Transcript Slide 1

When Nixon became President in 1968, he encouraged American’s to stop
“shouting” at each other and calm down!!!!
Nixon had lots of experience and expertise in foreign affairs
Had been Eisenhower’s VP
Had served on the House Un-American Activities Committee in the US Senate
Had negotiated with the Soviets
Nixon’s first act regarding Vietnam was the announcement of a new policy of
VIETNAMIZATION
Vietnamization meant that Nixon would withdraw most US troops over an
extended period
The South Vietnamese would take over the burden of fighting
US would aid the South with money, weapons, and training
South Vietnam would then be fighting its own war
Nixon also issued the Nixon Doctrine
Said the United States would honor its existing defense commitments
BUT, in the future, Asians and others would have to fight their own wars without
American troops
Nixon didn’t want to end the war but wanted to win without so much loss of life
Did not set well with the DOVES—those who desired peace now
Nixon appealed to the SILENT MAJORITY for support for the war
Nixon called the Doves “nattering nabobs of negativism” and student war protesters
“bums”
By 1970, the American public at large had turned greatly against the Vietnam War
Vietnam had become the LONGEST WAR in American history
Third most costly war
Draft policies seemed unfair to many at home and on the battlefield
College students usually exempt
Force mainly composed of underprivileged kids
Blacks more on the frontlines
Problems among soldiers with drug abuse, mutiny, and sabotage
The revelation of the massacre of innocent women at Mai Lai made
it even worse!!!!!
Nixon, desperate for a quick end, widened the war in 1970 with widespread
bombing into neighboring Cambodia
Viet Cong used Cambodia as a place for safety and supplying
Cambodia not a participant in the war officially
Fighting in Cambodia led to greater student protests in America
Two students killed at black school Jackson State in Mississippi
THE INVASION INTO CAMBODIA DEEPENED THE STRIFE BETWEEN
“HAWKS” AND “DOVES”
Because of the anger over the draft, Nixon and Congress pushed the 26th
Amendment which lowered the voting age to 18
In 1971, the Pentagon Papers made things even worse in America
and destroyed what trust still existed
Pentagon Papers exposed the deceptions of the Kennedy and
Johnson Administrations
Focused on the deception of LBJ at the Gulf of Tonkin
LBJ had lied to get Congress to issue the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
In 1972, Richard Nixon was reelected to the White House
Nixon’s opponent George McGovern was a “dove” who
promised to bring the troops home in 90 days
Days before the election, Nixon’s Sec. of State Henry Kissinger, announced that
“peace is at hand” and that a settlement with Vietnam would be settled in days!
After the election, N. Vietnam escalated their attacks!
Nixon instituted major bombing to force the N. Vietnamese back
to the negotiating table
By the time Nixon resigned from the Presidency, Vietnam was
coming to a standstill for both sides
When Gerald Ford became President, most American troops were
out of Vietnam
BUT, South Vietnam fell quickly to the North
Nixon and his Sec. of State Henry Kissinger used the Soviet Union
and China against each other
This policy brought about détente
Détente was a deliberate reduction in Cold War tensions
In 1972, Nixon made a bold move and traveled to China to meet with Chinese
Communist leader Mao
Only Nixon could have done this without looking soft on Communism b/c of his
past record against Communism
Nixon became the first President to ever visit China
By using the new relationship with China, Nixon was able to get the Soviet’s to agree to
limits in nuclear missiles in the SALT I talks
Didn’t end the arms race, but did lower tensions of the Cold War
As the 1970’s began to occur, the economic boom of the past two
decades began to see a sharp decline
Average income stagnated
Living standard was worse than one’s parents generation
America’s “can do” attitude was changing to one of limits
America was hit with a period of high inflation and stagnation known
as “stagflation”
Tried to cut federal spending, but didn’t’ work
Issued a 90 day wage and price freeze
Took dollar off the gold standard
By 1972, the recession was over!
Nixon proposed a political program to deal with his domestic priorities known as “New
Federalism”
Nixon tried to slow the growth of spending on LBJ’s Great Society programs
Nixon had trouble b/c of Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress
Nixon was successful in getting some spending shifted from federal to state and local levels
Nixon used a method known as revenue sharing which allowed states to use federal money as
they needed instead of how Washington assigned
Nixon attempted to stop federal spending by impounding the money and refusing to spend it
Griswold v. Connecticut —court ruled “right of
privacy” existed
Gideon v. Wainwright —right to an attorney
Miranda v. Arizona —right to an attorney and
rights of accused
Engel v. Vitale —prohibit prayer and Bible
reading in schools
Roe v. Wade —legalized abortion
One of the great legacies of the Nixon
Administration was the creation of the
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Movement inspired by the book SILENT
SPRING by RACHEL CARSON
Book talked about the effects of
pesticides
Eventually will get the CLEAN AIR ACT
and the ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
Politically, to get reelected, Nixon used the
‘SOUTHERN STRATEGY” to win voters
Would appoint conservative Supreme Court
judges
Went very lightly on civil rights
Opposed school busing
Worked and Nixon won in a landslide in
1972
The Watergate Scandal is more about government cover-up and abuse than the actual crime
Scandal made a mockery out of the political system
Happened at a critical time when America was already burdened with other problems
In 1972, a group of men hired by Nixon’s reelection committee are
caught breaking into the Watergate Hotel Complex
Had broken into the Democratic National headquarters offices
Had broken in looking for “dirt” and were going to “bug” the offices
Watergate was just one of the dirty tricks employed by the Committee to
Re-elect the President or CREEP
Act was committed by the “PLUMBERS”
Plumbers job was to wiretap Nixon’s opponents in the press, stop leaks
to the press, and discredit opponents
Nixon was a paranoid type of individual and wanted
everything covered
White House created an “enemies list” of prominent
Americans who opposed Nixon
People on this list were investigated by the IRS
There never was any evidence to prove Nixon had ordered the
break-in at the Watergate Complex, but there was little doubt he
was involved in the cover-up
Evidence was provided of talk of presidential pardons and hush
money
JOHN DEAN, the White House lawyer, provided damaging
information on Nixon
The discovery of a taping system created more problems for
Nixon
As things went down for Nixon, in 1973 he fired ARCHIBALD COX, the special prosecutor
of Watergate , and the US Attorney resigned in protest
Impeachment hearings began to form in the House of Representatives
The Supreme Court forced Nixon to turn over his Oval Office tapes
It appeared that Nixon was going to be impeached and removed from office!!!!!
Facing removal from office, Nixon resigned in 1974 and was replaced by Gerald Ford
Watergate continued the growing loss of trust and faith in the federal government
In his first months in office, Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon for
any crimes that he might have committed
This move was very controversial
Ford claimed that he did it to “end our national nightmare”
Possibly cost Ford his re-election in 1976
One of the earliest domestic achievements of the Carter presidency involved granting
amnesty to draft evaders of the Vietnam War
Issued presidential pardons to 10,000 draft evaders
Carter created the Department of Education
In 1977, Carter created the Department of Energy at the cabinet level b/c of recent
energy crisis
Proposed raising the tax on gasoline and taxing autos that used fuel inefficiently
Hoped this would reduce US dependence on foreign oil
Was able to get only a small portion of this bill through Congress
In 1979, a second fuel shortage spurred by the Iranian Revolution made America’s
energy problems even worse
The economy suffered greatly under the
leadership of Jimmy Carter
By 1980, inflation was at 12%
Interest rates shot up to 20%
Sales of automobiles and houses suffered
which increased unemployment
By 1980, unemployment rates reached 7.5%
Jimmy Carter sought to base his entire foreign policy on human rights, but was criticized
for inconsistency and lack of attention to United States interests
Carter verbally attacked nations and cut some foreign aid to others
Yes, some nations like South Korea or Philippines, he did nothing b/c they were too vital
to our national security
In the end, humanitarian diplomacy ultimately ineffective
Jimmy Carter also provided for the peaceful transfer of ownership of the Panama Canal
back to Panama in 1999
Perhaps Carter’s greatest foreign policy achievement was the CAMP DAVID ACCORDS in
1978
A conflict looked imminent between Israel and Egypt
Carter invited President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of
Israel to a summit conference at Camp David
Not popular with Palestinian Liberation Front (PLO) led by Yasser Arafat
Sadat eventually assassinated by Muslim extremists
Carter also made another unpopular decision by officially ending US recognition of
Taiwan in 1979 and recognizing the People’s Republic of China
Conservatives called the decision a “sell out”
In the Cold War arena, Carter involved his presidency in negotiations with the Soviet
Union over ballistic missiles
Carter signed SALT II with the USSR
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 caused major problems for Carter
Carter said the US would use “any means necessary, including force” to protect the Persian
Gulf against Soviet aggression
US stopped shipment of grains and advanced technology to the USSR
US withdrew from SALT II in the Senate
US boycotted the 1980 summer Olympics held in Moscow; in retaliation, the Soviets
boycotted the 1984 Olympics in LA
Soviets met stiff resistance in Afghanistan and the war became Russia’s “Vietnam”
The biggest event of the Carter Presidency was in 1980 when the IRAN HOSTAGE CRISIS
occurred
This event cost Carter the election of 1980
In 1978, a revolution forced the Shah of Iran to flee the country
AYATOLLAH KHOMEINI, a religious leader, became Iran’s leader
Set up Islamic social order
Called the US the “Great Satan” for its support of money and arms to
the Shah of Iran
Carter allowed the Shah to come to the US for medical treatment in
the fall of 1979
In response, about 400 Iranians broke into the US embassy and took
occupants captive
Carter will eventually be perceived as weak, indecisive, and
ineffective
Hostages released after 444 days in captivity on the day of Ronald Reagan’s inauguration