Richard NixonDomestic Policy

Matt Snider & Kalynn Morano

Key Terms

Camp David Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Democratic National Committee (DNC) Watergate Scandal Deep Throat Slush Fund Committee for Reelection of the President (CRP)

OutlineI. Economy

A. An Economy Devastated by War

B. Economic Inflation

II. Government Organizations

A. Environmental

B. Health Care

III. US Space Program

A. Five-year Cooperative Program

IV: The Watergate Scandal

A. Before the Scandal

B. Illegal Activity

C. The Cover Up

D. Nixon’s Resignation

Economy

Together with the Great Society, created by Lyndon Johnson, the cost of the Vietnam War was causing large budget deficits.

When Nixon was inaugurated in 1969, inflation was at its highest since the Korean War.

Interest rates were the highest they had been in over a century.

Nixon’s main goal to improve the economic situation was to reduce inflation. He planned on doing so by ending the Vietnam War.

An Economy Devastated by War

EconomyNixon knew that improvement of the economic inflation

was necessary to his reelection.In 1970, Nixon was given the power to impose and freeze

prices and wages by the Congress. Nixon created a meeting at Camp David where it was

decided that temporary wage and price controls were to be put into place. It also ended American money being able to be converted into gold.

While the changes made helped decrease inflation immediately after, it helped increase it during his second term.

Economic Inflation

Government Organizations

While environmental issues had never been a prominent issue, Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Nixon also supported the Clean Air Act of 1970, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Environmental Policy Act.

Environmental

Government Organizations

Nixon proposed a health care plan that would give insurance to low-income families and gave all employees a guarantee of health care.

His proposed plan still left millions without coverage and the plan was eventually declined.

Nixon came up with organizations that increased healthcare which passed Congress in 1973

Health Care

US Space ProgramWhen man walked on the moon on July 20, 1969 Nixon

was telephoned in and later described it as “the most historic phone call ever made from the White House”

Despite this, he was unwilling to keep funding NASA at the same level that it was during the 1960’s.

Nixon rejected proposals from NASA to set up a permanent base on the moon and launch a

manned expedition to Mars.However on May 24, 1972, Nixon approved a five-year

cooperative program involving the US and Soviet space programs for a joint space mission.

Five-year Cooperative Program

The Watergate Scandal

After Nixon’s first term, he had gained much political support

The main points he touched on in his re-election campaign were emphasizing a good economy, ending US involvement in Vietnam, and establishing better relations with China.

When Nixon won 1323 of the 1324 delegates at the Republican convention, naming him the Republican nominee.

Nixon received 60.7% popular vote (18 million more total popular votes than McGovern from the Democratic Party).

Before the Scandal

The Watergate Scandal In January 1972, , the chairman of the CRP, a committee for

the re-election of the president, approved a plan to burglarize the Democratic Headquarters at Watergate and set up wiretaps.

The first two attempts at the break-in failed, but after taping the chairman of the DNC’s phone, they decided to try again after receiving inadequate information. The successfully broke in and set up the tapes inside the Headquarters. But just after they set them up, a Security Guard found one on a door and removed it. He came back an hour later to find that it had been retaped. The guard then called the police.

Illegal Activity

On June 17, 1972, the FBI arrested 5 people suspected of breaking into Democratic Headquarters at Watergate.

The FBI found cash on the suspects that was connected to a slush fund (an account with illegal money usually kept secret, that is used in illegal activity) used by a fundraising group for the Nixon campaign.

In July 1973, after much evidence was building up against Nixon, between the FBI investigation and testimonies by former Nixon staff members, it was revealed that Nixon had tapes and recoding devices with recordings from the scandal in his office.

The Watergate Scandal

In 1972, there was a secret informant (Codenamed Deep Throat) who told the Washington Post that Nixon was involved in the scandal, thus fueling the suspicions.

The tapes that Nixon had in his possession implicated him as part of eh scandal and revealed that he tried to cover-up the break-in.

In a press conference, Nixon’s Press Secretary called the event “a third rate burglary attempt.”

Nixon stated that members of his administration had investigated the break-in when in fact they had not.

The Cover Up

The Watergate Scandal Even though Nixon lost much support after the

accusations, he continued to deny them and planned to stay in office.

Nixon refused to give up the all alleged tapes that he had from the recording device in the Oval Office, until the Supreme Court demanded that he turn them in to aide the investigation.

On Oct. 10, 1973, Vice President Agnew resigned due to accusations of bribery, money laundering and tax evasion. Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as his new VP.

Nixon’s Resignation

Nixon was determined to pull through. However, one of the tapes, recorded after the break-in, showed the connections of the White House to Watergate and Nixon's deliberate actions to cover it up.

On august 9, 1974 Nixon resigned from the presidential office and delivered his resignation speech and letter. He stated that he reigned for the good of the nation and asked that everyone support the new president Gerald Ford.

There has never been a President that has been impeached, but the evidence against Nixon was overwhelming enough that he could have been the first one. After Nixon’s resignation, President Ford (former VP for Nixon) pardoned Nixon and the scandal was wiped from his record.

Bibliography • Aitken, Jonathan. Nixon, a Life. Washington, D.C.:

Regnery Pub., 1993. Print.• Ambrose, Stephen. Nixon: The Triumph of a Politician.

New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989. Print.• Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas

Andrew Bailey. The American Pageant: A History of the Republic. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Print.

• Parmet, Herbert S. Richard Nixon and His America. Boston: Little, Brown, 1990. Print.