Ch 39 The 1970s Earth Day Oil Crisis Camp David Accords 1970 1972 1973 1974 1978 1979 Nixon Visits China President Nixon Resigns Iran Hostage Crisis
American Independent Party George Wallace (AL Gov) 1963 stood in doorway of Univ of AL to stop 2 black students Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!! Need to prod blacks into their place with bayonets if necessary Running Mate Air Force General Curtis Le May Advocated bombing North Vietnam back into the stone age
Herblock "We'll let the overcoat out all the way, and the robe will hardly show at all." February 11, 1968, Washington Post
Major party candidates committed to carrying on war until honorable peace o Many doves didn t vote Humphrey lost due to LBJ brand Votes: 301 to 191 (31.8 to 31.3 mil) Nixon 1 st President-Elect not to bring in at least one house of Congress o No major city Wallace 46 electoral votes (9.9 mil) largest 3 rd party vote in US history appealed to fears & racism
Results 1. Nixon defeated Humphrey 301-191 2. Congress remained Democratic
1968: The Year of Shocks! Tet Offensive Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated Robert Kennedy assassinated Riot at Democratic Convention Rise of the Black Panthers Republicans take back the White House
President Richard M. Nixon 1969-1974, Republican The Imperial Presidency
Presidential Rankings: C-Span Survey, 2009 1. Abraham Lincoln 15. Bill Clinton 29. Zachary Taylor 2. Franklin Roosevelt 16. William McKinley 30. Benjamin Harrison 3. George Washington 17. John Adams 31. Martin Van Buren 4. Theodore Roosevelt 18. George H.W. Bush 32. Chester Arthur 5. Harry Truman 19. John Quincy Adams 33. Rutherford Hayes 6. John Kennedy 20. James Madison 34. Herbert Hoover 7. Thomas Jefferson 21. Grover Cleveland 35. John Tyler 8. Dwight Eisenhower 22. Gerald Ford 36. George W. Bush 9. Woodrow Wilson 23. Ulysses Grant 37. Millard Fillmore 10. Ronald Reagan 11. Lyndon Johnson 12. James Polk 13. Andrew Jackson 14. James Monroe 24. William Taft 25. Jimmy Carter 26. Calvin Coolidge 27. Richard Nixon 28. James Garfield 38. Warren Harding 39. William Harrison 40. Franklin Pierce 41. Andrew Johnson 42. James Buchanan
Nixon Doctrine US will honor existing defense commitments, but in the future others will have to fight w/o US troops step back from containment
Silent Majority speech Nixon appealed to this silent majority who supported the war (TV speech) Aimed at middle class VP Agnew attacks doves Nixon calls anti-war protestors bums
Detente
-China and USSR conflicting over interpretations of Marxism Bloody skirmishes along border - Nixon wants to play them against each other
-Feb 1972 Nixon went to China (rapprochement) Nations agreed to normalize relationship Shanghai Communique US accepted a One-China policy less US help to Taiwan -May went to Moscow Soviets want food stuffs, don t like US-Chinese alliance US will sell $750 mil in foodstuffs -2 visits ushered in an era of détente relaxed tension
Nixon and Mao, 1972 February 21, 1972
Ping-Pong Diplomacy The American ping-pong team received a surprise invitation to visit the PRC in April, 1971. 1 st time in China since 1949 The trip was a diplomatic success! The American public became more willing to open up relations with the PRC. America lifted its 20-year trade embargo on mainland China.
Arms control treaties Anti-ballistic missile (ABM) treaty limited US and SU to 2 clusters of defensive missiles SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) arms-reduction negotiations aimed at freezing # of long-range nukes for 5 years Both done to slow arms race MIRVs ended this one missile with multiple warheads
Nixon and Chile Opposed election of Marxist Salvador Allende in Chile Embargo, CIA work to undermine him Allende dies in Chilean army attack US involved? US embraced successor military dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet
Arab Oil Embargo and Energy Crisis
Israeli Territorial Gains The pale blue indicates Israeli territory before the Six-Day War. The slightly darker blue indicates Israeli territorial gains. Clearly, the war resulted in massive border expansions, especially on the Sinai Peninsula.
Yom Kippur War (1973) Syrians and Egyptians attack Israel by surprise want to regain lost territory in Six-Day War Kissinger (now Sec of State) went to Moscow stop supplying attackers! US airlifted $2 bil in materials to Israelis; Israelis turn tide US brought about an uneasy cease-fire Result: OIL EMBARGO
Arab Oil Embargo End of cheap & abundant energy Costly Alaskan pipeline approved, speed limit of 55 to conserve fuel Didn t realize how dependent we were US oil addiction colors our diplomacy and economic policy ME is a strategic point of interest 1974 lifted embargo, 4x price
Oregon gasoline dealers displayed signs explaining the flag policy in the winter of 1973-74
Oil Prices: 1970-2007
OPEC Nations
Election of 1972 The Issue: VIETNAM Democrat George McGovern (Senator of S.Dakota) Platform pull out troops in 90 days appealed to minorities, feminists, leftists, youth (1/2 didn t vote) alienated working class -Running Mate went under psychiatric care
Election of 1972 Republican Nixon Platform he was winding down war Southern Strategy appealed to conservatives, soft pedal on civil rights, against racial busing 12 days before election Kissinger said peace in Vietnam was at hand! Votes 520 to 17
Results 1. Landslide victory for Nixon 2. Republicans lost seats in Congress reducing support for Nixon s policies
New Federalism transfer power back to states gave $ to states to help them deal with poor
Civil Rights Opposed renewal of Voting Rights Act Tried to delay desegregation in MS Against racial busing to integrate schools
Women s Liberation Movement
Women s Stride for Equality march in 1970 for 50 th anniversary of vote Title IX no sexual discrimination in federal educ. Programs More girls in athletics in schools Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) won congressional approval in 1973 (1 st proposed in 1923) Rights can t be denied based on sex 28 states ratified Died in 1982, 3 states short of ratification Phyllis Schlafly led campaign against ERA liked special privileges
1972 Nixon vetoed nationwide day care will weaken American family Anti-Feminists blamed women s mvt for increase in divorce (tripled) Catholic Church organized against abortion 1968 Miss America Pageant protested Robin Morgan s WITCH (Women s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell) Crowned a sheep queen, threw symbols of oppression (bras, girdles) NOW created more political and peaceful
Ms. Magazine became women s liberation most influential publication -- Founded in 1972 by Gloria Steinem
Watergate
June 17, 1972 5 men arrested in Watergate office building after bungled effort to bug the Democratic Party HQ Men working for CREEP (Committee for the Re-Election of the President) One in a series of Nixon s dirty tricks Nixon forged docs to discredit Dems, used IRS to harass enemies, used FBI and CIA to cover tracks
Plumbers WH Special Investigations Unit investigate Nixon s critics Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein broke the Watergate story in the Washington Post
VP Spiro Agnew forced to resign took bribes from Maryland contractors while Gov and as VP tax fraud Replaced with Congressman Gerald Ford Senate Committee conducted TV hearings about Watergate Affair (1973-1974) Nixon denied knowledge of break-in John Dean III former WH lawyer accused WH officials and President of obstructing justice by covering up break in and silencing perpetrators WH aide revealed that Oval Office has been taped Nixon refused to give over tapes
Saturday Night Massacre (Oct 20, 1973) Fired own special prosecutor appointed to investigate Watergate Scandal Fired Attn. General and Deputy Attn. General they refused to go along with firing prosecutor House Judiciary Committee demanded tapes Nixon published relevant tapes but sections were missing July 24, 1974 Sup Ct ruled that executive privilege did not give Nixon the right to withhold evidence relevant to criminal activity Smoking Gun tape Nixon gave orders to use the CIA to hold back any FBI inquiry into the break-in Active party to the cover up
Herblock, May 24, 1974, Washington Post
Impeached on charges of obstructing justice, abuse of presidential powers, contempt of Congress Nixon urged to resign Aug 8, 1974 Nixon announced his resignation on TV Held back tears He made judgments that were wrong Always acted in what I believed at the time to be in the best interests of the nation. Pardoned by Ford