1946 Churchill "A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so lately lighted by the Allied Victory. ...An iron curtain has descended across the [European] Continent."

 Truman Beats Dewy (48)

 Russian Challenge to Four-Power control of Berlin

 Russians Develop the A-bomb - NATO formed (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

 Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman plays in New York.

 Soon after the A-bomb, Russians develop the H-bomb

 Cold War Escalates

 McCarran Internal Security Act - Required Communist organizations to register with the government and denied communists passports or employment in defense industries. Vetoed by Truman "In a free country we punish men for the crimes they commit, but never for the opinions they have." Passed by Super Majority.(50)

 The McCarran Internal Securities Act set the stage for Joseph McCarthy to begin what would become a capitalist inquisition of potential communists, which leads to hundreds of firings and thousands of resignations.

 Korean War (50-53)

 Eisenhower beats Stevenson (52) Sees his role as executive, not legislator

 Stalin Dies (53), replaced by Khrushchev (58)

 Division of Vietnam by Geneva Conference

 Khrushchev demands West out of Berlin in 6 months - Eisenhower calls bluff

 McCarthy undoes himself by attacking Eisenhower and The Senate Condemns his practices as "unbecoming conduct for a Senator."(54)

 American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged in 1955, but union enrollment remained the same, about 25% of the workforce.

 Brown -vs- Board of Education unanimously reversed the separate but equal standard.

 Eisenhower beats Stevenson (56)

 Sputnik I (57) - Space Race Heats Up

 Little Rock Arkansas, Governor Orval Faubus refused to admit 9 Black students to Central High.(57)

 Congress Passes the Civil Rights Act(57)

 Albert Camus wins Nobel Prize for literature.(57)

 Theatre of the Absurd gains ground (58)

 Khrushchev visits US for 12 days (59)

 Russians shoot down U-2 (60)

 Kennedy beats Nixon by 84 electoral and 112,881 popular votes (60)

 Peace Corps (61)

 April 12 1961 Yuri Gagarin Orbits the Earth.

 Cuban Missile Crisis (62)

 Governor Ross Barnett refused to admit James Meredith to the University of Mississippi because he was Black. Again, Federal force was required.(63)

 Longshoreman Strike in `63 paralyzed shipping for 39 days and a printers strike stopped the New York Times from going to presses for 114 days.

 Ban on above ground nuclear testing

 Kennedy assassinated November 22, 1963

 Worlds Fair in New York (64)

 Theatre of Fact - a type of political Drama or Documentary Drama is born. The plot is revealed through the introduction of factual material such as reports, conference minutes, newspaper articles, etc. The audience is led to question the validity of the accepted version of an event by the spin put on the presentation of the facts.

 Johnson obtains blank check for executive military action in Vietnam from Congress(64)

 Antiwar marches began in `65

 Tet Offensive convinces public that the war is unwinnable (67)

 Antiwar sentiment plays a role in Nixon's victory over Humphrey (68)

 Nixon wins decisively in `72

 Paris Peace Accords ended the war(73)