22.1

Nixon’s Policies Target Middle America Election of 1968: Narrowly defeated Democrat Hubert Humphrey then Nixon turns towards Middle America… Aka the “silent majority” that helped him win Non protestors, blue and white collar workers that “run America,” provide the soldiers, work in the gov’t, give life to American dream

“New Federalism” Nixon felt the silent majority didn’t want big gov’t of Great Society but wanted societal ills addressed Pollution, crime, lack of civil rights, etc ∴ his plan is “New Federalism” Give the states more power by taking some away from the fed gov’t in Washington Revenue sharing with the states by giving them $ to fund social programs as they see fit

Nixon Expands Gov’ts Role But Nixon also expanded the role of gov’t OSHA – Occupational Safety and Health Admin Workplace safety DEA – Drug Enforcement Administration Federal war against illegal drugs EPA – Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air/Water Acts – EPA power to regulate quality OEO – Office of Economic Opportunity (Great Society) Nixon dismantled to take power away from Fed gov’t FAP – Family Assistance Plan Guaranteed minimum income for every family (never passed)

The Economy Struggles The economy during the Nixon years = a period of stagflation: High inflation rates, high unemployment, economic recession Why? Huge national deficit due to Vietnam War and large federal programs (Great Society). Loss of many Americans’ jobs to foreign competition Steel + auto industry especially = increase in price of oil

Stagflation

OPEC Oil Embargo 1973 war between Israel + its Arab neighbors who were primarily members of OPEC OPEC placed an oil embargo on Israel + its allies (U.S. included, imported 1/3 of all its oil in 1970s) Oil prices rose by 400% in just one year as a result Embargo for over a year!

Nixon Follows a Southern Strategy B/c Nixon won by such a small margin in ‘68 he sought to expand his electorate base Southern white Blue collar workers Hoped to achieve a solid Republican base in the south = southern strategy

Reaching the Southerners Nixon placed many Conservative judges in the federal court system Nominated two Conservative judges to Supreme Court but the nominations failed in the Senate Clement Haynsworth G. Harrold Carswell

Controversy Rages over Busing Nixon also openly criticized the court ordered busing that started in 1971 to help integrate schools Sought to achieve better racial balance in schools Was unpopular among many Americans ∴ Nixon publically called for the freezing of the busing practices = won support of much of the South

Nixon Proposes New Civil Rights Initiatives Replaced it with the Philadelphia Plan: Required labor unions + federal contractors to submit goals and timetables for the hiring of minorities A type of affirmative action: Policy to make up for past discrimination by giving special consideration to race + gender in education and in hiring

Nixon’s Strategy Succeeds By 1972 Nixon was very popular + had high approval ratings Combination of his success in foreign policy + in domestic policy Portrayed himself as a moderate conservative in the 1972 Presidential Election. He and VP Spiro Agnew won 61% of the popular vote BUT he was an extremely paranoid person…

The Watergate Scandal Brings Nixon Down June 1972 burglars broke into the Democratic Party Headquarters in D.C. 5 men were convicted of bugging the DNC offices in the Watergate complex James McCord charged that gov’t officials were involved = Senate orders an investigation Witnesses charged that Nixon + his top aides were involved Nixon denied any knowledge of the event…

Watergate Goes Public Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, young Washington Post journalists followed tips from a secret informant Aka “Deep Throat” + later revealed to be a top official in the FBI Woodward + Bernstein reported that the burglars had close ties to Nixon’s reelection committee Nixon again denied any connection/knowledge of the break-in

Watergate Goes Public May 1973: Archibald Cox becomes special prosecutor to investigate the scandal + Senate Watergate Committee begins to nationally air the hearings on TV How far would Congress go? Would the Supreme Court force Nixon to turn over evidence that would implicate him? Would Nixon comply?

Watergate Goes Public

Revealing the White House Tapes Summer 1973 – discovered that Nixon was secretly recording Oval Office convos for years Many believed these tapes would implicate Nixon in Watergate scandal Spiro Agnew resigned in fall 1973 (income tax evasion) ∴ Nixon nominates Gerald Ford as his new VP (25 th am.)

Revealing the White House Tapes Nixon claimed executive privilege in refusing to turn over the Oval Office tapes President has the right to keep certain info confidential ∴ United States v. Nixon (1974) ruled that the tapes were not protected under executive privilege Ordered Nixon to turn them over

Nixon Resigns When the FBI listened to the tapes the crucial parts were missing! Nixon said someone must have accidentally erased them BUT there was enough that could be heard to indict Nixon House of Reps had a very strong support for the impeachment of Nixon ∴ he resigned on 8/8/1974 Became the 1 st + only president to resign

Nixon Resigns Historical perspective: Debate: Did Nixon know ahead of time about Watergate scandal? – unclear Clear that he tried to illegally cover up evidence + squash the investigation Investigation revealed other abuses of presidential power “Enemies list” during 1972 election Ordered the FBI to place wiretaps on ppl he didn’t trust (gov’t employees + reporters)

Watergate Has a Lasting Impact Damaged reputation of president even more! 80 trust in gov’t in late 1950s to only 33% in mid 1970s Congress worked to improve the nation’s trust in gov’t Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974 Limit amount of $ ppl to donate to candidates Nation was resilient, democratic process weathered the storm Checks + balances worked Republic of laws not men – Ford