1. UNIT 11 NOTES: The 70’s and 80’s
Chapter 32 – Nixon, Ford, Carter
Chapter 33 – The Conservative Revolution

2. Chapter 32: Nixon, Ford, Carter
America: Pathways to the Present
Chapter 32: Nixon, Ford, Carter
Section 1: Nixon’s Domestic Policy
Section 2: Nixon’s Foreign Policy
Section 3: The Watergate Scandal
Section 4: The Ford Administration
Section 5: The Carter Administration

3. Presidents of the United States
#21 - …
Chester A. Arthur; Republican (1881)
Grover Cleveland; Democrat (1884)
Benjamin Harrison; Republican (1888)
Grover Cleveland; Democrat (1892)
William McKinley; Republican (1896)
Theodore Roosevelt; Republican (1901)
William Howard Taft; Republican (1908)
Woodrow Wilson; Democrat (1912)
Warren G. Harding; Republican (1920)
Calvin Coolidge; Republican (1923)
Herbert Hoover; Republican (1928)
Franklin D. Roosevelt; Democrat (1932)
Harry S. Truman; Democrat (1945)
Dwight D. Eisenhower; Republican (1952)
John F. Kennedy; Democrat (1960)
Lyndon B. Johnson; Democrat (1963)
Richard Nixon; Republican (1968)
Gerald Ford; Republican (1974)
George Washington; Federalist (1788)
John Adams; Federalist (1796)
Thomas Jefferson (1800)
James Madison (1808)
James Monroe (1816)
John Quincy Adams (1824)
Andrew Jackson; Democrat (1828)
Martin Van Buren; Democrat (1836)
William Henry Harrison; Whig (1840)
John Tyler; Whig (1841)
James K. Polk; Democrat (1844)
Zachary Taylor; Whig (1848)
Millard Fillmore; Whig (1850)
Franklin Pierce; Democrat (1852)
James Buchanan; Democrat (1856)
Abraham Lincoln; Republican (1860)
Andrew Johnson; Democrat (1865)
Ulysses S. Grant; Republican (1868)
Rutherford B. Hayes; Republican (1876)
James Garfield; Republican (1880)

4. OBJECTIVES
CORE OBJECTIVE: Examine the causes, effects, and impact of the Vietnam War
Objective 11.3: What types of challenges did President Ford experience?

5. CHAPTER 32 SECTION 4 THE FORD ADMINISTRATION
After becoming President, Gerald Ford worked to reunite the country while facing economic problems at home and challenges abroad.

6. Episode: Crime and Cults
CCN: THE SEVENTIES
Episode: Crime and Cults
Culture Shock
Manson Murders (1:20 – 8:25)

7. Ford Becomes President
When Gerald Ford took over the Presidency following Nixon’s resignation, he was viewed as a popular and noncontroversial political figure.
Gerald Ford
Served in Navy during WW II
Elected to Congress in 1948
Became VP in Oct 1973
Known for honesty and integrity
Ford named New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller as Vice President, rounding off an administration in which neither the President nor the Vice President had been elected.

8. The Nixon Pardon
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At the beginning of Ford’s presidency, Time magazine noted “a mood of good feeling and even exhilaration in Washington.” However, this was soon to change.
A month after Nixon’s resignation, Ford pardoned the former President for “all offenses” he might have committed, avoiding future prosecution.
This decision proved to be unpopular, both among the general public and among Nixon loyalists still facing prosecution.
As a result, many Republicans were voted out of office in the 1974 congressional elections.
Pardon:

9. Economic Problems The Economy Stalls Conflicts With Congress
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The Economy Stalls
Preoccupation with Watergate had prevented Nixon from dealing with the economy.
By 1974, both inflation and unemployment were rising, making the economy stagnant.
Economists named this situation stagflation.
Although Ford tried to restore public confidence in the economy with the voluntary “Whip Inflation Now,” or WIN program, he later recognized the need for more direct action.
Conflicts With Congress
Ford was often at odds with the Democratic-controlled Congress, which wanted the government to take a more active role in the economy.
In response to Ford’s vetoes, Congress created the highest percentage of veto overrides since the 1850s.

10. SE Asia Policy
When North Vietnam began a new offensive against the South in the spring of 1975, Ford asked for military aid to help South Vietnam.
However, both Congress and the American people were against further involvement in Vietnam.
To prevent 1975 involvement in Vietnam, Congress was prepared the invoke the War Powers Act: limits President’s ability in foreign conflicts without receiving a declaration of war from Congress.
When Communist Cambodia captured the American merchant ship Mayaguez, Ford sent the marines to recapture the ship.
Forty-one American lives were lost in the effort, but the incident dispelled impressions of American weakness in Southeast Asia.
WRITE THIS DOWN!

11. FOREIGN POLICY
Asia — Ford continued Nixon’s goals of friendship with China and was the first American President to visit Japan.
Europe and the Soviet Union — In 1975, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords, a series of agreements on European security.
30 nations sign including U.S., Canada, and Soviet Union
Pledge to cooperate in trade, respect country boundaries, and promote human rights
He also continued Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) with the Soviet Union.
WRITE THIS DOWN!

12. The Nation’s Birthday
America’s bicentennial, or 200th anniversary, provided Americans, discouraged by Watergate, Vietnam, and the economy, an opportunity to celebrate.
Parades, concerts, air shows, political speeches, and fireworks took place on and around July 4, 1976, the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Ford in Review:

13. The Ford Administration ASSESSMENT
Why did Ford’s popularity fall soon after his term began?
(A) Americans did not like having a non-elected President.
(B) His pardon of Nixon proved to be unpopular.
(C) His WIN program became highly effective.
(D) He began to develop ties with newly-independent nations.
Which of these topics was an issue on which Ford and Congress disagreed?
(A) The level of government spending on economic programs
(B) Celebration of the bicentennial
(C) The signing of the Helsinki Accords
(D) The recapture of the Mayaguez

14. The Ford Administration ASSESSMENT
Why did Ford’s popularity fall soon after his term began?
(A) Americans did not like having a non-elected President.
(B) His pardon of Nixon proved to be unpopular.
(C) His WIN program became highly effective.
(D) He began to develop ties with newly-independent nations.
Which of these topics was an issue on which Ford and Congress disagreed?
(A) The level of government spending on economic programs
(B) Celebration of the bicentennial
(C) The signing of the Helsinki Accords
(D) The recapture of the Mayaguez

15. CNN THE SEVENTIES The Attempted Assassination of Gerald Ford
Episode: Crime and Cults (17:25 – 20:30)