Kent Chronicles
December 2012
1970-1975(ish)
Anti War Protest spin out of control
Kent State Tragedy (May 1970 In response to President Nixon’s apparent escalation of the
war into Cambodia, mass protests are held throughout the country. The small college town of
Kent, Ohio was no different. Except the authorities in charge handled the situation terribly and
the protests failed to remain nonviolent. Over several days, tensions rose as the college’s ROTC
building was burned to the ground and National Guard troops were summoned. On May 4, a
small group of protestors ignored an order to disband and a small number of the shaky Guard
troops fired into the crowd killing four and wounding nine others. Exact details are rather hazy,
but it is safe to say that there is blame to be placed on all sides. The events at Kent State
further crystallized the anti war movement and served as a rallying cry for the rest of the war.)
Nixon’s Foreign Policy Achievements
Trip to China (February 1972) Nixon went to
China to meet with Mao and other Chinese
Communist Party leaders. The official talks focused
on Chinese concerns about Taiwan and the newly
resurgent Japanese economy. However, the
message was very clear to the Soviet Union that its
power over the Chinese Communists was over.
Outcomes of the trip included the donation of a pair
of panda bears to the United States and the
reciprocating of the gesture with two musk oxen
being sent to China.
"This was the week that changed the world, as what we have said in that Communique is not
nearly as important as what we will do in the years ahead to build a bridge across 16,000 miles
and 22 years of hostilities which have divided us in the past. And what we have said today is
that we shall build that bridge." Nixon from Shanghai on the Chinese/American relations
Full normalization of relations finally occurred in 1979.
SALT Talks (May 1972) Nixon became the first American President to visit the Soviet Union
when he met with Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow. The fruit of the negotiations was the Strategic
Arms Limitation Treaty, which froze the number of nuclear missiles each nation stockpiled. The
opening of high level talks led to a period of reasonably peaceful relations between the super
powers known as _____________________ which lasted until Ronald Reagan began baiting the
Bear in the 1980s.
Vietnaminzation of the War- Nixon ran on a platform of getting the US out of the war in
Vietnam. Part of that plan was to increase the number of Vietnamese soldiers fighting
alongside American troops so that eventually the Vietnamese could handle the burden alone.
In 1969, there were 540,000 American soldiers in combat roles. By 1972, the number of
soldiers had dropped to 135,000 with many involved in training missions. By the time of the
peace, the South Vietnamese Army boosted one million men.
End of American involvement (January 1973) Peace talks actually opened in Paris in 1968, but
they were not taken seriously until 1972. The Peace accords were finally signed in 1973, with
them Nixon declared “Peace with Honor.” However, it soon became clear that this was a short
sighted reading of the situation and Saigon would fall in 1975 (we will talk about this next
month)
Watergate Scandal (1972-1974)-the initial story involved five men being arrested while
burgling the Democratic Nominating Committee offices at the Watergate Hotel in Washington,
DC. However, the story morphed into something
more sinister as it was discovered that the men
were in the act of bugging phones in the office
and were paid with cash from a fund to reelect
President Nixon. At that point, Nixon played
some part in a conspiracy to cover up the
operation, however, he adamantly denied any
knowledge of the act at the Watergate or any
cover up. Enter Bob Woodward and Carl
Bernstein, two journalists from the local
Washington Post who continued following leads
and eventually got enough evidence that even
Congress had to get involved. Nixon’s
obstruction of Congressional investigators caused
the Supreme Court to order the turnover of
White House tape recordings which included the
now infamous missing eighteen and a half minute
gap which may have contained the most damning
pieces of evidence.
In truth, those missing minutes probably didn’t
matter because the American people have
become deeply suspicious of Nixon and the White House in general. Congress started to
consider seriously the impeachment of the President and he chose to resign instead.
Enter Stage Center, Gerald Ford
Ford took office with huge problems. The American
economy was shot (more below) and there was a real
crisis of confidence in American leadership. Ford took
office as the first unelected President, but after a long,
successful career as a congressman from Michigan,
indeed, he was house majority leader before his
promotion to the Vice Presidency.
Pardoning a Disgraced President (September, 1974)- Ford decided to issue a
Presidential pardon for Nixon, thereby ceasing all the investigations that were on going. Many
Americans turned against Ford because they felt that he allowed Nixon to get away scott free.
Ford, however, felt that he needed to quickly heal the American public and decided it was best
not to drag the process out with a long trial.
Flailing American Economy (most of the 1970s)The American economy was already strained by
funding the increased commitment to the Vietnamese
war in the late 1960s and finally broke in 1973 when
OPEC retaliated against American support of Israel by
initiating an oil embargo. The shock to the oil supply
had a profound effect on the entire American
economy, leading to rising inflation (prices rose) and
increasing unemployment (people had less money)
which is not a good thing! What was worse, the
govnerment did not appear to have a good way to help
end the economic downward trend because the
stagnant economy combined with the risk of inflation
was not a common economic condition.
26th Amendment (1971)
“The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age.”
Equal Rights Amendment (1972)
“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on
account of sex.”
EPA and Environmental Protection