Nation Torn, A: America's Relationship with Ngo Dinh Diem
From 1954 to the 1970s Diem fills jails with people in the South suspected of being Communist. People are tortured and killed. When several Buddhists are killed for demonstrating in 1963, Kennedy sends Henry Cabot Lodge to Vietnam to bring order to ...
Taking the Offensive: Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, The
Different alternatives are available to ending the war in the Pacific. Truman's decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki is still being debated. Harvard historian Akira Iriye talks about the shock of the bombing, the Soviet Union's entry into the war...
Road to War, The: Organizing the Economy for War
The American Government and Politicsencourages the industrial economy to support the "Great War". With the supply demands high and more men being drafted into war, African Americans soon migrate to the northern states for work. The war effort also f...
Road to War, The: United States Enters War and Initiates Draft, The
President Wilson asks Congress for declaration of war on April 2, 1917. The United States transforms itself into a society capable of waging total war in 18 months. Wilson and Congress agree to institute a national draft. African Americans see advan...
Road to War, The: Road to War, The
Europe in 1914 is a complex system of competing alliances led by two opposing forces: Great Britain on one side and Germany on the other. When the heir to the Austria-Hungarian Empire Archduke Franz Ferdinand is gunned down by a Serbian nationalist,...
Fallout: From Invasion to Stalemate
American commander Douglas MacArthur is convinced that the U. S. can overthrow the North Korean regime and create a unified anti-communist Korea. As U.S. forces approach the Yalu River border between Korea and China, China sends a message that it wi...
Road to War, The: Germany's Aggressive Submarine Warfare Tests U. S. Neutrality
Economic realities in the second year of World War I make it difficult for the United States to maintain its neutrality. Roosevelt encourages the U. S. to enter the war on side of allies, a minority opinion. In the election of 1916, Republican candi...
Right Turn: International Crises Plague Carter
U.S. dependence on foreign oil reaches crisis levels in the summer of 1979 when instability in the Middle East produces a second major fuel shortage. To determine what course of action to take Carter goes to Camp David, site of the triumphant meetin...
Right Turn: Ford Custodianship, The
As Gerald Ford is thrust into the presidency, America is a troubled nation, numbed by the Watergate scandal, the fall of Vietnam, and the nation's economic difficulties. Ford's increasing skill in foreign affairs results in his distancing himself fr...
Right Turn: Fading of the Reagan Revolution, The
Reagan's personal popularity diverts attention from a series of scandals that might have destroyed another administration. A plan arises for Israel to sell weapons to Iran, weapons that the United States would then replenish. Iran would then encoura...