US Foreign and Domestic Policy Post Vietnam

plurality

the greatest number of votes a candidate receives in an election when none of the candidates receives a majority, or more than 50%, of the vote

New Federalism

Nixon’s plan to reduce the size and power of the federal government and return power to the states, the centerpiece of which was a proposal for revenue sharing

revenue sharing

a practice initiated by Nixon in which the federal government distributed revenues to states and local governments to spend as they saw fit

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

a government agency created by congress in 1971 to protect workers on the job

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

a government agency created by Congress in 1970 to protect Americans’ health and the natural environment by setting and enforcing pollution standards

Family Assistance Plan

proposal by Nixon, which was rejected by Congress, under which the government would have supported every poor family with a minimum annual income

Stagflation

an economic condition in which prices and the rate of unemployment increase at the same time

energy crisis

an energy shortage in fall of 1973 that resulted from oil-exporting nations of the Middle East halting their shipping of oil the the US to protest US support of Israel in its conflict with its Arab neighbors

realpolitik

a political policy based on practical rather than idealistic concerns

détente

the relaxation of Cold War tensions between the US and USSR and between the US and China that began under Nixon

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT)

a five year agreement between the US and the USSR to limit the number of nuclear missiles in their arsenals; the treaty limited the USSR to 16188 missiles and the US to 1054, including both ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs)

Watergate Scandal

a political scandal from 1972-75 in which President Richard Nixon and members of his staff organized a burglary of the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in the Watergate building and then attempted to cover up their illegal activities, leading to prison terms for many involved and Nixon’s impeachment

special prosecutor

a lawyer from outside the government whom the attorney general or Congress appoints to investigate a federal official for misconduct while in office

subpoena

a written legal order used to summon a witness to court or require certain evidence be submitted to court

executive privilege

a president’s right to withhold information under certain circumstances

Bicentennial

a 200th anniversary

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

formed in 1960 by Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and Venezuela, a worldwide association of nations that depend on oil sales for their national income and that sets oil prices; today, Qatar, Indonesia, Libya, Algeria, Nigeria, and the UAE are also members

National Energy Act

a law passed by Congress in 1978 to offer tax credits to people who conserved energy by insulating their homes or investing in alternative energy sources, such as solar energy, in hopes of reducing US dependence on imported oil

tax credits

a reduction in the amount a taxpayer must pay to the government

Camp David Accords

brokered by Jimmy Carter, a 1978 peace agreement between Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat in which Israel, which had taken control of the Sinai Peninsula during the Yom Kippur War, agreed to return the land to Egypt, and Egypt agreed to establish normal diplomatic relations with Israel, making it the first Arab country to formally recognize Israel’s right to exist

Earth Day

an annual holiday to bring people together to show their concern for a healthful environment, the establishment of which in 1970 signaled the emergence of a new environmental movement

Clean Water Act

a law passed by Congress in 1972 to limit the amount of sewage and other pollutants flowing in waterways

Safe Drinking Water Act

a law passed by Congress in 1974 to allow the EPA to regulate the quality of public drinking water

acid rain

precipitation that contains acid as a result of water vapor mixing with molecules of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide in the atmosphere that causes water pollution

Three Mile Island Accident

a disaster that occurred at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station on March 28th, 1979, when the nuclear power plant suffered a partial meltdown, allowing radioactive gases to escape into the atmosphere and highlighting the potential danger of nuclear power plants

male chauvinist

a person who believes that men are superior to women

comparable worth

the argument that jobs typically held by women should command as much pay as jobs typically held by men that require comparable education and training

National Women’s Political Caucus (NWCP)

formed in 1971 by feminist leaders, an influential organization that worked to get more women elected to office and supported male candidates who took a strong stand on women’s issues

birth dearth

the drop in birth rate that resulted when, during the period from 1975 to 1990, many American women began to have 1 or 2 children instead of 3 or 4

rustbelt

the area in parts of the Northeast and Midwest that suffered economically because of rusting factories left behind by declining industries as a large part of the population moved to the Sunbelt states in the 1970s

WASPs

an acronym used to describe a white Anglo-Saxon protestant

ethnicity

a person’s ethnic identity, which may be shaped by such criteria as language, religion, and history