American Decades
Bunche, Ralph 1904-1971
DIPLOMAT, UNDERSECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Prominent Figure.
In 1950 Ralph Bunche became the first black person awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in fostering an armistice between warring Arabs and Israelis. The award brought to public attention a long record of public service. Bunche was a central figure among blacks, and although less well known during the 1940s than W. E. B. Du Bois or A. Philip Randolph, like them he prepared the way for the civil rights revolution of the 1950s and 1960s. An early leader in forming American policy in Africa, Bunche played a major intellectual role in the decolonization movement after World War II.
Respected Scholar.
The grandson of slaves, Bunche was born on 7 August 1904 in Detroit. Showing intellectual promise early, he excelled academically and graduated with honors from the University of California, Los Angeles. He attended graduate...
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1940's Government and Politics
- Overview
-
Topics in the News
- America at War: Background to Involvement
- America at War: from Humiliation to Hegemony in the Pacific
- America at War: The Campaigns in North Africa and Italy
- America at War: The Final Push in Europe
- America at War: The War Ends in the Pacific
- America at War: The War at Home
- America at War: The Internment of Japanese Americans
- America's Response to the Holocaust
- Civil Rights
- The Cold War: Prelude in Wartime
- The Cold War: Postwar Tensions
- The Development of the Affluent Society
- National Politics: Democratic Primaries and Convention 1940
- National Politics: Republican Primaries and Convention 1940
- National Politics: Election 1940
- National Politics: Election 1942
- National Politics: Democratic Primaries and Convention 1944
- National Politics: Republican Primaries and Convention 1944
- National Politics: Election 1944
- National Politics: Election 1946
- National Politics: Democratic Primaries and Convention 1948
- National Politics: Republican Primaries and Convention 1948
- National Politics: Election 1948
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Headline Makers
- Bunche, Ralph 1904-1971
- Dewey, Thomas E. 1902-1971
- Eisenhower, Dwight D. 1890-1969
- Forrestal, James V. 1892-1949
- Hobby, Oveta Culp 1905-
- Marshall, George C. 1880-1959
- Patton, George S. 1885-1945
- Perkins, Frances 1882-1965
- Rankin, Jeannette 1880-1973
- Roosevelt, Franklin D. 1882-1945
- Truman, Harry S 1884-1972
- Wallace, Henry A. 1888-1965
- People in the News
- Deaths
- Publications
- Important Events in Government and Politics, 1940–1949
