Richard Nixon
37th President of USA
Presidential Elections
1968
- Republican Party
- Won with 31,785,480 popular votes and 301 electoral votes
- runner up - Hubert H. Humphrey with 31,275,166 popular votes and 191 electoral votes
- Republican Party
- Won with 41,167,319 popular votes and 520 electoral votes
- runner up - George McGovern with 29,168,50917 popular votes and 17 electoral votes
Vietnam War
Vietnamization
- wanted to withdraw 540,000 U.S. troops from South Vietnam over a period of time
- would allow South Vietnamese to gradually take over they're own war efforts
- goal was not to end war, but win it without losing more American lives
- American "doves" disapproved and protested
Cambodia
- April 29, 1970 - Nixon suddenly ordered American troops to wipe out enemy forces in neutral Cambodia with the South Vietnamese forces
- caused riots all throughout U.S.
- June 29, 1970 - ended up withdrawing troops
- worsened tension between "hawks" and "doves"
War Powers Act
- November 1973
- caused by opposition in Congress to expansion of presidential war-making powers
- president must give report to Congress within 48 hours after getting troops involved in international affairs
Détente
- Détente = "relaxed tension"
- Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, Nixon's national security adviser, secretly met with North Vietnamese to discuss ways to end Vietnam War.
- allowed Nixon to negotiate with communist countries--China and Russia
- result - Great Grain Deal of 1972. three-year contract to sell minimum of $750 million worth of food to Soviets
- result - an anti-ballistic missile treaty. limit of only two clusters of missiles
- result - Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) stopped production of long-range missile weapons for five years
- Both U.S. and Soviets continued with multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles and enhanced the Arms Race.
Watergate, Impeachment, Resignation
Watergate
- June 17, 1972
- members of the Republican Committee for the Re-election of the President (AKA CREEP) were caught burglarizing the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate apartment-office complex in Washington
- led to other schemes other CREEP members were involved with
- 29 people were indicted, pleaded guilty, or convicted of other crimes related to the Watergate burglary by early 1974
Impeachment
- Nixon originally denied being involved in the Watergate burglary, but wouldn't give up the tapes of his conversation recordings.
- Used separation of powers and executive privilege as an excuse to not release the evidence
- October 1973 - V.P. Agnew was impeached for accepting bribes from contractors
- Agnew was replaced by Ford, and Nixon was in danger of being impeached as well
- October 20, 1973 - "Saturday Night Massacre" Archibald Cox issued subpoena for tapes and other related documents
Resignation
- Nixon was charged with obstruction of the administration of justice
- Was later also charged with abusing his powers and showing contempt of congress by disregarding the subpoenas
- August 5, 1974 - Nixon released three recordings of conversations from June 23, 1972
- Revealed Nixon's ties to the Watergate burglary
- Congress advised him to resign respectfully rather than be impeached
- August 8, 1974 - Nixon resigned on TV