8.14 Society in Transition

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Explain the causes and effects of continuting policy debates about the role of the federal govenrment over time. Explain the effects of religious movements over the course of the 20th century/

INTRODUCTION

• 1970s marked shift from liberal Democrats—→ conservatice Republicans

  • Many were tired of war, inequality, corruption, hard economy

AMERICAN SOCIETY IN TRANSITION

• 1970 social changes had great potential significance

  • Americans lived in fastest-growing sections (South & West)

    - Americans became conscious population was aging

  • Racial & ethnic composition changed noticeably

    - minority groups made up 25% of the US population

    - cultural pluralism replaced melting pot for society

    - groups wanted to end discrimination & celebrate their culture

THE NIXON PRESIDENCY

• Nixon won 43% of popular vote (labeled as minority president)

  • Devised republican strategy to gain voters from “silent majority”

    - appealed to dissatisfied of civil rights movement, liberal court rulings, anti-war protest, & counterculture

    - democrats, southern whites, catholic, blue-collars, suburbanites

NIXON’S SOUTHERN STRATEGY

• Nixon wanted to win over the south so he adopted Souther Strategy

  • Asked courts to delay integration plans & busing orders

  • Nominated southern conservatives into supreme court

• Both failed but were seen among white southerners

  • Became powerful tool for Republicans in the future

    - party became more socially conservative

    - political pwoer shifted to Sun Belts & rural America

    - diminshed further civil rights legislation

THE ELECTION OF 1972

• Sucess of Nixon’s southern strategy paid of in election of 1972

  • Republican won majorities in South & Nixon was assured by:

    - foreign policy successes in China & USSR

    - removal of George Wallace from race (assassinated)

    - nomination of George McGovern (liberal anti-war candidate)

  • Nixon won 61% of popular vote

    - Democrats contined control of both houses in congress

    - overall voter shift reflected political realignment in South (new Republican majority)

WATERGATE SCANDAL

• Watergate Scandal—→ public humilation of Nixon, conviction & jailing of 26 white house officals, & loss of credibility in essential political system

WHITE HOUSE ABUSES

• Men hired by Nixon’s reelection committee (CREEP) broke into Watergate complex to steal information & spy on opponents

  • Nixon tried to cover scandal up

    - put wiretraps on employees & reporters

    - “plumbers” were to stop leaks & discredit opponents (helped burglarize Pentagon papers from psychiatrist Daniel Ellsberg)

    - enemies list was made for those who opposed NIxon (would be investigated by the IRS)

  • CREEP justified illegal activities for national security

    - in reality it was protexting Nixon’s power

WATERGATE INVESTIGATION

• There was no solid proof Nixon ordered illegal activities

  • Nixon DID engage in illegal cover-up to avoid scandal

    - Watergate burglars revealed money & pardons to keep quiet

  • Senate investigating committe brought abuses to TV attention

    - testimony of John Dean (linked Nixon to the cover-ups)

    - Nixon’s top aides reisgned to protect him (later indicted)

  • Discovery of taping system in Oval office—→ struggle for Nixon

    - Nixon claimed executive privlege

    - investigators wanted tapes to prove cover-up charges

  • Evidence of political corruption in vice president Agnew

    - accepted bribes as govenor & vp

    - further discreditied Nixon administration

    - replacred with Geral Ford

RESIGNATION OF A PRESIDENT

• Nixon’s reputation continued to fade

  • Nixon fired Archibad Cox (prosecuter assigned to Watergate)

    - president appeared to interfere with investigation

    - US attorney general resigned in protest

  • Impeachment hearings began

    - Nixon revealed transcripts of Watergate tapes

    - conversations implicated cover-up days after break-in

    - Supreme Court forced him to turn tapes to courts & congress

    - 18 minute gap has been erased from one tape

  • House Judiciary Committee voted 3 articles of impeachment

    - obstruction of justice

    - abuse of power

    - contempt of congress

• Trial in senate & impeachment in house—→ Nixon’s resignation

  • Gerald Ford took oath as first unelected president

SIGNFICANCE

• Outcome of Watergate scandal proved checks & balances worked

  • Scandal underlined dangerous shift of power to presidency

    - contributed to growing loss of faith in federal gov

GERALD FORD IN THE WHITE HOUSE (1974-1977)

• President Ford served in congress & in house as Republican minority

  • Likeable & unpretenious

    - many questioned ability to be president

PARDONING OF NIXON

• Ford lost goodwill by granting Nixon pardon for crimes

  • Ford was accused of “corrupt bargain” with nixon

    - argued pardon was to end “national nightmare”

    - full truth of Nixon’s deeds never came out

INVESTIGATING THE CIA

• Democratic congress continued to search for abuses in executive branch

  • CIA was accused of assassination of foreign leaders

    - included President of Chile (Salvado Allende)

    - George H. W. Bush was to reform agency

BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

• US celebrated 200th birthday

  • Pride in history but Watergate & Vietnam behind them

    - lackluster of Ford servred purpose of restoring humility & candor to White House

THE ELECTION OF 1976

• Watergate scandal cast gloom over Republican Party

  • Ronald Reagan challenged Ford for Republican nomination

    - Reagan gained support from more conservative Republicans

    - Ford won nomination but conflict w Regan hurt his polls

  • Different Democrats competed for nomination

    - James Earl (Jimmy) Carter had success running

    - victories in open primaries reduced more experienced politicans

    - Carter won majority of electoral votes (carried south & blacks)

    - Democrats won stong majorities in both houses

AN OUTSIDE IN THE WHITE HOUSE

• Informal style of Carter—→ effort to end imperal presidency

  • Walked instead of using limo, carried his own luggage, ect

    - impressied average Americans

    - viewed as an outsider to veteran members of Congress (thought Carter depended too much on inexperienced advisers)

    - Carter payed closed attention to government operations

LOSS OF POPULARITY

• Failure of Iranian hostage crisis & worsening economic crisis

  • Hurt Carter in the opinion polls (approval rates fell 23%)

    - “national malaise” speech (Carter blamed problems of US on moral and spiritual crisis of Americans)

    - Americans blamed Carter for weak & indecisive leadership

THE BURGER COURT

• Nixon replaced retiring liberal justices with more conservative ones

  • Nixon’s appointees did not rule as has hoped

    - Warren E. Burger replaced Cheif Justice Earl Warren

  • Burger Court was more conservative than Warren Court

    • Several major decisions angred conservatives:

      - ordered busing to acheive racial balance

      - issued guidelines making death penelty difficult

      - denied Nixon’s executive privlege (US v. Nixon)

ABORTION RIGHTS

• Roe v. Wade struck down state laws against abortions

  • Court ruled abortions violated the 4th amendment (privacy)

    - decison allowed women access to aboritons

  • Conservatices wanted to overturn or limit Roe v. Wade

    - included series of legislation & conservatives in federal courts

CONSERVATIVE RESURGENCE

• Protest, enecomy, unrest—→ more social stress & fragmentation

  • Many Americans felt angry & bitter

    - Conservative reaction to liberal policies gained strength

    - would prove powerful force in politics

CONSERVATIVE RELIGIOUS REVIVAL