Richard Nixon
Vietnam to Resignation
Foreign Policy
Vietnam
 Feb 1972 > Nixon
visits China
- showed signs
of the easing of
tensions in the
Cold War
- 1st President
to visit a
Communist country
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Foreign Policy
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Détente > a relaxation
of tension between US
and USSR
Nixon visits the Soviet
Union in May 1972
SALT Agreements
– Strategic Arms
Limitations Act
– Restricted the types
and numbers of nuclear
weapons that each
country could deploy
Domestic policy
July 1969 > Neil
Armstrong and
Buzz Aldrin walk
on the moon
 Walking on the
Moon
 “One small step for
man, one giant
leap for mankind”
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The Warren Court
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Chief Justice Earl Warren
Handed down several rulings
protecting the rights of the
accused
Gideon vs. Wainwright (rights
to a lawyer)
Mapp vs. Ohio (illegal search
and seizures)
Miranda vs. Arizona (Miranda
Rights)
Very liberal court
Nixon nominated four justices
to make the Supreme Court
more conservative (checks and
balances)
– Upheld previous decisions
Domestic Policy
Nixon limits governments role in civil
rights/desegragation
 Economy
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– Stagflation: stagnant economy
– Inflation leads to less buying and rising
unemployment
– Nixon puts a hold on prices and wages (can’t rise)
– Gets the FED to lower interest rates to encourage
spending
– Increases government spending
Election of 1972
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Nixon vs. George
McGovern
Nixon won in a landslide
Watergate Scandal
– The republicans were
worried about the election
– Planted listening devices in
the Democratic Party
National Headquarters
located in the Watergate
Towers Apartment Building
Watergate
5 Men get caught and
charged with the
break-in
 Nixon didn’t know of
the break-in
 After the election
when Nixon found out
he ordered a cover-up
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Watergate
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During several meetings with key
advisors and White House Staff, Nixon
had conversations recorded
Many of the meetings involved the
Watergate Scandal
At first Nixon denied, then refused to
hand over recordings
Nixon vs. US > Supreme Court ruled
recorded conversations weren’t
executive priviledge
Nixon had to hand over tapes
Smoking Gun Tape > Nixon wanted to
go to CIA and FBI and ask them to
stop the investigation into the scandal
(COVER-UP)
Congress was going to bring up
impeachment charges but Nixon
resigns
Nixon claimed that he did nothing
wrong
Nixon's Resignation Speech