Richard Nixon
Ryo Yoshida
Election of Nixon
Election of 1968
- Republicans nominated Richard Nixon
- Called for victory in Vietnam and strong anticrime policy
- Democrats nominated Hubert Humphrey
- American Independent Party nominated George Wallace
- Wallace wanted continuation of segregation for blacks
- Won the election of 1968 by 500,000 popular votes over Humphrey
Election of 1972
- Nixon ran against Democrat George McGovern
- Nixon won by a landslide
Vietnam War
- Vietnamization: Nixon's policy to withdraw forces from South Vietnam over an extended period of time
- For several years, North Vietnamese have been using Cambodia for troops and supplies
- He ordered troops to Cambodia
- November 1973- Congress passed the War Powers Act, requiring the President to report all commitments of US troops to foreign exchanges within 48 hours
Policy of "Détente"
- Soviet Union and China were fighting over Marxism
- Nixon saw this as opportunity to relieve tensions with foreign countries
- Ushered an era of détente or relaxed tensions between Soviet Union and China
Watergate, Impeachment, and Ultimate Resignation
- June 1972- 5 men working for Republican Committee for the Re-election of the President were caught breaking into the Watergate hotel and bugging rooms
- Resulted in huge scandal and Congress demanded tapes to be sent to them
- July 1974- Congress approved the first article of impeachment for obstruction of justice
- August 8, 1974- Nixon's resignation