...The “Why We Fight” film by Jarecki talked about the American militarism by not only speaking about the causes of wars, but also all the behind scenes of the doings including video clips of the public responding to the big question; “Why does the United States fight?”. Jarecki incorporates not only the past debacles, but also the ones that affect us to this day; by doing this he creates a panoramic view of the development of a three-legged complex that began after WWII. He begins with the infamous 1961 farewell speech that Eisenhower gave warning us against the development of the “military-industrial complex”, by doing this he creates the base of his argument and an image of the connections between the people involved in our forces. Jarecki...
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...General Eisenhower’s involvement in D-Day has been widely debated as Stephen E. Ambrose once said “the operation will forever be linked to one name, Dwight Eisenhower ”. Eisenhower will always be linked with the success of D-Day as a result of him being the Supreme Allied Commander; however he was not the only general or even individual who played a part in its success. The main factors for consideration are Eisenhower’s leadership and Eisenhower’s strategy and tactics. Many historians argue that Eisenhower’s personal leadership was the reason for the success of D-Day. Anthony Beevor says that “Eisenhower’s ability to keep such a disparate team together was an extraordinary achievement ” Stephen E. Ambrose wrote “Eisenhower tended to seek out words and phrases that would appease .” These historians agree that Eisenhower’s political awareness in regards to the handling of his generals was the reason for success; Eisenhower was plagued by generals who did not respect him due to his lack of experience. Eisenhower however was experienced, he was the Commanding General of the European Theatre of Operations and he was the SCAEF of the North African Theatre of Operations. For example Dr Andrew Gordon wrote “Eisenhower, and his chief of staff General Bedell Smith, had worked and won with these officers from as far back as TORCH ” Professor Samuel J Newland agrees “D-Day is the prime example of the power and synergy that can be created by a strong alliance. ” Eisenhower recognised this...
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...ultimately isolating and disadvantaging the entire community. Growing Anger In the late 1940s, government agencies like the FBI, under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover, used anticommunism and subsequently homophobia to expand their power by developing files on thousands of American citizens, including political dissenters, homosexuals, and other threats to American values, most of whom had no viable connection to communism. While there were most likely communist spies and people working against the American government, the vast majority of those jailed or deprived of their jobs were guilty of nothing more than holding unpopular beliefs or engaging in lawful political activism. The massive wave of terminations that followed in the wake of the Eisenhower’s Executive Order culminated in the loss of 5,000-10,000 gay, or presumed gay, workers. Because the order specifically banned government consultants from being gay and banned re-hiring someone who had been previously found and fired, the queer community, at large, suffered immense financial ruin. Additionally, as the government informed everyone the worker was related to, and had contact with, of the reason for...
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...casualties, and confusion for the United States, as well as the terms of three presidents: John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon. When U.S. involvement in the war began under Kennedy, it was originally put out as a plan for the United States to only aid the South Vietnamese, but, after his assassination, Johnson was put in charge. The path that the war took under Johnson was filled with controversy and large numbers of casualties. When Johnson did not run for a second term, Nixon was left in charge to ultimately turn things around. Soon, all of the American troops were removed from Vietnam, and the war slowly began to come to a close. But what was it about Nixon’s foreign policy that was so much more successful than Johnson’s? Was Nixon’s policy more closely related to Kennedy’s successful strategy than Johnson’s was, and, if so, why didn’t Johnson do a better job modeling his policy after Kennedy? These are all questions that political scientists still look at today as a way to solve the many questions that are still being posed about the war. I have looked deeply into these questions, and found answers through researching the history of Vietnam as well as the three presidents. As I read about each event that unfolded, it became clear to me why there were such drastic differences involving their results. Before the election of President Kennedy, the United States was led by President Eisenhower. Kennedy did a good job continuing his predecessor’s policies...
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...There are three main factors that improved the position of African-Americans in the years 1945-55, the first being World War II, the second is Presidents and the third is Civil Rights Organisations. There are a few significant factors that occurred as a result of the Second World War. For example, the 'Double V Campaign' of 1942. Two months after the Bombing of Pearl Harbour by the Japanese, the Pittsburgh Courier (the most popular black newspaper in America) published the campaign to everyone. It called for a victory on two fronts, it was a campaign for African-Americans to give their all in the war effort and for black people to fight racial discrimination back home in America. The editor of the newspaper wrote "We call upon the President and Congress to declare war on Japan and against racial prejudice in our country." This was significant because it gave African-Americans a chance to prove how much of a positive impact they could have on the war and this in turn could show current white racists a different view on them. Additionally, it could be argued that because it was quite a big newspaper, more people across America would see it, and therefore it could potentially have more of an effect on the general opinion. Another factor was the black soldiers who returned home as heroes after the Second World War. It changed the attitudes of white people all across America but more specifically, white soldiers who had fought alongside them in the war. Before the war, white...
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...Richard Nixon Checkers Speech On September 23, 1952 Richard Milhous Nixon sat down to address the largest television audience ever amassed by a politician this was no ordinary political speech. Nixon’s future in politics was on the line. In one speech Nixon had the daunting task of not only clearing his name of the allegation that he had received illegal campaign funds, but he also had to present himself as a viable asset to the Republican ticket. Nixon bared his heart to the American people, and in turn was applauded for his honesty and good character. Nixon’s speech was met with nearly unanimous acceptance and praise. But, audience acceptance alone is not what makes a speech unforgettable or worth writing about. Good speech analysis involves evaluating the speaker, audience and environment surrounding a speech. Before Nixon’s speech can be analyzed there must be a clear understanding of the events leading up to his speech. After only six years in politics as the California state Governor, Richard Nixon was chosen by Dwight Eisenhower as his running-mate in the Presidential election. Being only 39-years old and having relatively no political experience it was an honor for Nixon to be chosen. The main issues being debated by the presidential and vice-presidential hopefuls were the Korean War, communism and corruption. Nixon focused most heavily on addressing the issue of communism because of his contributions in exposing...
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...Civil Rights in the Sixties The 1960s brought about social change in America. America elected the second youngest and the first Catholic president (John F. Kennedy) and the Anti-War Movement began. The Anti-War Movement was based on people mostly the youth of America protesting a war (Vietnam War) that they believed America could not win. At the same time people were protesting the war they were objecting to the social injustice surrounding minorities; thus began the Civil Rights Movement. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was instrumental in starting The Civil Rights Movement the yearlong battle for equal treatment on buses gave minorities the strength to fight for more equal treatment and gave rise to Martin Luther King Jr. who was elected by the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) to lead the boycott. During The Montgomery Bus Boycott whites tried to use the media to put out false stories by claiming the boycott have come to an end and that minorities settled for the same moderate desegregation plan that they received before the boycott. Public opion in Montgomery Alabama at first was against the boycott, but once the business community realized they were losing money because minorities were no longer shopping downtown their opion began to wane. Throughout the civil rights movement the media was a constant force some believe that without the media exposing the at times moving and often unsightly events of the movement that it would not advanced as much as it did. Some Southern...
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...Going To War Com/156 Going To War In today’s world there are many wars and rumors of wars. No matter where we turn we are hearing about one conflict or another. Often it make one wonder has there ever been peace in the world. Looking back on history our world has constantly moved from one war to the next. Trying to understand why it is that mankind feels the need to fight one another is not simple to answer. Many reasons have been given as to why war are started everything from religion, expansionism, ethnic cleansing and even in the name of peace itself. No matter what the reason is that people claim to be fighting for when you get down to the basic of it all. In the end people go to war for power and control, even when the purpose or perception to do so suggests otherwise. To better understand the reason wars are started we need first talk about why people go to war. Matthew O. Jackson and Massimo Morelli wrote (when researching for the book “The Handbook on the Political Economy of War.”) a list of the reason why people go to war. They included the following: religion, revenge, ethnic cleansing and other ideological mass killings, asymmetric information, bargaining failures, first strike advantages and preemptive war. (2009, The Reasons for Wars – an Updated Survey). As complete as this list was I found that often the reason for war was not simply one of the above topics. Often those declaring the wars would use multiple reasons as for the need. This often...
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...Primary Source Analysis Paper 1. In the pictorial, Miss Colombia’s School House (1894), my initial impression is that this picture serves as the basis for the term “the great melting pot”. The pictorial shows the exclusion of Hawaii and Canada from the United States at that time but the desire to include them. The views of the South are expressed with the presence of the African American child being accosted with a weapon. The picture further depicts an Anglo child assaulting an Asian child. In the back of the pictorial one of the attendees is protesting his view of socialism by carrying a red flag with the work socialism publicized on the flag. This pictorial gives a quick look in to history regarding America’s relations with surrounding nations. Aguinaldo’s criticism of America’s policies towards the Philippines echo in the 1894 cartoon is when the Spanish was eradicated from the Philippines. It was at this moment that the American guerrilla began. Cuba was under the Spanish control and America became an ally and attempted to free Cuba from their tyrannical control. The Spanish also controlled the countries of Puerto Rico and Guam at this time. Due to the corrupt treatment, Aguinaldo deciphered that those in America viewed all native of the Philippines as savages. Due to this view the land of the Philippine Island was transformed from “a land of despotism and vicious governmental methods into an enlightened and progressive republic, with America guiding them”. The documents...
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...Assess how far the sources support the interpretation that the main reason America began and continued its involvement in Vietnam was to defend democracy All of the sources provide differing interpretations for the reasons for America’s involvement in Vietnam. Sources A and D provide evidence that supports the interpretation that America’s involvement in Vietnam was to ‘defend democracy’ while sources B and C provide evidence that refute it. Source A shows a letter from the formidable source of President Dwight Eisenhower to Diem the President of South Vietnam at the time. The letter shows Eisenhower expresses his support and his concerns for the new South Vietnamese government. The letter mentions the US sending aid to Diem and emphasises their support for the relocation of Vietnamese people away from places ‘ruled by a communist ideology they hate’. Source A emits the idea the US began its involvement in Vietnam for quite noble causes such like the aiding the protection Vietnamese to rescue them from a communist regime they despise. The letter portrays the US supporting Diem out of the goodness of their hearts shown in the final sentence: ‘I am glad that the United States is able to assist this humanitarian effort’ as far as this letter is concerned it would appear that US just wants to help a struggling democracy with no apparent benefits towards them .Eisenhower was a firm believer in ‘Domino theory’ and thought it as vital to prevent Vietnam from becoming yet another Asian...
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...John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), commonly known by his initials JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35th President of the United States from January 1961 until he was assassinated in November 1963. After military service as commander of Motor Torpedo Boats PT-109 and PT-59 during World War II in the South Pacific, Kennedy represented Massachusetts's 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953 as a Democrat. Thereafter, he served in the U.S. Senate from 1953 until 1960. Kennedy defeated vice president and Republican candidate Richard Nixon in the 1960 U.S. presidential election. At age 43, he was the youngest to have been elected to the office,[2][a] the second-youngest president (after Theodore Roosevelt), and the first person born in the 20th century to serve as president.[3] To date, Kennedy has been the only Roman Catholic president and the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize.[4] Events during his presidency included the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Space Race—by initiating Project Apollo (which would culminate in the moon landing), the building of the Berlin Wall, the African-American Civil Rights Movement, and increased U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested that afternoon and charged with the crime that night. Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald two days later...
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...NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND THE ESCALATION OF THE COLD WAR, 1945-1962 David Holloway, Stanford University Nuclear weapons are so central to the history of the Cold War that it can be difficult to disentangle the two. Did nuclear weapons cause the Cold War? Did they contribute to its escalation? Did they help to keep the Cold War “cold?” We should ask also how the Cold War shaped the development of atomic energy. Was the nuclear arms race a product of Cold War tension rather than its cause? The Atomic Bomb and the Origins of the Cold War The nuclear age began before the Cold War. During World War II, three countries decided to build the atomic bomb: Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Britain put its own work aside and joined the Manhattan Project as a junior partner in 1943. The Soviet effort was small before August 1945. The British and American projects were driven by the fear of a German atomic bomb, but Germany decided in 1942 not to make a serious effort to build the bomb. In an extraordinary display of scientific and industrial might, the United States made two bombs ready for use by August 1945. Germany was defeated by then, but President Truman decided to use the bomb against Japan. The decision to use the atomic bomb has been a matter of intense controversy. Did Truman decide to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki in order, as he claimed, to end the war with Japan without further loss of American lives? Or did he drop the bombs in order to intimidate the Soviet Union...
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...AMERICAN 'CULTURE' - AND ITS INFLUENCE 357 AMERICAN 'CULTURE' - AND ITS INFLUENCE Barnett Singer I T is patronizing to refer to contemporary American culture as somehow a doubtful entity, but perhaps the problem is the word 'culture' itself. Would 'mindset' do better? Maybe. However, we will stick with 'culture', identifying some salient aspects of it in today's US, which for good and/or ill, seem to exert great influence in the wider world. American 'culture' has been inextricably bound up this election year with the searing, super-reported Obama-Clinton flght for the Democratic nomination, followed by Obama's increasingly bitter joust with Sen. McCain. One aspect of American 'culture' dealt with below, a huge penchant for nostalgia, was seen in an attempt to make Obama another JEK of fresh mien and views, and his wife a second Jackie - all made more poignant by Teddy Kennedy's sudden struggle for survival. There was also an attempt to show in the pro-Hillary coalition a lineage harking back to Franklin D. Roosevelt. On the other side, there was Republican concem for maintenance of a Reaganite legacy (few wanting out loud to protect George W. Bush's). So let us identify one prevailing theme in today's America as a 'culture of nostalgia'. The US housing market or auto industry may have experienced signiflcant downturns, but this nostalgia boom shows no signs of abating. Starting with popular music: in American restaurants or supermarkets, 'oldie-goldies' became an...
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...The Deadly Compromise, by David Armstrong and Joseph Trento. Steerforth Press, 2007. 292 pages, $24.95. Deception: Pakistan, the United States, and the Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons, by Adrian Levy and Catherine Scott-Clark. Walker & Company, 2007. 586 pages, $28.95. The Nuclear Jihadist: The True Story of the Man Who Sold the World’s Most Dangerous Secrets . . . and How We Could Have Stopped Him, by Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins. Twelve, 2007. 413 pages, $25. KEYWORDS: Nuclear proliferation; A.Q. Khan; Pakistan; United States; United Kingdom During the fall of 1994, with preparations under way toward holding a bilateral summit meeting sometime early in the coming year, I spoke with senior Pakistani officials to learn whether Benazir Bhutto would heed long-standing U.S. urgings and prevent Pakistan’s nuclear program from enriching large amounts of uranium to weapon-grade and then building atomic bombs. Bhutto’s resurfacing as Pakistan’s prime minister in late 1993 was seen by some U.S. officials as an opportunity to move Pakistan in directions Washington favored. The administration of President Bill Clinton was freshly staffed with personalities who for years had advocated upgrading the U.S. nonproliferation profile, and the Cold War was rapidly becoming a memory. It appeared that a window of opportunity might open for Clinton and Bhutto to effectively address concerns voiced by some U.S. lawmakers and policy specialists that Pakistan was marching unflinchingly toward...
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...The usa has ‘saved the world for democracy’ on more than one occasion – but has itself become an aggressive militaristic society. And there appears to be an increasing divergence between how a large proportion of Americans view themselves and their country and how they are perceived by a large proportion of the 95 per cent of the world’s population who are not Americans. Hunting down myths It has been said that sociologists must be ‘myth-hunters’, tracking down popular beliefs that are ill founded (Elias 1978: 50-70). Whether simply exposing such beliefs to contrary evidence deployed by academics is sufficient to kill off myths and bring them home for mounting on the walls of our university departments is highly debateable. Nevertheless, we have a duty to call them in question, and enter into debate with those who want to keep them alive in the big-game reserve of public opinion. In my recent book The American Civilizing Process (Mennell 2007), I set out to see how far Norbert Elias’s theory of civilising and decivilising processes needed to be modified in the light of American history and how far it applied unchanged to the development of the usa....
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