President Ronald Reagan issues Executive Order 12324, authorizing the U.S. Coast Guard to interdict vessels carrying undocumented migrants in international waters and return passengers to their country of origin without asylum screening. Though framed neutrally, the order specifically targets …
Ronald ReaganU.S. Coast GuardImmigration and Naturalization ServiceJean-Claude DuvalierDepartment of Stateimmigrationasylumracisminterdictiondetention+1 more
Between April and October 1980, approximately 125,000 Cubans flee to the United States in the Mariel Boatlift after Fidel Castro opens the port of Mariel to emigration. Simultaneously, thousands of Haitians fleeing the brutal Duvalier dictatorship arrive in Florida by boat, creating a natural …
Jimmy CarterFidel CastroCuban refugeesHaitian refugeesImmigration and Naturalization Service+1 moreimmigrationrefugee-policyracismdetentioncold-war+1 more
President Jimmy Carter signs the Refugee Act of 1980, the first comprehensive reform of U.S. refugee policy since the Displaced Persons Act of 1948. The legislation adopts the United Nations definition of refugee as anyone with a “well-founded fear of persecution” based on race, …
Jimmy CarterEdward KennedyU.S. CongressUnited Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesDepartment of Stateimmigrationrefugee-policyasylumcold-warinstitutional-capture
Final Church Committee report reveals extensive details about Project MKULTRA, documenting systematic psychological manipulation techniques developed by CIA during Cold War. The investigation exposed how intelligence agencies conducted unethical human experimentation, including drug-based mind …
Senator Frank ChurchCIAIntelligence CommunityDonald Ewen CameronNSA+1 morepsychological-manipulationinstitutional-researchgovernment-operationsintelligence-abusehuman-rights+1 more
The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge on December 5, 1955, creating the AFL-CIO with 16 million members representing one-third of American workers. George Meany, the conservative plumber who led the AFL, becomes president, while the more progressive …
George MeanyWalter ReutherAmerican Federation of LaborCongress of Industrial OrganizationsAFL-CIOlaborunionslabor-consolidationlabor-politicscold-war
Congress passes the Communist Control Act of 1954, preventing members of the Communist Party from holding office in labor unions and other labor organizations. The legislation represents the culmination of systematic efforts to weaponize anti-communism against labor organizing, following the …
U.S. CongressDwight EisenhowerHouse Un-American Activities CommitteeAmerican Federation of LaborCongress of Industrial Organizationslabor-suppressionmccarthyismanti-communismred-scareunion-busting+1 more
On June 27, 1954, democratically elected Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz resigned under pressure from a CIA-orchestrated coup known as Operation PBSUCCESS. The intervention, designed primarily to protect United Fruit Company’s vast landholdings, inaugurated decades of military dictatorship, …
Central Intelligence AgencyAllen DullesJohn Foster DullesUnited Fruit CompanyJacobo Arbenz+3 moreintelligence-overreachforeign-interventioncorporate-interestsbanana-republiccold-war+1 more
On February 26, 1954, the United States Senate rejected the Bricker Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment that would have severely limited the President’s treaty-making power. The amendment, backed by conservative Republicans and corporate groups including the American Bar Association …
John BrickerDwight D. EisenhowerAmerican Bar AssociationU.S. SenateAmerican Medical Association+1 moreisolationismcongressional-actionconstitutional-amendmentcold-warcorporate-interests
On August 19, 1953, the CIA executed Operation Ajax (known to the British as Operation Boot), a covert action that overthrew Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh and restored authoritarian power to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The coup marked the first time the CIA …
Central Intelligence AgencyKermit Roosevelt Jr.Allen DullesJohn Foster DullesMohammad Mosaddegh+4 moreintelligence-overreachforeign-interventionoil-industrycorporate-interestsauthoritarian-support+1 more
On June 19, 1953, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed by electric chair at Sing Sing prison, becoming the first American civilians executed for espionage during peacetime and the only Americans executed for Cold War spy activities. Their case remains the most controversial capital punishment in …
Julius RosenbergEthel RosenbergRoy CohnIrving SaypolIrving Kaufman+3 moremccarthyismred-scarecapital-punishmentcivil-libertiespolitical-persecution+1 more
Under CIA Director Allen Dulles, Project MKULTRA is officially launched as a comprehensive, covert research program exploring behavioral modification and mind control techniques. The program involves 149 subprojects conducted through universities and research institutions, focusing on chemical and …
The U.S. Navy awards Electric Boat the contract to design and build the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus (SSN-571), marking a pivotal moment in the military-industrial complex’s evolution. The contract launch demonstrates how Cold War nuclear competition drives …
Electric BoatGeneral Dynamics CorporationJohn Jay HopkinsU.S. NavyAdmiral Hyman Rickovermilitary-industrial-complexdefense-contractsnuclear-weaponscorporate-consolidationcold-war
Congress passed the Celler-Kefauver Anti-Merger Act, championed by Representative Emanuel Celler (D-NY) and Senator Estes Kefauver (D-TN), fundamentally strengthening the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 and giving the government powerful new tools to prevent anticompetitive mergers. The Act closed …
U.S. CongressRepresentative Emanuel CellerSenator Estes KefauverHarry TrumanFederal Trade Commissionantitrustmerger-enforcementcorporate-powercompetitioncold-war
President Harry S. Truman received National Security Council directive NSC-68, a 66-page top-secret policy paper that would fundamentally transform American defense policy by calling for “full mobilization of the U.S. economy during peacetime”—an unprecedented measure that created the …
Harry S. TrumanPaul NitzeDean AchesonGeorge KennanLouis Johnsonmilitary-spendingdefense-policycold-warpermanent-war-economyinstitutional-capture
The Chinese Nationalist government relocates its capital to Taiwan on December 8, 1949, after Communist forces complete their victory in the Chinese Civil War, intensifying the “China Lobby’s” campaign to shape U.S. foreign policy in support of Chiang Kai-shek’s regime. The …
Alfred KohlbergChiang Kai-shekT.V. SoongHenry R. LuceWalter H. Judd+1 moreforeign-lobbyingpropagandacold-waranticommunisminfluence-operations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) holds its eleventh annual convention in Cleveland and expels two member unions, the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) and the Farm Equipment Workers, for alleged “disloyalty to the CIO” and support for the …
Congress of Industrial OrganizationsPhilip MurrayWalter ReutherUnited Electrical, Radio and Machine WorkersFarm Equipment Workers+1 morelabor-suppressionred-scareanti-communismunion-bustingmccarthyism+1 more
Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty (Washington Treaty) on April 4, 1949, establishing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and marking a fundamental transformation in U.S. foreign and defense policy by committing the United States to an ongoing role in European defense. The …
Harry S. TrumanU.S. CongressNorth Atlantic Treaty OrganizationDefense Departmentcold-warmilitary-alliancedefense-spendingmilitary-industrial-complexnato
The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program) begins on April 3, 1948, as the United States initiates a $13.3 billion economic recovery program for Western Europe ($137 billion in 2024 dollars). Announced by Secretary of State George Marshall in June 1947 and signed into law by …
George MarshallHarry S. TrumanU.S. CongressEuropean Recovery Programcold-warforeign-aidcorporate-welfaremilitary-industrial-complextrade-policy
President Harry S. Truman signs the U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (Public Law 80-402), popularly called the Smith-Mundt Act after sponsor Congressman Karl E. Mundt (R-SD), on January 27, 1948. The Act regulates broadcasting of programs for foreign audiences produced under …
Harry S. TrumanKarl E. MundtU.S. CongressState DepartmentVoice of Americapropagandainformation-warfarecold-warstate-departmentvoice-of-america
President Harry S. Truman addresses a joint session of Congress on March 12, 1947, requesting $400 million in military and economic assistance for Greece and Turkey, establishing what becomes known as the Truman Doctrine. The speech marks a fundamental shift in American foreign policy from …
Harry S. TrumanU.S. CongressGeorge F. KennanDean Achesoncold-warmilitary-aidcontainmentforeign-policymilitary-industrial-complex
The Joint Chiefs of Staff authorize Operation Paperclip on September 3, 1945, establishing a secret program to recruit German scientists, engineers, and technicians for American military and intelligence agencies. The program ultimately brings over 1,600 German scientists and their families to the …
Joint Intelligence Objectives AgencyWar DepartmentWernher von BraunState DepartmentOffice of Strategic Services+1 moreintelligence-apparatusnational-security-stateinstitutional-corruptionwar-crimescold-war+1 more