Richard Nixon
Yanghwa Hong
Elections
Election of 1968
- Richard Nixon (Republican) ran against Hubert Humphrey (Democrat) and George G. Wallace (American Independent Party)
- Nixon: 31,785,480 popular votes
- Humphrey: 31,275,166 popular votes
- Wallace: 9,05,473 popular votes
- Nixon: 301 electoral votes
- Humphrey: 191 electoral votes
- Wallace: 46 electoral votes
Landslide Election of 1972
- Nixon ran against Senator George McGovern (Democrat) from South Dakota
- McGovern's running mate was removed because he had received psychiatric care
- Nixon: 520 electoral votes
- McGovern: 17 electoral votes
- Nixon: 47,169,911 popular votes
- McGovern: 29,170,383 popular votes
Vietnam
Nixon's policies
- "Vietnamization" was Nixon's policy of withdrawing 540,000 troops over time
- Referred to the increasing responsibility of the South Vietnamese in fighting their war
- Nixon Doctrine: US will honor existing commitments, but future Asian wars will have to be fought by themselves without large ground support
- Not end the war, but to win it without loss of life
- The unpopularity of the war was fought against by Nixon and VP Agnew through television
Cambodia
- On April 24, 1970, Nixon ordered American troops to enter Cambodia.
- Largely caused by Nixon's need to quickly end the war
- Violence erupted throughout America by students
- American troops withdrew on June 29, 1970
Limiting Presidential Powers
- Congress began to oppose the war-making powers of the president
- In November 1973, the War Powers Act was passed
- Passed over Nixon's veto
- Obliged the President to report to Congress within 48 hours of committing troops to conflict
Nixon's Détente
Soviet Union & China
- The Soviet Union and China had a heightened sense of rivalry due to conflicting interpretations of Karl Marx
- Henry Kissinger, the national security adviser, supported Nixons views on exploiting the China-Soviet tension in order to bring the Vietnam War to an end
- Nixon visited China in February 1972 and then to Moscow in May 1972
Détente
- Détente: An era of relaxed tension that was a result of Nixon's visits to both communist states
- Resulted in a variety of agreements and trade
- Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) limited each country to only 2 clusters of defensive missiles
- Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) Treaty which froze the number of long range nuclear missiles
- Lowered tensions in the Cold War and allowed for an American exit from the Vietnam War.
Watergate
Scandals
- A burglary at the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate complex resulted in 5 men being arrested who worked for CREEP (Republican Committee for the Re-election of the President)
- CREEP was found to have utilized espionage and sabotage during the campaign
- Corruption in the Nixon administration was exposed
- Senate committee conducted a televised series of hearings
Great Tape Controversy
- Nixon had recorded his conversations with bugging equipment, and this could be used to test his innocence
- Nixon refused to release the taped evidence
- Vice-President Agnew forced to resign for kickbacks and bribe
- Gerald Ford replaced Vice-President Agnew
- Saturday Night Massacre: Nixon ordered the firing of Archibald Cox after he issued a subpoena for the rapes and documents, but the attorney general and deputy attorney general resigned
Impeachment
- The Supreme Court ruled that executive privilege did not apply to withholding tapes from prosecutors
- The House of Judiciary Committee adopted several articles such as the obstruction of the administration of justice, abuse of power, and showing contempt of Congress regarding Nixon.
- On August 5, 1974, Nixon released three tapes, which convicted Nixon guilty
Resignation
- Congress informed Nixon that resigning would be in his best interest
- Nixon's resignation on August 8, 1974
- Impeachment was proven to be viable & proved that presidents were not above the law