APUSH AMSCO Unit 8.14

explain the causes and effects of continuing policy debates about the role of the federal government over time + explain the effects of religious movements over the course of the 20th century

Richard Nixon

the 37th president who targeted the silent majority

silent majority

the millions of conservative American voters who were disaffected by civil rights, liberal court rulings, antiwar protests, black militants, school busing, and youth counterculture

Southern Strategy

as political power shifted to the Sun Belt and rural America, Nixon tried to win over the South by asking federal courts to delay integration plans and busing orders and he nominated two southern conservatives to the Supreme Court

Watergate

Nixon’s administration and CREEP (Committee to Re-Elect the President) hired men to break into the Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington

“plumbers”

stopped leaks and discredited opponents; for example, they burglarized Ellsberg’s home, who was behind the Pentagon Papers, to find information to discredit him

impeachment

the conversations on tape clearly implicated Nixon in the cover-up only days after the Watergate break in; Nixon resigned because he knew he would face impeachment

Gerald Ford

the first unelected president in US history; had served in Congress for many years as the minority leader of the House of Representatives; pardoned Nixon

Jimmy Carter

ran as an outsider against the corruption in Washington for the Democratic Party

imperial presidency

Carter signaled an end to this by walking instead of riding the presidential limousine at his inauguration

national malaise

in this speech, Carter blamed the problems of the US on a moral and spiritual crisis of the American people

Burger Court

ordered busing for a racial balance in schools; issued strict guidelines that made the death penalty more difficult; United States v. Nixon; Roe v. Wade

United States v. Nixon

denied Nixon’s claim to executive privilege and ordered him to turn over the Watergate tapes

Roe v. Wade

struck down state laws prohibiting abortions as a violation of a woman’s right to privacy

Conservative Resurgence

seen through televangelists, the Moral Majority, and religious fundamentalists

televangelists

religious leaders on television; had a combined weekly audience of 60 million to 100 million viewers

Moral Majority

financed campaigns to unseat liberal members of Congress

religious fundamentalists

used strict interpretation; attacked secular humanism as a godless creed taking over public education; campaigned for the return of prayers and the reaching of the Biblical account of creation in public schools

think tanks

business donors created them to promote free-market ideas

reverse discrimination

many whites blamed their troubles on affirmative action

Regents of University of California v. Bakke

ruled that while race could be considered, racial quotas were unconstitutional

Proposition 13

sharply cut property taxes in California

Arthur Laffer

preached that tax cuts would increase government revenue