Ch. 39 Notes
The Stalemated Seventies
Election of 1968
A. Nixon and his VP nominee- Spiro Agnew - win.
B. Humphrey runs as Democrat.
C. Wallace as American Independent
southern white racist guy!
(last time one of these runs!!!)
Election of 1972
A. Nixon and Agnew win the 1972
Presidential election by a landslide!
– (Was it corrupted???)
B. Democrat- Senator George
McGovern from South Dakota
(Notice Nixon only lost 1 state!)
Changes in the Supreme Court
Warren Burger/Burger Court
1. Shifts from liberal court (Earl
Warren, Civil Rights, etc.) to a
more conservative court
2. Nixon nominated Warren Burger
as chief justice after Earl Warren
3. Nixon placed three other
conservatives on the bench also
Stagflation
Stagflation:
combination of
rising
unemployment and
inflation (both bad)
2. Large problems with federal deficit, costs
of Johnson’s War on Poverty and Vietnam
3. August 1971- New Economic Policy/
“NIXONOMICS”- freeze on prices, rent,
and wages.
New Federalism
Republican attitude of
reducing federal
government's role in the
economy, and a return of
power to the states.
OPEC
1. Organization of
Petroleum Exporting
Countries- countries that got
together to “monopolize oil prices”
2. 12 countries made up of Algeria, Angola,
Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and
Venezuela.
3. Announces a price hike-1973: Oil goes from
$3.00 a barrel in the summer to $11.65 a barrel
by December (today it is $101.00 a barrel)
1. 1970s- Rising oil costs
became a major cause
of inflation and
consumer worry.
2. US has become
increasingly dependent
on foreign oil since
WWII.
Energy
Crisis
3. Oct, 1973- Arab nations cut off oil shipments to
the US as punishment for US support of Israel in the
new Arab-Israeli war.
4. Price of petroleum shot
ups 400%, created
shortages in oil, gas,
heating, etc.
– And we thought Katrina was bad?
H
Environmental Protection
1. EPA- federal group established in
1970 in response to an oil spill off of the coast of
Santa Barbara, Ca. The FIRST Earth Day
celebration and continued environmental
legislation (air, water, recycling, conservation)
2. Clean Air Act- set air-quality standards and
tough emissions guidelines for automakers (1970)
3. Water Quality Act- required oil companies
to pay part of clean up costs of oil spills (1972)
4. Endangered Species Act- protect the
wildlife of extinction (1972)
Henry Kissinger
1. Nixon’s Secretary of State
2. Had advised IKE, JFK, and LBJ
3. Later will serve as Reagan’s foreign-affairs
advisor
4. Nobel Peace Prize winner of 1973
Realpoliticknational interest, rather than
ideals such as democracy and
human rights- should guide US
foreign policy.
5. Shared Nixon’s idea of
Nixon-Kissinger Approach
1. The chief goal of their foreign policy was to
establish a balance of power among the world’s
five major powers.
a. United States
b. China
c. Japan
d. Soviet Union
e. Western Europe.
(France and Great Britain)
Nixon’s China Visit- Feb. ‘72
1. Nixon is perhaps best known
for his China visit.
2. Improved relations with China by lifting
trade and travel restrictions
3. The 2 nations worked together to
promote peace in the Pacific
4. Nixon proposed the eventual
withdrawal of US troops
from Taiwan to promote a new
policy he was planning regarding Soviet
Union.
The Moscow Summit-May ‘72
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT)US and SU sign a treaty limiting the number
of continental nuclear weapons- those
capable of traveling long distances.
2. These talks actually began in ’69.
3. This did not end the Arms Race, but it
was a small step toward reducing the
nuclear threat
4. SU enters into détente- a
lessening of military
and diplomatic
tensions between the
countries
Cambodia- ’69-70
1. Nixon plans to send troops through neutral
Cambodia to cut off supply lines of North
Vietnamese troops. (because of the Ho Chi
Minh trail… remember?)
2. Nixon orders widespread
bombing of Cambodia- he and
Kissinger keep this a big secret
from American people.
3. Nixon feared
international uproar over
the invasion.
4. A revolt overthrows
Cambodian leader in
March ’70- Nixon’s
attitude changes
the new
leader was proAmerican,
Nixon makes
his strategy
public.
5. Because
6. 80,000 US troops enter
Cambodia and the North
Vietnamese enter too.
Cambodia is now under
attack….
My Lai Massacre (1968)
An attack carried out in March 1968 by the United
States Army on the hamlet of My Lai during the
Vietnam War. As many as 500 civilians were killed
during the attack. US soldiers were told that they were to attack
the enemy settlement and to be prepared to kill anyone they
encountered. As it turned out, only women, children, and elderly
men going about their normal routines were in the hamlet when a
platoon entered the area and began herding them into groups to
be executed.
– Many villagers had also been raped and mutilated.
Throughout the attack there had been no hostile fire
from the village.
As a result of My Lai, U.S. soldiers are
now routinely trained to know that
orders to kill civilians can and should
be disobeyed
NO WONDER
AMERICANS WERE
PROTESTING the
WAR…
Anti-War Protest Increase
Pentagon
Papers: 1971-New
York Times (against the
US governments wishes)
begins to publish a
collection of secret
government
documents relating to
the war. Causes havoc in the US!!... More protesting… the truth was out
Vietnam Protests
Kent State, Ohio
• May 4, 1970
• 4 shot dead, 11 students
wounded- in a protest
rally
Jackson State, MS
 May 10, 1970
 2 dead, 12 wounded
Vietnamization
1. War strategy of turning over
fighting to South Vietnam and
gradually pulling out US troops.
2. Nixon thought this would bring “peace with
honor”. He HOPED it would produce a stable
anti-communist South Vietnam.
3. When Nixon took office in ’69, troop numbers
were 540,000. By ’72 it had dropped to 24,200.
War Powers Act
1. In 1973, seeking to prevent another
“Vietnam”, Congress passes this
legislation.
2. This act un-does the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution by reaffirming
Congress’s constitutional right to
declare war by setting a 60-day
limit on the presidential
commitment of US troops to
foreign conflicts.
Vietnam Peace Accord- cease-fire
in Vietnam on January 23, 1973
and by April 29-30, 1975 (2 years
later): N. Vietnam captures Saigon
(the capital of S.Vietnam), & all U.S.
civilians evacuated.
3. Vietnam Vets will
not actually be welcomed
home with the proper
celebration until 1985.
Ending The Vietnam War
As the final part of Vietnamization,”
leaders met in Paris and officially
called a cease fire to
stop fighting in Vietnam,
US soldiers leave
Vietnam finally… now
Chart: Deaths in Vietnam
its up to them…after
involvement under 5 Presidents! 1960Ike, JFK, LBJ, Nixon and Ford! 1975
WATERGATE
1972-1975
Nixon’s downfall
BACKGROUND to WATERGATE
• Nixon plans to run for re-election in
1972, but his paranoia of others causes
him to take measures to ENSURE his
re-election.
• The Election is November of ‘72…
• Remember the
election map? He
won by a landslide…
Talk about paranoid.
JUNE 13, 1971:
• The New York Times begins
publishing
THE PENTAGON PAPERS; the
Washington Post will soon follow.
Watergate Scandal
Break-in
• JUNE 17, 1972: A Break-in of the DNC
headquarters in the Watergate
building.
5 men (dressed as plumbers) carrying
spy equipment are arrested.
SEPT. 9, 1971:
THE PLUMBERS the 5 men (who
were dressed like plumbers) were
paid “by someone” to burglarize a
psychiatrist’s office to find files on
the democratic party- (they were
linked to Nixon and CREEP)
CREEP: Committee to Re-Elect the
President (Nixon’s campaign people)
the name is quite fitting!
NOVEMBER 11, 1972:
• Nixon is re-elected in one of the
largest landslides in American political
history, taking more than 60% of the
vote and crushing the Democratic
nominee, Sen. GEORGE
McGOVERN of
South Dakota.
SPRING OF 1973:
Washington Post/Deep throat: An
anonymous tip from a source known
only as “Deep Throat” to the
Washington Post newspaper that
leads the executive and legislative
branches of govt. to investigate
Nixon and his people for criminal
activities and cover-ups.
MAY, 1973:
• TELEVISED HEARINGS May,
1973 televised coverage of
Senate hearings.
• Americans watch testimony of
witnesses and presentation of
evidence relating to the criminal
charges filed against Nixon and
CREEP.
(May, ’73 cont.)
• In June, John Dean (former White House
attorney) directly implicates Nixon in the cover
up.
• Another witness comes forward with taperecorded conversations
• ARCHIBALD COX - prosecutor- demands
Nixon turn over the tapes. (Nixon recorded
EVERYTHING that went on in the Oval Officehe was sooo paranoid)
• Nixon refuses. He has his secretary “type up
the info” instead
OCTOBER 10,1973:
A CHANGE IN VICE PRES.
Agnew resigns after pleading no
contest to charges of tax evasion.
• Republican leader in the House of
Representatives- GERALD FORD becomes Nixon’s new VP.- HE
NEVER GOT 1 VOTE from any
American Citizen for Presidential
office!!!
OCTOBER 20, 1973:
SATURDAY NIGHT MASSACRE:
After 2 government officials refuse to
resign rather than fire Cox (the
prosecutor), Nixon sends Robert
Bork to fire him.
• Many Americans are outraged
because 2 gov. officials resigned
and 1 was fired on a Sat night while
Nixon tried to cover his buttocks!!!
AUGUST 8-9, 1974:
RESIGNATION & THE
UN-ELECTED PRESIDENT: Nixon
finally agrees to release the tapes.
Prove Nixon had directed the
Watergate cover-up & authorized
illegal activities. Rather than face
impeachment, Nixon resigns on Aug.
8,’74. Gerald Ford becomes Pres. On
Aug. 9, ’74- He is the only president
to not be elected but appointed to the
position.
SEPTEMBER, 1974:
• PARDON- President Ford grants Nixon
a full pardon. He explained that if Nixon
were put on trial it would raise questions
on both domestic and foreign fronts about
our governmental processes and
democracy.
Can this
possibly
be legal?
It smells
awfully
fishy…
Man Lands on the Moon
1. July 16, 1969: Apollo 11 spacecraft leaves Kennedy Space
Center in route to the moon.
2. Astronauts Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong and
Buzz Aldrin
3.July 20, 1969: Neil Armstrong
leaves the first human footprint on
the Moon. (take that, Soviets…ha!)
– “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Woodstock:
August ‘69
1. 500,000 Hippies, Doves, Hawks, Gays, Lesbians,
Anti-Gays, and even Rednecks attend the 3 day
PEACE anti-Vietnam concert in upstate NY.
2. 30 Artists: The Dead, Joan Baez, Crosby/Stills/&Nash,
Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix…
3. 10 deaths, 2 new babies
4. Filth, Hunger, Intoxication, Disorientation, and
Rain…and lots of love, man!
Twenty-sixth Amendment
1. Ratified on July 1, 1971
2. Voting age is lowered from 21 to
18.
3. If you are old enough to be sent to
war- you are old enough to vote!
Title IX (9)
1. Prohibited sex
discrimination in any
education program or
activity, within an institution
receiving any type of Federal financial
assistance.
2. Girls, this means your athletic groups
get just as much funding as the guys!
VII. Important
Supreme Court
Cases of the
’60s-’70s
You’ve GOT to know
these!!!!
Gideon v. Wainwright 1963
“…you have the right to
an attorney, if you
cannot afford one, one
will be provided to you…”
States must provide lawyers, at the
public’s expense, for poor
defendants charged with
serious crimes. Mr. Gideon
Escobedo v. Illinois 1964
1. Granted the accused
the right to have a
lawyer present
during police
investigations.
Miranda v. Arizona 1966
1. Accused persons must
be informed of their
rights at the time of
2.
their arrest.
“You have the right
to…”
Roe v. Wade 1973
1. Landmark US Supreme Court
Case: January 22, 1973:
Declared that most
2. Right to choose. Laws against
abortion violate a constitutional
right to privacy
3. Now decades of debates and it
divided the country into “prochoice” vs “pro-life”
Ford Falling Down Air Force One Stairs
a. Presided over the official
end to the Vietnam War
Cease fire 1973
South Vietnam falls to
communism with
the fall of Saigon,
April 30, 1975 to
North Vietnam
control
VI. Foreign Affairs
Helsinki Accords
• the Helsinki Accords were pretty
broad, but the one issue that was
important to the United States, was
the elevation of Human Rights, ...
signed by US, USSR, 33 others -
Election of 1976
a. [D] Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale
b. [R] Gerald R. Ford/Robert Dole
c. Very close election
1. Popular Vote: 40,977,147 to 39,422,671
2. Electoral Vote: 297 to 240
d. Jimmy Carter's success in the election of 1976
resulted in large part because he seemed to
possess honesty, piety, and a D.C. outsider's
skepticism of the federal government
Blue=Carter
Green=Ford
Panama Canal
1. Pushed for
ratification of a
treaty that would
return control
of the Panama
Canal to the
Panamanian gov’t
on Dec 31, 1999.
(so… we gave it back under
Bill Clinton…)
(Unpopular - had just one vote more than the required #
for the 2/3rds majority!)
Creation of Dept. of Energy
a. created as a result of the severe
energy crisis of the 1970s
b. Carter called for conservation of
fuel and use of alternative energy
sources (sound familiar? Still talkin’)
c. Coal miner’s strike and the nuclear
power plant accident at Three-Mile
Island near Harrisburg, PA dealt
blows to his energy policies
Accident at Three-Mile Island
a. March 28, 1979: a nuclear power plant in
Pennsylvania experienced a severe core
meltdown in one of the plant’s reactors
b. Despite the scare that radioactivity
would spread and damage people
nearby, no one received a harmful
amount.
c. This accident led the U.S. to reform our
nuclear power industry to improve safety!
Camp David Accords
1. Carter invited Egyptian president Anwar
el-Sadat and Israeli prime minister
Menachem Begin to the presidential
retreat at Camp David, Maryland, to
discuss peace between the two nations
2. Meeting lasted over 13 days during
September, 1978 – was successful!
3. Drafted and signed on March 26, 1979
4. Other Arab nations rejected the Camp
David Accords
Iranian Hostage Crisis
1. Islamic Revolution in Iran occurred on
November 4, 1979
2. America supported shah Mohammad Reza
Pahlavi, who was
forced to leave Iran
3. Shah was very ill with
cancer and was admitted
to an American hospital
4. Iranians believed that his presence in the
U.S. would provide a base for the Shah to
reclaim his throne
5. Ayatollah Khomeini, a radical Islamic
leader and one
of the Shah’s most vocal
opponents, became Iran’s
leader and proclaimed
Iran an Islamic Republic
Iran Hostage Crisis
6. Nov 4, 1979:
American
embassy in
Tehran, Iran
was attacked and
the American
Staff was
taken hostage
7. Diplomatic efforts failed, and Carter
froze all Iranian financial assets in the
U.S.
8. Failed military attempt to rescue the
hostages – almost half of the helicopters
developed mechanical problems;
another crashed (8 U.S. Soldiers died
during Operation Eagle Claw, April 1980)
9. HUGE embarrassment to the Carter
Administration and the U.S.
Downed American helicopter during
Operation Eagle Claw – on a mission to rescue
the hostages
10. Carter eventually secured the release of the
hostages
11. 52 men were held hostage for 444 days –
release time was scheduled for January 20,
1980, when Ronald Reagan became the next
president
China
1. Carter Administration formally
recognized the People’s Republic as
the sole government of China – led
to the establishment of normal
relations
with
Communist
China.
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
a. Civil war in Afghanistan secular,
communist gov’t vs. Muslims who
wanted
a more traditional gov’t that
followed the
religion
b. Invasion of Soviets: Dec, 1979; began
a 9-year conflict claimed they were not invading
the
country but were supporting a
legitimate government against
terrorists.
C. The US thought the muslims were a better choice
than communism… (can we say stoopid!)
D. of course we all know Afghanistan is still a problem!!!
Hellloooo Osama Bin Laden ring a bell?
Boycott Olympics
Carter withdrew
American participation
in the summer Olympics
held in Moscow as a
result of the invasion
[60+ nations boycotted in total]
(USSR retaliated by boycotting the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics…)
SALT II
(Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty)
1. Carter attempted to negotiate a SALT II
treaty with the Soviets,
but some members of Congress felt
it threatened American defense
2. When the Soviet Union invaded
Afghanistan in 1979, all talk of
ratifying the treaty was pushed aside