America in a Changing World Part 1: The 1970s

Richard M. Nixon During presidential campaign, promised an end to social unrest and rioting of late 1960s Wanted to appoint more conservative justices to the Supreme Court Ran for President in 1968 and was elected Used powers of federal government to crack down on crime Directed CIA and FBI to investigate political enemies Excused any illegal acts by claiming it was needed for national security

Richard M. Nixon When he became president, government was spending more than it collected in taxes – called deficit spending Nixon promised to shrink federal government, end Johnson’s Great Society Programs, and turn many government activities to the states Both houses of Congress controlled by Democrats, so he took a more moderate approach. By 1970, economy had gone into a recession Fewer goods were produced and there was an increase in the money supply – caused inflation Unemployment on the rise

Nixon & The Cold War Nixon’s main foreign policy goal was world stability Pledged to end Vietnam War quickly Took four years to negotiate a cease-fire with North Vietnamese His most important success came in dealing with China He opposed communists but wanted to improve relations with China February 1972: Visits China, led to opening of diplomacy and trade with Chinese Soviets were having conflicts with China, feared closer relations between U.S. and China Invited Nixon to Moscow in May 1972 – Soviet/American relations improved Signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT) of 1972: limited the number of each country’s nuclear weapons, easing fears of nuclear weapons

The Watergate Scandal Wanted to ensure a landslide victory in presidential election of 1972 so that Republicans could control Congress June 17, 1972: five men caught breaking into Democratic Party headquarters Burglars had cameras and listening devices for the telephones All five were linked to Nixon’s committee for reelection Nixon ordered a cover-up of any White House connection to the burglary

The Watergate Scandal Cover-up involved lies told by Nixon and his aides, payments to the burglars and others to lie, and the use of the CIA to halt an FBI investigation into Watergate Stayed in newspapers throughout 1972; in 1973, Senate began an investigation

The Watergate Scandal Investigation began with questioning the members of the reelection committee and White House staff Within weeks, investigation was closing in on some of Nixon’s closest advisers Under oath, John Dean (one of the president’s attorneys) testified that the president had been involved in the cover-up Nixon told the country: “I am not a crook” Then a White House aide revealed that Nixon had been taping conversations in his office Battle to find the tapes began

Nixon Resigns Spring 1974: House Judiciary Committee began impeachment inquiry Nixon would not release tapes, but released edited transcripts August 5: federal judge ordered Nixon to release full transcripts Tapes proved with certainty that Nixon had abused his presidential power to stop the FBI from investigating the break-in August 9, 1974: Nixon became the first U.S. President to resign from office Eventually over 40 members of the administration were indicted or served prison terms for crimes connected to Watergate

The Meaning of Watergate Reflection Question: How do you think Watergate affected the average American’s view of government? “I used to think that the Civil War was our country’s greatest tragedy, but…there were some redeeming features in the Civil War…some spirit of sacrifice and heroism…I see no redeeming features in Watergate.” –Sam Ervin, Chair of Senate Watergate Committee Many believe Watergate permanently damaged the peoples’ trust in democracy Others believe that the outcome proved the American legal system works

Ford Takes Over At same time as Watergate, it was discovered that VP Spiro Agnew had accepted bribes as governor of Maryland and VP Resigned in Oct 1973 to avoid impeachment Nixon nominated House Speaker Gerald Ford as new VP When Nixon resigned, Ford became the country’s first unelected president

Ford Takes Over Came into presidency which had suffered Watergate, Vietnam, a poor economy, and a divided public Ford tried to reassure the people that turmoil was behind – wanted to build confidence in the presidency Within a month, Ford lost support of many Americans by pardoning Nixon Wanted to spare Americans the pain of an impeachment trial, but people felt that Nixon should be tried in court 1976: Ford challenged for presidency by Democrat Jimmy Carter, who campaigned as an outsider, promising honesty and support for human rights

Carter as President Being an outsider made him appealing to the people, but made politics difficult for him 1977: Shortages of oil & natural gas forced many schools and businesses to close Carter proposed a national energy program to cut dependence on oil program Promoted alternative energy sources, such as coal, and nuclear/solar energy Congress passed some of the measures Americans didn’t like the sacrifices Oil prices were raised again, and unemployment and inflation continued to rise

Carter as President Had more success with foreign policy Wanted to end the conflict with Panama over the Panama Canal Under treaties signed in 1977, US agreed to transfer the canal to Panama on Dec. 31, 1999 Also attempted to reduce tensions in the Middle East 1978: helped negotiate the Camp David Accords Under these agreements, Egypt and Israel signed the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab nation, ending 30 years of conflict