Sources of Stagnation

• The U.S. economy grew stagnant in the 1970s after economic growth in the 1950s and 1960s

• A large reason for the economic woes was the upward spiral of inflation

• Johnson’s (LBJ) spending on the Vietnam War and his Great Society program depleted the U.S. Treasury

• Americans were caught by Japanese and German in industries had the U.S. had once dominated with these industries consisting of the steel, automobile, and consumer electronics industries

Nixon “Vietnamizes” the War

• Nixon urged America to stop tearing each other apart and cooperate

  • This was known as the “Nixon Doctrine”

• Nixon divided Americans into his supporters and his opponents

  • Nixon appealed to the “silent majority” Americans who supported the war

• War was generally fought by the lesser-privileged Americans

• College students and critically skilled students were exempt from the draft

• My Lai Massacre of 1968 consisted of American troops brutally massacring innocent women and children in the village of My Lai

• Nixon ordered an attack on Cambodia in 1970

Cambodianizing the Vietnam War

• North Vietnamese had been using Cambodia as a springboard for funneling troops and arms along the Ho Chi Minh Trail with uproar consisted of riots at Kent State University and Jackson State College

• Cambodian incident widened the gap between “hawks” and “doves”

• The U.S. Senate repealed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution and in 1971, the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18, passed

• In June 1971, the New York Times published a top secret Pentagon study of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War

Nixon's Détente with Beijing (Peking) and Moscow

• China and the Soviet Union clashed over their own interpretations of Marxism and Nixon saw this as a chance for the U.S. To relax tensions and establish “détente”

• Nixon sent the national security adviser to China to encourage better relations while Nixon himself went to Moscow

• Soviets made a deal with the U.S. in fear of a U.S. and China alliance with them making a deal for foodstuffs such as wheat, corn, cereals, etc.

• Nixon’s détente policy didn’t work to relax the U.S. and Soviet tensions

A New Team on the Supreme Bench

• Chief Justice Earl Warren dealt with many controversial decisions

• Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) struck down state law that banned the use of contraceptives but created the “right to privacy”

• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) said that all criminals were entitled to legal counsel even if they couldn’t afford it

• Escobedo (1946) and Miranda (1966) had 2 cases in which it was ruled that the accused could remain silent

• Engel v. Vitale (1962) and School District of Abington Township v. Schempp (1963) consisted of 2 cases that led to the court ruling against required prayers and having the Bible in public schools

• Reynolds v. Sims (164) ruled that state legislators and upper and lower houses would be reapportioned according to the human population

• Roe v. Wade decision allowed abortion

Nixon on the Home Front

• Nixon expanded Great Society programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, raised social security, etc.

• “Philadelphia Plan” of 1969 required construction trade-unions working on federal payroll to establish “goals and timetables” for black employees

• Environmental Protection Agency and OHSA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration) were created to protect nature

• Nixon imposed a 90-day wage freeze and took the nation off of the gold standard

The Nixon Landslide of 1972

• The North Vietnamese attacked again in 1972 and Nixon ordered massive retaliatory air attacks

• Nixon was opposed by George McGovern in 1972

  • McGovern promised to end the war within 90 days after the election with him appealing to teens and women

• Nixon sought to “bomb Vietnam to the peace table”

The Secret Bombing of Cambodia and the War Powers Act

• There had been secret bombing raids of North Vietnamese forces in Cambodia desptie federal assurances to the U.S. public that Cambodia’s neutrality was respected with Nixon having demanded this bombing in June of 1973

  • Cambodia was taken over by Pol Pot

• War Powers Act of November 1973 required the president to report all commitments of U.S. troops within 48 hours to the Congress and set a 90 day limit on those activities

The Arab Oil Embargo and the Energy Crisis

• Arab nations imposed an oil embargo which strictly limited oil in the U.S. and caused a fuel crisis

  • The oil embargo happened due to U.S. backing Israel in its war against Syria and Egypt

• OPEC lifted embargo in 1974 and quadrupled price of oil by the end of the decade

Watergate and the Unmaking of a President

• 5 men were caught breaking into Watergate Hotel and planting bugs in the room (spying)

  • The tapes had recorded conversations with Nixon refusing to hand over said tapes to Congress and Congress ruled that he he had to hand them over

  • Nixon handed over tapes but several minutes were missing

The First Unelected President

• Gerald Ford was the first unelected president

  • Ford was seen as a dumb jock president with his populartig sinking when he issued Nixon a pardon

• Ford’s popularity declined even further when he granted amnesty to “draft dodgers”

Defeat in Vietnam

• South Vietnam fell to communist North in 197 and American troops had to evacuated

• The U.S. role in the war ended on April 29, 1975

  • America lost a lot of respect

Feminist Victories and Defeats

• Feminist movement became energized and took an aggresive tone during the 1970s

• Title IX prohibited sex discrimination in any federally funded education programs

• ERA sought to guarantee gender equality through words

The Seventies in Black and White

• 1974 Milliken v. Bradley case had the Supreme Court ruling that desegregation plans couldn’t require students to move across school-district lines with some whites using affirmative action to argue “reverse discrimination”

• Supreme Court’s only Black Justice warned that the denial of racial preferences may sweep away progress made by the Civil Rights Movement

The Bicentennial Campaign and the Carter Victory

• In 1976, Jimmy Carter won the presidential election at 297-240 electoral votes and promised to never lie to the American public

  • Carter capitalized on being a ”Washington outsider”

  • Carter got an $18 billion tax cut for the US. in 1978

Carter's Humanitarian Diplomacy

• Carter championed for black rights and privileges

• The president of Egypt and the prime minister of Israel signed accords on September 17, 1978 at Camp David

• Carter promised to return the Panama Canal to Panama by 2000

Economic and Energy Woes

• Inflation rose by 13% by 1979

• Carter diagnosed America’s problems to be stemming from foreign oil and called for legislation to improve energy conservation

  • Energy problems escalated under Carter

Foreign Affairs and the Iranian Imbroglio

• Carter signed SALT II agreements with Brezhnev, but the U.S. Senate refused to ratify it

• Anti-American Muslim militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979

• USSR invaded Afghanistan on December 27, 1979 and their actions threatened oil supplies

• Carter put an embargo on the Soviet Union

  • Carter and the U.S. got involved with the Iran hostage crisis