Nixon - Reagan
Nixon: 1969 – 1974 (resigned)
Ford: 1974 - 1977
Carter: 1977 - 1981
Reagan: 1981 - 1989
Richard
Nixon
37th President
1979-1974
Nixon and Vietnam
• Vietnam
– Vietnamization: withdrawal of US troops while giving SV the
money, weapons and training to take over the war
– Nixon Doctrine: Asian allies would receive US support w/o use of
ground forces
– My Lai 1968: massacre of women and children by US troops
• Pentagon Papers released documenting mistakes and deceptions of policy
makers
– Invasion of Cambodia 1970: effort to destroy Vietnamese
Communist bases there
• Kent State: student protest that led to 4 deaths at hands of National Guard
• Repeal of Gulf of Tonkin
Nixon and Vietnam
• Christmas bombing 1972: heaviest bombings of entire war used to force a
settlement with NV
• Paris Accords Jan. 1973:promised a cease-fire and elections allowing the
US to withdraw from war
– Over 58,000 killed
– $118 billion spent
OPEC
Nations
Nixon and the Middle East
• Yom Kippur War (Oct. 1973): Egypt and Syria attack
Israel. US intervenes diplomatically and Israel routs opponents.
• Energy Crisis: result of above; OPEC nations cut oil
production 5% each month until Israel returns land. Nixon
announces aid to Israel and Saudi Arabia cuts all oil to US. Loss of
nearly 2 billion barrels a day. Lasted from October 73-March 74
– Highlighted the fact that the US was dependent on other nations for well-being
Nixon and China
Nixon visits
China: traveled
to Beijing in 1972
to meet with
Mao. Led to
recognition of
Communist govt
in 1979
Nixon meets with Brezhnev
Nixon and USSR
• Détente: deliberate reduction of Cold War
tensions
• Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT I)
1972: limited antiballistic missiles and a
freeze on those carrying nuclear warheads
1969
moon
landing
Apollo 11
July 20, 1969
Nixon and Legal Decisions
• 26th Amendment: Voting age 18
• Supreme Court Cases:
– CJ Warren Berger
– Roe v. Wade: Legalizes abortion based on right to privacy and 14th
Amendment
– NY Times v. US (Pentagon Papers): 1st Amendment
– US v Richard Nixon: executive privilege?
Nixon Domestically
• Energy Policy: EPA
(1970) to monitor industry and
Clean Air Act to encourage the
shift from using coal to fuel oil and
natural gas
• Nixonomics: to curb
inflation and the negative balance
of trade, Nixon put a 90 day freeze
on wages and prices, devalued
the dollar and added a 10% tariff
on imports.
Society during Nixon
• Gay Liberation • Agnew resigns 1973:
plead guilty to charge of failure to
Movement: report income in exchange for
resignation (real charges were bribery,
fraud, conspiracy and extortion while in
office)
• Women’s Movement:
– ERA 1972: Equality of rights • Ford new VP based
under the law shall not be
abridged or denied by the US or
on 25th Amendment
any state on account of sex. Not
ratified
• Phyllis Schlafly
• NOW
Nixon and Watergate
• The Break in: Men hired by Nixon’s reelection committee
caught breaking in to Democratic national headquarters
• Plumbers: created to stop leaks and discredit opponents, also had
an “enemies list”.
• Investigation: no solid proof Nixon ordered any activities but
there was a cover-up
– Use of money and promise of pardons
– Top aides, Haldeman and Ehrlichman, resigned to protect Nixon
– Discovered a taping system in Oval Office
– Supreme Court orders tapes be turned over
• Impeachment
– Obstruction of Justice
– Abuse of power
– Contempt of Congress
Oops, I
erased the
president’s
tape what a
strange
coincidence
that it is the
18 ½
minutes the
FBI was
looking for…
Nixon Resigns
After Spiro Agnew
resigned for corruption,
Gerald Ford became the
VP under the 25th
Amendment
Rather than face
impeachment for
Watergate, Nixon resigned
on August 9, 1974
Ford then took the oath of
office as the first unelected
president in US history.
Gerald Ford: 38th President
1974-1977
Ford’s Domestic Issues
• Pardoning of Nixon: granted a full and
unconditional pardon for all federal crimes
he may have committed
– Did he do the right thing?
• Investigation of the CIA: Had the agency been
involved in assassination plots?
– Appointed George H.W. Bush as director
– Issued executive order outlawing assassination as an instrument
of American foreign policy
Ford’s Foreign Policy
• Fall of Saigon: April 1975
– Vietnam became one country under rule of
Communist gov’t
– US evacuated 150000 Vietnamese who had
supported the US and were sure to be
persecuted
Jimmy Carter
39th President
1977-1981
Carter and Foreign Policy
• Panama Canal Treaties
– 1 restored sovereignty in the 500 sq-mile
Canal Zone to Panama
– 2 provided for the gradual Panamanian
responsibility for operating the canal (returned
in 2000)
– Ratified with 1 vote to spare
– “It’s ours. We stole it fair and square”
Camp David Accords
• Peace settlement between Israel and
Egypt
• Egypt became the first Arab nation to
recognize the nation of Israel.
• Israel withdrew its troops from the Sinai
territory
Iranian Hostage Crisis
• Islamic fundamentalists overthrew the shah
(basically a king that Ike put into power).
• Militants seized the US Embassy in Tehran
Nov. 4, 1979 and held 58 Americans hostage
(444 days)
• Failed April attempt at rescue by Delta Force -
Failed due to poor planning, insufficient or
defective equipment, and inadequate
communications between the units. This
mission’s failure was basically the last straw
that ended any chance for Carter’s reelection.
Cold War and USSR
• SALT II: Limited size of each
superpower’s nuclear delivery system;
never ratified
• Soviet invasion of Afghanistan:
– US Reaction
• Banned the sale of high technology to Russia
• Embargoed export of grain
• Resumed draft registration
• Boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympics
Ronald Reagan: 40th President
1981-1989
Hostage Crisis Over
US-Soviet Relations
• Gorbachev 1985
– Glasnost: openness
– Perestroika: restructuring
• 1987: remove and destroy intermediate
range missiles (INF treaty)
Lebanon, Israel and the PLO
• Lebanon
• After Civil War, U.S sent a few thousand US
Marines as peacekeepers
• Muslim perceive marines as aiding Christian
dominated government
• On October 1983, suicide bombers truck bomb
the marine barracks
• 239 Marines killed and the United States
withdraws from Lebanon
Iran-Contra affair
• Nicaragua: Sandinistas take over; CIA
begins supplying Contras; Congress
passes Boland Amendment (prohibits any
US agency from spending $ in Central
America)
• Iran: Traded American anti-tank missiles
for release of 6 hostages (backfired:
rather than releasing, they took more
hostages)
Iran-Contra affair
• Oliver North (NSC) charged with soliciting
$ to pay for Contras.
• Solution: Sell weapons to Iran for profit
and give extra $ to Contras
– Illegal and unconstitutional