NIXON
1968
ELECTION OF 1968
- Democrats nominated Hubert Humphrey
- Republicans nominated Richard M. Nixon
- the American Independent party nominated George C. Wallace
- Nixon won with 301 electoral votes compared to 191 votes for Humphrey
VIETNAM WAR
- Nixon pushed for "Vietnamization", to withdraw 540,000 troops in South Vietnam
- this turned into the Nixon Doctrine, it stated that the U.S. would fight till the end for Vietnam, but in the future, the nations in Asia need to fight their own wars
- Nixon wanted to end the Vietnam War without sacrificing American soldiers
- urged people who supported the war, to oppose it, the "silent majority"
CAMBODIA
- in 1970, Nixon ordered an attack on Vietnam's border nation Cambodia
- this caused an uproar, at Kent University, four protesters were killed in a riot
- Even though Nixon withdrew after two month, bitterness formed and remained in Cambodia and the U.S.
- the youth of America's anger was a little lifted when Congress passed the 26th Amendment, lowering the voting age to 18
- in 1971, more bitterness erupted when The New York Times published the Pentagon study, which revealed the Kennedy and Johnson administration provoking North Vietnam to attack the Gulf of Tonkin
DÉTENTE
- as tensions rose between China and the Soviet Union, Nixon hoped use to use the tension to pressure North Vietnam into peace
- his national security advisor, Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, traveled to China and improved the relationship between Washington and Beijing
- and then he traveled to Moscow settled many peaceful agreements, one of them a three-year promise of proving $750 million worth of food
- this era of peace between China and the Soviets is called détente
NUCLEAR
- Nixon also settled the tension of nuclear weapons
- the anti-ballisic missile treaty limited each nation to two clusters of defensive missiles
- also the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) froze the numbers of long range nuclear missiles for 5 years
MINORITIES
- Nixon emphasized aid for minorities like African Americans, women, children, and elders
- Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) targeted single mothers
- Supplemental Security Income helped the aged, the blind, and the disabled
- Nixon and his administration managed to reduced the poverty rate by 11%
- Philadelphia Plan of 1969 helped African Americans in the construction industry
- Nixon also hoped the helped the environment by creating the Environmental Protection Agency
- Authors like Rachel Carson helped the push for environmentalism by publishing Silent Spring, which describes the consequences of pesticides
ELECTION OF 1972
- Democrats nominated George McGovern
- Republicans nominated Richard Nixon
- Nixon destroyed McGovern
- 501 electoral votes against 17 for McGovern
- 47,269,911 popular votes against 29,170,383 popular votes
NORTH VIETNAM
- ordered a bombing of North Vietnam submit them into peace
- this ultimately led to a negotiation of a cease-fire on January 23, 1979
WATERGATE
- five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic office in Washington, they worked for the Re-election committee called CREEP
- CREEP used illegal ways to campaign including espionage and sabotage or the illegal use of the FBI and CIA
- this break in even included President Nixon
- After numerously denying his involvement, Senator Ervin's committee placed a bug under his desk to prove his guilt
- Vice President Agnew was forced to resign for accepting bribes
WAR POWERS ACT
- in the midst of the scandal the U.S. Air Force secretly bombed North Vietnam positions in Cambodia
- Nixon order an attack against North Vietnam, this caused an public uproar
- Congress wanted to keep the president's war-making power to be useless, so they passed the War Powers Act in 1973 which required the president to report to Congress within forty-eight hours after committing troops to a foreign conflict "substantially" enlarging American combat units in a foreigncountry
THE ARAB OIL EMBARGO AND THE ENERGY CRISIS
- the Syrians and Egyptians attacked Israel to regain territory they had lost
- since the U.S. depended on Israel for oil, the U.S. had to push back on the use of oil
- Congress set a national speed limit to conserve oil
- this revealed the end of the cheat and abundant energy era
NIXON'S RESIGNATION
- the House Judiciary Committee pressed ahead for impeachment
- Nixon was charged with the Watergate crimes, abuse of power, and ignoring lawful subpoenas
- Nixon announced his resignation on August 8, 1974