Richard Nixon The New Federalism Won 1968 –barely Won a landslide Richard Nixon % Hubert Humphrey 42. 7% George Wallace 13.5%

Nixon Decreased power of federal government Dismantled a number of Great Society programs Got U.S. out of Vietnam Opened relations with China

New Federalism Shifted power of federal gov’t to state/local gov’t. Revenue sharing: state and local gov’t. could spend their federal dollars however they saw fit (within certain limitations) Revenue sharing was one of the largest overhauls of federal spending since the New Deal.

Nixon TRIED to overhaul welfare, but Congress voted him down. Nixon advocated the Family Assistance Plan (FAP) CONGRESS VOTED NO (1970) FAP: Family of four gets $1600 a year, would have to take job training and accept reasonable work.

Congress was controlled by Democrat majority Nixon compromised 1.Increased Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid 2.Made food stamps more accessible 3.Expanded Job Corps 4.Supported subsidized low-income housing

Spiro Agnew Nixon’s vice-president 1969, went on a public speaking tour to denounce anti-government, anti-war protesters, the media, etc. Resigned as v.p. later in Oct 1973 (charged with accepting bribes and not reporting income on his taxes when he was governor of Maryland)

Timothy Geithner US Treasury Secretary (appointed by Pres. Obama) Didn’t pay Social Security taxes or Medicare for several years while he worked for the IMF These facts came up when he was before the Senate committee who was confirming him in Most information was discussed behind closed doors. “They (mistakes on his taxes) weren’t intentional. I should have known better.” - Timothy Geithner, the US Treasury Secretary

Neil Armstrong 1 st man to walk on the moon July 29, 1969 Apollo 11 “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Nixon’s “Enemies List” Used the CIA to investigate and compile documents on thousands of American dissidents Used IRS to audit tax returns of anti-war activists and civil rights activists. Took it personally when people opposed him

IRS Targeting Groups Today Lois Lerner publicly apologized in May 2013 for targeting specific conservative groups that were critical of the Obama Administration FDR also had the IRS go after groups that opposed him

Southern Strategy How did Nixon win with a landslide in 1972? - He attracted white Southern democrats disillusioned with their party (over desegregation and a liberal Supreme Court) “There are those who want instant integration and those who want segregation forever. I believe we need to have a middle course between those two extremes.” - Nixon

Swann v Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education -Busing to desegregate schools in The Supreme Court ruled that school districts may bus students to other schools to end the pattern of all-black or all-white schools

Stagflation Rising unemployment + rising inflation Troubled economy: unemployment rate rose from 4% to 6% 2. inflation rate doubled

OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (created in 1960) A cartel of 12 member countries organization Five founding members: 1. Iran 2. Iraq 3. Kuwait 4. Saudi Arabia 5. Venezuela. Cartel- controls the means of production – so they can set the price!

Nixon had FOUR Supreme Court Appointees During his presidency, there were four openings on the Supreme Court (very rare) All conservative, so the court will swing to conservative rulings during the years to come (after the very liberal Earl Warren Court of the 1950s and 60s)

Realpolitik- “realistic politics”; dealing with other nations in a practical and flexible manner Example of realpolitik: Nixon got friendly with Communist China (1/5 of the world’s population) to keep the Soviet Union off-balance (The Soviets could only guess what kind of alliance that we made with Communist China) Détente – an easing or relaxing of Cold War tensions Example of Détente: Nixon, a strong anti-Communist, visited and opened up relations with Communist China

Henry Kissinger Secretary of State for both Presidents Nixon AND Ford His reputation was not tarnished by the Watergate scandal.

Nixon Visited China Feb – Nixon visited China for 7 days. Great publicity American public/media really liked this. “Ping-Pong Diplomacy” April 1971 China invited America’s Ping Pong team to China. 1 st time since WWII that an American sports delegation visited China.

Nixon traveled to Moscow May st time a U.S. president ever visited the Soviet Union Met with Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet Premier Agreed over West Germany and East Germany SALT I Treaty

S trategic A rms L imitation T reaty -Nixon and Brezhnev -5 year agreement limited ICBMS (to 1972 levels.)

Election 0f 1972 Nixon won with 60% because of 1.His triumphs in China and Soviet Union 2.In October, Kissinger had announced that peace in Vietnam was imminent