Nixon's+Reaction+(1969-1974)


 *  NIXON'S REACTION (1969-1974)

    ** **“A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.”**

   ELECTION OF 1968
 * **Hubert Humphrey**
 * Democrat: antiwar
 * **Richard Nixon**
 * Republican: end war, control radicals, end racial discrimination
 * **George Wallace**
 * American Independent: opposition to civil rights, counterculture, antiwar [very conservative]
 * With the entrance of a 3rd party, Nixon narrowly won but with so many people fed up with the Democrats he was able to prevail



**Nixon Campaign Ad Commercial** : http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xpv1l_nixon-1968-election-ad_ads


 * Watch the Televised Announcement of Nixon Victory [[image:NYT,_Nov._7_1968-thumb.jpg width="210" height="315" align="right"]]media type="youtube" key="bbxsjrHifBc" height="344" width="425"

** **“Let us move from the era of confrontation to the era of negotiation."**   FOREIGN POLICY “imperial presidency”: isolated himself in White House - focused on foreign affairs more than domestic - national security adviser: Henry Kissinger (later Secretary of State) effectively cooled down Cold War tensions


 * __**Vietnam**__
 * principal goal: reduce US involvement in war without appearance of accepting defeat
 * “peace with honor”
 * //“**Vietnamization**”: gradual withdrawal of US troops //
 * 1969: 540,000 – 1972: 30,000 (troops)
 * give money, weapons, and training to South Vietnam so they can take over full responsibility of war
 * at first reduced antiwar protests
 * **Nixon Doctrine **
 * Asian allies will receive US support but less ground troops
 * opposition to Vietnamization
 * 1970: Nixon ordered invasion of Cambodia to destroy Vietnamese Communist bases (expanded war)
 * nationwide protest in universities
 *  Kent State, Ohio: killing of 4 by National Guard
 * Jackson Statee, Missippi: killing of 2 black students
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"> Senate voted to repeal Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
 * 1968: US troops massacred women and children in My Lai, Vietnam
 * Pentagon Papers published by //The New York Times//, leaked by Daniel Ellsberg (Defense Dept analyst)
 * showed mistakes and tricks of govt policy-makers in respect of Vietnam
 * secret meetings between Kissinger and Le Duc Tho, North Vietnam’s foreign minister
 * Kissinger announced “peace at hand” in 1972
 * N. Vietnam did not compromise
 * Nixon orders **B-52 bomber attacks** (largest air attack of the war) in order to force an agreement
 * **Paris Accords of 1973** armistice
 * cease-fire
 * US withdrawal and return of 500 POWs
 * free elections
 * left N. Vietnamese troops in South
 * **__China__**
 * //**détente**// : deliberate reduction of Cold War tensions
 * improve relations with “Red” China without being “soft” on communism
 * secret negotiations with leaders
 * 1972: met with Mao Zedong in Beijing
 * initiation of diplomatic meetings led to US recognition of “Red” China in 1979

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);"> **Listen to a Conversation between Nixon and Kissinger about China** media type="youtube" key="J4n2P_fZB08" height="344" width="425"
 * __**Soviet Union**__
 * //**détente**// to control arms race
 * new relations with China pushed agreement to treaty limiting ABMs (antiballistic missiles)
 * //**Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT I)** //
 * limit to number of ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);"> **L<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);">isten to the Nixon and Khrushchev Kitchen Debate ** media type="youtube" key="VPWG1i6YqVo" height="344" width="425"<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

**<span style="background-color: rgb(192, 192, 192); text-align: center; display: block;"> “Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.” **


 * <span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 145, 0); text-align: center; display: block;"> DOMESTIC POLICY **
 * **__New Federalism__**
 * slow down the growth of the Great Society programs
 * Nixon proposed Family Assistance Plan but was defeated by Democrats in Congress
 * shifted some responsibility for social programs from the federal to the state and local levels
 * block grants: money given to state and local governments to use as the saw fit
 * Nixon tried to bypass Congress by not spending funds for social programs
 * Democrats later backed by the courts deemed this am abuse of executive powers
 * Congress expanded funding for some Great Society programs
 * Medicare, Medicaid, rent subsidies for low-income people, and Supplementary Security Insurance (SSI)
 * were “indexed” meaning they would rise and fall with inflation rate
 * **__Economic__**
 * problems unthinkable a decade earlier most commonly contributed to the beginning of the war in Vietnam
 * expansive military commitment[[image:avpriceofgold1950-2003.gif width="341" height="233" align="right"]]
 * changes in the international economy
 * deteriorating balance of trade and inflation rates
 * check inflation by cutting government expenditures
 * reducing US troop levels
 * expand us of bombing
 * unemployment at 6% by 1971
 * **stagflation**
 * economic stagnation + price inflation
 * US trade deficit
 * “new economic policy”
 * 90-day freeze of increase in wages or prices
 * government monitoring to detect “excessive” increases in either
 * floating US dollar
 * used to be a gold-to-dollar ratio, and other currencies had fixed exchange rates based off of the US dollar
 * abandoned ratio in 1971 so that the dollar would “float” in value against the markets of gold and all other currencies
 * devalue the dollar so that American goods would be more competitive in global markets
 * deficit spending and Keynesian economics
 * 10% percent surtax on all imported goods
 * **__Burger Courts__** **and rights of a defendant**[[image:00000610.JPG align="right" caption="Burger Court 1970"]]
 * Nixon had the opportunity to appoint 4 justices to the Supreme court including a new Chief Justice
 * appointed more conservative, strict constitutionalist justices to replace liberal activist members
 * Warren E. Burger replaced Earl Warren for Chief Justice
 * Nixon couldn’t appoint very conservative justices because they would be rejected by the Democratic Congress
 * the Court that Nixon shaped would turn against him in the Watergate Scandal
 * police must remind anyone arrested of their right to remain silent and their right to consult an attorney including one provided by the government
 * **__Environmentalism__**
 * Wilderness Act of 1964, National Wind and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, National Trails Act of 1968, **Clean Air Act of 1970**, Water Pollution Control Act of 1972, Pesticides Control Act of 1972, Endangered Species Act of 1073
 * Rachel Carson’s //Silent Spring// (1962)[[image:silent-spring.jpg width="83" height="149" align="right"]]
 * raised concerns about DDT and other pesticides used in agriculture endangering birds
 * pollution in cities such as LA became so bad that breathing that air was to equivalent of smoking several packs of cigarettes a day
 * Environmental Defense Fund
 * organization that went to court to try to limit the use of toxins
 * Earth Day was founded on April 22, 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson
 * **Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)**
 * enforced laws intended to protect environmental quality
 * **__Controversy Over Rights__**
 * Women’s Rights
 * National Organization for Women (NOW)
 * backed the ERA[[image:05friedan3_lg.jpg width="86" height="135" align="right"]]
 * **Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)**
 * explicitly guarantee women equal rights as men
 * passed through Congress easily but was not ratified by the necessary ¾ of the state to become an Amendment
 * //**Roe vs. Wade**//
 * case about the legality of a state law making abortion a criminal offense
 * ruled that that law invaded a woman’s right to privacy
 * pro-life vs. pro-choice
 * African American Rights
 * worked to satisfy the “silent majority” which included asking for the delay of integration and bus orders
 * courts refused this plea, but Nixon got higher approval ratings from Southerners
 * Safety Rights
 * workplace safety, consumer safety, and a healthy environment
 * Ralph Nader’s //Unsafe at Any Speed//



<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 130%; background-color: rgb(192, 192, 192); text-align: center; display: block;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; text-align: left; display: block;">**“If you take no risks, you will suffer no defeats. But if you take no risks, you win no victories.”**

**<span style="font-size: 150%; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; background-color: rgb(51, 193, 51); text-align: center; display: block;"> ELECTION OF 1972 ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
 * __**Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP)**__
 * Committee wanted to re-elect Richard Nixon
 * Afraid given the economic troubles due to the expensive Vietnam War that he would not get re-elected[[image:ElectoralCollege1972-Large.png width="348" height="186" align="right"]]
 * Raised millions of dollars by illegal contributions
 * **__George Wallace__**
 * Democratic nominee (Nixon’s opponent)
 * Shot, but not killed by an assassin, improving Nixon’s chances of re-election
 * As a result, George McGovern won Democratic nomination
 * **__George McGovern__**
 * Never seriously challenged Nixon
 * Higher taxes on the wealthy, minimum income for all Americans, draft and decriminalization of marijuana
 * Cuts in defense spending to end war in Vietnam
 * **__Richard Nixon__**[[image:nixon_campaign.gif width="240" height="160" align="right" caption="Nixon's victory parade"]]
 * Easily re-elected
 * Won all electoral college but one state
 * His foreign policy successes in China and the Soviet Union helped get him re-elected
 * Shortly after re-election, Watergate Scandal occurred and Nixon resigned on August 8, 1974

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 140%;"> ** <span style="background-color: rgb(192, 192, 192); text-align: center; display: block;">"When the president does it, that means it is not illegal." **

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> **<span style="font-size: 162%; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; background-color: rgb(105, 105, 216); text-align: center; display: block;"> WATERGATE   **
 * **__The Scandal__**
 * [[image:watergate-complex.jpg width="300" height="201" align="right" caption="Watergate Complex"]]The Pentagon Papers leak
 * the leak led to the birth of the **“plumbers”** (Nixon’s secret intelligence unit designed to stop information leaks to the media) and **“dirty tricks”** (actions that destroy the reputation of political opponents of the Nixon administration)
 * Nixon’s CREEP (Committee to Re-elect the President)
 * campaign that raised millions of dollars from illegal contributions à separate from the Republican Party
 * June, 1972
 * A group of men hired by Nixon was caught breaking into Democratic headquarters at the Watergate Complex in Washington D.C.
 * Was an attempt to bug equipment
 * Other Scandals
 * Daniel Ellsberg (person behind the leak of the Pentagon Papers)
 * the “plumbers” burglarized his office


 * **__The Investigation__**
 * After months of investigation, it was proved that Nixon did engage in an illegal cover-up to avoid scandal
 * **__U.S. v. Nixon__** (July 24, 1974)
 * The court agreed that Nixon’s claim of executive privilege over the secret tapes could not justify his refusal to release evidence in a criminal investigation.
 * __**Resignation**__
 * August 9, 1974
 * Gerald Ford, a member of the House (meaning he was never elected by America as a whole!!) is appointed President (VP Spiro Agnew had resigned because of tax evasion.
 * **__Significance__**
 * Proved that the checks and balances system worked
 * Loss of national faith of the federal government

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);">**Watch a clip of Nixon's Announcement of Resignation** media type="youtube" key="ZEOGJJ7UKFM" height="344" width="425"

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);">**CBS special on the Watergate Investigation from Oct. 1972**
 * Part 1** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5fOKbvkRWU
 * Part 2** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhJ9wwqinAo&feature=related

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace; font-size: 140%;"> **<span style="background-color: rgb(192, 192, 192); text-align: center; display: block; font-size: 110%;">“Well, I screwed it up real good, didn't I?” **