Ford & Carter

ford post Watergate

-aimed to put viet, Watergate, riots & econ situation behind him

-could see end to Watergate & viet but inflation + unemployment rising, soc issues like busing, abortion, women’s rights, native American & hispanic rights all divisive

-reputation for decency, integrity & fairness but dumb

-pardoned nixon “for all offences” in 1974 telling Americans nixon had suffered enough & threat of prosecution was damaging his health. outrage, polls suggested ppl wanted nixon punished. affected fords own polling

-people thought it was part of a deal but he declared “there was no deal, period, under no circumstance”

-his presidency was tainted by Watergate

-pardon damaged relations w/ congress, the public & media. repub congressmen blamed pardon for loss of 43 house seats 1974. Reagan challenged him for presidential nomination 1976, whilst ford won Reagan humiliated him & weakened him for fight against jimmy Carter

-situation worsened when church c’tee revealed CIA had dodgy practices in overseas engagements since 1947. scandals involving racist comments by fords sec of agriculture. main author of kernel report arrested for bribery whilst gov of Illinois. seemed corrupt that ford kept many of nixons men in White House (Alexander Haig, Donald Rumsfeld) who had involvement in Watergate). corporate golf friends apparently received special favours & had excessive access to ford. Agnews corruption had tainted the role of VP, repubs unhappy that Reagan hadn’t been selected

-1974 midterms dems now 291 to 144 adv in house & 61 to 39 in senate

-1976 lowest presidential election turnout since 1948 (only 54% eligible Americans voted) carter won 49.9%, ford 47.9%. neither excited the electorate and over ¾ Americans thought both candidates lacked presidential quality. low turnout & public opinion polls demonstrated electorates disillusion & loss of confidence in politicians/govt

-Carter won due to: reagans divisive + exhausting challenge to ford, perception ford was weak & indecisive and had lost ground to soviets, econ problems, ford admin viewed as corrupt. John dean ruined ford when he claimed ford had moved to stop investigations into Watergate

-us public views: % who felt govt will do what is right most the time = 56% 1969 - 29% 1979 (credibility gap, realpolitik). % who agreed ppl running the country don’t really care abt what happens to you = 26% 1969 - 60% 1979

Carter post Watergate

-defeated ford 1976 through clever tactics + media support, relentless campaigning. travelled over 50,000 miles, visited 37 states, delivered 200 speeches before other candidates even announced candidacy. portrayed as White House outsider

-progressive reformer, wanted to heal divides, pardoned viet draft resisters, pushed for a consumer protection bill. however didnt promise fed spending in certain states so congress unwilling to cooperate. pattern of mutual distrust established, little achieved by either side leaving country felt left down

-media popularity faded quick. his successes lacked the punch of CRA or war victory, harder to make a case for political usefulness of complex legislation

-media of him being attacked by a rabbit 1979 then collapsing from heat exhaustion jogging a few months later damaged image. three mile island reactor accident 1979 played on public fears of nuclear catastrophe and led to 200,000 rally in NY

-success rate in getting legislation was higher than ike, nixon, ford and close to congressional manipulator LBJ. Carter congress passed 29 new pieces of legislation incl 3 significant energy acts, several pro business acts, commitment to deregulation of transport. none had magnitude of Johnson, and perceptions of him ruined his successes

-involvement in scandals: billygate where his olde brother admitted receiving $220,000 “loan” from Libyan govt. media speculated on presidents involvement. senate proved Carter not involved except tried to use billy’s Libyan contacts to help free Iranian hostages. public decided he wasn’t corrupt just incompetent.

-bert lance (office of management & budget director) who worked on carters campaign fired for connection to corrupt banking in Georgia. found not guilty but tainted impression of administration. same w/ rumours of chief of staff drug addiction.

-koreagate: 30 congressmen accused of taking bribes from south Korean govt for working to reverse nixons decision to remove troops from SK.

-scandals eroded faith in democratic process, turnout in midterms 1974 + 1978 hit 30yr low

-feb 1980 12 govt officials & 7 congressmen took bribes from FBI posing as wealthy sheikhs in return for political favours

-political corruption inevitably became national obsession after Watergate. reflected loss in national self confidence.

econ

-1973-80 unprecedented inflation was in double figures & Americans were worried abt oil shortages + gasoline prices

-July 1974 alone prices rose 3.7%. 1978 poll 63% Americans saw inflation as their biggest concern

-COL rose at yearly average of 8.2% & inflation greatly affected family inc especially due to unemployment in “rust belt” caused by declining manufacturing output. unemployment rose across nation from 6.5% 1974 to 8.9% 1975. due to increased mechanisation replacing workers & countries like Japan + Germany producing goods at lower prices/better quality. united auto workers asked Carter to restrict Japanese car imports.

-main alternative was employment in service industries but many low paid. min wage Rosie $2.10 1974 to $3.35 1981 but didnt keep pace w/ rising prices. inc in women working from 43% 1970 to 52% 1980 to maintain family inc

-energy crisis continued from nixon era. serious demonstrated by events: 1974 strike by 100,000 independent truckers demanding lower fuel prices brought nations road to standstill for 11 days & left stores w/ empty shelves. harsh winter 1976/77, gas shortage forced school + factory closure, fuel stations closed on Sundays + cut hours to conserve supplies. american energy riot in Levittown, many injured & arrested. 1977 165,000 united mine workers began 3 month strike causing coal shortage which led to school closures + shortened working weeks. in 1979 ½ of nations petrol stations had no fuel

-voters wanted issue sorted but didnt want increased taxes on fuel (would’ve ended fuel shortages). inability of ford, Carter & congress to solve econ problems added to political disillusion & feeling of usa decline

womens rights

-most women now expected to work for most of their lives & entered traditionally masculine occupations like medicine + law, but only received 73% of the salaries paid to men. remained overwhelmingly dominant in low paid jobs + constituted 66% adults classified as poor

-dem congress voter for the ERA in 1972. libs delighted but opponents said it would lead to gay marriages, women in combat, unisex toilets + end to nuclear family.

-most influential opponent: Catholic lawyer Phyllis schlafly, nicknamed the sweetheart of the silent majority, established “stop ERA” organisation 1972 which attracted 50,000 members. was against abortion, era, lesbian privileges and universal childcare

-many cons agreed w/ her so ERA never obtained assent of 75% states required for amendment to constitution

-ford did nothing to help women. Carter more helpful, instead that at least 1 female candidate be considered for each cabinet post + apptd more women to high level posts than any previous president. passed pregnancy discrim act in 1978. shelters for female victims of domestic violence began to be created. states began adopting domestic violence laws.

-due to feminist activist, 1st law against marital rape enacted by South Dakota but took until 1993 for it it be a crime in all states

-carted supported ERA but many women felt he should spoken out more. he also opposed fed funding of abortion (except cases of rape/incest/endangerment of woman’s life)

-ford signed equal credit app act which outlawed credit dicrim on basis of race/sex/age/religion etc though it was nixon who introduced it. he was pro womens rights but had little time to make difference.

-1975 SCt ruled excl women from jury pool was illegal bc it violates right to free trial

-con organisations like national right to life c’tee campaigned against roe v wade in. anti abortion activists were highly effective fundraisers + recruiters. 1979 beverly lahaye established concerned women for america to fight against ERA & abortion. CWA had 500,000 members by mid 80s. wanted women to stay home + look after family, not deprive men of employment. she was representative of a resurgent soc conservatism that was starting to greatly affect politics

-soc cons closely associated w/ repub party. 1976 repub representative led congress to pass law that banned use of fed funds for abortion.

-other minority groups: 1976 ruling that state couldn’t assess tax on the property of a Native American living on a reservation. 1977 14 gay + lesbian activists invited to White House. 1980 Carter refused to issue exec order banning gay discrim in fed govt. unwilling to take the risk as groups support wasn’t electorally advantageous

poverty

-ford believed in self help & had no real ideas/impact on poverty + welfare. Carter expected to care more but faced problems.

problems: fastest growing section of pop was elderly, needed inc fed expenditure on SS & healthcare but Carter wanted to balance fed budget. white light of mc taxpayers to the sunbelt worsened poverty in northern city centres. inc of ppl living below poverty line mainly due to 1973-75 econ recession, rose from 11.2% 1974 - 12.5% 1976, incl 50% of all black female heads of household. those eligible for food stamps grew from 18.5mill 1976 - 20mill 1980 when usa suffered another recession

-Carter little progress on these problems despite allocation of $4bill for public works in 1977 & inc fed aid to poor (like food stamps). problem was taxpayers didnt want to subsidise poor & Carter wanted to balance fed budget

-homelessness grew in 70s. estimates very 200,000-1mill in 1980

reasons for inc: less institutions for mentally ill ppl so residents ended up on streets. urban renewal policies let to demolish of inner city “skid row” hotels that housed very poor ppl. rising unemployment led some to depression, despair & life on the streets. budget cuts & lower welfare benefits restricted the “welfare safety net”. homeless women inc bc of lower marriage rates + more single mothers who didnt have support of partners or authorities. inc use of crack cocaine creating addicts who spent all money on drugs

CRs - social status

-18 af-americans in congress (4 in 1959), 31% black families earning over $10,000 1971 (3% 1947). however black male teen unemployment 50%, white flight continuing to ruin ghettos, black children 2x more likely to die before age 1, 2x more likely to drop out of school, 4x more likely to be murdered

-education gap closing. 1970 31% af-americans 55% whites ages 25+ finished 4+ yrs of highschool. by 1980 it was 51% af-americans 69% whites

-SCt 1974 ruled white suburbs had no obligation to merge w/ black cities so desegregation + busing not enforced. dem congress approved anti busing legislation. busing had caused Boston riots + white backlash

-1974 SCt ordered busing for Boston schools bc of unconstitutional segregation but city authorities refused. white anti busing groups (restore our alienated rights) chased senator ed Kennedy (pro busing). ford disagreed w/ ruling & wouldn’t intervene to keep order

-in 1974 riots white south Boston highschool student was stabbed + black students had to escape white parents

-inc media presence of black Americans e.g Hollywood, blaxploitation films popularity, black history month founded 1976, Stevie wonder & Jackson 5 breakthrough, development of hip hop/house. 1979 “rappers delight” by sugar hill gang = 1st commercially successful hip hip release

-nixons war on drugs affected black men disproportionately, poverty & police brutality remained reality

-Carter insisted atleast 1 minority candidate be considered for cabinet positions, appointed more black fed judged than any previous president (38), strengthened justice dept enforcement of voting rights laws

-SCt ruling that affirmative action remained but quotas shouldn’t be upheld (no reserved spots for disadv students)

-discontent that Carter was insufficiently committed to busing/soc welfare programmes expansion/bill attempting to inc employment opps (became ineffective act)

-af-americans suffered disproportionately during Great Recession of Carter year. 1980 econ problems prompted worst summer of racial violence since 60s. by end of Carter, 12% of pop = af-american yet 43% of pop receiving welfare & 35% of pop receiving food stamps

-outside ghettos econ conditions improved, emerging mc of black Americans seeing education as driver of change. 64.8% 18-24 black Americans had completed highschool 1975. 31% black ppl now middle class (over $15,000 inc) & black women becoming more successful in employment

CRs - econ status

-promotion of affirmative action/anti discrim in higher education + employment to improv econ status (supported by judiciary, city officials & uni authorities). “set asides” guaranteed certain % of contracts for minority owned businesses

-combined this w/ EEOC pressure to decrease discrim in hiring, accelerating growth of black mc. by 1980 1/3 af-americans = mc

-white backlash to affirm action. CR legislation & affirm action didnt solve all econ problems. media household inc of whites increased but didnt for black ppl (only 60% of white household income by 1980, largely same as 1965 figure)

-33% af-americans still in poverty, 3x that of whites. average black earnings ½ of whites

-medicaid did lower infant mortality rates for black people & raised life expectancy, 1980 black life expectancy = 68.1, white = 74.4

-ghetti crime, unemployment & poverty unsolvable, af-americans. = 12% of pop but 43% of arrested rapists, 55% of accused murderers & 69% of robbery

CRs political status

-VRA helped a lot in south, Maynard Jackson elected mayor of Atlanta & even Birmingham had black mayor 1979 as did several major cities (wash DC 1974)

-20+ af-americans in house of reps 1973-1980 but represented predominantly black pops. struggled to get state wide votes so only 1 af-american senate. nationally only 1% elected officials were black in 1980

-SCt weakened VRA in 1980 ruling that discriminatory effect must be accomp w/ discriminatory intent so harder to challenge discrim voting laws

-by 70s south led the nation in school integration. 1974 George Wallace even apologised to selma marchers for his segregationist past. south characterised by econ growth in 70s, combo of this w/ greater racial tolerance created a “new south”

-SNCC largely dissapeared in 70s, SCLC leadership divisions, CORE refocused on black econ development, NAACP continued to fight cases & campaign for voter registration & education programmes, NOI renamed & shifted ideas, national urban league prepared highschool dropouts for college, black panthers characterised by disputes/splits/exiles & membership dropped to 27 by 1980

-crossovers of fem & CR movements. 1975 combahee river collective (black fem group in Boston), national black feminist org, 1974 third world wimmin inc collective = 1st org for black lesbians. groups never had significant achievements/membership but showed fragmentation of CR issue & sexism women felt in male dominated groups

-lack of faith in political leaders who followed after MLK

-proportion of black employees in prof positions rose from 19.2% to 42.2% from 1973-78. black managers more than doubled from 13.5% - 32.6% in Atlanta. proportion of city funds paid to black funds soared from 2% - 33% in Jackson.

-south not fully transformed: black unemployment still 3x that of whites on Georgia 1980. 70% of those employed in Atlanta worked blue collar jobs. 33% Atlantas black families below poverty line compared to 7% white families

FP successes

-ford ordered US marines to retake american cargo ship 1975 which had been seized by Khmer Rouge (new comm govt in cambodia). death of 40 Americans in operation but ship was retaken + ford approval soared

-Carter focused FP on HRs & mortality. criticised ussr/brezhnev for ignoring HR aspect of 1975 Helsinki accords. suspended military/econ aid to countries under this policy (Uganda, Chile, El Salvador)

-china: formally recognised communist regime in china 1979, reducing tension in SE Asia allowing trade to flourish. congress passed taiwan relations act to avoid fully abandoning them & created american institute in taiwan. annoyed Chinese but increasing trade & decoupling of ussr/china begun by (nixon & Kissinger) pleased both sides

-ussr: ford & kissinger continued nixons goals of detente w/ ussr. ford & Brezhnev & other European nations signed Helsinki accords 1975 which recognised existing boundaries of European countries established at end of ww2. incl agreements on HRs which soviets reluctantly signed. closest they came to making a peace settlement

-camp David Accords: carters greatest FP achievement 1978. invited Israeli PM & Egyptian president to camp David and agreed on Israels withdrawal from sinai peninsula, usa to monitor agreement to prevent attack from either side, Egypt & Israel recognise each others govts + sign peace treaty, Israel to negotiate w/ Palestinians for peace. signed in Washington 1979. 1st time since 1905 a US president had successfully mediated a major dispute between 2 foreign powers. reduced risk of another Arab Israeli war & strengthened usa role as peace broker

-kept protecting US interests in Arab states, pledged intervention if soviet actions threatened western oil interests in Persian gulf (Carter doctrine)

FP failures

-under original Paris peace accords settlement usa could protect SV through financial aid but congress cut aid by 50% 1973 + again 1974. taxpayers felt the $150bill spent on viet had been wasted money so opposed further expenditure

-humiliating final retreat form viet under ford: April 1975 comm forces entered Saigon. ford ordered evacuation of all US personnel + SV citizens w/ connection to US. humiliating sight of US helicopters taking off from embassy in Saigon as desperate SV citizens tried to join evacuation.

-revelations of US covert activities by CIA came out in press, damaging ford

-Carter lacked FP experience. accused of hypocrisy for not hiding ussr + china to HRs more strongly. Brezhnev threatened to end arms control talks over the issue & Deng refused to discuss it & Carter failed to halt military aid to shah in Iran whose HR record had been condemned by amnesty international (300+ political executions)

-china: recognition meant severing ties w/ Taiwan. revoked the 1955 mutual defence treaty w/ Taiwan

-ussr: ford outlined salt 2 but never successful. detente got criticism from Reagan who wanted more hardline stance

-americans had enough of detente, dissatisfied w/ salt1 bc soviets got ahead on many warheads & built up influence in Africa + viet

-soviets turned against detente bc of carters criticisms of their HR record & so pointed out western hypocrisy (racism, crime, unemployment), resented excl from carters Middle East peace process 1978, considered Carter too friendly w/ china. Helsinki agreement had let to unrest in eastern europe & widespread criticism of HR issue.

-demise of detente illustrated when congress refused to ratify salt II that Carter & Brezhnev agreed on at Vienna summit due to feeling that soviets had taken adv of detente to become more aggressive (Afghanistan)

-after Yom Kippur war 1973 usa helped Israel causing Arab states oil embargo leading to oil prices sharp rise damaging western icons

-iran hostage crisis 1979-81: shah seen as western puppet due to CIA backed coup 1953. gave control of 80% Iranian oil rights to western interests. with US support he banned political parties, built a personality cult, used brutal secret police to suppress opposition

-iranian revolution 1979: opp to shah increased during Carter presidency. radical islamic groups wanted fundamentalist muslim govt. shah forced to flee and radical groups leaver Khomeini became Irans leader (condemned shah & US influence)

-hostage crisis: Carter allowed shah into usa 1979 for cancer treatment. khomeinis supporters demanded he return to Iran for trial. Iranian militants seized us embassy in Tehran, took 66 Americans hostage, demanded shahs return/return of money + property taken from iran/apology from USA. tv coverage of crowds chanting death to america damaged US prestige

-carters response: froze billions of dollars of Iranian assets, attempted secret negotiations. as crisis continued it damaged his popularity & he appeared weak. concern grew over re election chances. authorised rescue mission (operation eagle claw) 1980 which failed bc of mechanical problems, one helicopter crashing & 8 US servicemen killed. hostages dispersed across iran to prevent another rescue attempt. major factor in carters 1980 defeat. eventually agreed to unfreeze Iranian assets + promise no interference in exchange of hostages

-hostages released 1981, the day Reagan became president

-loss of key ally in Middle East, now openly anti american, failed rescue mission damaged prestige, reinforced perceptions of carters weakness.

-1978 communist party of Afghanistan seized power. civil war followed as mujahideen resisted comm rule. strategically important as it bordered ussr. ussr invaded 1979 w/ 100,000 troops following Brezhnev doctrine (support comm govts under threat). 1st time soviet troops operated outside Eastern Europe since 1945. usa saw it as soviet expansionism. congress refused to ratify salt II, ending detente

-carters response: grain embargoes on ussr, boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympics, send aid + weapons to mujahideen

USA 1945-80

-humiliation over SV & iranian hostage crisis

-econ boom of post war years over

-1945 = ww2 victory, national pride, economic boom, wartime alliances, less tense relations w/ ussr, tech advantage (atomic bomb), rare protests, segregation but under control, gender inequality normal

-1980 = disillusionment from Watergate, credibility gap, more progressive views of CRs, CR acts, womens developments, wars (mainly viet) since ww2 lacked clear victory, internationally perceived as bad guys in FP (viet, Chile, op condor, iran), value of $ decreased, Japanese taking over manufacturing, decline of american manufacturing industries, energy crisis, but still worlds most affluent soc w/ far higher GNP than nearest rivals, poverty still existed but had been brought to national attention, greater welfare safety net, expansion of SS & healthcare programmes, inner city ghettoes lacked improvement, legal segregation & disenfranchisement in south ended, most schools in south desegregated, racism continued, 1/3 af-americans remained below poverty line, but growing black mc, growth in elected black officials, new attitudes to work/sex/freedom/family for women, improved econ status

Reagan election

-new republican agenda: repub shift to right ideologically. believed nixon/ford failings were bc they were too lib. Reagan tells con voters what they want to hear (even when it contradicts his own life choices. e.g divorce)

-election campaigns: benefitted from celeb & ease infant of camera but concerns abt his age (nearly 70). won candidacy causing repub John Anderson to launch independent more lib campaign. worries Anderson would gain reagans votes in close states until reagans performance at 1980 repub national convention gave him commanding lead in polls over Carter.

-ill judged controversial appearances in some states (speech in Chicago to veterans of foreign wars, Reagan said viet war had been a “noble cause”). concerns on his competency. Carter worked to portray him as extremist who would divide usa however reagans focus on damage done to american dream was effective

-his new political consultant refocused campaign on carters record. race was close by mid Oct. Carter doing well to portray Reagan as dangerous war monger in FP but Reagan made strong attacks on carters domestic record

-domestic issues differed. Carter promised further environ regulations, stood up for womens right to abortion, claimed econ was back on its way to health. Reagan said environ regulations hurt econ, opposed abortion, promised to cut taxes + shrink size of fed govt & balance fed budget, claimed econ was in recession under Carter worrying public

-washington outsider. Carter had promised a lot but not delivered much. ppl liked reagans optimism. Carter hadn’t solved hostage issue. Reagan won 51%, Carter 41%

-socially con voters: Reagan helped buy support of soc cons who rejected lib soc attitudes of 60s & wanted return to traditional fam values. he clearly aligned w/ them, showed disgust at 60s permissiveness, opposed feminism & ERA, supported nuclear fam, supported school prayer (yet rarely attended church), criticised fed courts for not allowing creationism to be taught (extreme religious cons). claimed to be a born again christian. new right/religious right were powerful + backed Reagan. 5 mill envangelical christians who had never voted before voted Reagan. new/religious right opposed feminism, divorce, mothers working, ERA, drugs, abortion, sexual liberation, premarital sex, homosexuality, unmarried mothers

-carters inadequacy: weakened by challenge from lib Ed Kennedy during election campaign. Carter fiscal conservative but lib dems wanted greater govt expenditure on soc problems. unhappy w/ carters claim “govt can’t solve our problems or eliminate poverty etc”. incapable of handling econ + international problems. 1980 only 15% rated Carter a very strong leader. Reagan used his inability to solve econ problems. 47% voters stayed home, many poor/unemployed & would normally vote dems but disillusioned. hadn’t solved hostage issue

-reagans personality: career as broadcaster & film star made him inspirational speaker who made strong attacks on big govt + high taxes. in debates seemed warmer than Carter & seemingly won debates. optimistic abt US domestic + international capacities in comparison to earnest carter

-timing: won at good time as Americans were disenchanted w/ econ, soc & politics under Carter