1. Unit 8 Review

2. The Turmoil of 1968
The televised events of the Tet Offensive in January symbolized political and psychological defeat in Vietnam and grew the war opposition.
Beaten down by the war, LBJ withdrew his bid for re-election in Robert Kennedy quickly became the frontrunner, but was assassinated in June over his pro-Israel position.
A few months earlier, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray, resulting in major riots across the nation.
The Democratic Convention in Chicago that August featured riots among anti-war protestors and resulted in the inauspicious nomination of VP Herbert Humphrey.

3. The Election of 1968
Hubert Humphrey (D) was loyal to LBJ’s domestic & foreign policies
George Wallace (I) pledged a return to segregation
Richard Nixon (R) campaigned on a return to law, stability and order and Vietnamization
Nixon’s victory illustrated America’s dissatisfaction with Vietnam and the upheavals of the 60s

4. Vietnamization
Nixon promised to withdraw U.S. troops and turn the responsibility of fighting over to the South Vietnamese (Nixon Doctrine)
Last troops came home in 1973
However, the war was expanded into Cambodia
The Pentagon Papers, the My Lai Massacre, and the Kent State Massacre created widespread opposition to Nixon’s war efforts & created further mistrust of the White House
Saigon fell in 1975—total failure of containment

5. Detente A deliberate reduction in Cold War tensions Examples:
Nixon visited China & began diplomatic recognition
Carter would officially recognize communist China in 1979
Nixon negotiated the SALT I treaty with the USSR to limit ballistic missiles

6. Nixon’s Other Foreign Policy
Congress passed the War Powers Act in 1973
OPEC placed an oil embargo on the U.S. because of her support for Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War against Egypt

7. Nixon’s Domestic Policy & Social Change
Nixon supported New Federalism—shifting responsibility & costs for social programs to the states
Unsuccessfully fought stagflation (high inflation & unemployment)
Catered to Southern whites to secure a Republican majority
Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade (1973) protected a women's right to privacy with regard to abortion

8. Watergate
The Democratic National Comm. headquarters at the Watergate was burglarized in 1972
It became clear that Nixon engaged in an illegal cover-up
In U.S. v. Nixon (1974), the Supreme Court ordered him to turn over oval office audio tapes
Faced with certain impeachment & trial, Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974

9. Gerald Ford ( )
Had been appointed VP by Nixon when his vice-president resigned due to a separate scandal
Ford assumed the presidency upon Nixon’s resignation
Used the presidential power of pardon to grant Nixon a full and unconditional pardon
Inauspicious presidency

10. Election of 1976
Jimmy Carter was a Washington outsider & evangelical Christian
With his election, Americans sought to end the “imperial presidency”

11. Carter’s Foreign Policy
Wanted to consider human rights
Examples:
Transferred the Panama Canal to Panama
Opposed apartheid in South Africa
Ended aid to Chile and Argentina
Tried to continue détente
Example:
Negotiated a SALT II treaty, but it was never ratified because the USSR invaded Afghanistan

12. Carter’s Foreign Policy
Greatest achievement was negotiating the Camp David Accords, a peace settlement between Egypt and Israel, in 1978
Greatest failure was the Iran Hostage Crisis ( ) in which 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days after the Islamic fundamentalist revolution

13. Carter’s Domestic Policy & Social Change
The economic crisis continued & the standard of living declined
The environmental movement grew & Carter supported alternative energy sources, but the near nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island hurt the movement
Illegal immigration from Latin America grew
Minority rights movements continued (Cesar Chavez, AIM, women’s rights, and gay liberation)