We Didn't Start The Fire

Front 1

Harry Truman

Back 1

Harry S. Truman became U.S. President when President Roosevelt died in 1945. He was responsible for dropping the atomic bombs on Japan and ending World War II. Truman started the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after the war.

He started his second term in 1949, defeating Thomas Dewey. A famous picture shows him smiling and holding up a newspaper with the headline "Dewey Wins!" During his second term, he brought the United States into the Korean War.

Front 2

Red China

Back 2

Communists took control of China after a struggle starting before World War II. Red China entered the Korean War in the 1950s, when it looked like the U.N. forces would defeat Communist North Korea.

Front 3

Joe McCarthy

Back 3

Joe McCarthy was a Senator from Wisconsin. He was best known for his work chairing the Senate Committee on Government Operations, which focused on suspected communists in the government. He even investigated the Voice of America,

He was known for his brutal interrogations of suspects, resulting in ruining the lives of both guilty and innocent people. It was later noted that McCarthy would be careful not to interrogate suspects who might resist his efforts. Usually, he picked on people with weak personalities.

While investigating possible communists in the U.S. Army, the Army's attorney general Joseph Welch responded to McCarthy's interrogation of a young soldier. He told McCarthy, "Let us not assassinate this lad further, senator. You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?" Since the hearings were broadcast on national television, millions realized that these interrogations were not right. The hearings soon ending and McCarthy was left in disfavor.

Front 4

Richard Nixon

Back 4

Richard Nixon was a member of the House of Representatives from California when he became involved in the trial of Alger Hiss, who was accused of being a Communist and a spy. Nixon presented evidence that help prove Hiss guilty in 1950. This advanced Nixon's political career, and he soon ran for the Senate and won. Nixon later became Vice-President under President Dwight Eisenhower. Years later, he became President of the United States.

Front 5

North Korea / South Korea

Back 5

Korea was split into north and south after World War II. North Korea became established as a Communist dictatorship by Soviet Union and Red China, after Japan was defeated.

In 1950, North Korea attacked South Korea, starting the Korean War. The United Nations entered the war to defend South Korea. The Soviet Union made the mistake of walking out on the U.N. vote, allowing the measure to pass. Since declaring war was not acceptable without the approval of Congress, President Harry S. Truman declared the fighting a "police action" to allow the entry of American troops. The war resulted in a stalemate, and Korea is still divided to this day.

Front 6

Rosenbergs

Back 6

The Rosenbergs were a husband and wife who were arrested and executed for selling secrets of the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union.

Front 7

H-bomb

Back 7

The hydrogen bomb was developed under the guidance of Dr. William Teller. It was many times more powerful than an atomic bomb and in fact required an atomic bomb to detonate. The United States exploded the first H-bomb and a few years later the Soviet Union then exploded their version of the bomb.

Front 8

Panmunjom

Back 8

Panmunjom, Korea is where negotiations between the United Nations—led by the United States—and the Communist North Koreans to end the Korean War took place. The separation between North Korea and South Korea was originally the 38th Parallel, but the new truce decided on a boundary between the countries that was more defensible. The countries also exchanged prisoners-of-war as a result of the Panmunjom negotiations.

Front 9

Eisenhower 1952

Back 9

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower ("Ike") had been Supreme Commander in the World War II fight against the Nazis. He later became a popular president of the United States. "I like Ike" was the motto of his followers.

Front 10

Joseph Stalin

Back 10

Joseph Stalin was the dictator of the Soviet Union. He was a harsh leader who had millions of his people executed or sent to labor camps in Siberia. On his way to political power, he changed his name to Stalin, which means "steel" in Russian.

Front 11

Malenkov

Back 11

Georgy Malenkov was a Soviet politician and Communist Party leader, and a close collaborator of Joseph Stalin. He briefly became leader of the USSR (March 1953-February 1955) after Stalin's death.

Front 12

Nasser

Back 12

Gamal Abdel Nasser was the second President of Egypt after Muhammad Naguib. He was considered one of the more influential Arab leaders in history.

Front 13

Rockefeller

Back 13

Nelson and Winthrop Rockefeller were grandsons of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller.

In 1953, Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Nelson as chair of the President's Advisory Committee on Government Organization. He served as Governor of New York from 1959 to 1973. He was the 41st Vice President of the United States of America from December 19, 1974 to January 20, 1977.

Also in 1953, Winthrop Rockefeller—who was known as a playboy and hard drinker—moved from Florida and New York to Arkansas. It was jokingly said he moved there because he loved playing the banjo. Winthrop became Governor of Arkansas in 1966 and was said to be a great influence on future Arkansas Governor and U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Winthrop was probably the Rockefeller that Billy Joel was referring to, since his playboy antics were more in the news than things that Nelson was doing.

Nelson and Winthrop Rockefeller were the only brothers in U.S. history to serve as governors at the same time until the late 1990s when George W. Bush and Jeb Bush became governors or their states.