HIST 106 Exam 4 - Uneasy 70s & The Fall of Richard Nixon (Lecture 20)

What was Nixon’s “New Federalism”?

**reduce the power of the federal government, give more power to the states individually**

In Nixon’s New federalism, federal funding was given to…

states, and then the states themselves decide how to use it.

Nixon also established (hint: EPA and PFAP)

Environmental Protection Agency - environment impact statements must be provided for any project that used federal funding

Proposed Family Assistance Plan - guaranteed $1,600 income for American families

How did republicans/dems feel about PFAP?

Reps thought it was too radical, Dems did not think it was enough money

Nixon ENDS the ______________

Military Draft

Now that the draft was ended, what was the main issue for the US military and how does Nixon try to fix these issues?

* main issue is they need a way to maintain their troops (especially after vietnam because current troops did not even want to fight in it)
* need to improve wages/standards and attract recruits like any other employees
* **Nixon forms the Gates Commission, Gates recommends an ALL-volunteer military**

Brown v Board of Education

integrate as soon as possible (decided segregation was unconstitutional in schools

Why was there a delay to integration?

States were dragging their feet, inventing reasons to delay

Swan v North Carolina & Bussing

**Supreme court ordered forced integration through BUSSING - minority children bussed to all-white schools**

Nixon on Bussing

Nixon tries to ban bussing and FAILS! Removes civil rights offices in Federal departments, ensures media coverage of civil rights is actually Black militants

How did Nixon Mobilize the Silent Majority?

through fear

Views on abortion were not based on…

political ideology

30% of those against abortion were __ and __in NE were heavily anti-abortion

Republicans, Democratic Catholics

There were ----- illegal abortions in a year, and ---- women died annually from these operations

1M; 1,000

Gerri Santoro

Woman who died in a hotel room from an amatuer abortion attempt, crime scene photo began a huge symbol for the pro-abortion movement

1973 Roe v Wade - Norma McCorvey sues state of Texas

reaches the supreme court, supreme court found that Griswold v Connecticut the “Right to Privacy” - extended this in ROE to the issue of abortion! Laws against abortion deemed UNCONSTITUTIONAL. 

Nixon’s Foreign Policy Detente - Nixon and Kissinger

Believed the Cold War was not about ideology, but about a contest for POWER and INFLUENCE

In Nixon’s Detente, what was better for gaining power?

Stability, NOT conflict

Foreign Policy of Detente was to reduce…

Cold War tensions

Nixon on the Soviet Union:

* Reached out to Leonid BREZHNEV to pressure North Vietnam so America could withdraw. 
* In return, visits MOSCOW and agrees Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) and Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) on nuclear weapons with BREZHNEV. 

Nixon on Communist China:

* Visits Beijing and meets Chair**man Mao, agrees to TRADE deals. Brings China into the United Nations.**

1971, New York Times publishes the ----- ------ , which were smuggled out by ----- ------

Pentagon Papers; Daniel Ellsberg

What did the Pentagon Papers reveal?

showed the US government had misled Americans for YEARS about the Vietnam War

Nixon & The Plumbers

* Nixon creates a personal team of investigators, “**THE PLUMBERS**.” 
* Nixon orders PLUMBERS to discredit Daniel Ellsberg. 

June 17, 1972 - Five men were arrested for….

breaking into Democratic Party HQ at the **WATERGATE Complex** in DC.

The five burglars were connected to what committee?

Committee to Reelect the President (CRP or “CREEP”)

Surprisingly, the burglars did not….

initially make the news, and the FBI was told NOT to investigate

Which Washington reporters published articles connecting watergate to the white house?

Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodard, who were helped by “Deepthroat” aka FBIS Deputy Director Mark Felt who was the whistleblower who went by that pseudonym

\*\*\*How does Nixon “take action” as the scandal is unfolding?

He pressures his advisors to resign and take the fall and appoints ARCHIBALD COX as special prosecutor to investigate\*\*\*

Nixon has tape recordings of what?

Every conversation in the Oval Office

White Flight

White Americans fled to suburbs to avoid integrated schools

White Flight Response

* quality of urban schools declined as funding lowered (funding based on enrollment)
* exacerbated the wealth divide
* private school attendance explodes!
* middle/upper class increase

Supreme Court Trimester Model

1st 12 weeks - unrestricted

2nd 12 weeks - compromise depending on states

3rd 12 weeks abortion illegal unless risk to mother’s life or fetus

Southern Baptist Convetion ------ Roe v Wade

Supported!

Hide Amendment

prohibited use of federal funds (through Medicaid) for abortion operations unless mother’s life/fetus is at risk

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT)

limited # of nukes in a country

allowed other countries to inspect nukes

Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM)

USSR and USA agree not to make ABMs

Nixon’s VP Spiro Agnew ---- admist corruption charges

resigns

Nixon and the Tapes

Nixon offers tapes, but 18 minutes are “missing” and then transcripts were edited

Why was the Nixon Administration deemed corrupt?

* illegal surveillance of Nixon’s enemies
* 450k in bribes
* Nixon paid to keep Watergate quiet
* Unpaid taxes reported on tax statements

Nixon was impeached for

abuse of power and obstruction of justice, he resigns knowing that he’ll be found guilty

378 Nixon officials convicted of illegal behavior, 48 imprisoned

American confidence in the Federal Gov. -------, 1975, --- had confidence

PLUMMETED; 13%

War Powers Act of 1973

US military cannot be deployed for more than 60 days without congressional approval. 

Freedom of Information Act

Citizens can access government documents

Presidential Records Act

12 years after leaving office, the presidential paper would become PUBLIC

Gerald Ford Takes Over

* Gerald Ford becomes US president - never won any election!
* Ford pardons Nixon of all crimes and pardons all Vietnamese War Draft evaders, which alienates the American public in the process

70s Culture

* 1970s saw Microsoft, Apple, and Starbucks
* ME generation - Americans focused on personal development
* change in views toward SEXUALITY

70s Culture (Jim Fixx)

wrote “The Complete Book of Running”, helping start America’s fitness revolution

70s Culture (Thomas Harris)

wrote the self-help book “I’m OK - You’re OK”

70s Rise in Cynicism toward politics and the government

* 1972 M\*A\*S\*H\* (critique of Vietnam) 
* 1975 SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE (critique of politics) 
* 1977 George Lucas and STAR WARS

Chicano Movement

Led by Cesar Chavas, who argued against Mexican-American assimilation - wanted Mexicans and Mexican culture to stand apart in America

American Indian Movement

* Native Americans fighting TERMINATION policy (land claims terminated and federal recognition of certain tribes - meant to force assimilation.


* Occupied ALCATRAZ and WOUNDED KNEE

**Indian Self Determination and Education Act 1975:**

Ended termination and brought about a new respect for Native American tribal lands and funded education

Gay Liberation

* Homosexuals faced legal and police persecution
* Stonewall Bar Riots 1969 - a gay bar in which all the patrons of Stonewall fought back against police for 5 days
* 1970 First Gay Pride Parade starts across America on anniversary of Stonewall
* 1973 Homosexuality no longer considered a mental disorder

First Wave Feminism

getting to vote in the early 1900s (political participation)

Second Wave Feminism

Civil Rights and Equality in the 60s - 70s

Betty Friedan and The Feminine Mystique

* argued women wanted more than domesticity


* 1966 was president of National Organization for Women (NOW)

Equality Pay Act

passed barring sexual discrimination in pay for the same work, 1974 - 66% of American women felt discriminated against