NIXON s Downfall, Ford s Stop gap, and Carter

NIXON s Downfall, Ford s Stop gap, and Carter

OBJECTIVES o We will examine the domestic and economic policies of President Richard Nixon and its attempt to undue years of liberal policies. o We will examine the Watergate scandal and the downfall of the Nixon administration. o We will examine the presidencies of Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter in the aftermath of the Nixon scandal.

Pro_16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS UNDER NIXON: o Many of Nixon s domestic policies were a response to what he believed to be the demands of his own constituency. o Conservative middle class people whom he liked to call the silent majority and who wanted to reduce federal interference in local affairs.

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS UNDER NIXON: o Nixon tried unsuccessfully to persuade congress to pass legislation prohibiting the use of forced busing to achieve school desegregation. o He blocked the Department Health, Education, and Welfare from cutting off federal funds from school districts that had failed to comply with court orders to integrate.

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS UNDER NIXON: o At the same time he began to reduce or dismantle many of the social programs of the Great Society and of the New Frontier. o Nixon abolished the Office of Economic Opportunity, the centerpiece of the antipoverty program of the Johnson years.

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS UNDER NIXON: o Yet Nixon s domestic efforts were not entirely conservative. o One of the administration s boldest efforts was an attempt to overhaul the nation s enormous welfare system. o Nixon proposed replacing the existing system, which almost everyone agreed was cumbersome, expensive, and inefficient, with what he called the Family Assistance plan (FAP).

POLITICS AND ECONOMICS UNDER NIXON: o It would in effect have created a guaranteed annual income for all Americans: $1600 in federal grants, which could be supplemented by outside earnings up to $4,000. o However the proposal died in the Senate where ironically both liberals and conservatives helped kill the bill.

From the Warren Court to the Nixon Court: o Of all the liberal institutions that had aroused the enmity of the silent majority, in the 1950s and 1960s, none had evoked more anger and bitterness than the Supreme Court. o Many conservatives blamed the court s rulings on racial matters and civil liberties contributed to the increase in crime, disorder, and civil moral decay.

From the Warren Court to the Nixon Court: o In Engel v. Vitale, the Court ruled that prayers in public school violated the Constitutional separation of church and state, sparking outrage among religious fundamentalists. o In Gideon v. Wainwright, the court ruled that every felony defendant was entitled to a lawyer regardless of his or her ability to pay. o In Miranda v. Arizona, the court confirmed the obligation of authorities to inform a criminal suspect of his or her rights.

From the Warren Court to the Nixon Court: o In Baker v. Carr, the Warren Court required state legislatures to apportion electoral districts so that all citizens vote would have equal weight. o In dozens of states, systems of legislative districting had given disproportionate representation to sparsely populated rural areas hence diminishing the voting power of urban residents. o This greatly strengthened the voting power of African Americans and Hispanics, and other groups concentrated in the cities.

From the Warren Court to the Nixon Court: o Nixon was determined to use his judicial appointments to give a more conservative cast. o When Earl Warren resigned as chief justice, he replaced him with federal appeals court judge of conservative leanings, Warren Burger.

From the Warren Court to the Nixon Court: o But Nixon had nominations for the Supreme Court twice rejected by the Senate. o The Senate rejected Clement F. Haynsworth for his conservative record on civil rights and for a claim that there was a conflict of interest in several of the cases on which he had set. o The Senate also rejected G. Harrold Carswell but he was widely considered unfit for the Supreme Court.

From the Warren Court to the Nixon Court: o Nixon proceeded to nominated and the Senate ratified Harry Blackmun a moderate jurist, Lewis F. Powell and William Rehnquist a member of Nixon s justice department. o The new court fell short of what many conservatives had expected. o Rather than retreating from its commitment to social reform, the court in many areas actually became more committed.

From the Warren Court to the Nixon Court: o In Furman v. Georgia, the Court overturned the existing capital punishment statutes and established strict guidelines for such laws in the future. o The decision was the most controversial ruling and decisions in modern court history. o In Bakke v. Board of Regents of California, the Supreme Court upheld the principle of affirmative action but it established restrictive new guidelines for such programs in the future.

THE ELECTION OF 1972: o Nixon entered the presidential race in 1972 with substantial advantage. o He made significant achievements in foreign policy including deescalating the Vietnam War. o He had significant donations for his campaign. o And his opponents position was weak.

THE ELECTION OF 1972: o George Wallace ran again for president but he went via the Democratic Party. o Although Nixon was worried he would start a third party campaign, he was shot in an attempted assassination and was not able to campaign.

THE ELECTION OF 1972: o Senator George S. McGovern was the democratic nominee and was significantly liberal in his positions that middle-class Americans were most eager to reject. o On election day, Nixon won reelection by one of the largest margins in history: with 60.7 percent of the popular vote compare to 37.5 percent for McGovern.

The Troubled Economy: o For many years, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) had operated as an informal bargaining unit for the same for oil by Third World nations, but had seldom managed to exercise any real strength.

The Troubled Economy: o But in the early 1970s, OPEC began to use its oil both as an economic tool and as a political weapon. o In 1973, in the mist of the Yom Kippur War, Arab members of OPEC announced that they would no longer ship petroleum to nations supporting Israel-which meant the United States and its allies in Western Europe.

The Troubled Economy: o At about the same time, the OPEC nations agreed to raise their prices by 500 percent. o These twin shocks produced momentary economic chaos in the West. o The U.S. suffered its first fuel shortage since WWII.

The Troubled Economy: o And although the boycott ended a few months later, the price of energy continued to skyrocket. o Both because of OPEC s new militant policies and because of the weakening competitive position of the dollar in the world markets.

The Troubled Economy: o With the cost of energy increasing, the significant increase of federal deficit spending that sought to fund both the Vietnam War and Great Society without raising taxes. o And the U.S. no longer having exclusive access to cheap raw materials, inflation became a problem. o U.S. manufacturing also faced competition from Japan and Europe, especially in cars.

The Troubled Economy: o Deindusturialization, the shift from factory jobs to technology information based industries caused unemployment and growing decay of the cities. o The United States was encountering a new and puzzling dilemma, stagflation, a combination of rising prices and general economic stagnation.

The Troubled Economy: o In 1971, President Nixon responded to the mounting economic problems by focusing on controlling inflation. o Nixon imposed a ninety-day freeze on all wages and prices at their existing levels.

The Troubled Economy: o Then in November, he launched Phase II of mandatory guidelines for wage and price increases to be administered by the federal agency. o Inflation decreased temporarily but recession continued.

THE WATERGATE CRISIS: o Early morning on June 17, 1972, police arrested five men who had broken into the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate office building in Washington, D.C. o In 1972, two Washington Post reporters uncovered evidence linking the Watergate break-in to former employees of the Committee for the Re-election for the President. o One of them had worked in the White House.

THE WATERGATE CRISIS: o Moreover, they had been paid to execute the break-in from secret fund of the reelection committee, a fund controlled by members of the White House staff. o During the trial, James W. McCord agreed to cooperate both with the grand jury and with a special senate investigation committee.

THE WATERGATE CRISIS: o This led to a floodgate of confessions of wrong doing. o Foremost was a member of the inner circle of the White House, counsel to the president John Dean, who leveled allegations against Nixon himself.

THE WATERGATE CRISIS: o Two different sets of scandals emerged from the investigations. o One was a general pattern of abuses of power involving both the White House and the Nixon campaign committee, which included but was not limited, to the Watergate break-in.

THE WATERGATE CRISIS: o The other scandal, and the major focus of public attention for nearly two years, was the way in which the administration tried to manage the investigations of Watergate break-in and other abuses-a pattern of behavior that became known as the cover-up. o There was never any conclusive evidence that the president had planned or approved the Watergate burglary in advance.

THE WATERGATE CRISIS: o But there was evidence that he had been involved in illegal efforts to obstruct investigations and withhold information. o Testimony before the senate provided evidence of the complicity of Attorney General John Mitchell, top White House assistants H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman and others.

THE WATERGATE CRISIS: o The key evidence in the determination of President Richard Nixon s guilt or innocence in the Watergate scandal was the audio tape recordings made of most conversations in the Oval Office. o On top of that, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned because evidence surfaced that he had accepted bribes both as governor of Maryland and also as Vice President.

THE WATERGATE CRISIS: o Nixon did his best to prevent submission of the tapes, claiming executive privilege and then firing the special prosecutor who were seeking the tapes, Archibald Cox. o Cox s replacement, Leon Jaworski was as determined for the tapes to be submitted as evidence. ski

THE WATERGATE CRISIS: o In April 1974, in an effort to head off further subpoenas of the tapes, the president released transcripts of a number of relevant conversations, claiming that they proved his innocence. o But even these edited tapes seemed to suggest Nixon s complicity in the coverup.

THE WATERGATE CRISIS: o In July, the crisis reached a climax. o First the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in United States v. Richard M. Nixon that the president must relinquish the tapes to Special Prosecutor Jaworski.

THE WATERGATE CRISIS: o Days later, the House Judiciary Committee voted to recommend three articles of impeachment charging that Nixon, had first obstructed justice in the Watergate cover-up. o Second, misused federal agencies to violate the rights of citizens, and third, defied the authority of Congress by refusing to deliver tapes and other materials subpoenaed by the committee.

THE WATERGATE CRISIS: o As the investigation continued, a smoking gun tape revealed that only days after the burglary, the recordings disclosed the president had ordered the FBI to stop investigating the break-in. o Impeachment and conviction now seemed inevitable.

THE WATERGATE CRISIS: o Seeing that Nixon would lose, on August 8, 1974, he resigned from office the first president in American history ever to do so. o There was now widespread distrust and cynicism of the government that is still present today.

Ford s Presidency: o Succeeding Nixon was Gerald Ford. o Ford succeed Agnew as Vice President when he resigned. o President Ford caused controversy when he pardoned Nixon, a full, free, and absolute pardon for any crimes he may have committed during his presidency.

Ford s Presidency: o The public suspected a secret deal and Ford s popularity never recovered. o Nevertheless the American public did consider him a decent man, his image of honesty and amiability did much to reduce the bitterness and acrimony of the Watergate years.

Ford s Presidency: o Ford administration enjoyed less success in its effort to solve the problems of the American economy. o In his efforts to curb inflation the president rejected the idea of wage and price controls and called instead for largely ineffective voluntary efforts.

Ford s Presidency: o After supporting high interest rates, opposing increased federal spending (through liberal use of his veto power), and resisting pressure for a tax reduction. o Ford had to deal with a serious recession in 1974 and 1975. o It was at Ford s time as president in 1975 when he witnessed the failure of U.S. Foreign policy with the fall of Saigon and Cambodia.

Ford s Presidency: o Ford had successes in foreign policy as he retained Kissinger as secretary of State. o The U.S. and the Soviets signed an arms control accord that was to serve as the basis for SALT II treaty, thus achieving a goal the Nixon administration had long sought.

Ford s Presidency: o In the Middle East, Kissinger helped produce a new accord by which Israel agreed to return large portions of the occupied Sinai to Egypt and the new nations pledged not to resolve future differences by force.

Ford s Presidency: o As Ford ran for election in 1976, he was attacked by his own party for being too soft to Communists. o The Democrats, in the meantime were gradually uniting behind a new and before 1976, little-known candidate: Jimmy Carter.

Jimmy Carter: o Carter was a former governor of Georgia who organized a brilliant primary campaign and appealed to the general unhappiness with Washington by offering honesty, piety, and an outsider s skepticism of the federal government. o Carter narrowly won the popular vote 50 percent to Ford s 47.9 percent securing 97 percent of the ballots of the African American votes.

Jimmy Carter: o Carter was a conservative Democrat from the South and a peanut farmer. o However he dealt with recession and high inflation and energy crisis with soaring oil prices. o He created the Department of Education to address the problems of the nation s public schools, and the Department of Energy to try to deal with the nation s energy crisis.

Human Rights and National Interest: o Carter s most frequent promises in regards to foreign policy was a pledge to build a American policy based on human rights. o Carter helped pass the treaty to return the Panama Canal back to Panama.

Human Rights and National Interest: o Carter s greatest achievement was his success in arranging a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. o Middle East negotiations between Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin began in 1977. o When those talks stalled, Carter invited Sadat and Begin to a summit in Camp David in September 1978 which led to the Camp David Accords, o a peace treaty between the two warring nations.

Human Rights and National Interest: o Also formal diplomatic relations with China was established in December 15, 1978. o Cater also negotiated with the Soviets, SALT II, arms control agreement, the treaty set limits on the number of longrange missiles, bombers, and nuclear warheads for both the United States and USSR. o But Conservatives in Congress were bitterly opposed to the treaty.

The Year of the Hostages: o Since the 1950s, the U.S. had provided political and military support to the government of the Shah of Iran, to help block Soviet expansion to the Middle East. o But Iran resented his autocratic rule. o At the same time, Islamic clergy and much of the fiercely religious populace opposed the Shah s efforts to modernize and Westernize a fundamentalist society. o The combination of resentments produced a powerful revolutionary movement.

The Year of the Hostages: o In January 1979, the Shah fled the country. o When the Shah was admitted to the U.S. to be treated for cancer, the religious leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini came into power. o Khomeini stirred the people, and days later on November 4, an armed group of militants invaded the American embassy in Tehran. o They seized the diplomats and military personnel, and demanded the return of the Shah to Iran in exchange for their freedom. o Fifty three Americans remained hostage in the embassy for over a year.

The Year of the Hostages: o Only weeks after the hostage seizure on December 27, 1979, Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan. o Carter was upset and believed that it was the gravest threat to world peace since World War II and angrily imposed a series of economic sanctions on Russians, and boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. o Carter withdrew from Salt II.

The Year of the Hostages: o The combination of domestic economic troubles and international crises created widespread and anxiety, frustration and anger in the U.S. o Damaging President Carter s standing to the public. o The nation s energy woes were coupled with staggering inflation and high unemployment (stagflation). o The Republican Party will make a comeback.