SAQ Brainstorm #1

During the years 1945 to 1980, the Cold War fluctuated between periods of confrontation and peaceful coexistence.

a. Briefly explain ONE policy or action that led to confrontation.

b. Briefly explain ONE policy or action that promoted peaceful coexistence.

c. Provide ONE piece of outside evidence and explain how it supports your response in either Part A or Part B.

SAQ Brainstorm #2 – The Sixties

This question is based on the following image.

Between 1960 and 1980, political debates sharply divided the nation.

a. Identify THREE examples of clashes over the power of the presidency between 1960 and 1980.

b. Explain how ONE of the three examples in Part A led to a change in the power of the presidency.

c. Explain ONE long-term result of the change explained in Part B on the power of the presidency.

SAQ Brainstorm #3 – The Vietnam

“The story of Tet as an enemy defeat was drowned out by an exactly opposite dovish interpretation, accepted by most of the media, of Tet as a ruinous defeat for the United States. (The military to this day curse and distrust the media for their bad reporting.) For years Washington had used the media to deceive the public, presenting the equally distorted angle that the war was a peripheral matter with everything going well and no need to worry. That angle was indeed false; suddenly the entire American nation realized there was a major war going on, and that it might even be lost. The media, feeling tricked, began to seriously question the veracity and optimism of the White House.”

Richard Jensen, “Victory and Defeat in the Vietnam War,” 2001

Richard Jensen, "Victory and Defeat in the Vietnam War," in Richard Jensen, Jon Davidann, and Yoneyuki Sugita, eds. Trans-Pacific Relations: America, Europe, and Asia in the Twentieth Century (Westport, Conn.: Praeger. 2003).

“Vietnam demonstrates the problems of an asymmetric war. This was not a total war for the United States; this was not the worst-case scenario of fighting an equivalent power with equivalent technology and probably greater numbers.…The Air Force came into the Vietnam War woefully unprepared for the war....While it is true that air operations were constrained by civilian-imposed restrictions, the Air Force had also limited its abilities by its concentration on nuclear war. It rose to the challenge of the war in Vietnam….But the war had also changed from a guerrilla war to a conventional one….What failed in Vietnam was not the technology, but a broad understating of the power and limits of both air power and air technology.”

Kenneth P. Werrell, “Did the USAF Technology Fail in Vietnam?” 1998

Kenneth P. Werrell, “Did the USAF Technology Fail in Vietnam?” Airpower Journal, Spring 1998.

Based on the two interpretations above regarding the Vietnam War, complete the following three tasks:

a. Briefly explain the main point made in Passage 1.

b. Briefly explain the main point made in Passage 2.

c. Provide ONE piece of evidence from the era of the Vietnam War that is not included in the passages, and explain how it supports the interpretation in either passage.

The resurgence of political conservatism in the 1980s and 1990s emboldened conservatives in their efforts to reshape American society.

a. Briefly explain ONE economic goal that conservatives were able to achieve during the 1980s or 1990s.

b. Briefly explain ONE social goal that conservatives were able to achieve during the 1980s or 1990s.

c. Provide at least ONE specific piece of additional evidence to demonstrate how conservatives were able to implement the economic or social goal that you discussed in Part A or Part B.

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