Richard Nixon
Omar Elmougy- Furnish 4
First Election
He ran on the republican platform
Was very determined to finish the Vietnam war
Ran against Wallace (third party - American Independent) in 1968.
Gained the largest amount of votes for a third party
Also ran against Hubert Humphrey (Democrat)
Most of his voters were rural families
Votes were closer than comfortable for Nixon. Wallace won 9,906,473 popular votes and 46 electoral votes. He officially won 5 states
Nixon won 301 electoral votes and 31,785,480 popular votes. This was 43.4% of the popular votes
Humphrey won 42.7% of the popular votes at 31,275,166 and 191 electoral votes
Nixon introduces his plan, Vietnamization
aimed at ending American involvement in the Vietnam War (1954-75) by transferring all military responsibilities to South Vietnam. The increasingly unpopular war had created deep divisions in American society.
Served from 1969-1974
- Resigned from office in 1974 following the Watergate Scandal
Vietnam War
First order of business was to quiet the public regarding Vietnam. To do so, he withdrew 54,000 US troops in South Vietnam over a long period of time and gave the South Vietnamese people money, weapons, training, and military advice to get them fighting for themselves
This was the first step for Vietnamization
Nixon Doctrine started, which said the US would honor their allegiances already proclaimed but in the future, they would not fight for Asian countries with their troops
Nixon wanted to win the Vietnam war without spilling more American blood
Americans were angry with the involvement in the war
To go against this, Nixon launched a television appeal to those not adamantly against the war
Vietnam ended being the third most costly foreign war America has faced
Nixon ends up extending the war by attacking Cambodia, without consulting even Congress first, enraging many students and antiwar rioters
Nixon withdrew the troops June 29, 1970 after two months of being in Cambodia
Congress appeased the youth by: passing the 26 amendment which changed the voting age to 18, lowered the drafting period from 8 years to 1 year, and reduced the draft calls
The War Powers Act was passed by Congress in November 1973, this stated that the president had to tell congress within 48 hours of deploying troops and had to gain Congress approval if they were to stay for more than 90 days
Detente
Nixon started an era of détente, or relaxed tension, with communist powers USSR and China
Nixon issued the great grain deal of 1972, where the US would sell the USSR $750 million of wheat, corn, and other cereals
Issued the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) treaty
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT)
Both of these slowed the use and creation of arms
Despite, both the US and USSR secretly did their own work on constructing weaponry
- Détente helped some conflict regarding the Cold War, but not enough to keep much damage from being done
Second Election
Senator George McGovern ran for democrats
However, his running mate, Thomas Eagleton, was found to have gone through psychiatric care and ruined McGovern's candidacy
- Nixon won the election - 520 electoral votes to 17 for McGovern and 42,169,911 popular votes to 29,170,383
Watergate
Senator George McGovern ran for democrats
However, his running mate, Thomas Eagleton, was found to have gone through psychiatric care and ruined McGovern's candidacy
- Nixon won the election - 520 electoral votes to 17 for McGovern and 42,169,911 popular votes to 29,170,383
Resignation
With the Watergate scandal and Nixon denying it, further doubt was placed on Nixon's credibility when VP Agnew resigned October 1973 for taking bribes from Maryland contractors while governor and Vice President
Nixon was then in fear of being impeached so Congress created the 25th amendment, which stated that Gerald Ford would replace Agnew
Archibald Cox was appointed "special prosecutor" by Nixon in May and ordered Nixon to court and presented tapes and other documents from the White house which caused Nixon to appear as a liar and a cheat
Aug 5, 1974 Nixon took the final step towards his removal of office by presenting three subpoenaed tapes that gave proof that he was involved in Watergate
- Nixon was facing near certain impeachment and instead resigned