimination from laws, institutions, and behavioral patterns.
Zedong. Mao: 1893-1976. Chinese Communist leader and theorist. A founder of the Chinese Communist Party (1921), he led the Long March (1934-1935) and proclaimed the People's Republic of China in 1949. As party chairman and the country's first head of state (1949-1959) he initiated the Great Leap Forward and the founding of communes. He continued as party chairman after 1959 and was a leading figure in the Cultural Revolution (1966-1969). In the 1970s he consolidated his political power and established ties with the West.
