Nixon’s Presidency

Richard Nixon’s Foreign policy Promised to bring America together after the turmoil of the 60’s Secretive and suspicious by nature “Imperial presidency” Nixon’s primary focus and first priority was on foreign policy, not domestic issues Nixon’s foreign policies did help reduce Cold War tensions

Nixon & Vietnam Over half a million troops in Vietnam by the time Nixon took office Wanted to gradually reduce U.S. involvement in Vietnam without appearing to concede defeat “Peace with honor” Called this process “Vietnamization”

Vietnamization Gradually reduce U.S. troops and give South Vietnamese money, weapons, and training to continue fighting the war 1969: 540,000 troops 1972: 30,000 troops The Nixon Doctrine declared future Asian allies would receive U.S. support without the use of U.S. ground forces

Opposition to Nixon’s War Policies Nixon expanded the war in April 1970 by using U.S. troops to invade Cambodia Destroy Vietnamese Communist bases and parts of the Ho Chi Minh Trail that were located in Cambodia Touched off a nation-wide protest across college campuses Four students were killed at Kent State, Ohio and two were killed at Jackson State in Mississippi In reaction to the escalation and protests, the Senate (but not the House) voted to repeal the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

My Lai and the pentagon Papers 1970: American public learned about My Lai In the same year, the New York Times published the Pentagon Papers Secret government documents of the many mistakes and deceptions by the government in dealing with Vietnam The Nixon administration went to great lengths to keep the Pentagon Papers secret

Peace and Armistice Henry Kissinger conducted secret meetings with North Vietnam’s foreign minister When both sides could not reach a deal, Nixon ordered the largest bombing attack of the war against North Vietnam North Vietnam agreed to an armistice to which U.S. would withdraw its troops and receive 500 POWs Paris Accords of January 1973 promised a cease-fire and free elections, but in reality the fighting continued with thousands of enemy troops still in South Vietnam The war had claimed 58,000 American lives and cost $118 billion that hurt the economy for years afterward

Détente with China & The Soviet Union Détente policies were opposite of brinkmanship policies Deliberate reduction of Cold War tensions February 1972: Nixon astonishes the world by traveling to Beijing to meet with Chairman Mao, the first time a U.S. president had set foot in the People’s Republic of China These exchanges ultimately led to U.S. recognition of Communist China in 1979 Nixon used his new relationship with China to put pressure on the Soviets Part of meeting with China was to deliberately drive a wedge between them and the Soviets Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT I) saw U.S. and Soviet diplomats agree to limit the number of missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads Did not end the arms race, but a big step in reducing Cold War tensions

Nixon’s Domestic Policies Laid the foundation for a shift in public opinion towards conservatism that would challenge/overthrow Democratic control of Congress in 1980s-1990s Shifted funding of social programs from the federal to the state and local governments Allowed states to spend federal funds as they saw fit, instead of being determined by Congress New Federalism or “revenue sharing” Tried to impound (not spend) federal funds appropriated for social programs, but Congress and the Supreme Court agreed it was the president’s job to carry out the laws of Congress Whether Nixon agreed with them or not

Nixon’s Economic Policies U.S. economy in the 1970s faced the unusual combination of stagflation Economic slowdown (stagnation) plus high inflation After an attempt to cut federal spending resulted in a continued recession and high unemployment, Nixon adopted Keynesian economics and deficit spending Imposed a 90-day wage and price freeze, took the dollar of the gold standard, and put a 10% surtax on imports 1972: recession was over, Congress approved increases for Social Security benefits and also passed Title IX Provided women with equal opportunities in schools, athletics, and the work place

The Burger Court Nixon replaced retiring liberal justices with more conservative members Warren E. Burger was the next Chief Justice after Earl Warren The Burger Court was much more conservative than the Warren Court, but some decisions made by this court angered Republicans and Nixon himself

The Burger Court Ordered busing to achieve racial balance in schools Issued stricter guidelines that made carrying out the death penalty harder Roe v. Wade (1973) struck down state laws prohibiting abortions as a violation of a woman’s right to privacy In the Watergate Scandal, the Burger Court denied Nixon’s claims to executive privilege, ordered him to turn over the Watergate tapes

1972 Campaign Referred to conservative Americans as the “silent majority” who disagreed with the liberal drift of the nation in the 1960s Millions of voters disaffected by antiwar protests, black militants, desegregation, counterculture Gained support from southern voters by: Asking Congress to delay integration and busing Electing two southern Conservatives to the Supreme Court Allowed V.P. Spiro Agnew to verbally assault antiwar protesters and attack the press as liberal

The Election of 1972 Nixon won reelection thanks to three major factors: Foreign policy successes with China and Soviet Union Removal of George Wallace from the race after an assassination attempt George McGovern was very liberal, antiwar, and antiestablishment, and his campaign was a disaster Nixon won every single state except for Massachusetts and carried 61% of the popular vote Nixon’s reelection signaled a major political realignment of voters towards the Republican party

Watergate Resulted in the public humiliation of President Nixon and the jailing of 26 White House officials Damaged the political system and reputation of the U.S. at home and abroad June 1972: a group of men hired by Nixon’s reelection committee were caught breaking into the offices of the Democratic national headquarters at the Watergate complex in D.C.

Watergate The break-in and attempted bugging of the offices were only a small part of a series of illegal activities Before, Nixon had ordered wiretaps on government employees to stop news leaks Like the ones that exposed the expanded bombings in Cambodia President’s aides created a group called “the plumbers” Stop leaks and discredit political opponents White House created an “enemies list” of prominent Americans who opposed Nixon and/or his policies on Vietnam People on this list were investigated/harassed government agencies like the IRS

The investigation into Watergate Only after months did it become clear Nixon was active in the cover-up Tough questioning and sentencing of the Watergate burglars led to information about money and promise of pardons by the White House staff to keep them quiet Testimony of White House lawyer John Dean linked Nixon to the cover-up Nixon’s top aides resigned to protect him, but were later indicted on charges of obstructing justice

The investigation into Watergate Discovery of a taping system in the Oval Office led to a year-long struggle between Nixon and investigators Important parts of conversations recorded on the tapes Nixon initially handed over were completely erased When questioned, Nixon’s secretary kept changing her story over how this happened Nixon claimed executive privilege for the tapes, saying he couldn’t turn them over in the name of national security

Nixon’s Resignation Nixon appeared to further interfere with the Watergate investigation when he fired Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor assigned to the case House of Representatives began impeachment hearings Caused Nixon to reveal transcripts of some of the Watergate tapes It would take a Supreme Court ruling to force Nixon to turn over all of the tapes to the courts and Congress Upon hearing the tapes, the House Judiciary Committee voted for three reasons for Nixon’s impeachment: Obstruction of justice, abuse of power, contempt of Congress

Nixon’s Resignation The transcripts of the tapes clearly implicated Nixon and his role in the cover-up days after the break-in occurred Faced with certain impeachment, Nixon resigned from office on August 9, 1974 First and only president to resign from office Former V.P. Spiro Agnew resigned earlier in 1973 after it was discovered he took bribes as the governor of Maryland When Nixon resigned, Gerald Ford became the first and only vice president AND president to never actually be elected to office For some, Nixon’s resignation proved our system of checks and balances worked but for others, the scandal represented a dangerous shift of power to the presidency Regardless, contributed to growing loss of faith in the federal government