1. Vietnam & Watergate Era

2. HAP-P
We have adopted a plan which we have worked out in cooperation with the South Vietnamese for the complete withdrawal of all U.S. combat ground forces, and their replacement by South Vietnamese forces on an orderly scheduled timetable. This withdrawal will be made from strength and not from weakness. As South Vietnamese forces become stronger, the rate of American withdrawal can become greater….
Let historians not record that when America was the most powerful nation in the world we passed on the other side of the road and allowed the last hopes for peace and freedom of millions of people to be suffocated by the forces of totalitarianism….
And so tonight - to you, the great silent majority of my fellow Americans - I ask for your support.

4. LBJ and Escalation in Vietnam
1964, Gulf of Tonkin Resolution –Congress gave LBJ power to make air strikes on N. Vietnam after they torpedoed American destroyers in international waters
Helped LBJ win his 1964 presidential bid against a overly bellicose Barry Goldwater
Congress almost unanimously gave LBJ authority to ‘take all necessary measures to prevent further aggression’
1968, Tet Offensive –Viet Cong offensive against US troops
Shock to American public who had been told by high ranking officials that the US was finally ‘winning’ the war
After 6 mos., US gains advantage
My Lai Massacre (1968)–Gov’t cover up of more than 350 unarmed Vietnamese civilians murdered by US forces

5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDTBnsqxZ3k LBJ’s ‘Daisy Ad’
Goldwater Ad

6. Vietnamization
(1969) Nixon’s first agenda is to remove combat troops & aid the South Vietnamese gov’t
Known as the Nixon Doctrine
Nixon publically defends invasion of Cambodia by US & S. Vietnamese forces1970
New rallying point for college protest
Over 200 colleges close
Kent State Univ. & Jackson State Univ. riots result in student deaths
Congress will pass Cooper-Church bill to limit Executive war powers forbidding invasion of Laos & Thailand

7. Successes of the Nixon Administration
Domestic Policy
Foreign Policy
Founding of the EPA & OSHA
Expansion Food Stamps, Medicaid, AFDC & automatic cost of living increases for Social Security
‘Philadelphia Plan’ to stop employment discrimination w/unions
Détente w/the USSR
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I)
Won a 2nd term w/ 61% of the vote over George McGovern
Henry Kissinger's negotiations of armistice with North Vietnam
‘normalized’ US relations w/China; accepted ‘one- China’ policy

8. Freedom of the Press 1733, John Peter Zenger trial
Estab. Legal precedent
Press is essentially to democracy
Press is a critical weapon against gov’t corruption
Founders see this as an essential right of the people
1st Amendment to the Constitution

9. Failures of the Nixon Era
Undisclosed bombing of Cambodia, 1970
‘Christmas Bombing’ of North Vietnam, 1972
100,000 bombs dropped in a 2 week period
Pentagon Papers –Daniel Ellsberg interviews
NY Times v. Nixon
VP Spiro Agnew resigns due to corruption & tax evasion indictments

10. Watergate
break-in of DNC headquarters at the Watergate Building in DC(July, 1972)
CREEP –G. Gordon Liddy
Woodward & Bernstein, Deep Throat informant
John Dean, WH counsel revealed ‘secret tapes’
Concurrently , investigation of Nixon for 25 counts of:
conspiracy to deprive opponents of constitutional rights
Bribery –Gov’t benefits for cash
Misuse of campaign funds & gov’t monies
US v. Nixon –limits on executive privilege
Forced Nixon’s resignation
Presidency of Gerald Ford
1st non-elected president
Pardoned Nixon

11. Nixon’s domestic and foreign policies reflected a liberal agenda.
Close
Argumentation
Nixon’s domestic and foreign policies reflected a liberal agenda.
Support, refute, or modify!
What does liberal mean for the time period?