CHAPTER 30
Crisis of Confidence
1969 – 1980
“I have looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve
committed adultery in my heart many times. God
recognizes I will do this and forgives me.”
Jimmy Carter, Playboy interview 1976
“They asked if I’d fight for my country.
I answered the FBI yeah,
I will point a gun for my country,
But I won’t guarantee you which way.”
Woody Guthrie
Source: Pete Seeger -- an original verse, sung to Acres of Clams
"We are all capable of believing things which we know to be untrue,
and then, when we are finally proved wrong, impudently twisting the
facts so as to show that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to
carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only check on it is that
sooner or later a false belief bumps up against solid reality, usually on
a battlefield." George Orwell [1946 essay "In Front of Your Nose."]
"I don¹t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go
communist.” Henry Kissinger [about Chile’s election of Salvadore
Allende]
"Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the
power to make you commit atrocities." Voltaire
"Learning is not compulsory. Neither is survival." -- W. Edwards Deming,
business consultant and author
"Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation, whenever he
shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to
do so, whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for
such a purpose -- and you allow him to make war at pleasure. Study
to see if you can fix any limit to his power in this respect, after you have
given him so much … [power]. If, today, he should choose to say he
thinks it necessary to invade Canada, to prevent the British from invading
us, how could you stop him? You may say to him, 'I see no probability
of the British invading us' but he will say to you, 'Be silent; I see it, if
you don't.'" Congressman Abraham Lincoln during era of "Polk's
War" (Lincoln: Speeches and Writings 1832-1858, The Library of
America)
Joan Baez and Bob Dylan
At the Newport (Rhode
Island) Jazz Festival in 1963,
Joan Baez and Bob Dylan
performed as folksingers who
worked in the tradition of
protest songs. Two years
later in Newport, Dylan
shocked the popular music
world by replacing his
acoustic instrument with an
amplified guitar and backup
and jump-starting a fruitful
blending of folk, country, and
rock music into radical new
sounds. AP/Wide World
Photos
Kim Phuc, napalm victim, Viet Nam
This Pulitzer Prizewinning
photograph of 9year-old Kim Phuc
, center, running
after an aerial
napalm attack on
her village in 1972
was taken by
Associated Press
photographer Nick
Ut (Cong Ut). Kim
suffered burns
over 65% of her
body. She
survived and is
now a peace
activist. AP/Wide
World Photos
The War in Vietnam
The United States attacked
North Vietnam with air strikes
but confined large-scale
ground operations to South
Vietnam and Cambodia. In
South Vietnam, U.S. forces
faced both North Vietnamese
army units and Viet Cong
rebels, all of whom received
supplies by way of the socalled Ho Chi Minh Trail,
named for the leader of North
Vietnam. The coordinated
attacks on cities and towns
throughout South Vietnam
during the Tet Offensive in
1968 surprised the United
States.
Richard Nixon
 Sp Ct appointments -- Burger [Haynesworth/Carswell]
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Blackmun, Rehnquist, Powell
Revenue Sharing – block grant v. formula [liberal v.
conservative]
Clean Air, EPA, Endangered Species, COLAs,
Philadelphia plan
Pentagon Papers, Ellsberg
Watergate
Furman v. Georgia 1972
Roe v. Wade 1973
Vietnamization
Impeachment
Chapter Concepts
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Woodstock Music and Art Fair
Timothy Leary, Aldous Huxley, Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, Yippies
Jefferson Airplane, Beach Boys at BC [1963], Jimi Hendrix
Kent State University
Equal Rights Amendment [ERA]
La Raza Unida
Watergate
Roe v. Wade
Henry Kissinger, Détente, 1973 Chile, Vietnamization
George Wallace, George McGovern
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter -- Camp David Accords [Sadat and Begin]
Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg
Dick Tut in Orange County, “The people have spoken, the b…….s”
Jim Jones in Guyana
Students for a Democratic Society [SDS], Port Huron Statement, Tom Hayden
Free Speech Movement [FSM], Mario Savio, Jane Fonda, Noam Chomsky
Additional Concepts
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NIMBYs
William Julius Wilson
1978 Bakke
California’s Proposition 13 in 1978
Anastasio Somoza, Sandinistas
1980 Olympic Games boycott / Afghanistan
Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi [Shah]
Marielitos
October surprise? 1980
Stagflation – unemployment with inflation
Kern Council for Civic Unity, BC’s Duane Belcher Ad-Hoc BCSD
HEW Hearing, 1974 – Bakersfield City School District – de jure v. de facto
Minority Coalition, 1970s Kern County
Herb Klein, San Diego Union, Press Secretary
CSNY – Chicago and Ohio [songs]
Angela Davis, George Jackson [“Soledad Brother”]
My Lai – Lt. Calley, Seymour Hersh
1973 Wounded Knee, Dennis Banks, Russell Means in Kern County
Chapter Review
 Explain the significance of Vietnamization as a
cornerstone of Nixon’s foreign policy.
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Describe the agendas of minority and women’s rights activists at
the start of the 1970s.
 List the major accomplishments of the Nixon
administration in foreign affairs outside of Vietnam.
[Détente, China]
 Briefly outline the events that culminated in the Watergate
scandal.
 Explain the reasons for the oil crisis of the early 1970s.
 Identify some of the policies promoted by Jimmy Carter
when he became president in 1976.
Bibliography
 William Julius Wilson, The Declining Significance of Race:
Blacks and Changing American Institutions [1980]
 Gary Sick, October Surprise [1991]
 Jimmy Carter, Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President
[1995]
 Barbara Ehrenreich, Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the
Middle Class [1989]
Chronology
1973
1974
1975
Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion / national gov't [Sp. Ct.]
forces all states to allow abortions
Arab embargo sparks oil crisis in the US
Construction of Alaska oil pipeline begins
Richard Nixon resigns presidency; Gerald Ford
President Ford pardons Nixon and introduces anti-inflation
program
Community Development Act funds programs for
urban improvement
Coalition of Labor Union Women formed
Unemployment rate reaches nearly 9 percent
South Vietnamese government falls Anti-busing protests
break out in Boston
New York City government declares itself bankrupt
1976
1977
1978
Percentage of African Americans attending college peaks at 9.3
percent and begins a decline
Hyde Amendment restricts use of Medicare funds for abortions
Tom Wolfe declares "the Me Decade"
Jimmy Carter is elected president
President Carter announces human rights as major tenet in
foreign policy
Stagflation-- unemployment and inflation
Depart. of Energy is established
Bakke v. University of California new limits on affirmative action
Senator Edward Kennedy calls attention to "a permanent
underclass"
Panama Canal Treaties arrange for turning the canal over to
Panama by 2000
Camp David meeting terms for Middle East Peace
California passes Proposition 13, cutting property taxes and
government social programs
Inflation reaches 10 percent
1979
1980
Three Mile Island nuclear accident threatens a meltdown
Moral Majority is formed
SALT II treaty is signed in Vienna but later stalls in the Senate
Nicaragua Revolution [Sandinistas] overthrows Anastasio
Somoza
Iranian fundamentalists seize the U.S. embassy in Tehran and
hold hostages 444 days
Soviets invade Afghanistan
Equal Rights Amendment, three states short of ratification, gets
a three-year extension but eventually dies anyway
United States boycotts Olympic Games in Moscow due to
Afghanistan
I.
America United and Divided
 Neil Armstrong walks on moon and young people celebrate
Woodstock in 1969
 Nixon begins “Vietnamization” -- bringing American troops home
 Anti-war movement escalates, with Kent State best example
 Americans learn more about events in Vietnam and become even
more divided
II.
Activism, Rights and Reform
 Women’s rights see some improvement
 Minority groups push for rights as well
 After not receiving black votes, Nixon shows little concern
for civil rights
 Nixon impacts Supreme Court, especially with Warren
Burger
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Roe v. Wade abortion ruling stuns country
Court also attacks lingering segregation
The Struggle for the Equal Rights Amendment
©2004 Wadsworth, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning™ is a trademark used herein under license.
III.
New Directions at Home and Abroad
 Nixon restructures welfare and returns much control to state level
 First Earth Day is celebrated in 1970, and Nixon joins ranks of
environmentally aware
 President supports CIA in covert actions in Latin America
 Nixon visits China and eases tensions with Soviet Union
IV.
Four More Years?
 Watergate Hotel burglary goes unnoticed by most, and Nixon wins
landslide victory
 America withdraws from Vietnam in “exit without honor”
 Watergate leads to Nixon’s resignation, and Gerald Ford becomes
president
 War in Middle East, and American support for Israel, bring oil
embargo against U.S.
Presidential
Election, 1972
V.
Gerald Ford in the White House
 Ford pardons Nixon and offers “conditional amnesty” to
Vietnam draft evaders, angering many Americans
 North Vietnam takes South Vietnam
 Americans view Ford as unprepared
 Jimmy Carter wins 1976 election
The Election of 1976
VI.
The Carter Years
 Carter supports civil rights, but affirmative action still polarizes nation
 President oversees return of Canal Zone to Panama and
orchestrates Camp David Accord between Israel and Egypt
 Inflation, high unemployment, and energy crisis burden America
 Iranian hostage situation unseats Carter
The Election
of 1980
Kent State
The shootings at Kent State University in May 1970 reflected the
deep divisions in American society created by the Vietnam War,
including those between antiwar college students and young people
serving in the armed forces. © John Paul Filo/Hutton/Archive
Antiwar Protests
Antiwar protests were simultaneously symbolic and disruptive. Some
activists dumped jars of animal blood over draft-board records. Others
tried to block munitions trains. In October 1967, a hundred thousand
people marched on the Pentagon and surrounded it with the light of
burning draft cards. Some in front stuck flowers in the rifle barrels of the
soldiers ringing the building; others kicked and spat. The troops and
police cleared the grounds with tear gas and clubs. Corbis–Bettman
Peace sign
A hippie gestures the peace
sign while standing in a
meadow. Getty Images, Inc.–
Taxi
Black Panther Party
Some members of the Black Panther party raised funds to pay for
the legal fees of those arrested and charged with various offenses,
such as Bobby Seale and Ericka Huggins. The Panthers advocated
a radical economic, social, and educational agenda that made the
group the target of a determined campaign of suppression by the
police and the FBI. Magnum Photos Inc.
MLK – the dream continued. . .
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Corbis/Bettmann
Nixon and Elvis
This is the single most requested item in the National Archives which contain, among
other national treasures, originals of the Declaration of Independence, the
Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. President Nixon and Elvis Presley met at the
singer’s request. He had volunteered to work in the administration’s anti-drug
crusade. The president, looking for a way to reach out to young people, readily
agreed. He appointed Presley a “deputy” in the anti-drug war. Presley was, at the
time, addicted to a variety of uppers, downers, and other medications. [Photograph is
in the public domain and available at the National Archives]
Civilian Causalities in Vietnam
A South Vietnamese farmer grieves over the bodies of his wife and
son lying in a mud paddy after stepping on a land mine in the Tay
Ninh Province.
Nixon's Cabinet
President Richard Nixon
confers with Secretary of
State Henry Kissinger, John
Ehrlichman, and Harry
Haldeman in the Oval Office.
Securing Deo Mang Pass
U.S. Army troops from the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry, 101st
Airborne Division move away from a landing zone along a dirt road
while securing Deo Mang Pass in 1965.
The Inauguration of Richard Nixon
Richard and Pat Nixon stand before a crowd during the presidential
inauguration ceremonies on January 20, 1969.
Vietnam
An American soldier
struggles through the thick
jungle of the central
highlands of Vietnam during a
search-and-destroy mission.
Arthur Ashe
While African American
athletes in boxing, football,
baseball, and basketball were
common in the early 1970s,
Arthur Ashe was one of the
few African American tennis
stars and a frequent
champion.
Environmental worries, 1973
Sign on bridge near PPG plant near Ponce, Puerto Rico, protests air
pollution.
President Nixon meets with China's Communist Party Leader, Mao TseTung in 1971
President Richard Nixon visited The People's Republic of China in 1971,
forever ending the ''sterile pretense that Communist China did not exist.''
Rand, West Virginia, 1973
President Johnson's ''War on Poverty'' did not bring hope to all
Americans. In Rand, W.Va., most of the inhabitants were still living in
abject poverty in the 1970s.