Foreign and Domestic Policies of the 60s and 70s Presidents
Transcript of Foreign and Domestic Policies of the 60s and 70s Presidents
Foreign and Domestic Policies of the 60s and 70s Presidents
John Kennedy
○ Kennedy articulated a “New Frontier” ● The new frontier was a goal for social
justice and Civil Rights improvements ● He wasn’t able to pass legislation to
meet the goal ○ Mostly due to Southern Democrats that
didn’t want the Civil Rights passed
“Ask not what your country can do for you… but what you can do for your country”
○ Kennedy in office in 1961 ● Young people were
engaged ● Public service became an
honor ○ Peace Corp
● American volunteers to 3rd world
● Increased Social Security and min. wage
The Space Race
○ JFK promised a man on the moon by 1970 ● Spurred by sputnik and Soviet
cosmonauts circling the Earth ● John Glenn orbited in 1962 ● Would occur under Nixon in 1969
○ Weapons Tech of the Space Race ● ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) ● Russians had IRBMs (intermediate
Range) by 1962
JFK and Foreign Affairs○ Bay of Pigs invasion
● Tried to overthrow Cuba through CIA
● Failed ● Angered other Latin Countries
and pushed Cuba toward USSR
○ The Berlin Wall ● West Berlin prospered within
Communist territories ! refugees leaving East Berlin
● USSR made a wall to keep them in
Remember it was JFK that steered us through the Cuban Missile Crisis
JFK’s assassination
○ Nov. 1963 ○ Assassinated by Oswald in Dallas ○ Bewilderment and grief ○ Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) sworn
in aboard Air Force One
LBJ in office
○ Wanted to continue JFK programs ● Met MLK Jr. about Civil Rights ● Pushed the Civil Rights Bill and the
Voting Rights Bill ○ Kept federal $ from segregated programs ○ Created Equal Employment Opportunity ○ Outlawed discrimination in public areas ○ Also no “sex” discrimination
LBJ in Office – Domestic Policy
○ “The Great Society” ● Programs designed to
fight a “War on Poverty” (somewhat effective) ○ Economic Opportunities
Act ○ Volunteers in Service to
America ○ Job Corps ○ Head Start
The Great Society
○ The greatest intervention of the government since the New Deal ● Would lead to Medicaid and Medicare
○ Increased effort to use the government to promote social welfare (protecting the people)
LBJ and Foreign Policy
○ Thought the US could fight and promote domestic programs at the same time ● Called “Guns and Butter”
○ This led to inflation ○ Also an inability to fully fund the Great
Society programs
○ Eventually lost public confidence through the escalation of Vietnam
National Tragedies in ‘68
○ Assassinations ● MLK Jr. ● Bobby Kennedy
○ 4 leaders killed by assassins since ’64 ● JFK and Malcolm X
○ Dem Convention riots in ‘68
Nixon elected in ‘68
○ In an era of liberal chaos Nixon claimed the ‘silent majority’ ● Worked hard, paid taxes,
went to church, obeyed the law, respected the flag
○ Promised a return to law and order
○ Also “Vietnamization” of the war ● US would train S.
Vietnamese troops to take their place.
Vietnam At Home○ Still Very Controversial ○ ’70, invasion of
Cambodia to root out NV along the “ho chi minh” trail
○ Brought back protest ○ Kent State – protests
● 4 dead ● More campus protests
Nixon on Civil Rights
○ Seemed to favor gradualism ○ Boldest initiatives involved business
and employment ● Office of minority business enterprise ● Philadelphia Plan – black construction
worker plan
Nixon Foreign Issues○ Kissinger and Nixon removed
containment policy ● Instead flexibility – talking,
find common ground, encourage balance of power
○ “Rapprochement with China” ● Trade possibilities, ● Drive a wedge between
China and SU ● give US better bargaining
with SU over nukes ○ Also isolate N. Vietnam
during peace negotiations
Detente○ Nixon to Moscow – met with Brezhnev ○ Arms control and increased trade ○ SALT treaty – limited ICBMs and anti-
ballistic missiles
Watergate○ Nixon implicated in a ‘seamless web’ of
criminal activity ● Plumbers (Nixon’s fix-it men) broke into
Democratic headquarters at the Watergate hotel to find information on Nixon’s opponent
● The plumbers were acting without Nixon’s knowledge
○ Nixon paid ‘hush money’ to arrested Watergate burglars
○ Nixon later took responsibility but no blame ● Said he was too busy running country
Nixon implicated in the scandal
○ Arrested men claimed that Nixon recorded the conversations ● Nixon refused to release any taped
conversations ○ Transcripts eventually released with
sections blanked out ● That made him look guilty and the
stuff that was left was racist and paranoid and didn’t help the cause
○ Tapes eventually subpoenaed (SC case), released and showed Nixon’s involvement
The Middle East
OPEC and the Embargo○ 10/6/73 – Yom Kippur War; US backs
Israel ○ The Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC), mainly arab nations, responded by halting oil shipments
○ US forced to ration energy ○ Impact lingered (ended ’74)
● Costs increased dramatically (gas from 30 ! 75 cents); inflation; higher production costs; shook American Dream
Ford in Office / Watergate Legacy
○ ’73 War Powers Act – limited pres ability to use troops without declaration of war
○ Freedom of Information act ● Citizens could see all public/government
documents ○ Hearings on FBI and CIA activities
● To make sure there was no illegal activities ○ Ford controversially granted Nixon a
Pardon (crushed Fords approval rating) ○ Ford also offered amnesty to 350,000
draft dodgers (resisted on both sides)
Carter ○ Ford proved to be an
ineffective President ● The public didn’t trust
him after the Nixon pardoning
○ Carter represented a small town, virtuous man
○ Won a close race against Ford
Carter – Foreign Issues○ US needed to stress
democracy and human rights
○ Gave up Panama Canal ○ Middle East and Camp
David Accords ● Egypt recognized Israel;
Israel returned Sanai Peninsula
Economic Issues
○ High inflation and unemployment ○ Carter fought inflation
● Tight money supply and control of deficit
● Created high unemployment without helping inflation
Persian Gulf and Iranian issues○ Iran appeared to be a stable
nation in ’77 ○ Revolution led Ayatollah
Khomeini to set up an essentially Islamic nation
○ Khomeini ended shipments of oil to US
○ Allowing the former Shah into US for med. Treatment created a conflict in Iran
Iranian Hostage Crisis○ Iranian militants stormed US embassy
and took 179 Americans hostage ○ Wanted the Shah in exchange for the
hostages ● threatened execution
○ Sponsored by Ayatollah ○ US froze Iranian assets in US, but this
was ineffective ○ Carter ordered a secret mission to free
the hostages (disastrous) ○ Iranians displayed the corpses of the
failed mission
Carter’s Image Ruined
○ The Economic problems of the late 1970s and the Iranian Hostage Crisis hurt Carter’s Image
○ Carter will be defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980