The Nixon Era
Election of Nixon
- election of 1968 Democrats elected Hubert H. Humphrey and Republicans elected Richard Nixon while Edmund Muskie was under Humphrey
- Spiro Agnew was the runner up vice president under Nixon
- Nixon won both the electoral and popular vote (however the popular votes were a mere off from Humphrey)
- however Nixon did not win the major cities' votes
- election of 1972 Democrats elected George McGovern and Republicans elected Richard Nixon again
- McGovern chose Sargent Shriver as his vice president while Nixon kept Spiro Agnew
- Nixon won both electoral and popular, vastly ahead of McGovern
Vietnam War
- Nixon enacted his "vietnamization" policy in which he withdrew 540,000 U.S. troops that were stationed in South Vietnam during the war
- instead he supported the people of South Vietnam with economic and military aid
- Nixon Doctrine, also known as the Guam Doctrine, stated that the U.S. would recognize its alliance with foreign countries but will not help them directly with their own wars
- Cambodia was a neural however it was later found out that South Vietnam were bombing the North Vietnamese forces there
- Communist leader Pol Pot rose up as the dictator of Cambodia
- War Powers Act stated the U.S. president had to report all U.S. troops' activities and commitments to foreign exchange in within 2 days
Detente Policy
- Nixon introduced era of detente between the two communist superpowers: Soviet Union and China
- ushered in a more relaxed relationship between the communist nations
- initiated many agreements and plans that gave a tighter and more friendly alliance
Scandal of Nixon
- Watergate scandal involved political illegal activities under Nixon such as the uninformed tapping of private conversations
- Congress issued impeachment on President Nixon under the "obstruction of justice"
- Nixon resigned to avoid being impeached on August 8