History Contemporary Unit (1970-2001)

Richard Nixon

Remembered for Cold War politics, realpolitik, détente, acknowledgment of China, Paris peace agreement, shuttle diplomacy, the EPA, Vietnam, Chile, stagflation, and Watergate.

Realpolitik

Practical foreign policy associated with Nixon and Henry Kissinger.

Détente

Easing Cold War tensions; part of Nixon’s foreign policy legacy.

Watergate

A scandal involving a break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters and a White House cover-up.

Watergate break-in

Five men were arrested inside the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex.

CREEP

Nixon’s reelection committee; the Watergate burglars were directly connected to it.

Watergate cover-up

Nixon ordered the Justice Department and FBI to stop investigating the break-in.

Woodward and Bernstein

Washington Post reporters who exposed White House financial links to Watergate.

Deep Throat

Confidential informant used by Woodward and Bernstein; later confirmed as Mark Felt.

Smoking gun

The secret Oval Office recording system that helped prove Nixon’s role in the cover-up.

U.S. v. Nixon

Supreme Court case ruling that executive privilege is not absolute.

Executive privilege

The president’s claim to keep certain communications private; limited by U.S. v. Nixon.

Nixon resignation

Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, while facing likely impeachment and conviction.

Gerald Ford

Became president after Nixon resigned; remembered for the Nixon pardon, Helsinki Accords, and the struggling economy.

Nixon pardon

Ford issued a full pardon to Nixon, preventing him from facing criminal charges after leaving office.

Helsinki Accords

Ford-era agreement that eased tensions between Western and Eastern Europe.

Ford election issue

Ford was the only U.S. president not elected on a presidential ticket.

Stagflation

Economic problem of the 1970s involving inflation and recession/stagnation.

Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act

1975 law that helped resettle refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.

Indochina Refugee Crisis

Crisis involving South Vietnamese allies, Hoa, Hmong, and “Boat People” fleeing persecution and violence.

Boat People

Refugees escaping genocide or violent persecution under new communist governments in Southeast Asia.

Hmong refugees

Highland groups in Cambodia and Laos who had been active U.S. allies and faced danger after communist victories.

Refugee Act of 1980

Law that formalized permanent U.S. refugee policy and set a 50,000 yearly cap with emergency presidential power to expand it.

Jimmy Carter

Remembered for morality, human rights, the Refugee Act of 1980, Camp David Accords, economic problems, and the Iran Hostage Crisis.

Human rights

Central part of Carter’s moral foreign policy.

Camp David Accords

Carter-brokered peace agreement between Israel and Egypt.

Iran Hostage Crisis

Crisis where militant students took hostages at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

Iran Hostage Crisis length

Hostages were held for 444 days and released on Reagan’s inauguration day.

Shah of Iran

Former Iranian ruler allowed into the U.S. by Carter for cancer treatment, angering Iran’s new government.

Ayatollah Khomeini

Revolutionary leader whose movement forced the Shah of Iran from power.

Middle East conflict impact

Conflict in the Middle East and U.S. support for Israel contributed to oil crisis, anti-American rhetoric, and later tensions.

Loss of faith in government

Caused by Vietnam, the Pentagon Papers, and Watergate; made Americans more critical of presidents and government branches.

Capital punishment moratorium

The death penalty was paused nationally after Furman v. Georgia in 1972.

Furman v. Georgia

1972 Supreme Court case that placed a federal moratorium on capital punishment.

Gregg v. Georgia

1976 Supreme Court case that lifted the federal death penalty moratorium with new regulations.

Gay Rights / Pride / Liberation Movement

Movement sparked by Stonewall that focused on decriminalization and demedicalization.

Stonewall Riots

1969 riots after a police raid on gay establishments; helped bring national attention to gay rights.

The Advocate

Magazine that emerged as a national media leader of the gay rights movement.

DSM removal

One accomplishment of the 1970s movement was removing homosexuality from the APA’s list of mental disorders.

LGBTQ backlash

The gay rights movement faced backlash that became central to the rise of New Conservatism in the 1980s.

Divorce rates in the 1970s

Divorce rates rose sharply, peaking in 1981 and changing the image of the American family.

No-fault divorce

One factor contributing to rising divorce rates in the 1970s.

Changing family structures

1970s divorce trends contributed to single-parent families, blended families, custody battles, and shared custody.

Drug culture in the 1970s

Drug use moved from counterculture into more mainstream culture.

Studio 54 / disco culture

Affluent disco culture helped spread cocaine use, which later contributed to the crack epidemic.

New Right / New Conservatism

Reactionary conservative movement associated with Reagan’s election and backlash to the 1960s/70s.

Moral Majority

Christian Right group connected to New Conservatism and politicized religion.

New Right social views

Included anti-feminism, anti-LGBTQ views, and opposition to government support for the poor.

Reaganomics theory

Conservative economic policy based on massive tax cuts, deregulation, trickle-down economics, and spending cuts.

Trickle-down economics

Belief that tax cuts and deregulation would stimulate the economy and eventually benefit everyone.

Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981

Reagan tax law that cut tax rates for existing brackets.

Tax Reform Act of 1986

Reagan-era law that lowered the highest marginal tax rate and collapsed the number of tax brackets.

Deregulation

Reducing government controls on areas like energy, finance, banking, labor, environment, antitrust, transportation, and media.

Positive impacts of deregulation

Lowered energy/fuel costs, corporate cost savings, and expanded credit access.

Negative impacts of deregulation

Savings and Loan scandals, reemergence of monopolies, pollution, loss of consumer protections, and weaker labor safety.

Reagan government spending

Military spending increased while social programs, especially for the poor, were cut.

Reaganomics results

Economic recovery for many Americans, richer wealthy people, middle-class recovery, lower living standards for the poor, and tripled federal debt.

Iran-Contra Affair

U.S. sold arms to Iran and sent parts of the payments to the Contras in Nicaragua.

Contras

Nicaraguan rebels trying to overthrow the Marxist Sandinista government.

Boland Amendment

Law that explicitly barred U.S. support to the Contras.

Oliver North

Person largely scapegoated for the Iran-Contra scandal.

Teflon Ron

Nickname showing Reagan’s ability to avoid major blame because the public liked him.

War on Feminism

Backlash to divorce rates, Roe v. Wade, and increased numbers of working women.

Phyllis Schlafly

Major leader of the anti-feminist movement.

AIDS crisis

1980s crisis that produced backlash against the LGBTQIA+ community, hysteria, falsehoods, and later AIDS education.

Ryan White CARE Act

Law connected to AIDS education and countering hysteria.

War on Drugs

1980s domestic campaign tied to the crack epidemic and skyrocketing incarceration.

Crack epidemic

1980s drug crisis that grew partly from the cocaine trends of the 1970s.

War on Drugs impact

Drug incarceration skyrocketed and disproportionately affected African American communities.

Public Service Announcements

1980s awareness campaigns about drugs, abuse, eating disorders, safety, teen pregnancy, STDs, fire prevention, and drinking and driving.

After School Specials

1980s media focused on teen and social issues, usually emphasizing awareness more than solutions.

Generation X

Generation born 1964–1979 that came of age or grew up in the 1980s.

MTV Generation

Generation shaped by MTV, music videos, and new youth media.

1980s pop music

Included Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston, Duran Duran, Cyndi Lauper, The Police, and Genesis.

1980s rap/hip-hop

Included Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Public Enemy, and Salt-N-Pepa.

VCR and cable generation

Home film and television viewing expanded because of VCRs and cable television.

FOX network

Added as a youth-oriented fourth broadcast station.

1980s television

Family sitcoms expanded and often supported the decade’s focus on family values.

1980s teen films

Teen film genre became firmly established, including teen horror.

1980s blockbusters

Big Hollywood blockbusters and film series became common.

Election of 1988

George H. W. Bush won; Michael Dukakis was hurt by campaign mistakes and attack ads.

Willie Horton ad

Influential presidential attack ad used against Michael Dukakis.

George H. W. Bush

Remembered for the end of the Cold War, fall of the USSR, Persian Gulf War, Panama, recession, and raising taxes.

Persian Gulf War

UN-sanctioned war after Iraq invaded Kuwait; resulted in liberation of Kuwait.

George H. W. Bush economy issue

End of Cold War military cuts, new taxes, wealth gap, and recession in 1991 hurt his presidency.

Election of 1992

Three-way race between George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and H. Ross Perot.

H. Ross Perot

Eccentric Texas billionaire whose independent run split conservative votes.

Bill Clinton

Remembered as a moderate president with economic success, polarization, foreign policy challenges, scandal, and impeachment.

1994 midterms

Helped mark the birth of the polarized tribalism described in the notes.

Government shutdown of 1995

Conflict during Clinton’s presidency connected to growing polarization.

Polarized tribalism

Highly divided political culture that the notes connect to the Clinton era.

Clinton foreign policy

Shifted from interventionist policy toward diplomatic broker and peacekeeper roles.

Rwandan genocide

Tested Clinton’s decision-making in the new post-Cold War foreign policy role.

Lewinsky scandal and impeachment

Showed that media would no longer protect the private lives of presidents and that presidents should not directly lie to the public.

Clinton economy

Clinton had a balanced budget for four years in a row, including budget surpluses in the final three years.

Clinton LGBTQ positive legacy

First president to openly refer to LGBTQ rights as civil rights and regularly speak about them publicly.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Clinton-era policy that allowed LGBTQ people to serve in the military only if they stayed closeted.

DOMA

Defense of Marriage Act; defined marriage federally as between one man and one woman and allowed states not to recognize same-sex marriages from other states.

Clarence Thomas Confirmation Hearings

1991 hearings after Anita Hill testified that Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her.

Anita Hill

Attorney who testified against Clarence Thomas and was harshly questioned during televised hearings.