CHAPTER 39THE

STALEMATED 70’S

NIXON’S FOREIGN EXPERIENCEWhen 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 affairsHad been Eisenhower’s VPHad served on the House Un-American Activities Committee in the US SenateHad negotiated with the Soviets

“NIXON AND VIETNAM”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 periodThe South Vietnamese would take over the burden of fightingUS would aid the South with money, weapons, and training

South Vietnam would then be fighting its own war

THE NIXON DOCTRINENixon also issued the Nixon Doctrine

Said the United States would honor its existing defense commitmentsBUT, in the future, Asians and others would have to fight their own wars without American troops

HAWKS & DOVESNixon didn’t want to end the war but wanted to win without so much loss of lifeDid 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 historyThird most costly war

Draft policies seemed unfair to many at home and on the battlefieldCollege students usually exemptForce mainly composed of underprivileged kidsBlacks more on the frontlinesProblems among soldiers with drug abuse, mutiny, and sabotage

Mai LaiThe revelation of the massacre of innocent women at

Mai Lai made it even worse!!!!!

Draft Policy?

CAMBODIANixon, 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 AmericaTwo students killed at black school Jackson State in Mississippi

Kent State University

THE INVASION INTO CAMBODIA DEEPENED THE STRIFE BETWEEN “HAWKS” AND “DOVES”

26TH AMENDMENTBecause of the anger over the draft, Nixon and Congress pushed the 26th Amendment which lowered the voting age to 18

PENTAGON PAPERSIn 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

ELECTION OF 1972

Richard Nixon George McGovern

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

Henry KissingerDays 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 tableBy the time Nixon resigned from the Presidency, Vietnam was coming to a standstill for both sidesWhen Gerald Ford became President, most American troops were out of VietnamBUT, South Vietnam fell quickly to the North

NIXON: CHINA AND THE USSRNixon and his Sec. of State Henry Kissinger used the

Soviet Union and China against each other

Detente This policy brought about détenteDétente 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

NIXON’S DOMESTIC POLICY

STAGFLATIONAs the 1970’s began to occur, the economic boom of the past two decades began to see a sharp decline

Average income stagnatedLiving standard was worse than one’s parents

generationAmerica’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’ workIssued a 90 day wage and price freeze

Took dollar off the gold standardBy 1972, the recession was over!

NEW FEDERALISMNixon 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

COURT DECISIONS IN NIXON’S PRESIDENCY

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

THE EPA

One of the great legacies of the Nixon Administration was the creation of the ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCYMovement inspired by the book SILENT SPRING by RACHEL CARSONBook talked about the effects of pesticidesEventually will get the CLEAN AIR ACT and the ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT

THE SOUTHERN STRATEGYPolitically, to get reelected, Nixon

used the ‘SOUTHERN STRATEGY” to win voters

Would appoint conservative Supreme Court judges

Went very lightly on civil rightsOpposed school busing

Worked and Nixon won in a landslide in 1972

NIXON AND WATERGATEThe Watergate Scandal is more about government cover-up and abuse than the actual crime

Scandal made a mockery out of the political systemHappened at a critical time when America was already burdened with other problems

WHAT HAPPENDED?In 1972, a group of men hired by Nixon’s reelection committee are caught breaking into the Watergate Hotel ComplexHad broken into the Democratic National headquarters officesHad broken in looking for “dirt” and were going to “bug” the officesWatergate was just one of the dirty tricks employed by the Committee to Re-elect the President or CREEPAct 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 coveredWhite House created an “enemies list” of prominent Americans who opposed NixonPeople 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-upEvidence was provided of talk of presidential pardons and hush moneyJOHN DEAN, the White House lawyer, provided damaging information on NixonThe discovery of a taping system created more problems for Nixon

SATURDAY NIGHT MASSACREAs things went down for Nixon, in 1973 he fired ARCHIBALD COX, the special prosecutor of Watergate , and the US Attorney resigned in protestImpeachment hearings began to form in the House of RepresentativesThe Supreme Court forced Nixon to turn over his Oval Office tapesIt appeared that Nixon was going to be impeached and removed from office!!!!!

NIXON RESIGNSFacing removal from office, Nixon resigned in 1974 and was replaced by Gerald FordWatergate 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 committedThis move was very controversialFord claimed that he did it to “end our national nightmare”Possibly cost Ford his re-election in 1976

CARTER’S DOMESTIC POLICYOne of the earliest domestic achievements of the Carter presidency involved granting amnesty to draft evaders of the Vietnam WarIssued presidential pardons to 10,000 draft evaders

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONCarter created the Department of Education

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGYIn 1977, Carter created the Department of Energy at the cabinet level b/c of recent energy crisisProposed raising the tax on gasoline and taxing autos that used fuel inefficientlyHoped this would reduce US dependence on foreign oilWas able to get only a small portion of this bill through CongressIn 1979, a second fuel shortage spurred by the Iranian Revolution made America’s energy problems even worse

CARTER’S ECONOMYThe economy suffered greatly under the leadership of Jimmy CarterBy 1980, inflation was at 12%Interest rates shot up to 20%Sales of automobiles and houses suffered which increased unemploymentBy 1980, unemployment rates reached 7.5%

CARTER’S FOREIGN POLICY

HUMAN RIGHTSJimmy Carter sought to base his entire foreign policy on human rights, but was criticized for inconsistency and lack of attention to United States interestsCarter verbally attacked nations and cut some foreign aid to othersYes, some nations like South Korea or Philippines, he did nothing b/c they were too vital to our national securityIn the end, humanitarian diplomacy ultimately ineffective

PANAMA CANALJimmy Carter also provided for the peaceful transfer of ownership of the Panama Canal back to Panama in 1999

CARTER’S FOREIGN POLICY

CAMP DAVID ACCORDSPerhaps Carter’s greatest foreign policy achievement was the CAMP DAVID ACCORDS in 1978A conflict looked imminent between Israel and EgyptCarter invited President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel to a summit conference at Camp DavidNot popular with Palestinian Liberation Front (PLO) led by Yasser ArafatSadat eventually assassinated by Muslim extremists

TAIWAINCarter also made another unpopular decision by officially ending US recognition of Taiwan in 1979 and recognizing the People’s Republic of ChinaConservatives called the decision a “sell out”

CARTER’S FOREIGN POLICY

THE SOVIET UNIONIn the Cold War arena, Carter involved his presidency in negotiations with the Soviet

Union over ballistic missiles

SALT IICarter signed SALT II with the USSR

SOVIET INVASION OF AFGHANISTANSoviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 caused major problems for CarterCarter said the US would use “any means necessary, including force” to protect the Persian Gulf against Soviet aggressionUS stopped shipment of grains and advanced technology to the USSRUS withdrew from SALT II in the SenateUS boycotted the 1980 summer Olympics held in Moscow; in retaliation, the Soviets boycotted the 1984 Olympics in LASoviets met stiff resistance in Afghanistan and the war became Russia’s “Vietnam”

IRANIAN HOSTAGE CRISISThe biggest event of the Carter Presidency was in 1980 when the IRAN HOSTAGE CRISIS

occurredThis event cost Carter the election of 1980

In 1978, a revolution forced the Shah of Iran to flee the countryAYATOLLAH KHOMEINI, a religious leader, became Iran’s leader

Set up Islamic social orderCalled the US the “Great Satan” for its support of money and arms to

the Shah of IranCarter allowed the Shah to come to the US for medical treatment in

the fall of 1979In response, about 400 Iranians broke into the US embassy and took

occupants captiveCarter will eventually be perceived as weak, indecisive, and

ineffective

Hostages released after 444 days in captivity on the day of Ronald Reagan’s inauguration