1968-1989

Conservative Republican
• anti communist
POLICIES:
- United States Postal Service
-Philadelphia Plan:
• new jobs for minority groups
• equal job opportunities for all Americans
-Energy Conservation
-Environmental Protection Agency
•
First Earth Day 1970
- Equal Rights Amendment
• more women to administrative positions
-New Federalism
• power to impose wages and freeze prices
• wanted to fix economic conditions to ensure reelection

Republican Platform: (Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew)
•
“Peace with Honor”- they wanted to bring an end to the war through a swift victory.
•
Nixon however sought to place less emphasis on the Vietnam war by saying he had a “secret plan”.
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“Law and Order”- emphasized stronger criminal justice system, especially in relation to violence and property crimes through stricter punishments.
•
Nixon hoped to position himself as champion of the “silent majority”, people who did not openly express their political opinions publicly.
Democratic Platform: (Hubert H. Humphrey/Edmund Mukie)
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“War on Poverty”, they wanted to close the gap between the rich and the poor.
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Promised to continue welfare programs that had been started by Kennedy and Johnson.
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Supported LBJ’s Vietnam policies o Armed forces would be applied until the enemy showed willingness to negotiate peace.
American Independent Platform: (George Wallace/Curtis Lemay)
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Wanted to bomb North Vietnam “back to the stone age.”
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Advocated racial segregation.
o Gained support in the deep south.

Republican Platform: (Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew)
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Vietnamization- policy of handing over the war responsibility over to the South Vietnamese government to allow for the withdrawal of American soldiers.
•
“Peace is at hand”, Dr. Kissinger announced that an agreement would be settled in a few days.
o Announced 12 days before the election.
o Boosted support for Nixon who would be instrumental to peace negotiations.
Democratic Platform: (George McGovern/Thomas Eagleton)
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Promised to pull remaining American troops out of Vietnam within 90 days of election.
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Appealed to racial minorities, feminists, leftists, and youth but alienated the traditional working class of his party.

•
Republican o came in after Nixon’s Watergate scandal
POLICIES:
- Tax Reduction Act 1975
•
$23 Billion tax cut
-Inflation ( W hip I nflation N ow)
-Equal Rights
•
Human Rights
• womens equality day Aug. 26 1975
• all Americans should have equal opportunity

•
Democrat
-POLICIES
- Healthcare
• national health insurance
- Energy Crisis
• conservation
• price control
• limit on imported oil
- Clean Air and Clean Water Act
• reduction in air pollution
• to restore and maintain the chemical biological and physical integrity of the nations waters

Republican Platform: (Gerald Ford/Bob Dole)
•
Gerald was Nixon’s Vice president and became president in 1974 following the watergate scandal.
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The poor economy, fall of South Vietnam /Vietnam war defeat, and his pardon of Nixon over the watergate scandal made Ford lose support from many voters.
Democratic Platform: (Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale)
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Promised to pardon some ten thousand draft evaders of the Vietnam War.
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With the Watergate scandal two years earlier, Carter made a promise that “I’ll never lie to you.”
•
He was viewed as untainted by the corrupt and cynical Washington and this attracted voters.
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Tax reduction and reform.
•
Energy conservation.

•
Republican
POLICIES:
- Reaganomics
-domestic budget cuts, tax cuts for the rich, more money in private hands
-goal was to stimulate economic growth and reduce size of federal government
- Immigration Reform and Control Act
-penalized employers of undocumented aliens and granted amnesty to many already in America
-illegal to hire an illegal immigrant
-3 million illegal immigrants were granted legal status through this
- Health
-opposed universal health care but promoted single payer health care
- Environmental Protection Agency
- a huge budget commitment to reduce acid rain

Republican Platform: (Ronald Reagan/George H. W. Bush)
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Wanted prayer in schools and tougher penalties for criminals.
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Condemned federal intervention into local affairs.
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Promised a restoration of the nation's military strength and an increase in defence spending.
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Implementation of a supply side economic policy, or lowering barriers for people to produce goods and services as well as invest in capital.
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Balanced budget within 3 years
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30% tax reduction
Democratic Platform: (Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale)
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Equal rights for women (Equal Rights Amendment)
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Carters failure to return the Iranian hostages hurt his image

Republican Platform: (Ronald Reagan/George H. W. Bush)
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Increase in Defense spending.
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Keep taxes low
Democratic Platform: (Walter Mondale/Geraldine A. Ferraro)
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First woman to be placed on a major presidential ticket.
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Pledged to raise taxes.

Civil Rights act of 1968- Equal housing opportunities regardless of race, or national origin and made it a federal crime to “by force or by threat of force, injure, intimidate, or interfere with anyone … by reason of their race, color, religion, or national origin.”
Clean Air Act of 1970- authorized the development of comprehensive federal and state regulations to limit emissions from both stationary sources and mobile sources.
26 th Amendment: Voting age lowered to 18.
Equal Rights Amendment- designed to guarantee equal rights for women.
Education Amendment of 1972- prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in educational institutions receiving federal aid.
Freedom of Information Act- allows for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government .
Voting Rights Act of 1965- prohibits discrimination in voting.

Vietnam War (1954-1975)
•
Cause: America wanted to contain the Communism in Communist countries that had the threat of spreading over Southeast Asia.
1. The Soviets armed Communist China which they in turn armed North
Vietnam; the U.S. intervened.
•
Effect: America was split, Hawks(supported the war) and Doves (anti
American involvement in the war)
- Americans lost their pride, weakened the the faith in the government, and caused distrust
- Troops were not seen as war heroes but disgraced
-Communism strengthened
-Inflation

Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act
• allowed $455 Million to aid in settling refugees
Worked to enhance the SALT II Treaty
-Helsinki Accords
• to strengthen relationships between Western nations and Communist countries of Europe

- Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I&II)
- Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START)
- Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty (with Russia)
-Vietnamization
• withdrew all American troops from South Vietnam
1.
the gradual takeover of South Vietnamese taking responsibility for their own fighting with financed materials from America
- Paris Accord
• ended U.S. involvement in Vietnam
Nixon Doctrine
•
Asian countries could no longer rely on large American support

Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) US and Russia
- eliminated nuclear and conventional ground launched ballistic missiles with intermediate range
-START
- ( removed 80% of existing missiles in 2001)
-SDI ( Strategic Defense Initiative)
- Iran Contra Affair
-grip of power of the left wing Sandinista government in Nicaragua
- Reagan begged Congress to provide military aid to the contra rebels fighting against the
Sandinista regime

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Wanted to spread human right accounts into other countries
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Camp David
- a resolution between Israel and Arab countries, ended disputes with
Egypt as well
- fell apart when the Egyptian leader was assassinated by Islamic fundamentalist
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Panama Canal Treaty o Carter agreed to give up control of the Canal but the US had the authority to defend it if necessary o Panama now had control of operation and defense

- Caught the end of the Vietnam War
• effect: inflation
• the recession in 1974-1975 lowered the nation's inflation

Israel 6 Day War
•
Israel attacked before they were attacked
-
Effect: Camp David, Arab countries joined the Palestinians which are Israel's enemies
- Cause: Tension between Israel and Egypt, terrorist activity against Israel,
- The United Nation was not wanted in the land with sensitive borders

Cold War
•
Reagan did not want to soften up against the Soviet. He said that they were willing to commit any crime to rule the world
•
The Soviets wanted to avoid economic ruin so they came to bargain with Reagan
•
Never actually fought
Effects: USSR bombed a Korean aircraft, the United States boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow then the Soviets boycotted the Los Angeles Summer Games in 1984
Cause: Both sides had nuclear threats, communism

Roe v. Wade (1973)
● Norma McCorvey (alias “Jane Roe”) filed a lawsuit stating the Texas’ law against abortion was a violation of her constitutional rights.
● The supreme court ruled that state government could not make abortion illegal, and the right to have an abortion was constitutional .
● This ruling publicized the issue of rights versus morality, and henceforth divided the nation.

United States v. Nixon (1974)
● President Nixon and the democratic party faced trial following the Watergate Scandal.
● Nixon was forced to surrender the tapes of conversations between he and his associates.
● The Constitutional issue was whether or not the
Executive should be able to withhold information from the other branches of the government.

● University of California medical school had denied Allan
Bakke, a white applicant, admission in order to maintain a 16% minority quota of whites.
● The Supreme Court ruled that quotas of affirmative action programs could not be used in admissions.
● This case defined the new issue of reverse discrimination due to quotas for each race.

● Neoconservatives championed free-market capitalism liberated from gov’t restrains and took anti-Soviet positions in foreign policy, questioned liberal welfare programs, affirmative-action policies, and called for reassertion of traditional values.
● The “New Right” movement of conservatism in the 1980s contributed to Ronald Reagan’s presidential victory.
● The resurgence of conservatism, once employed by
Eisenhower, was a direct response to the countercultural practices beginning in the 60s.

● Denounced the cultural norms of presixties America.
● Supported the social issues of legalized abortion, homosexuality, feminism, and affirmative action (and the use of illegal drugs).
● Counterculture influenced music, in that the rhythms differed in style from the classics, and different types of rock emerged, and folksy rhythms were accompanied by lyrics of protest and opinions of social and political issues.

● Feminism took to new heights following the Roe v. Wade decision and women activists began to advocate to keep abortion legalized and that it is a woman’s right to choose.
● Anti-feminism also grew with the decision as well, if not more strongly. Phyllis
Schlafly , a new right activist, protested women's rights acts and movements as defying tradition and natural gender division of labor she demonstrated conservative backlash against the ideas that came out of the 1960s.

The epitome the of “ sex, drugs, and rock & roll ” era.
● “Hippies” or “flower children” gathered at a dairy farm in Bethel,
NY to enjoy music which protested the war in Vietnam and advocated peace and love.
● Artists included:
-Jimi Hendrix
-Janis Joplin
-Creedence Clearwater Revival
-Crosby, Stills, and Nash
-The Who

● Punk rock was a branching of the countercultural mentality of “ sex, drugs and rock & roll ”
● Punk began in the 60s but became increasingly more prominent in the 70s and overlapped into the 80s including hairbands, then branching into the “grunge” era of the 90s and is part of the current “alternative” genre.

● Introduction of the term “yuppies” meaning “young urban professionals”
● Yuppies were part of Generation Y, also called the “Me”
Generation, because of the need to confirm social status with material belongings.
● Yuppies stressed the new social importance of making money and spending money. This is called consumerism.
● Consumerism is heavily shown in 80s television shows and the new popularity of talk shows-- talk shows were important to yuppies because the personalities on TV guided consumers on what was
“in.”