Nixon
Presidency filled with Scandal
Election of Nixon
a. Election of 1968
i. Nixon—Republican (301 Electoral Votes)
ii. Humphrey—Democratic (191 Electoral Votes)
iii. Wallace—American Independent (46 Electoral Votes)
b. Election of 1972
i. Campaign emphasized that he had wound down the “Democratic War” in Vietnam
ii. 520 to 17 in electoral votes
Vietnam War
a. Vietnamization
i. “Nixon Doctrine”-- Would start withdrawing American troops and start putting the Vietnamese in charge on their own war (Less American Support)
ii. Withdrew 540,000 US troops from South Vietnam
b. Cambodia
i. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong were using Cambodia as a place to keep troops, weapons, and supplies
ii. The invasion lead to a lot of riots in America
1. Common at Colleges
iii. Only lasted a few months
c. War Powers Act
i. Nixon had vetoed, but congress overrode
ii. Required the president to report to Congress within 48 hours after committing troops to a foreign conflict or “substantially” enlarging American combat units in a foreign country
Policy of "Détente"
a. Relaxed tension with thee two communist powers: China and USSR
b. 3 year arrangement by which the food-rich US agreed to sell the Soviets at least $750 million worth of wheat, corn and other cereals
c. Anti-ballistic missile Treaty
i. Limited the each nation to two clusters of defensive missiles
d. SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks)
i. Freeze the numbers of long ranger nuclear missiles for five years
Watergate. Impeachment, Resignation
- 5 men were arrested inside the Watergate complex in Washington for “bugging” equipment in their possession
- Members of CREEP —(Committee to Re-Elect the President) raised money in unlawful ways which included espionage, sabotage and fake documents
- By 1947, 29 people had been indicted, pleaded guilty, or been convicted
- Tapes found of recording of the President in office
- Nixon denied knowing of these “bugs”
- Vice President Agnew asked to resigned
- Papers were filed to impeach Nixon for Watergate scandals and for abused powers of his office and of having shown contempt of Congress by ignoring lawful subpoenas for relevant tapes and other evidence
- Released three tapes that sent out public backlash
- Resigned August 8, 1974