Brief Bullet Point Summaries of Chapters 39-44

I've created bullet point summaries of what I thought were the more important points in Chapters 39-44. Please let me know if I've missed anything. Thanks!

Chapter 39.  The Cold War Begins (1945-1952)

1. The production boom of WWII jolted America out of the Great Depression. America enjoyed an economic dominance for three decades following WWII as the other countries were recovering.
2. The policy of “containment”, or not letting communism spread, was the basis of the “Truman doctrine” which drove foreign policy until communism fell in 1989.
3. The U.S. gave billions to rebuild western Europe using the Marshall Plan.
4. When North Korea invaded South Korea, the policy of containment was challenged and the US entered the Korean War to uphold the “Truman Doctrine”.

Chapter 40.  The Eisenhower Era (1952-1960)

1. American enjoyed its new prosperity and bought up loads of consumer items to go along with new homes.
2. The “baby boom” began.
3. “McCarthyism” boosted America’s fears of communism.
4. Black—white segregation in the South became stricter. However, the foundation of the civil rights movement was laid with events such as the Brown v. Board of Education case and Montgomery bus boycott.
5. The Cold War dominated culture. Incidents between the U.S. and U.S.S.R., such as America’s U-2 spy plane being shot down, added to the tension. Plus, a new “arms race” of nuclear weapons, and a “space race” to develop satellites and rockets began.

Chapter 41. The Stormy Sixties (1960-1968)

1. John Kennedy struggled over foreign policy with his failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba but redeemed himself by standing up to the U.S.S.R. in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
2. JFK also sent U.S. “advisors” to South Vietnam. The goal was to prevent communist North Vietnam from taking over non-communist South Vietnam.  
3. The Civil Rights Movement gained steam and reached full boil with Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech.” The Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act were large steps forward toward ending discrimination.
4. Lyndon Baines Johnson fought two “wars”.  In the US, he started the “Great Society” in attempt to make America the place everyone had dreamt it would be.  He also significantly escalated the U.S. presence in Vietnam after the Tonkin Gulf Incident.
5. Culturally, young people rebelled against the conformity of the 50s. In the 60s, the norm for many became to not follow the norm. This was seen mostly in the hippies, in music, in drug use, and in the idea of “questioning authority.”

Chapter 42.  The Stalemated Seventies (1968-1980)

1. The economy began to slow because of increased oil prices and resulting inflation. During the seventies, gas prices tripled and inflation reached double digits by 1980.
2. Nixon was brought down by the Watergate Scandal. The scandal involved a break-in and mic bugging at the Democratic headquarters. Nixon got into trouble for “obstructing justice” and telling people to keep quiet about it.
3. Jimmy Carter was elected as a Washington outsider. He struggled as president with (a) the economy which took a nose-dive and (b) foreign affairs as he was unable to deal with U.S. hostages taken in Iran.
4. Though times were certainly not bad, mixed with the Watergate scandal, it was a decade without tremendous progress.

Chapter 43.  The Resurgence of Conservation (1980-1996)

1. Conservatism emerged through Reagan who supported tax cuts, “supply-side” economics that helped businesses, and a strengthening of the military. The national debt increased dramatically, largely due to increased military spending.
2. Reagan took a strong stance against communism, calling the U.S.S.R. the “evil empire.”
3. When Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union, tensions began to soften. Gorbachev’s actions within the U.S.S.R. would eventually lead to communism’s fall in 1989.
4. In 1991, Iraq invaded Kuwait. This started an international effort to oust Iraq, led by George H. W. Bush and the U.S.

Chapter 44. The American People Face a New Century

1. The high-tech sector has revolutionized the modern nation. Personal computers are the norm and the internet came in a boom (and a bust). A handful of tech firms and founders became instant billionaires.
2. The rich-poor gap widened as the wealthy got wealthier during the Reagan/Bush/Clinton years. The rich did get richer, but they had to pay an increasing percentage of the total taxes.
3. Women broke into many places formerly reserved for men. This was true for both jobs, but also for colleges such as Ivy League schools and military schools.
4. Family make-up began to change dramatically as divorce increased sharply. Births to unmarried women also increased dramatically.