Nixon, Ford, and Carter Administrations
Richard M. Nixon Background
Both Quaker parents.
Not well off financially.
Went to Whittier College, then law school.
Served in Navy Reserves during WWII.
Entered politics after WWII.
Served in House of Representatives from 1947-1951.
Served on HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee).
After HUAC and finding a communist, became a senator from 1951-1953.
Vice President from 1953-1961 under President Eisenhower.
Lost the 1960 election, ran for governor of California and lost. Claimed he would quit politics.
Reemerged in politics in 1967 due to the Vietnam War events from 1965-1967.
Received the Republican nomination for president in 1968.
Election of 1968
Democrats: Hubert Humphrey (nominee)
Republicans: Richard Nixon (nominee)
American Independent: George Wallace
Nixon won with 311 electoral votes.
Appealed to the “silent majority” (average Americans).
Nixon and Foreign Policy: Détente
Nixon Doctrine:
Asian countries fighting against communists would receive money support but no military support from the U.S.
China:
Improved relations with China.
Relations were previously poor; China was not allowed in the UN, and the U.S. recognized Taiwan as China.
Nixon saw an opportunity to improve relations.
April 1971: U.S. ping pong team visited China, opening doors for further visits.
June 1971: Kissinger visited China.
Feb 1972: Nixon visited China himself.
Soviet Union:
The Soviet Union was worried about Nixon's visit to China, fearing China might turn against the USSR.
May 1972: Nixon visited USSR.
Signed SALT 1 (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty), limiting the number of nuclear weapons each country could deploy.
Signed a Grain Deal (selling grain cheaply in exchange for scientific information).
Middle East
Nixon and the U.S. sided with Israel in the Yom Kippur War (Israel vs. Egypt and Syria).
OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) led an oil embargo against the U.S. due to this.
This led to oil shortages in the U.S., despite domestic resources, as the U.S. relied heavily on OPEC countries.
The Nixon administration allegedly held up oil storage from ports, anticipating a shortage that never fully materialized.
American people experienced gas price spikes and restrictions on gas purchases based on license plates.
OPEC countries continued to sell oil despite the embargo.
Vietnam
Ended U.S. involvement by January 1973.
Nixon and Domestic Policy
The Good:
Moon landing.
Increased Great Society/New Deal programs:
Increased Social Security.
Increased subsidized housing for low-income families.
Increased Job Corps.
26th Amendment: 18-year-olds get the right to vote.
Philadelphia Plan: affirmative action for hiring on government construction jobs.
More environmental protection:
Created EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).
Created OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration).
Limited pesticide use.
Protected endangered species.
First Earth Day: April 22, 1970.
Background of U.S. Space Program:
Emerged from the Cold War space race to gain technological dominance over the USSR.
The Bad:
Economy:
Stagflation:
High unemployment.
High inflation.
Low economic growth.
War and domestic radicalism.
Against civil rights:
The Nixon administration worked against the civil rights movement.
Nixon developed the “Southern Strategy” which appealed to southern voters by opposing aspects of the civil rights movement.
The Odd:
Enemy list:
Created a list of political enemies and used the power of the federal government against them.
Plumbers:
Created to stop leaks coming from the White House.
Created after the release of the Pentagon Papers.
Election of 1972
Democrats: George McGovern
Republicans: Nixon
Nixon courted the Wallace vote and used the “Southern Strategy”.
Nixon appealed to the “silent majority”.
Watergate Scandal
1970: Created CREEP (Committee to Re-Elect the President).
Involved in hiring prostitutes, kidnapping politicians, etc.
Decided to break into the Watergate Hotel complex (Democratic headquarters) to wiretap phones and take photos of documents.
1972: Five members of CREEP broke into the Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel.
They were caught because they put tape over the door lock, the guard saw it and took it off, and locked the door. The 5 members do it again, but hte guard noticed it again, so he called the actual cops and they caught the 5 members in the act and they are jailed.
Nixon took charge of the cover-up of this crime.
Woodward and Bernstein released info of the Watergate scandal with the help of a secret undercover agent code-named “Deep Throat”.
Mark Felt, the Deputy Director of the FBI, was “Deep Throat”. He provided information to Woodward and Bernstein, allegedly because he had Alzheimer's and wanted the story to be published while he could still remember it.
The Senate Watergate Committee was formed to investigate.
Alexander Butterfield revealed Nixon had a tape recorder.
Nixon used executive privilege and refused to hand over the tapes.
Saturday Night Massacre: resignations and firing of officials over the dismissal of special prosecutor Archibald Cox.
Nixon gave a speech claiming “I am not a crook”.
Nixon released an edited version of the tapes.
The Supreme Court ordered that he MUST give the original tapes.
Nixon handed over most tapes.
One tape, in particular, mentioned Watergate and then had an 18.5-minute blank section.
The assistant's excuse was not believable.
The “smoking gun” tape proved Nixon was guilty.
Nixon announced his resignation on TV on August 8, 1974.
Gerald Ford became president on August 9, 1974.
Spiro Agnew accepted bribes and kickbacks and did not pay taxes on them.
Charged with income tax evasion.
Resigned.
Gerald Ford: The Accidental President
Washington outsider.
Background:
Born in Nebraska, moved to Michigan.
Only president to be an Eagle Scout.
University of Michigan, played football.
Declined two pro football contracts to attend Yale Law School.
Coached Yale football.
Served in WWII.
Served in the House from 1949-1973.
The only president NOT to be selected for either the presidency or vice presidency initially.
Survived two assassination attempts.
Seen as a caretaker president, simply holding the position until the next election.
Major Events
Pardoned Nixon for any and all crimes he committed during office:
Unpopular because people wanted Nixon accountable for his actions.
It cost Ford reelection.
Appeared corrupt.
Stagflation:
Created WIN (Whip Inflation Now).
Did not work.
Inflation was a problem throughout the 1970s.
A major recession occurred in 1974-1975.
Oil embargo.
People switched to German and Japanese cars due to better MPG.
Led to the downfall of American cars.
SALT II negotiated by Ford with Brezhnev.
Never passed in the Senate as Carter asked the Senate not to consider SALT II for its advice and consent
Helsinki Accords:
Negotiated with Brezhnev, who agreed to respect human rights and allow freedom of travel in Eastern Europe.
The most important thing Ford did.
Marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War.
April 30, 1975: Saigon falls.
Mayaguez Incident:
Led a military assault to free hostages, resulting in approximately 50 marines killed.
Henry Kissinger stayed on as Secretary of State.
Election of 1976
Democrats: Jimmy Carter
Republicans: Gerald Ford
Carter ran on the notion that he was a Washington outsider because of Ford’s pardoning of Nixon, Ford didn't win.
Jimmy Carter: Good Guy, Bad President
Background:
Born in 1924 in Georgia.
Served in the Navy.
1953: Was about to get command of a big boat, but his dad died.
Quit his job in the Navy and went back to Georgia to tend his family’s farm.
Got married in 1946, married for 74 years.
Longest-living former president.
Became a one-term governor of Georgia from 1971-1975.
Devout Christian.
Vowed to never lie and cheat the American people and vowed to be honest.
Took over during a time of stagflation and in the wake of Stagflation and Vietnam
Major Events:
Economy:
Still not good in the late 1970s.
Combated recession, unemployment dropped to 5% by 1978, but inflation/stagflation was still a problem.
Inflation:
Prices increased by 13%.
Energy costs increased.
More oil shortages and an oil crisis in 1979.
Increased bank interest rates.
Foreign Affairs:
Big on drawing attention to human rights violations around the world.
Panama Canal Treaties: gave control of the Panama Canal back to Panama.
Gave full diplomatic relations to China in 1979.
Camp David Accords:
Negotiated between Israel and Egypt.
Sadat (Egypt) and Begin (Israel) went to Camp David and sat down with Carter to make/negotiate a peace treaty.
Called for an end to the war, and peace and autonomy in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Soviet Union:
USSR invaded Afghanistan in January 1980.
Carter pulled SALT II from the Senate.
Boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow.
Signed The Carter Doctrine:
Stated that the U.S. would use military force, if necessary, to defend its national interests in the Persian Gulf.
War is fought between Afghanistan and the USSR as the USSR tries invading. The US doesn't formally involve themselves, but the CIA is funding the opposition forces in Afghanistan (the Mujahideen).
One member is from a Saudi national who wanted to fight against the USSR (Osama Bin Laden).
Environment:
Love Canal:
Groundwater was laden with chemicals from years of dumping by a company.
Kids drank this water and got very sick.
Parents complained to the government, but Carter did NOTHING.
Carter agreed to move all of the residents out to fix this area after two EPA officials were “kidnapped” and nearly forced to drink the water
They discovered these toxic waste sites existed ALL OVER the USA, now called superfund sites.
Three Mile Island:
March 28, 1979.
Nuclear powerplant in Pennsylvania.
A valve gets stuck in the open position, releases a significant amount of radiation, and leads to a partial meltdown of the powerplant.
Owners and government covered up just how bad it was, but nearby neighborhoods were affected.
It took years to clean this up, and upon further inspection, they realized the nuclear core partially broke up.
Malaise Speech:
Carter went on TV and spoke a speech called “Crisis of Confidence.”
Essentially told Americans they suck and they lack confidence.
Gone down as one of the worst political speeches in history.
1980’s U.S. Men’s Hockey Team:
The men's Olympic hockey team was full of college kids, no professionals allowed from the US side.
The hockey team made it into the medal round.
They played the USSR (who was a VERY good team), and suddenly Americans kept scoring.
The U.S. won 4-3.
Known as the “Miracle on Ice.”
The U.S. won gold this year.
Iran Hostage Crisis:
Nov 4th, 1979.
Iranians overthrew the Shah and Khomeini.
Iranian students scaled the walls of the U.S. embassy, got inside, and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
Carter tried everything to get these people released (Operation Eagle Claw, negotiations, etc.) but didn’t work.
Biggest presidential failure.
One hour after Reagan was inaugurated, they were all freed from hostage.
There is some proof that the Reagan administration sorted this out after he got elected but not inaugurated, so they told the Iranians to wait until he got officially inaugurated.
CIA led Operation Argo to get 2 escapees from the embassy out.
These escapees fled to the Canadian ambassador’s house in Iran, who hid them for 100+ days.
Canadians decided to get them out. CIA faked a movie to get them out by airplane, no fighting.
Canadians claimed credit.
Post-Presidency:
Got destroyed in the election against Ronald Reagan.
Had a far more successful post-presidency.
Habitats for Humanity.
The Carter Center.
Nobel Peace Prize awarded in 2002.
Used as an ambassador by other presidents.
Died at 99.