Period 8 Names

• Franklin Delano Roosevelt


  Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), the 32nd U.S. President, served from 1933 to 1945, becoming the only president to serve more than two terms. He's known for his New Deal programs aimed at combating the Great Depression, and for leading the nation through World War II
• Douglas MacArthur


  a prominent figure in the Pacific Theater during World War II and later in the Korean War. He led the Allies in the Southwest Pacific and later oversaw the Allied occupation of Japan. His actions and decisions, particularly during the Korean War, led to his famous relief from command by President Truman
• George F. Kennan


  an influential American diplomat and historian who played a key role in shaping US foreign policy during the early Cold War. He is best known for his concept of "containment," which advocated for preventing the expansion of Soviet influence through firm, but not necessarily aggressive, US actions
• John Foster Dulles


  the US Secretary of State under President Eisenhower, known for his role in shaping Cold War foreign policy. He is particularly remembered for the concept of "massive retaliation," a strategy of responding to Soviet aggression with the threat of overwhelming nuclear force
• Joseph McCarthy


  the U.S. Senator from Wisconsin who led a highly controversial period of intense anti-communist suspicion and fear in the early 1950s, often referred to as "McCarthyism". He gained fame by claiming to have a list of Communist spies within the U.S. State Department, leading to investigations and accusations that damaged the reputations and careers of many people
• William Levitt


  a real estate developer who pioneered the use of assembly-line techniques to mass-produce homes, leading to the creation of suburban communities like Levittown
• David Riesman


  known for his sociological work, particularly his book The Lonely Crowd, which analyzed the changing social character of Americans in the post-World War II era
• Betty Friedan


  a prominent figure in the second-wave feminist movement, known for her book "The Feminine Mystique" and her role in founding the National Organization for Women (NOW). Her book, published in 1963, challenged the prevailing societal expectation that women's fulfillment came solely from being a housewife and homemaker. 
• Rachel Carson


  American conservationist whose 1962 book "Silent Spring" galvanized the modern environmental movement that gained significant traction in the 1970s
• George C. Marshall


  best known for his role in formulating and implementing the Marshall Plan, a post-World War II initiative to rebuild European economies
• Alger Hiss


  a key figure in the early Cold War's Red Scare, known for being accused of being a Soviet spy and later convicted of perjury. This case fueled anti-communist sentiment and highlighted the fear of subversion within the US government. was a former State Department official who helped create the United Nations. He was accused by Whittaker Chambers, a former Communist, and the case became a major political event during the Cold War. 
• Rosenbergs


  an American married couple convicted of espionage for the Soviet Union, specifically for passing top-secret information about atomic weapons to the Soviets. They were the first American civilians executed for peacetime espionage in 1953. Their case became a highly publicized example of Cold War fears and McCarthyism
• Benjamin Spock


  a pediatrician and author best known for his influential parenting guide that advised women to stay at home, The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care (later titled Baby and Child Care)
• J.D. Salinger


   a prominent writer of the post-WWII era, particularly for his novel The Catcher in the Rye. The novel, often associated with adolescent angst and a critique of societal conformity
• Allen Ginsberg


  the leading poet of the Beat Generation, a countercultural movement of the 1950s and 1960s. particularly his poem "Howl," is representative of the movement's rejection of mainstream values
• Jack Kerouac


  a central figure in the Beat Generation movement and the author of the influential novel On the Road.
• Michael Harrington


  the author of The Other America, a 1962 book that exposed widespread poverty in the United States
• Alan Freed


  a prominent radio disc jockey who played a key role in popularizing rock and roll in the early 1950s
• Jackson Pollock


  a leading figure in the Abstract Expressionism movement. He gained fame for his innovative "drip technique," where he would pour or splash paint onto horizontal canvases
• Mark Rothko


  a prominent American Abstract Expressionist painter. He is best known for his Color Field paintings, which feature large blocks of color and emphasize emotional depth
• Spiro T Agnew


  the 39th Vice President of the United States, serving under President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1973. He was forced to resign due to his involvement in a corruption scandal related to accepting bribes
• Earl Warren


  the 14th Chief Justice of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1969. He's most known for presiding over the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, which declared state-sponsored segregation in public schools unconstitutional. 
• Warren Burger


  defined as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1969 to 1986, appointed by President Nixon to replace retiring Chief Justice Earl Warren. Burger is associated with a shift in the court's direction towards a more conservative stance compared to the liberal Warren Court. He presided over major cases concerning abortion, affirmative action, the death penalty, and school desegregation
• Rosa Parks


  remembered for her 1955 refusal to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama, an act that sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and became a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement. She was a key figure in the struggle for racial equality and is often called "the mother of the civil rights movement
• Martin Luther King Jr


  a key figure in the American Civil Rights Movement, known for his leadership of nonviolent resistance and his powerful oratory. He led the Montgomery bus boycott, delivered the iconic "I Have a Dream" speech, and earned the Nobel Peace Prize for his work
• Robert Kennedy


  younger brother of JFK who entered public life as U.S. Attorney General during the Kennedy Administration. Later elected senator from New York, he became an anti-war, pro-civil rights presidental canidate in 1968
• Eugene "Bull" Connor


  known as the Commissioner of Public Safety in Birmingham, Alabama, during the Civil Rights Movement. He was a strong segregationist who actively resisted desegregation efforts led by Martin Luther King Jr. and the movement. Connor's use of aggressive tactics, like ordering police dogs and fire hoses against peaceful protestors, helped to nationalize the movement and galvanized support for civil rights legislation
• George Wallace


   Southern segregationist who gained prominence as Governor of Alabama and later as a third-party presidential candidate. He was known for his vocal defense of racial segregation and his appeal to white voters, especially those resentful of federal civil rights policies
• Malcolm X


  a prominent figure in the Civil Rights Movement, particularly its more militant branch. He was a powerful orator and leader in the Nation of Islam, advocating for Black empowerment and separation from white society. Unlike Martin Luther King Jr., who championed non-violent resistance and integration,advocated for self-defense and black separatism. He was a key influence on the Black Power movement and the Black Panther Party. 
• Ho Chi Minh

  the nationalist and communist leader of North Vietnam
• Ngo Dinh Diem

  the first President of South Vietnam, elected in 1955 after the Geneva Accords divided Vietnam into communist North and non-communist Sout
• Cesar Chavez


  a Mexican-American labor leader and civil rights activist who dedicated his life to improving the lives of farmworkers in the United States. He co-founded the United Farm Workers of America (UFW)
• Madeleine Albright


  first woman secretary of state (under Bill Clinton)
• Sandra Day O'Connor


  first woman to be appointed to the Court (under Reagan)
• Aldo Leopold


  a key figure in the environmental movement, known for his influential book "A Sand County Almanac" and his concept of the "land ethic." He's often considered the "father of wildlife ecology". 
• Lady Bird Johnson


  First Lady who contributed to improving the environment with her beautify America campaign
• Henry Kissinger


  a key figure in foreign policy during the Nixon Administration. He served as both National Security Advisor and later Secretary of State, playing a major role in Détente with the Soviet Union and China, and in ending the Vietnam War. 
• William Calley


  U.S. Army officer who was court-martialed and convicted of the murder of 22 unarmed South Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War. He was the only U.S. soldier involved in the massacre to face criminal charges and be convicted. 
• Harry S. Truman


  the 33rd President of the United States, served from 1945 to 1953. He became president after Franklin D. Roosevelt's death and played a key role in ending World War II by authorizing the use of atomic bombs on Japan.
• Eisenhower


   the 34th President of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. A moderate Republican, successful military leadership in World War II, his foreign policy focus on the Cold War, and his domestic policies like the authorization of the interstate highway system