1. Bad News in America: 1973 - 1983 Watergate Scandal Arab Oil Embargo
“Stagflation”
“Fall of Saigon”
Love Canal
Three Mile Island
Iranian Hostage Crisis
Reagan Nearly Assassinated

2. Richard Nixon & the Watergate Scandal
The Watergate Hotel / Office
Complex
Publisher
Katherine Graham
What happened in the Watergate?
What was Nixon’s role in the
Watergate Scandal?
What was Woodward &
Bernstein’s role in the Watergate
Scandal?
Bob
Woodward
Carl
Bernstein

3. More Watergate Scandal Images
Nixon
resigns,
August,
1974
Does anyone recognize
Robert Redford
(Woodward) & Dustin
Hoffman (Bernstein)?
More Watergate Scandal Images

4. Upper Left: Aliens from Venus reading about Nixon’s resign- ation
Boy, it sure is hot in
here! I need to change
my shampoo, ‘cause
my head feels like it’s
on FIRE!!!!
Upper Left: Aliens from Venus
reading about Nixon’s resign-
ation
Upper Right: A photo of the
famous Nixon farewell after
he resigned from office
Lower Left: Gerald Ford
being sworn in as the
38th President of the United
States of America

5. The Fall of Saigon, 1975 Desperation @ the U.S. Embassy
There is NOT room for all Vietnamese

6. U.S. Helicopter pushed off the deck of an aircraft carrier . . . WHY?

7. The Arab Oil Embargo: 1973
In just a few months, gas prices
quadrupled from .25 a gallon to well
over $1.00 a gallon in 1973 (That
would equal $4.42 a gallon today!)
In one famous response to the Arab
Oil Embargo, the U.S. Gov’t reduced
the speed limit on the highways and
interstates to 55 mph!

8. The Arab Oil Embargo, 1973
FYI: The U.S. Gov’t was within a day of invading key O.P.E.C. nations in the Middle East to get the flow of oil going again
Adjusted for inflation, $1.37 is . . .
about $7 a gallon today!!!!

9. “STAGFLATION” What is “Stagflation” Why was President Carter blamed?
How did it hurt Americans?

10. A 2nd Arab Oil Embargo in 1979 made
“Stagflation” worse in America

11. (Carter’s “Crisis of Confidence” Speech, 1979)
“It is clear that the true problems of our Nation are much deeper — deeper than gasoline lines or energy shortages, deeper even than inflation or recession. And I realize more than ever that as President I need your help.…”
“The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and political fabric in America . .”
What can we do? First of all, we must face the truth and then we can change our course. We simply must have faith in each other. Faith in our ability to govern ourselves and faith in the future of this nation. Restoring that faith and that confidence to America is now the most important task we face....
(Carter’s “Crisis of Confidence” Speech, 1979)

12. Love Canal: 1977 - 1979 Upper Left: Some homes are still
abandoned from this episode in Western NY
Upper Right: The location of Love Canal
within New York
Lower Left: Lois Gibbs, the most famous
activist from Love Canal; she was a 27 year
old housewife
Lower Middle: One of the Hooker Chemical
toxic waste drums; over 20,000 drums were
dumped in the Love Canal neighborhood

13. Love Canal:
Love Canal had yet to become a household name in 1978, the year that Lois Gibbs, a twenty-seven-year-old homemaker, discovered that her son's elementary school had been built atop a 20,000-ton toxic-chemical dump in Niagara Falls, New York. Gathering her courage, she knocked on doors throughout her neighborhood, sharing information and concerns with other residents. After a two-year struggle, the Love Canal Homeowners Association Gibbs founded succeeded in persuading the federal government to relocate 833 families from the area, signaling the first major victory in a grassroots environmental movement that would launch the federal Superfund program for the cleanup of hazardous waste sites.

14. circumstances did President Carter agree to clean up Love Canal?
A nice (toxic) residential neighborhood
Jane Fonda speaking:
“Celebrity Pressure”
Lois Gibbs & Pres. Carter: The Gov’t finally “stepped in to the mess”; under what
circumstances did President Carter agree to clean up Love Canal?

15. How did this disaster begin?
Three Mile Island, PA: 1979
How did this disaster begin?
Did the Gov’t know
what it was doing?
How did this disaster end?
What was the disaster’s impact on the community?

16. Upper Left: this is how close the
facility was (and is) to civilians
Right: This is a photograph taken
when the radioactivity went down
to a level in the core where people
could enter (in protective gear)
and take pictures. The broken
rods contained the uranium; this
is proof that there was a partial
melt-down. This uranium spilled
from the rods, and went to the
“floor of the core”. This uranium
ate through 50% of the core

17. “The Age of Malaise”
Women give up roles of
housewives because they start taking over job positions; this becomes an issue because this was the main cause of the perc-entage of marriages ending up in divorce. (1/2 of Amer-ican marriages.)
Studio 54 is the beginning of the “disco age.” Movie “Saturday Night” reflects the disco period.  Youth is a heavy drug user, most to escape the problems of the society.
In 1976, Carter ran versus Ford and Carter wins, he gives a message of hope and traditional values; most Americans are apathetic
The Winter of 1977 is the coldest winter in forty years; this leads to a massive energy shortage, which meant a need to sacrifice and conservation.

18. leads to funding “Super Fund” clean-ups.
The Love Canal was a Hooker Chemical plant where waste products were dumped out near neighborhoods, which became a cancer/disease cluster.  People in campaigns start striking to clean up toxic waste; this
leads to funding “Super Fund” clean-ups.
Japan and Germany challenges USA economically since America’s car companies had difficulty competing with the foreign car industry, Foreign car production was based on saving gas. To Americans, large cars were “gas guzzlers.” Foreign cars made up to 25% in the market.

19. In San Francisco, Dan White murdered
Mayor Moscone and Councilman Harvey Milk because these men were on behalf of the gay population.  White defended himself saying that he ate a lot of
“Twinkies” and
sugar altered his
mind. He got a
7-year sentence; this forever became
known as the
“Twinkie Defense”
School busing was on a time where
discrimination was a big issue. Because whites didn’t want their children to be educated with Black students; this caused public school enrollment to drop down a 25%. There was racial tension across the country.  The most “attacked” cities were Boston and LA, officers would help
schools because there was a lot of violence.
Carter gathers common people and asks them “what is wrong
with America?” He gives the “Malaise Speech” and tries to
recover America’s trust.   The OPEC raises energy prices by a 50%.
It was clear to see that America was near major crises

20. Pure Evil, Volume II Ayatollah Khomeni Pure Evil, Volume 1
What most Americans wanted to do to “Pure Evil, Vol. III”
The Iranian Hostage Crisis:
Pure Evil,
Volume 1
Ayatollah
Khomeni
Pure Evil, Volume II

21. Images: Iranian Hostage Crisis: Upper Left: Carter & the Shah of Iran
Upper Central: One of the 52 U.S.
hostages held for 444 days
Upper Right: President Carter telling
the nation about the botched rescue
attempt
Left: The wreckage of the botched
rescue attempt (it was in Iran)

22. “Miracle on Ice” occurred
The “Miracle on Ice”
realized; this photo was
taken moments after the
U.S. defeated Finland
4-2 for the Gold Medal!
In February, 1980, the
“Miracle on Ice” occurred
20 U.S. college hockey players
won the Olympic Ice Hockey
Gold Medal
By winning the Olympic
Ice Hockey Gold Medal
(the U.S. defeated the USSR
4-3 in the semi-final round,
and Finland 4-2 in the Gold
Medal game), America
finally had some “good news”
It was the first and only
time in our history that our
entire nation “went crazy”
over the success of a sports
team!

23. The Shah of Iran is given freedom in America
The Shah of Iran is given freedom in America. Iranians held Americans hostage until the Shah was turned over to Iranian courts; media covered all events that happened. Anti-Americanism in the Middle East increased dramatically.
America defeated Soviet Union on ice, playing hockey, this was symbolic of America’s courage,
which restored pride and patriotism.
Election of 1980: Hostage crisis ongoing.Reagan ran versus Carter. “Are you better off than you were four years ago.”

24. A diagram of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan,
March, 1981

25. Upper Right: Photograph taken just
seconds after Hinckley fired his handgun
Upper Left: John Hinckley under arrest
Lower Left: Who Hinckley wanted to
impress by assassinating
President Reagan