Cover Slide

The American Pageant

Chapter 39
The Stalemated Seventies, 1968-1980

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Camp David Accords

Camp David Accords One of President Carter's greatest triumphs was the signing of the 1978 peace accords between President Anwar Sadat of Egypt (left) and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel (right). The agreement followed days of personal diplomacy by Carter at the Camp David presidential retreat. Both Sadat and Begin received the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts. (Jimmy Carter Presidential Library)
Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Carter inauguration day

Carter inauguration day On inauguration day, President Jimmy Carter (b. 1924) and his wife Rosalyn caught the public's fancy by walking from the Capitol to the White House. Despite this symbolic beginning, Carter became increasingly isolated both from the American people and from Congress. (Jimmy Carter Presidential Library)
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College students after Kent state, May 1970

College students after Kent state, May 1970 While many older Americans supported the actions of the Ohio National Guard, students across the country boycotted classes and forced hundreds of campuses to shut down. Some continued to protest during graduation at the University of Massachusetts. ((c) Bettmann/Corbis)
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Nixon before a stack of notebooks containing what he claimed to be the full transcripts of the Watergate tapes

Nixon before a stack of notebooks containing what he claimed to be the full transcripts of the Watergate tapes
How do historians know that President Richard M. Nixon was guilty of obstructing justice in the Watergate affair? What was the evidence--the "smoking gun"-that established his guilt? The so-called smoking gun referred to the tape recording of a White House conversation on June 23, 1972, that proved Nixon had foreknowledge of the Watergate break-in, had instigated a cover-up, and had obstructed justice almost from the outset of the scandal. That day, Nixon ordered his top aide to stop the Federal Bureau of Investigation's inquiry into the Watergate break-in. Tell the Central Intelligence Agency, Nixon thundered, to call the FBI, claim that the break-in was a secret spy operation related to the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, and say "...that we wish for the country [that you] 'don't go further into this case,' period." In 1973 and 1974 special prosecutors and congressional committees sued for release of this and other tapes, but Nixon resisted. On August 5, 1974, the Supreme Court ruled that executive privilege did not protect the subpoenaed tapes; the next day, the White House turned over a number of tapes, including the smoking gun. Three days later, Richard Nixon resigned the presidency. Afterward, historians sued for access to the thousands of hours of unreleased tapes; but for twenty-one years, Nixon and his family succeeded in keeping them private. In 1996, however, the Nixon estate, the National Archives and Records Administration, and Stanley I. Kutler, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin, reached an agreement that called for some 3,700 hours of tapes to be made public over the next several years. The first tapes released condemned President Nixon in his own words and shocked the American people. For example, on May 13, 1971, Nixon was recorded growling demands for a commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, who "is a ruthless son of a bitch, that he will do what he is told, that every income tax return I want to see, I see. That he will go after our enemies and not go after our friends." A month later, Nixon ordered his aides to arrange a break-in at the Brookings Institution, a liberal think tank in Washington: "Goddammit," he swore, "get in and get those files. Blow the safe and get it." In January 2000 some of Watergate tapes became available to the public when the National Archives began to sell cassettes containing the 264 hours of so-called "abuse of government power" recordings. (Nixon Presidential Materials Project) Copyright Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Video: Nixons Resignation Speech

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Nixons Resignation Speech (1974. Archive Films.)

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Sources of Stagnation
Women and teenagers who entered the workplace as unskilled workers Declining investment in new (modern) machinery Government-imposed safety & health regulations Shift from manufacturing services to other services health, etc. Vietnam War siphoned funds & caused inflation Increased oil prices

Sources of Stagnation
President Johnsons plan to continue the Vietnam War and fund the Great Society Guns and butter inflationary because government funds are spent without adding to the supply of goods and services that money can buy German & Japanese built new factories with up-to-date technology US = Status Quo

Nixon & Vietnamization

Nixon was: Solitary and suspicious (resentment of the liberal establishment vietnamization withdraw the 540,000 US Troops so South Vietnam would take over the fighting Nixon Doctrine US would honor its defense commitments but countries would have to use their own forces Hawks pro-war Doves anti-war wanted troops out right now!

Nixon & Vietnamization

Antiwar protesters doves (many young men who were potential draftees) led rallies Vietnam Moratorium October 1969 100,000 Boston & 50,000 DC Led by Tom Haden Berkley Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) also Draft Card burning common protest gesture Nixon appealed to a silent majority who supported the war but were not vocal Agnew attacked the nattering nabobs of negativism Nixon antiwar demonstrators bums

Nixon & Vietnamization

Vietnam longest war in US history 40,000 killed and 250,000 wounded (LBJ big mistake more killed yearly on US highways) Unpopular college students exempt early in conflict = more blacks sent to Vietnam Jungle & guerilla warfare difficult Drug abuse, mutiny, sabotage Fragging of officers My Lai Incident William Calley ordered troops to massacre 300 women & children in one village other atrocities occurred North & South

Cambodianizing the Vietnam War

Ho Chi Minh Trail troops, weapons, & supplies Part of the trail went through Cambodia Nixon ordered a secret bombing of Cambodia Students protested Kent State, Ohio- National Guardsmen opened fire and killed 4 wounding several At Jackson State, Mississippi State troopers opened fire and shot into the dorms killing 2 Vietnam becomes a: Whiteys War no Vietnam person ever called me n-------

Ho Chi Minh Trail

Vietnam
Senate (but not the House) repealed the Gulf of Tonkin resolutions Nixon shortened the Draft period from 8 yrs. to 1 yr. and added a lottery system for the draft Twenty-Sixth Amendment lowered the voting age to 18 (was 21) Pentagon Papers top-secret papers revealing the blunders and deception of Kennedy and Johnson had used to justify the Vietnam War

Dtente with Beijing & Moscow

Armed Conflict with Russia and China along border 2 views of communism Henry Kissinger (first national security advisor & later Secretary of State) Began to meet secretly in Paris to end the Vietnam War February 1972 Nixon makes a visit to communist China Ping Pong diplomacy May 1972, Nixon Visits USSR Grain deal sold $750 million to Russia Anti-ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty limited defensive missiles SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) slow the arms race Nixon still stood up to Latin American communist leaders

Nixon and Mao Zedong

Supreme Court
Judicial activism on the Supreme Court Earl Warren Chief Justice Ike appointee: seemed conservative but became liberal on the bench 1954 Brown v Board 1965 Griswold v Connecticut about right of privacy a state law prohibited the use of contraceptives 1963 Gideon v Wainwright right to counsel 1964 Escobedo v Illinois right to remain silent 1966 Miranda v Arizona read rights (safeguards against forced confessions) 1964 New York Times v Sullivan public officials could sue for libel only if malice had occurred, could be critical of public officials and their private lives

Supreme Court
1962- Engel v Vitale & School District of Abington township v Schempp (1963) separation of Church and state prohibiting prayers and Bible reading in public schools 1964- Reynolds v Sims reapportionment of representatives districts based on population (Also Baker v Carr-1962 gave courts that power) Pro-Justices were dealing with social problems that the elected officials would not deal withJudicial Activists Con justices were to interpret the constitution not act as social and judicial activists (judicial restraint)

Berger Court
Chief Justice Earl Warren is replaced by Warren E. Burger (a so-called conservative) and he makes two momentous decisions: 1973 Roe v Wade decision legalized abortion 1978 Bakke Case reverse discrimination qualified white student not allowed into UCAL Davis less qualified minorities were conflicted: bars quota system but supports affirmative action

Nixon on the Home Front

Expansion of Welfare programs, food stamps, Medicaid & aid to families with Dependent Children, increased Social Security $ & programs Philadelphia Plan construction unions to hire more black apprentices Affirmative Action LBJ = protect individuals now Nixon = protect groups Griggs v Duke Power Co. (1971) Supreme Court prohibited intelligence tests that could exclude minorities or women EPA =Environmental Protection Agency

Nixon on the Home Front

Rachel Carson Silent Spring exposed the poisonous effects of pesticides Endangered Species Act Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) Economic controls=90 day wage & price freeze to stimulate the economy Devaluated the $ & took the US off gold standard Southern Strategy appointed conservative Supreme Court Justices (4) soft-pedaling civil rights & opposing school busing (all designed to get the Southern Vote

Nixon Landslide 1972

Democrats nominate George McGovern a Dove = end war in 90 days His liberal appeals to minorities, feminists & youth alienated the middle class Thomas Eagleton VP candidate- psychiatric care Replaced by Sargent Shriver Nixon (Republican) Reduced the Democrats war from 540,000 to 30,000 Kissinger, 12 days before the election, peace is at hand Nixon wins every state except Mass. & DC Republican lose ground in Congress

Secret Bombing of Cambodia $ War Powers Act

US Air Force, 3,500 secret bombing raids on Cambodia for 14 months Officials & Nixon swore that Cambodian neutrality was being respected After Vietnam Cease-fire Nixon continued War Powers Act 1973 President has 48 hours to report to Congress if he commits troops to fight in a foreign country Must end in 60 days unless Congress votes to extend it New Isolationism caution and restraint

Vietnam Peace Accords

After peace had been announced, fighting escalated Nixon will launch a 2 week bombing of N. Vietnam (Hanoi) called the Christmas Bombings but several B52s were shot down
1.

2.
3.

4.

5.

Paris Peace Accords 1973 Cease Fire POWs released US to continue to support North Vietnam N. Vietnam able to leave 145,000 Troops in South Future elections to be held

Vietnam
1. 2. 3. 4.

5.

Results: 55,000 US soldiers killed $150 billion spent US bitter and disillusioned 1.1 million North Vietnamese military killed and 2 million civilian deaths July 1973 Public learns of Secret bombing of Cambodia & invasion May 1970 disrupt the Ho Chi Minh trail

War Powers Act

1.

2.

President to report to congress w/in 48 hours after he sends in troops to a foreign country Congress must vote to extend time after 60 days (30 day intervals)

Draft ended and US went to an All-volunteer army

Energy Crisis
Yom Kippur War surprise attack by Syria and Egypt on Israel, led to some Arab victories but with US supplies Israel is victorious One result: OPEC nations begin to punish US and any countries who supported Israel with a trade embargo Oct. 1973 Symbolizes an end to an era of cheap & abundant Oil Gas prices jump 400% Alaskan Pipeline is started Nixon proposed energy self-sufficiency 55 mile-per-hour speed limit 1974 US is plagued with double-digit inflation

Watergate & the Unmaking of a President

June 17, 1972: 5 men arrested for break-in at Watergate Democrat Presidential campaign headquarters offices The 5 men are soon linked to Republican Committee for the Re-election of the President (CREEP) One of several dirty tricks used by Nixon VP Spiro Agnew resigns over bribes as Gov. of Maryland & Congress invoked the 25th Amendment for the 1st time (presidential succession) Gerald Jerry Ford appointed VP

Watergate & the Unmaking of a President

John Dean III testifies of obstruction of justice and cover-up (turns states evidence) Another former White House aid revealed Nixons secret taping of White House conversations Senate requests tapes Nixon refuses (executive privilege) October 20, 1973 Saturday Night Massacre Nixon fires his own special prosecutor, and Attorney General, then deputy attorney general because they would not go along with the firing of the special prosecutor

Watergate & the Unmaking of a President

The Supreme Court ordered the release of the tapes Tape-recorded conservations (except the 18 missing minutes, destroyed, Nixon said, by his secretary!) were proof that 6 days after the Watergate break-ins he was trying to use the CIA to hold back investigations by the FBI and therefore an active part of the cover up.

Watergate
The House Judiciary Committee proceeded to draw up articles of impeachment, based on obstruction of justice, abuse of the powers of the presidential office & contempt of Congress Republican leaders met with Nixon and said his impeachment was a foregone conclusion and he had better resign- he could not count on support from them. August 8, 1974 Nixon resigned admitting that he had mane judgments that were wrong but that he had acted in the best interests of the Nation

Watergate
Proved that the impeachment process (created 200 yrs. Before) would work Impressive demonstration of self-discipline and selfgovernment to rest of the world No person is above the law Presidents may be held to accountability By resigning Nixon did receive all retirement benefits which included 8 yrs as VP =5 yrs President and as a congressman $150,000 yearly

Watergate Complex

First Unelected President

Gerald Rudolph Ford became president Nelson Rockefeller new VP Neither had been elected Ford's position as president: Restore public confidence in government Improve the economy - Nixon pardon full free and absolute pardon for any crimes he may have committed during his presidency. - Conspiracy - secret deal? bad judgment - No fair trial possible? "Compassion" - Get it over with so government can function. Hurt Ford's popularity

Jerry Ford
1974-75 Serious recession Depression set off by oil embargo (1/3 of US oil imported OPEC 1974 increase prices by 400%) Inflation - 11% - unemployment 7% Ford Vetoed make work jobs, etc. Over possible inflation, also rejected price and wage freezes instead tries volunteer efforts to fix the economy. Congress at odds with president over programs Detente continued Secretary of State Henry Kissinger Helsinki Accords settled disputed boundaries between European countries - end to WW 2 34 other nations meet also: Soviets to become more open empty promise Ford and Brezhnez establish the beginnings of SALT II Middle East: Israel gave back large portions of Sinai to Egypt Mao Zedong dies relations warm between China and the US Cuba used to extend communism (especially in Latin American Nations)

The Fall of Vietnam

1975 South Vietnam fell (After North Vietnam initiates a massive offensive) Ford wants to send supplies - Congress doesn't Cost of Vietnam $118 Billion, 56,000 dead 300,000 wounded Technically: US did not lose South Vietnam did BUT: United states lost prestige in the eyes of foreigners and lost self-esteem in its military. Pride and Power had been deeply wounded May 1975 Mayaguez Incident sent in the marines to rescue the crew of the ship that had been captured by Cambodian Communists (Khmer Rouge) restored respect for a time (problem: 41 Americans killed, and Communists had already promised to release the crew) Effect: will restore some pride in military

Feminism victories and defeats

Anti-war faction had splintered But womens feminist remains strong 1972 Title IX led to womens athletic teams Equal Rights Amendment Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any state on account of sex. initially a good start, but over time Catholic Church and Religious right apposed to it led by Phyllis Schlafly -

Feminism
ERA movement given an extension by Congress in 1979 (Roslyn Carter, Jimmys wife) but died out in 1982: 3 states short of passing 1972 Nixon vetoed nationwide public day-care Reed v Reed : the Court challenged sex discrimination in legislation and employment Roe v Wade womens decision for abortion protected by her constitutional right of secrecy.

The Seventies in Black and White

Milliken v Bradley 1974 could not require students to move across school district lines to integrate caused White Flight to suburbs Affirmative-action programs became controversial Allan Bakke wins Supreme Court decision because as a qualified white student he had been denied admission into U.Cal. Davis (reverse discrimination) Thurgood Marshall argued that such a decision would sweep away years of progress, but many cheered the decision as proof that justice is colorblind Red America Indians Red Power movement used more violent tactics of Civil Rights movement to gain national attention for their assumed rights as semi-sovereign nations They seized the island of Alcatraz 1970 and Wounded Knee, SD 1972 Vine Deloria: Custer Died For Your Sins 1969 AIM American Indian Movement

Red Power
AIM subsequently marched on Washington D.C. and raided the offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. No one was hurt but as an act of defiance to the organization that had mismanaged Indian affairs for two centuries, the group destroyed several files and made quite a mess. They symbolically captured the Mayflower II while it was anchored in Plymouth harbor in 1970. AIM occupied the reservation at Pine Ridgethe site of the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. When federal agents moved in to remove the dissidents, tensions flared and the resulting gun battle cost the lives of two members of the group. Flushed out after 71 days of siege,. A second siege at Pine Ridge in 1975 made criminals of the leadership of the American Indian Movement and cost the lives of two federal agents. .By the 1980s, AIM had reorganized amid a renewed era of grass roots activism that had once more swept the nation. The leaders of AIM realized that the only way to improve the status of Native Americans rights was to work through the system and participate in the great march toward peace

Bicentennial Campaign
Election of 1976 (D) Jimmy Carter 51% pop - 297 EV (Former Governor of Georgia) (R) Ford Black vote- 240 EV Carter won by being unknown Staffed White House with close-knit group of Georgia friends Cuts taxes and increases spending to help with unemployment Ends up with high inflation "double digit" High interest rates 20% - hurts home loans and Small business people Energy program- OPEC inflated oil prices -

Carter Administration
Stagflation Carter faces high unemployment and High inflation cant use federal $ to control one without increasing the other Many claim it is the end of Keynesian economics Carter calls for tight money measures and voluntary restraints. Malaise speech: public felt that Carter was blaming them for his problems Public approval rating of 26% - even lower than Nixon Huge federal debt increase under Carter (and every president since) ERA promoted by Democrats and Roslyn Carter (Jimmys wife) extended 3 years but still fails to gain the support of the states for ratification. Panama Canal Treaty 1978 - best way to improve relations with Latin American countries Given back to Panama by 2000 Senate vote 68-32 (by one vote 2/3 needed) Crusade for Human Rights (foreign policy) Russia & African nations

Carter
Israeli-Egyptian Peace Conference March 1979 Camp David Accords Anwar Sadat (Egypt) Menachem Begin (Israel) some land given back by Israel & respect current borders Does not solve the Palestinian refugee issue. SALT II Republicans in the Senate felt it was favorable to the Soviet Union - blocked its passage Korean Scandal - bribes over foreign aid Draft evaders pardoned - 10,000 Most in Canada Soviet Union - Worldwide advances using Cubans Carter cannot pass legislative programs Two new Departments on the Presidents Cabinet Department of Energy Department of Education

Carter
Shaw of Iran flees the country Jan. 1979 allowed in US for medical treatment Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenini - hatred of West: US in particular Iranian Hostages 53 Americans held hostage after supporters of the Ayatollah stormed the American Embassy. US had several billion $'s of Iranian assets frozen in American Banks There was an attempted military rescue of the hostages in April of 1980: it was a failure. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance resigned in protest. The hostages were held for 444 days and were released on inauguration day (Reagan's) after Carter released the frozen Iranian assets. Iran needed the money for their war with Iraq. Russian invasion of Afghanistan - Carter imposed economic sanctions against the Russians and canceled US participation of the 1980 Olympics.