CHRONOLOGY

1952

  • Dwight D. Eisenhower elected president.

    • 1953

  • CIA organizes coup against Iranian government.

    • 1954

  • CIA organizes coup against Guatemalan government.

  • Geneva accords end French presence in Vietnam.

  • United States begins aid to South Vietnam.

  • Operation Wetback begins.

  • Hernandez v. Texas decided.

  • Brown v. Board of Education decided.

  • Senate condemns Senator Joseph McCarthy.

    • 1955

  • Eisenhower and Khrushchev meet in Geneva.

    • 1955–1956

  • Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott carried out.

    • 1956

  • Interstate Highway and Defense System Act becomes law.

  • Eisenhower reelected.

    • 1957

  • Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) founded.

  • Soviets launch Sputnik.

  • Civil Rights Act of 1957 passes.

    • 1958

  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) established.

  • National Defense Education Act passes.

    • 1959

  • Nixon and Khrushchev engage in kitchen debate.

    • 1960

  • Soviets shoot down U.S. U-2 spy plane.

  • One-quarter of Americans live in suburbs.

  • Thirty-five percent of women work outside the home.