Richard M. Nixon

• The 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974

• Achievements included the reduction of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, détente with the Soviet Union and China, the first manned Moon landings, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration

• Visit to China in 1972 eventually led to diplomatic relations between the two nations

• His administration incrementally transferred power from the federal government to the states

• The Nixon administration's involvement in Watergate eroded his support in Congress and the country, resulting in him resigning the presidency

Southern Strategy

• A Republican Party electoral strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South by appealing to racism against African Americans

• The civil rights movements and the lessening of Jim Crow laws had led to deep racial tensions in much of the South

• Richard Nixon and Senator Barry Goldwater developed strategies that successfully contributed to the political realignment of many white, conservative voters in the South

• Helped to push the Republican Party much more to the right

Revenue Sharing

• 1972

• A government unit’s apportioning of part of its tax income to other units of government

• President Nixon signed the revenue-sharing program into law

• Communities held public hearings on how the money would be spent; there could be no discrimination in its use; and public audits were also required

• Small towns and counties, as well as large cities, received direct federal aid

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

• 1971

• An independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters

  • Manages federal public land and enforces environmental laws

• President Nixon signed an executive order that established the EPA

• Led by its administrator, who is appointed by the president and approved by the Senate

Earth Day

• 1970

• An annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection

• Focuses on environmental activism and raising awareness

Vietnamization

• 1969

• A strategy that aimed to reduce American involvement in the Vietnam War by transferring all military responsibilities to South Vietnam

• Building up South Vietnam’s armed forces and withdrawing U.S. troops

• Also included secret programs that authorized bombing campaigns and a ground invasion of Cambodia, a neutral country

• Unsuccessful, as South Vietnam fell to North Vietnamese communist forces in 1975

Henry Kissinger

• A German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presidential administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford

• Achievements included the policy of détente with the Soviet Union, the opening of relations with the People's Republic of China, shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East to end the Yom Kippur War, and the Paris Peace Accords, ending American involvement in the Vietnam War

• Condemned as both a war criminal and seen as a highly effective US Secretary of State

Sputnik

• 1957 - The USSR launched Sputnik

• A series of three artificial Earth satellites

• Started the space age

• Came as a shock to experts and citizens in the United States, who had hoped that the United States would accomplish this scientific advancement first

• Intensified the arms race and raised Cold War tensions

Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)

• 1959 - First deployed by the United States

• Ranges between 6,000 to 9,300 miles, making virtually any target in the world vulnerable

• Able to leave the Earth’s atmosphere and drop atomic bombs

• Famous US missiles include Atlas, Titan, and Minuteman

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties (SALT)

• Negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union that were aimed at curtailing the manufacture of strategic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons

• Intended to restrain the arms race

• Prevented either party from defending more than a small fraction of its entire territory, and thus kept both sides subject to the deterrent effect of the other’s strategic forces

• SALT II was signed by President Jimmy Carter, but was eventually removed after tensions grew

Hydrogen Bomb

• 1951

• U.S. President Harry S. Truman publicly announced his decision to support the development of the hydrogen bomb

• Was theorized to be hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II

• Resulted in the world living under the threat of thermonuclear war for the first time in history

Multiple Individually Targeted Reentry Vehicles (MIRVs)

• 1970

• Permits a missile to deliver multiple nuclear warheads to different targets

• Launched from missile silos and submarines

• The US was the first country to develop them, but the USSR followed suit and developed their own MIRV technology

  • Bankrupted the USSR

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

• 1958

• Founded in order to match the USSR’s advanced military achievement by allowing the US to get ahead in space exploration

• An independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research

• Emphasized peaceful applications in space science

• Achievements included the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and later the Space Shuttle

• Promoted the development of much advanced space technology

Apollo Missions

• 1969 - Neil Armstrong landed on the moon

• Established technology to meet national interests in space

• Carried out a mission of scientific exploration on the moon

• Collected moon rocks to be sent back to Earth and studied

George McGovern

• An example of modern American liberalism

• Most known for his outspoken opposition to the growing U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War

• In his run during the election of 1972, he promised immediate US withdrawal from Vietnam and a guaranteed income for American citizens

  • Grassroots-based campaign

  • Very radical beliefs

• Sole chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs

No-Fault Divorce

• Eliminated the need for couples to prove that one of them had violated marriage laws in order to get a divorce

  • Allowed one spouse to dissolve a marriage for any reason — or for no reason at all

• Virtually every state in the Union followed California's lead and enacted a no-fault divorce law of its own

• With divorces increasing, many families were broken up

• However, rates of violence, murder, and suicide decreased

Watergate Scandal

• A major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of U.S. President Richard Nixon

• The Nixon administration continually tried to cover up its involvement in the 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Washington, D.C., Watergate Office Building

• Witnesses testified that Nixon had approved plans to cover up his administration’s involvement in the break-in, and that there was a voice-activated taping system in the Oval Office

• The House led an impeachment process against Nixon

• The Nixon White House tapes revealed that he had conspired to cover up activities that took place after the break-in and had later tried to use federal officials to deflect attention from the investigation

• 1974 - With almost no more political support, Nixon resigned from office

Oil Embargo

• 1973

• During the Arab-Israeli War, the US supplied the Israeli military in order to gain leverage in the post-war peace negotiations

• The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposed an embargo against the United States

• Banned petroleum exports to the targeted nations and introduced cuts in oil production

• Strained a U.S. economy that had grown increasingly dependent on foreign oil

Pentagon Papers

• A United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political and military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967

• Released by Daniel Ellsberg and brought to the front page of the New York times

• Showed that the Johnson administration had misrepresented events in the Vietnam War and lied both to Congress and to the American public

• Revealed that the U.S. had secretly enlarged the scope of its actions in the Vietnam War with coastal raids on North Vietnam and Marine Corps attacks—none of which were reported in the mainstream media

• Led to heavy distrust of the president

G. Gordon Liddy

• A convicted felon in the Watergate scandal as the chief operative in the White House Plumbers unit during the Nixon administration

• Convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping for his role in the scandal

• Organized and directed the burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate building

• Charged for refusing to testify to the Senate committee investigating Watergate

John Dean

• Known for his role in the cover-up of the Watergate scandal and his subsequent testimony to Congress as a witness

• Testified publicly before the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, explaining in great detail how White House officials—including the president—had obstructed justice in order to mask their participation in the events

• Convicted of obstruction of justice and served four months in prison

White House Tapes

• Audio recordings of conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and Nixon administration officials, Nixon family members, and White House staff, produced between 1971 and 1973

• Was revealed during the Watergate scandal

• Nixon's refusal of a congressional subpoena to release the tapes was the basis for an article of impeachment against Nixon

Nixon Resignation

• Nixon became the first president to resign in order to avoid his impeachment

• Made an address to the American public from the Oval Office to announce his resignation

Gerald Ford

• Served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977, and was the only president never to have been elected to the office of president or vice president

• Presided over the worst economy in the four decades since the Great Depression, with growing inflation and a recession

• Granted a presidential pardon to Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal

  • Was very controversial

BIG PICTURE

• Nixon administration - Successful foreign policy BUT domestic issues

• Nixon expanded fed. gov’t

• Domestic problems + Cold War tensions (arms + space races)

• US journeys to moon

• Watergate scandal → Credibility gap