United States History
Chapter 34:
From Nixon to Carter
President Nixon
 Much of Nixon’s support came from middle class Americans
 He called his supporters the “Silent Majority”
 People that were not involved in the protesting and violence of
the 1960s
 Welfare reform was biggest policy concern
 Thought that Great Society programs were wasteful and made
people rely on the government
 Proposed the Family Assistance Plan (FAP) to replace most
welfare, but it was never passed
 Not a big supporter of civil rights laws
 Hoped to lure southerners from the Democratic Party, so he
assured people that he would not support more civil rights laws
 Appointed a conservative in Warren Burger in 1969 when Earl
Warren retired
President Nixon
 The economy was stumbling when Nixon took over in
1969
 Normally, if unemployment was high, inflation was low,
and vice versa
 However, both were high during his presidency, which is
called stagflation
 Enforced price and wage freezes to curb inflation, which
worked; inflation rose again when controls were lifted in
1974, up to 12%!
 The Energy Crisis
 By 1973, the US used twice as much oil as it produced
 Much of the oil imported came from a group of nations
called OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries)
President Nixon
 Because of US support of Israel in the Arab-Israeli War,
OPEC cut off shipments to the US
 Prices for oil rose 400% in a few short months
 Energy prices skyrocketed, and lines for gas stations
sometimes ran for miles
 The embargo was lifted in 1974, but prices remained high
 Nixon wanted the nation to rely less on foreign oil
 Proposed the 55 mph speed limit
 Authorized building of Trans-Alaska Pipeline
 Authorized the building of dozens of nuclear power plants
throughout the nation
 Many were scared of nuclear accidents
 Supporters said the benefits outweighed the negatives
President Nixon
 Worked to help protect the environment
 First Earth Day, April 22, 1970
 Created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
1970
 Clean Air Act, 1970
 Water Quality Improvement Act, 1972
 Endangered Species Act, 1973
 Foreign policy (outside of Vietnam) based on realpolitik
(practical politics)
 Serve the national interest, rather than democracy and
human rights
 Balance power between nations, otherwise risk a war
President Nixon
 China
 Worked to improve relations with China, who had become an
enemy of the Soviet Union
 Made an historic visit to China in 1972 that eventually led to
greater trade and cultural ties
 Soviet Union
 Met in May 1972 to Leonid Brezhnev, leader of USSR
 Signed the Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT)
 Limited the number of ICBMs a nation could possess
 Did not end arms race, but took steps to reduce arms
 Entered a period of détente, a lessening of tensions between
the two superpowers
 Israel
 Oct. 1973 Yom Kippur War
 USSR threatened to intervene, but a cease fire was called
between Israel, Syria and Egypt
Watergate
 Nixon was a very paranoid man, and felt that he had the
power to do almost whatever he pleased
 After the Pentagon Papers were leaked, he organized a
system to stop info from leaking again
 Compiled an “enemies list”
 Created the Plumbers, a group of CIA and FBI agents used to
ensure things would not be leaked
 In June 1972, the Plumbers were being used to ensure
Nixon’s reelection that fall
 A group of Plumbers were caught breaking into the Democratic
National Committee at the Watergate complex
 They were carrying wiretaps and other spying equipment
 Paid by the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP)
Watergate
 Nixon immediately denied any links to the break-in
 However, two reporters from the Washington Post continued
to investigate
 Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
 Used a highly secretive source, known only as “Deep Throat” to
obtain info on the break-in
 Informed that 50 agents had been hired to sabotage Dems
reelection bid for 1972
 Nixon easily won reelection, but investigations began on the
Watergate break-ins
 Investigations were held over accusations of criminal activities
and a presidential cover-up
 Several White House officials were found guilty and sent to jail
for their role
 Nixon was accused of being directly involved, to which he
denied
“I am not a crook!”
Watergate
 Nixon had secretly tape recorded conversations in his office
 The prosecution demanded the tapes, but Nixon refused,
saying it would endanger national security
 Spiro Agnew, his vice president, plead guilty to tax evasion in
Oct. 1973, and resigned
 Gerald Ford was named the new vice president
 A series of firings took place over the tapes
 Nixon ordered Archibald Cox, the man demanding the tapes, to
be fired
 His Attorney General and assistant resigned rather than fire
Cox
 Robert Bork, who took over as Attorney General, fired Cox in
what became known as the Saturday Night Massacre
 The public was outraged and demanded Nixon’s impeachment
Watergate
 Nixon slowly gave up some of the tapes
 Refused to give all of the tapes
 Some of the tapes had gaps in them, supposedly erased by Nixon
himself
 In July 1974, the Supreme Court ordered he turn over the tapes
 The tapes told the whole story of what happened
 Nixon ordered the scandal covered up and other illegal activities
 Articles of impeachment were recommended by the House
Judiciary Committee
 Rather than face impeachment, Nixon resigned, effective August
9, 1974
 Gerald Ford was sworn in as president, nominating Nelson
Rockefeller as vice president
 Became first president to resign
Gerald R. Ford 1974-1977
Ford’s Presidency
 Ford had a tough job of trying to restore faith in the
government
 Ford pardoned Nixon for all wrongdoing in Watergate,
to which the public was outraged
 At odds with a Democratically controlled Congress,
vetoing 66 bills in his short term
 The economy pulled Ford’s approval even lower
 Attempted to address inflation with Whip Inflation Now
(WIN), a program of budget and tax cuts, but could not
get Congress on board
 The nation endured another recession during his
presidency, harming his chances of reelection in 1976
Ford’s Presidency
 Continued many of Nixon’s foreign policy measures
 Kept Henry Kissinger as his secretary of state
 Asian Relations
 Proposed millions for Vietnam and Cambodia, but was only
able to secure humanitarian aid
 Mayaguez incident: Cambodia seized an American ship, to
which Ford responded strongly; however, 41 were killed in the
incident
 Africa
 Largely ignored, but Ford secretly funneled money to an
anticommunist movement in Angola
 Soviet Union
 Continued détente, but fragilely
 Failed to obtain a trade pact, but negotiated an arms-limitation
treaty, however, the Senate failed to ratify
Jimmy Carter 1977-1981
Jimmy Carter
 In 1976, Democrat Jimmy Carter narrowly defeated
Republican Gerald Ford for the presidency
 A Washington outsider barely known outside of the South
 Promised to maintain an open presidency
 Had to address many issues in his term
 Pardoned Vietnam draft dodgers
 High inflation of 13.3% that drove the economy back into
recession by 1980
 Oil prices continued to hamper the economy
 Energy Proposal
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Keep the 55 mph speed limit
Reduce thermostats in home
Created the Department of Energy to oversee issues
Supported nuclear energy, but was delivered a blow by a near
meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979
Jimmy Carter
 While he struggled with domestic issues, many foreign
issues also plagued Carter’s term
 Rejected the realpolitik of Nixon and Ford, upsetting many
dictators of US allies
 Panama: negotiated the Panama Canal Treaties to turn
control of the canal over to Panama by 2000
 Supported African nations and self-rule, especially
condemning apartheid in South Africa
 Soviet Union: détente continued to decline
 Officially ended in December 1979 when the Soviet Union
invaded Afghanistan
 Cut off grain shipments to USSR and boycotted the 1980
Olympics, held in Moscow
 Nearly prevented the 1980 “Miracle on Ice”
 Also postponed signing an arms treaty with the Soviets
Jimmy Carter
 Most notable achievement was a Middle East peace treaty
 Invited Egypt and Israel to the US to work out a peace before
another war broke out
 Anwar Sadat (Egypt) and Menachem Begin (Israel) signed the
Camp David Accords in 1978
 Iran Hostage Crisis
 Revolution in Iran overthrew the US backed Shah, while
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installing a theocracy led by Ayatollah Khomeini
When the US let the Shah in to the US for medical treatment,
students overran the US Embassy
Hostages were held for 444 days
Carter tried to free them, but 8 soldiers were killed when their
helicopter crashed
The hostages were released the day that Reagan became
president
Life in the 1970s
 Demographics
 Immigration, mostly from Latin America and Asia
 Many came from Mexico, Cuba, China and Vietnam
 Voting Rights Act of 1975 required ballots to be printed in other
languages
 Bilingual Education Act gave money to schools to teach in
native languages while people learned English
 Sunbelt States
 Many moved from the NE and Midwest to Sun Belt states of the
South and Southwest
 Home air conditioning made it possible for many to live in the
hot climates
 Family life
 People put off marrying, many not marrying at all
 Divorce rates increased to almost 50%
 Family sizes drastically reduced, compared to the baby boom
Life in the 1970s
 People began to look to ways to improve themselves
 Health clubs and jogging became popular
 However, alcohol and fast food consumption rose, with more
and more meals coming from outside the home
 Entertainment
 The movie industry boomed during the decade, churning out
blockbusters left and right
 Music was defined by rock and new versions of it in the form of
heavy metal, punk, and, most popular, disco
 Technology
 Creation of the personal computer by Steve Jobs and Stephen
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Wozniak (Apple)
Atari video game console in the home
Telephone answering machine
Skylab space station
Satellite and cable tv