Nixon, Social Movements

Triangular Diplomacy

Strategy to ease Cold War tensions by improving relations with China and the Soviet Union.

1972 Visit to China

Opened diplomatic relations; broke 20+ years of isolation.

Détente with the USSR

Signed SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) to limit nuclear arms.

Vietnamization

Used to reduce American troops and transfer fighting to South Vietnamese forces.

Ceasefire in the Yom Kippur War

Negotiated by Nixon.

Watergate Action

5 men caught breaking into Democratic HQ (Watergate Hotel), June 1972. Nixon administration attempted to cover it up.

Watergate Causes

Nixon's desire to win reelection at any cost; paranoia about political opponents.

Watergate Consequences

Investigative reporting by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (Washington Post); Congressional hearings; discovery of secret White House tapes; Nixon resigned in 1974 to avoid impeachment; Led to greater skepticism of government, War Powers Act, and reforms in campaign financing.

Feminism

The belief that men and women should be equal politically, economically, and socially.

Main Goal of Feminism

Achieve equal rights and opportunities for women.

The Feminine Mystique

Influenced the revitalization of the Women's Movement; challenged the idea that women found fulfillment only as housewives.

Betty Friedan

Co-founded NOW (National Organization for Women); advocated for legal and workplace equality.

Gloria Steinem

Co-founded Ms. Magazine in 1971; leading feminist writer and speaker.

Shirley Chisholm

1st Black woman elected to Congress (1968); ran for President in 1972.

Phyllis Schlafley

Led opposition to the ERA, arguing it threatened traditional family values.

NOW

Pushed for equal rights in the workplace, education, and reproductive freedom.

ERA (Equal Rights Amendment)

Proposed amendment to guarantee gender equality. Passed Congress but defeated after conservative backlash.

Title IX (1972)

Banned sex discrimination in education, especially sports.

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Legalized abortion nationwide as a privacy right under the 14th Amendment.

Dobbs v. Jackson (2022)

Overturned Roe; states can now ban or restrict abortion. As of 2023, abortion is not legal in all 50 states.

President's Commission on the Status of Women (1961)

Identified discrimination in employment; led to protective legislation for working women.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Banned discrimination based on sex but was poorly enforced initially; inspired feminist legal activism.

Stonewall Riots (1969)

Violent police raid on gay bar in NYC led to protests. Sparked the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

AIDS Crisis

Early 1980s: Widespread misinformation; associated unfairly with gay men.

Ryan White

13-year-old boy with hemophilia who got HIV from a blood transfusion; helped change public perception.

Marriage Equality

Legalized nationwide in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)—considered the biggest victory of the movement.