Oklahoma Social Studies USH.C.6.3

Standard Cluster

USH.C.6

Analyze foreign events and policies during the early Cold War Era.

Analyze the escalation of international tensions by examining the series of events and their long-term foreign and domestic consequences during the height of the Cold War. Examine the impact of the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the resulting nuclear arms race on public perceptions of security, including the goals of the NASA program and the beginnings of the space race prompted by Sputnik’s launch. Explain President Dwight Eisenhower’s concern regarding the power of the military industrial complex to influence American foreign policy (e.g., Eisenhower’s Farewell Address). Evaluate the continuing role of television and other mass media regarding their influence over the 1960 Nixon-Kennedy debates. Explain President Kennedy’s foreign policy as expressed in his inaugural address, including the establishment of the Peace Corps and reaction to the completion of the Berlin Wall. Evaluate President Kennedy’s decisions regarding the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis, leading to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Explain how the concept of brinkmanship and the doctrine of mutually assured destruction (MAD) affected defense strategies. Analyze the escalation of events drawing the United States into military involvement in Vietnam (e.g., Domino Theory, Vietnamization, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, the Tet Offensive, Paris Peace Accords). Explain how the Vietnam conflict impacted domestic affairs (e.g., outcome of the presidential election of 1968, university student protests, counterculture movement, expanded televised coverage of the conflict, passage of the War Powers Resolution Act and the 26th Amendment). Analyze the political and economic impact of President Nixon’s foreign policies including détente and the opening of China.

Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies (2026) · USH.C.6