Ch 19 Politics &
Economics 1968-1980
Sec 1 Nixon-Nixon’s Southern Strategy
 Nixon
tried to get support from
white southern democrats who
were unhappy with federal
desegregation policies and a
liberal supreme court
 Nixon favored slow
desegregation, in 1969 he
ordered the Dept. of Health, Ed,
and Welfare to delay segregation
in Miss. and SC ( Overturned by
the Supreme Court)
Nixon’s New Conservatism
Nixon was determined to turn the US into
a more conservative direction with a
sense of order
 The US was intensely divided over Nam
 Nixon felt LBJ’s Great Society programs
gave the federal gov. too much respons.
 Nixon’s plan was New Federalism which
was to distribute a portion of federal
power to state and local government
 Under the Revenue Sharing Plan state
and local gov. could spend Fed. $ how
they saw fit ( Block Grant)

Two Sides to New Federalism
The Nixon administration increased Social
Security, Medicare, Medicare and made
food stamps more accessible
 Yet Nixon tried to eliminate the Job
Corps, and in 1970 he denied funding for
(HUD)
 By 1973 Nixon had impounded more than
$15 billion in funds for housing, health,
and education (Courts overturned the
impounding)
 Nixon abolished the Office of Economic
Opportunity

Law and Order Politics
Nixon pledged to end the war in Vietnam
 He pledged to mend American divisions
 He played to the “silent majority”
 Nixon used the FBI and CIA to investigate
American dissidents and political enemies
 The IRS was used to audit anti-war and
civil rights activists tax returns
 Nixon had a “enemies list” of who to
harass
 VP Agnew attacked liberals, the media,
and anti-war protestors ( Pit-bull)

Nixon’s Foreign Policy
 Kissinger
promoted the idea of the
“realpolitik” which was political
realism (Foreign policy is based on
consolidation of power)
 US should confront and deal with the
powerful nations
(Negotiations/Militarily)
 Nixon and Kissinger had a flexible
approach in dealing with Comm.
 They pushed for “détente” or a
relaxing of Cold War tensions
Nixon Visits China
Since 1949 the US had not recognized the
Communist Chinese Government
 “Ping-pong” diplomacy began in 1971
 Nixon wanted to play the “China Card”
and take advantage of the rift between
the China and the USSR
 Nixon’s visit to China was symbolic and it
opened up diplomatic and economic
relations
 Both would cooperate and participate in
scientific and cultural exchanges

Nixon and Premier Zhou En-lai
 In
Nixon Visits the USSR
May 1972, three months after
visiting China, Nixon became the first
President to visit Moscow
 Nixon met with Soviet leader Leonid
Brezhnev
 They signed the Strategic Arms
Limitation Treaty (SALT I)
 It
limited ICBM’s and sub missiles to
1972 levels
 Nixon offered to sell $ 1 billion in
Ch 19 Sec 2 The Watergate
Scandal
Dirty Tricks
“Dirty Tricks” were used by the
administration to withhold information
from the public, discredit critics, and gain
illegal campaign contributions for the
1972 election
 The “plumbers” were established to stop
leaks of information
 Former CIA agent E. Howard Hunt and
FBI agent G. Gordon Liddy headed the reelection team
 “The Enemies List”

Hunt and Liddy
The Imperial Presidency
Nixon expanded the power of the
Presidency with little thought of
Constitutional Checks
 Impoundment of funds for fed. programs
 Invading Cambodia without the approval
of Congress


Nixon felt the office of the Presidency
was above the law
The President’s Men

Fierce loyal
advisors

H.R. Haldeman –
Chief of staff

John Ehrlichman –
Chief Domestic
Advisor

John N Mitchell –
Attorney General

John W. Dean III –
White House
Council
The Drive Towards Re-election

Nixon feared losing elections

Committee to Re-elect the President was
formed (CREEP) with Mitchell as its
leader
 CREEP hired a security team to bug the
DNC headquarters at the Watergate
Office Complex in DC
 On June 17, 1972 five men were caught
by a security guard Frank Wills
 The group’s leader James McCord was
former CIA and Security Coordinator for
The Cover-Up
Nixon was concerned about the break-in
 Documents were shredded in Haldeman’s
office
 The White House asked the CIA to urge
the FBI to stop investigating the break-in
 CREEP passed out $450,000 o the
burglars to buy their silence
 The burglary was of little interest to the
public and the press
 Washington Post reporters Bob
Woodward and Carl Bernstein kept on the
story ( Received info. from Mark Felt) FBI

The 1972 Election
Nixon ran a successful negative campaign
against Senator George McGovern (D)
 They let the press know that McGovern’s
VP candidate Senator Thomas Eagleton
had undergone shock therapy for
depression
 Voter turnout was an all time low
 With promises of peace in Vietnam Nixon
won in a landslide

The Cover-Up Unravels
In Jan. 1973 McCord sent a letter to
Judge John Sirica (Presiding Judge)
 He lied under oath, and hinted others
were involved
 On April 30th, Nixon fired John Dean and
announced the resignations of Haldeman,
Ehrlichman, and Attorney General Richard
Kleindiest
 Nixon went on TV to promote his new
Attorney General Elliot Richardson and he
suggested a “Special Prosecutor” be
appointed to investigate Watergate

The Senate Investigates
 Senator
James Ervin began calling
Administration officials to give
testimony
 Dean admitted the President had
been deeply involved in the cover-up
(White House denial)
 Presidential Aid Alex Butterfield
revealed the tapes of Oval Office
Conversations
 A year long battle for the tapes
began
The Saturday Night Massacre
Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox took
Nixon to Court in 1973 for the tapes
 Nixon ordered Attorney General
Richardson to fire Cox
 Richardson refused the order and
resigned (Saturday Night Massacre)
 Solicitor General Robert Bork fired Cox
 New Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski
wanted the tapes as well
 A few days earlier VP Agnew resigned for
accepting bribes while Gov. of MD
 New VP Gerald Ford was appointed

The Fall of Nixon
In March 1974 a Grand Jury indicted
seven presidential aids on charges of
conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and
perjury
 Nixon released 1,254 pages of edited
transcripts
 In July 1974 The Supreme Court ordered
Nixon to give up the unedited tapes “I am
not a crook!”
 In Aug. Nixon released the tapes with an
18.5 min. gap (Rose Mary Woods
accidentally erased the most crucial part)

Impeachment or Resignation
The House Judiciary Committee approved
three articles of impeachment:
obstruction of justice, abuse of power,
and contempt of Congress
 On August 8th , 1974 Nixon announced his
resignation
 Nixon admitted no guilt, some judgments
“were wrong”
 Gerald Ford was sworn in as President
 Ford gave Nixon a full Presidential pardon
 25 administration members served prison
terms

Chapter 19 Section 3
The Ford and Carter
Years
1974-1980
 How
Essential Questions:
did Ford confront economic
problems and handle foreign policy
of the 1970’s?
 What was significant about Carter’s
election in 1976?
 What was Carter’s approach to
solving economic problems?
 What was Carter’s foreign policy?
 What were Carter’s achievements
and failures in foreign policy
matters?
Causes of Stagflation

Between 1967-1973 the US faced high
unemployment and high inflation
(Stagflation)
High Inflation was caused by LBJ funding
the war and the Great Society through
deficit spending
 Increased International Competition in
trade
 Floods of new workers (Domestic Baby
Boomers and Foreign)
 Heavy dependence of foreign oil

 Ford
Rough Road for Ford
gave Nixon a full pardon for
Watergate
 Inflation rose form 6% in ’73 to 10%
in ’74
 Ford started the “WIN” campaign,
(Whip Inflation Now) It failed.
 Ford urged Americans to cut back on
use of oil and gas
 He cut government spending,
interests rates went up triggering
the worst recession in 40 years
Ford’s Foreign Policy
Ford followed Nixon by keeping Kissinger
on as Sec. of State
 Kept negotiations with China and the
USSR
 Signed the Helsinki Accords which
promised greater cooperation between
Eastern and Western Europe
 Ford wanted to still give money to aid
South Vietnam, Congress refused, the
South fell in 1975
 The US ship Mayaguez was seized by
Cambodia, 41 US troops died while saving
the 39 member crew.

Carter in the White House
 Former
peanut farmer and Gov. of
Georgia
 Promised he would never lie to the
American people
 In the Election of 1976 Carter and
Ford squared off over energy,
inflation, and unemployment
 Carter
won by a close margin
 He talked to the American people
through FDR like “fire-side” chats by
radio and TV
Carter’s Domestic Agenda
Carter urged Americans to cut back their
consumption of oil and gas
 The National Energy Act – taxed gas
guzzling cars, removed price controls on
oil and gas produced in the US, and gave
tax credits for development of alternative
energy.
 In 1979 inflation hit 11.3%, 14% by ’80.
 Carter gave his now famous “malaise
speech” in which he complained of a
“crisis of spirit” in Americans. It looked
like he gave up. ( Reagan in 1980)

In the 1970’s the US
economy changed
 Less manufacturing
jobs, more jobs in
communication,
transportation, and
retail.
 Overseas competition
hurt the US. (EX .
West Germany,
Japan, Korea.
 Iron, Steel, clothing
were hit with cutbacks, lay-offs and
plant closings

Carter and Civil Rights
 Carter
appointed more women and
African Americans to his
administration then ant other
previous administration
 Appointed Andrew Young as US
Ambassador to the UN
 Although in Bakke vs. the University
of California an affirmative action
program was ruled unconstitutional,
Bakke who was white won a reverse
discrimination lawsuit.
Human Rights Foreign Policy
Carter felt the US should promote human
rights around the globe, such as freedoms
and liberties listed in the Dec. of
Independence and Bill of Rights.
 The US gave control of the Panama Canal
back to Panama as of 12/31/99.
 The feeling of Détente with the USSR
ended due Carter’s protest on civil rights
issues.
 SALT II talks were delayed, not ratified
by the Senate, and the USSR invaded
Afghanistan

**Triumph in the Middle East
 The
Camp David Accords – Carter
invited the leaders of Egypt and
Israel to Camp David (Summer of
’78)
 Israel agreed to withdraw from
the Sinai Peninsula,Egypt
recognized Israel’s right to exist
 Carter was the peacemaker
(Carter Doctrine – Persian Gulf)
**The Iran Hostage Crisis
Jan. 1979 Ayatollah Khomeini led islamic
militants in overthrowing the Shah or
King of Iran. ( They wanted a strict
religious state)
 Nov. 4th 1979 armed students stormed
the US Embassy and captured 52

hostages because we (US) let the Shah
into the US for medical treatment
 Diplomatic, economic, and military action
failed

444 days later the hostages were
released just two hours after Reagan was
Miracle at Lake Placid ‘80
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYscemhn
f88
Ch19 Sec 4- New Approaches to Civil rights
 Defacto
Segregation was the focus of
new African American Civil rights
leaders
 Desegregation though school busing
became a civil rights issue ( Whites
in Detroit and Boston opposed it)
Nixon was opposed to it
Native American Voices

Native Americans suffered the highest
unemployment rates, alcoholism, infant
mortality rates and suicides

In 1954 Native Americans had to deal
with the government’s Termination
Policy
In 1961 reps from 61 tribes drafted the
Declaration of Indian Purpose
 In 1968 LBJ established the National

Council on Indian Opportunity

Voices of Protests
In 1968 the AIM (American Indian
Movement) was formed to demand lands,
burial grounds, fishing/ timber rights,
and a respect of their culture (George
Mitchell and Dennis Banks)
 In 1972, AIM leader Russell Means
organized “The Trail of Broken Treaties”
march on DC ( Occupied the BIA building)
 In 1973, the AIM led 200 Sioux to occupy
Wounded Knee, SD where a massacre of
Sioux had occurred in 1890
 After negotiations a shootout with the
“Red Power”

Russell Means
Dennis Banks
Native American Victories
In 1975 Congress passed the Indian-SelfDetermination and Education Act which
gave tribes control to govern their own
affairs including education
 In 1970 the Taos of NM regained sacred
Blue Lake Land
 In 1971 the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act gave 40million acres and
$962 million
 Political Representation improved by
working through the system (Ex. Senator
Ben Nighthorse Campbell)

The Asian American Movement
In 1968 the Asian American Political
Alliance (AAPA) was founded at Berkley
which unified Chinese, Japanese, Korean
and Filipino activists
 Protested the Vietnam War and racism
directed at Asians
 1969 “Shut it Down” strikes at Berkley
 “Yellow Power” Conference to learn of
Asian American history and destiny
 1968 San Francisco’s Chinatown
Grievances (Housing and Medicine)
 Japanese American Citizens League
brought forth the issue of internment

The Gay Liberation Movement
In the 1950’s the Mattachine Society and
the Daughters of Bilitis were campaigning
to reduce discrimination towards G/L
 1960’s The Society for Individual Rights
was founded in Greenwich Village/SF
 June ,1969 the Stonewall Inn Riot in NYC
pitted aggressive police against bar
patrons “Gay Power” appeared
 After Stonewall the Gay Liberation Front
(GLF) was formed (Gay Pride Marches)
 In 1975 the Gov. ended its ban on
employment of G/L

The Disability Rights
Movement
People with disabilities also looked to
the federal government to protect
their rights
 Changes were sought in education, al
students were be offered an
appropriate mainstreamed education
 In 1990 The American with
Disabilities Act- banned
discrimination against people with
disabilities

Ch 19 Sec 5- The Endangered
Environment
Essential
Questions:
What were the origins of the
environmental movement?
What were the key
environmental issues of the
1970’s?
What are the goals of the
environmental movement?
Nixon and the Environment

Nixon supported the creation of the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Nixon improved the Clean Air Act of 1963
 Nixon supported the Water Quality
Improvement Act of 1970
 In 1973 the Endangered Species Act was
passed
 Membership in the Sierra Club took off
due to new concerns over the
environment
 On April 2nd, 1970 the first Earth Day was

 Schools
Love Canal 1977-1980
and Homes
were built on a
Toxic Canal that
was filled in the
1950’s
 In 1977 Lois
Gibbs fell sick as
did others.
 1980 President
Carter had families
moved to safety.
Roots of Environmentalism
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring
which highlighted the use of the
pesticide DDT.
 1962
First Earth Day – 4/22/70 Anti-Pollution
Polution
US Government Takes Action
 In
1970 The EPA or
Environmental Protection
Agency was established
 The
Clear Air Act of 1970
 The Endangered Species Act of
1970
Trans-Alaska Pipeline - 1977
Three Mile Island
 March
28, 1979
Harrisburg, PA
Radiation
escaped from a
damaged
reactor’s cooling
system
 100,000
evacuated
 Public
questioned
Nuclear Power