AP Chapter 39

The American

Pageant

Chapter 39

The Stalemated

Seventies, 1968-1980

Cover Slide

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Camp David Accords

One of President Carter's greatest triumphs was the signing of the 1978 peace

accords between President Anwar Sadat of Egypt (left) and Prime Minister

Menachem Begin of Israel (right). The agreement followed days of personal

diplomacy by Carter at the Camp David presidential retreat. Both Sadat and Begin

received the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts. (Jimmy Carter Presidential Library)

Camp David Accords


Carter inauguration day

On inauguration day, President Jimmy Carter (b. 1924) and his wife Rosalyn caught

the public's fancy by walking from the Capitol to the White House. Despite this

symbolic beginning, Carter became increasingly isolated both from the American

people and from Congress. (Jimmy Carter Presidential Library)

Carter inauguration day


College students after Kent state, May 1970

While many older Americans supported the actions of the Ohio National Guard,

students across the country boycotted classes and forced hundreds of campuses to

shut down. Some continued to protest during graduation at the University of

Massachusetts. ((c) Bettmann/Corbis)

College students after Kent state, May 1970


Nixon before a stack of notebooks containing what he claimed to be the full transcripts of the Watergate tapes How do historians know that President Richard M. Nixon was guilty of obstructing justice in the Watergate affair? What was the evidence--the "smoking gun"--

that established his guilt? The so-called smoking gun referred to the tape recording of a White House conversation on June 23, 1972, that proved Nixon had

foreknowledge of the Watergate break-in, had instigated a cover-up, and had obstructed justice almost from the outset of the scandal. That day, Nixon ordered his

top aide to stop the Federal Bureau of Investigation's inquiry into the Watergate break-in. Tell the Central Intelligence Agency, Nixon thundered, to call the FBI,

claim that the break-in was a secret spy operation related to the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, and say "...that we wish for the country [that you] 'don't go further into

this case,' period." In 1973 and 1974 special prosecutors and congressional committees sued for release of this and other tapes, but Nixon resisted. On August 5,

1974, the Supreme Court ruled that executive privilege did not protect the subpoenaed tapes; the next day, the White House turned over a number of tapes,

including the smoking gun. Three days later, Richard Nixon resigned the presidency. Afterward, historians sued for access to the thousands of hours of unreleased

tapes; but for twenty-one years, Nixon and his family succeeded in keeping them private. In 1996, however, the Nixon estate, the National Archives and Records

Administration, and Stanley I. Kutler, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin, reached an agreement that called for some 3,700 hours of tapes to be

made public over the next several years. The first tapes released condemned President Nixon in his own words and shocked the American people. For example, on

May 13, 1971, Nixon was recorded growling demands for a commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, who "is a ruthless son of a bitch, that he will do what he

is told, that every income tax return I want to see, I see. That he will go after our enemies and not go after our friends." A month later, Nixon ordered his aides to

arrange a break-in at the Brookings Institution, a liberal think tank in Washington: "Goddammit," he swore, "get in and get those files. Blow the safe and get it." In

January 2000 some of Watergate tapes became available to the public when the National Archives began to sell cassettes containing the 264 hours of so-called

"abuse of government power" recordings. (Nixon Presidential Materials Project)

Nixon before a stack of notebooks containing what he claimed to be the full transcripts of the Watergate tapes


Nixon’s Resignation Speech

(1974. Archive Films.)

Video: Nixon’s Resignation Speech


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Sources of Stagnation

Women and teenagers who entered the workplace as unskilled workers

Declining investment in new (modern) machinery

Government-imposed safety & health regulations

Shift from

manufacturing

services to other

services health, etc.

Vietnam War –

siphoned funds &

caused inflation

Increased oil prices

Sources of Stagnation

President Johnson’s plan to continue the

Vietnam War and fund the Great Society

―Guns and butter‖ – inflationary because –

government funds are spent without

adding to the supply of goods and services

that money can buy

German & Japanese built new factories

with up-to-date technology – US = Status

Quo

Nixon & ―Vietnamization‖

Nixon was: Solitary and suspicious (resentment of the ―liberal establishment‖

―vietnamization‖ – withdraw the 540,000 US Troops so South Vietnam would take over the fighting

Nixon Doctrine – US would honor its defense commitments but countries would have to use their own forces

―Hawks‖ – pro-war

―Doves‖ – anti-war – wanted troops out right now!


Antiwar protesters ―doves‖ (many young men – who were potential draftees) led rallies – Vietnam Moratorium October 1969 100,000 Boston & 50,000 DC

Led by Tom Haden – Berkley – Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)

also Draft Card burning – common protest gesture

Nixon appealed to a ―silent majority‖ who supported the war but were not vocal

Agnew – attacked the ―nattering nabobs of negativism‖

Nixon – antiwar demonstrators ―bums‖


Vietnam – longest war in

US history – 40,000 killed

and 250,000 wounded

(LBJ – big mistake –

―more killed yearly on US

highways‖)

Unpopular – college

students exempt – early

in conflict = more blacks

sent to Vietnam

Jungle & guerilla warfare

difficult – Drug abuse,

mutiny, sabotage

―Fragging‖ of officers

My Lai Incident – William

Calley ordered troops to

massacre 300 women &

children in one village –

other atrocities occurred

North & South

―Cambodianizing‖ the Vietnam War

Ho Chi Minh Trail – troops, weapons, & supplies Part of the trail went through Cambodia

Nixon ordered a secret bombing of Cambodia

Students protested

Kent State, Ohio- National Guardsmen opened fire and killed 4 wounding several

At Jackson State, Mississippi – State troopers opened fire – and shot into the dorms – killing 2

Vietnam becomes a: ―Whitey’s War‖ – ―no Vietnam person ever called me n-------‖

Ho Chi Minh

Trail

Vietnam

Senate (but not the House) repealed the Gulf of Tonkin resolutions

Nixon shortened the Draft period from 8 yrs. to 1 yr. and added a lottery system for the draft

Twenty-Sixth Amendment – lowered the voting age to 18 (was 21)

Pentagon Papers top-secret papers revealing the blunders and deception of Kennedy and Johnson had used to justify the Vietnam War

Détente with Beijing & Moscow

Armed Conflict with Russia and China along border – 2 views of communism

Henry Kissinger (first national security advisor & later Secretary of State)

Began to meet secretly in Paris to end the Vietnam War

February 1972 Nixon makes a visit to communist China

―Ping Pong diplomacy‖

May 1972, Nixon Visits USSR – Grain deal sold $750 million to Russia

Anti-ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty – limited defensive missiles

SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) slow the arms race

Nixon still stood up to Latin American communist leaders

Nixon and Mao Zedong

Supreme Court

―Judicial activism‖ on the Supreme Court –

Earl Warren Chief Justice – Ike appointee: seemed conservative but became liberal on the bench

1954 Brown v Board

1965 Griswold v Connecticut about right of privacy – a state law prohibited the use of contraceptives

1963 Gideon v Wainwright – right to counsel

1964 Escobedo v Illinois – right to remain silent

1966 Miranda v Arizona – read rights (safeguards against forced confessions)

1964 New York Times v Sullivan – public officials could sue for libel only if ―malice‖ had occurred, could be critical of public officials and their private lives

Supreme Court

1962- Engel v Vitale & School District of Abington township v Schempp (1963) – separation of Church and state prohibiting prayers and Bible reading in public schools

1964- Reynolds v Sims – reapportionment of representatives districts based on population (Also Baker v Carr-1962 gave courts that power)

Pro-Justices were dealing with social problems that the elected officials would not deal with- Judicial Activists

Con – justices were to interpret the constitution not act as social and judicial activists (judicial restraint)

Berger Court

Chief Justice Earl Warren is replaced by Warren

E. Burger (a so-called conservative) and he

makes two momentous decisions:

1973 Roe v Wade decision– legalized abortion

1978 Bakke Case – reverse discrimination -

qualified white student not allowed into UCAL

Davis – less qualified minorities were –

conflicted: bars quota system but supports

affirmative action

Nixon on the Home Front

Expansion of Welfare programs, food stamps, Medicaid & aid to families with Dependent Children, increased Social Security $ & programs

Philadelphia Plan – construction unions to hire more black apprentices

Affirmative Action – LBJ = protect individuals now Nixon = protect groups

Griggs v Duke Power Co. (1971) Supreme Court prohibited intelligence tests that could exclude minorities or women

EPA =Environmental Protection Agency

Nixon on the Home Front

Rachel Carson – Silent Spring exposed the poisonous effects of pesticides

Endangered Species Act

Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA)

Economic controls=90 day wage & price freeze – to stimulate the economy

Devaluated the $ & took the US off gold standard

Southern Strategy – appointed conservative Supreme Court Justices (4) soft-pedaling civil rights & opposing school busing (all designed to get the Southern Vote

Nixon Landslide 1972

Democrats nominate George McGovern a ―Dove‖ = end war in 90 days

His liberal appeals to minorities, feminists & youth alienated the middle class

Thomas Eagleton VP candidate- psychiatric care

Replaced by Sargent Shriver

Nixon (Republican)

Reduced the ―Democrats‖ war from 540,000 to 30,000

Kissinger, 12 days before the election, ―peace is at hand‖

Nixon wins every state except Mass. & DC

Republican lose ground in Congress

Secret Bombing of Cambodia $

War Powers Act

US Air Force, 3,500

secret bombing raids on

Cambodia for 14 months

Officials & Nixon swore

that Cambodian neutrality

was being respected

After Vietnam Cease-fire

Nixon continued

War Powers Act –1973

President has 48 hours to

report to Congress if he

commits troops to fight in

a foreign country

Must end in 60 days

unless Congress votes to

extend it

―New Isolationism‖

caution and restraint

Vietnam Peace Accords

After peace had been

announced, fighting

escalated

Nixon will launch a 2

week bombing of N.

Vietnam (Hanoi) called

the Christmas Bombings

but several B52’s were

shot down

Paris Peace Accords

1973

1. Cease Fire

2. POW’s released

3. US to continue to

support North Vietnam

4. N. Vietnam able to

leave 145,000 Troops in

South

5. Future elections to be

held

Vietnam

Results:

1. 55,000 US soldiers killed

2. $150 billion spent

3. US bitter and disillusioned

4. 1.1 million North Vietnamese military killed and 2 million civilian deaths

5. July 1973 Public learns of Secret bombing of Cambodia & invasion May 1970 – disrupt the Ho Chi Minh trail

War Powers Act

1. President to report to

congress w/in 48 hours after he sends in troops to a foreign country

2. Congress must vote to extend time after 60 days (30 day intervals)

Draft ended and US went to an All-volunteer army

Energy Crisis

Yom Kippur War – surprise attack by Syria and Egypt on Israel, led to some Arab victories but with US supplies Israel is victorious

One result: OPEC nations begin to punish US and any countries who supported Israel with a trade embargo – Oct. 1973

Symbolizes an end to an era – of cheap & abundant Oil

Gas prices jump 400%

Alaskan Pipeline is started

Nixon proposed energy self-sufficiency

55 mile-per-hour speed limit

1974 US is plagued with double-digit inflation

Watergate & the Unmaking of a

President June 17, 1972: 5 men arrested for break-in at Watergate – Democrat Presidential campaign headquarters offices

The 5 men are soon linked to Republican Committee for the Re-election of the President (CREEP)

One of several ―dirty tricks‖ used by Nixon

VP Spiro Agnew resigns over bribes as Gov. of Maryland & Congress invoked the 25th Amendment for the 1st time (presidential succession)

Gerald ―Jerry‖ Ford appointed VP


President John Dean III testifies of obstruction of justice and cover-up (turns state’s evidence)

Another former White House aid revealed Nixon’s secret taping of White House conversations

Senate requests tapes – Nixon refuses (executive privilege)

October 20, 1973 – ―Saturday Night Massacre‖ Nixon fires his own special prosecutor, and Attorney General, then deputy attorney general because they would not go along with the firing of the special prosecutor


President

The Supreme Court ordered the release of the tapes

Tape-recorded conservations (except the 18 missing minutes, destroyed, Nixon said, by his secretary!) were proof that 6 days after the Watergate break-ins he was trying to use the CIA to hold back investigations by the FBI and therefore an active part of the cover up.

Watergate

The House Judiciary Committee proceeded to draw up articles of impeachment, based on obstruction of justice, abuse of the powers of the presidential office & contempt of Congress

Republican leaders met with Nixon and said his impeachment was a foregone conclusion and he had better resign- he could not count on support from them.

August 8, 1974 Nixon resigned admitting that he had mane ―judgments‖ that ―were wrong‖ but that he had acted in the ―best interests of the Nation‖

Watergate

Proved that the

impeachment process

(created 200 yrs. Before)

would work

Impressive demonstration

of self-discipline and self-

government to rest of the

world

No person is above the

law

Presidents may be held

to accountability

By resigning – Nixon did

receive all retirement

benefits which included 8

yrs as VP =5 yrs

President and as a

congressman $150,000

yearly

Watergate Complex

First Unelected President

Gerald Rudolph Ford became president

Nelson Rockefeller new VP

Neither had been elected

Ford's position as president:

Restore public confidence in government

Improve the economy

- Nixon pardon “full free and absolute pardon for any crimes he may have committed during his presidency.”

- Conspiracy - secret deal? bad judgment

- No fair trial possible? "Compassion"

- Get it over with so government can function.

Hurt Ford's popularity

Jerry Ford

1974-75 Serious recession

Depression set off by oil embargo (1/3 of US oil imported – OPEC 1974 increase prices by 400%)

Inflation - 11% - unemployment 7%

Ford Vetoed make work jobs, etc. Over possible inflation, also rejected price and wage freezes – instead tries volunteer efforts to fix the economy.

Congress at odds with president over programs

Detente continued – Secretary of State Henry Kissinger

Helsinki Accords – settled disputed boundaries between European countries - end to WW 2 – 34 other nations meet also: Soviets to become more open – empty promise

Ford and Brezhnez – establish the beginnings of SALT II

Middle East: Israel gave back large portions of Sinai to Egypt

Mao Zedong dies – relations warm between China and the US

Cuba used to extend communism (especially in Latin American Nations)

The Fall of Vietnam

1975 South Vietnam fell (After North Vietnam initiates a massive offensive)

Ford wants to send supplies - Congress doesn't

Cost of Vietnam $118 Billion, 56,000 dead 300,000 wounded

Technically: US did not lose – South Vietnam did

BUT: United states lost prestige in the eyes of foreigners and lost self-esteem in its military. Pride and Power had been deeply wounded

May 1975 Mayaguez Incident – sent in the marines to rescue the crew of the ship that had been captured by Cambodian Communists (Khmer Rouge) restored respect for a time (problem: 41 Americans killed, and Communists had already promised to release the crew)

Effect: will restore some pride in military

Feminism victories and defeats

Anti-war faction had splintered

But women’s feminist remains strong

1972 Title IX led to women’s athletic teams

Equal Rights Amendment ―Equality of rights

under the law shall not be denied or abridged by

the US or by any state on account of sex.‖

initially a good start, but over time Catholic

Church and Religious right apposed to it led by

Phyllis Schlafly -

Feminism

ERA movement given

an extension by

Congress in 1979

(Roslyn Carter,

Jimmy’s wife) but died

out in 1982: 3 states

short of passing

1972 Nixon vetoed

nationwide public

day-care

Reed v Reed : the

Court challenged sex

discrimination in

legislation and

employment

Roe v Wade –

women’s decision for

abortion protected by

her constitutional right

of secrecy.

The Seventies in Black and White

Milliken v Bradley 1974 could not require students to move across school district lines to integrate – caused ―White Flight‖ to suburbs

Affirmative-action programs became controversial Allan Bakke – wins Supreme Court decision because as a qualified white student he had been denied admission into U.Cal. Davis (reverse discrimination) Thurgood Marshall argued that such a decision would sweep away years of progress, but many cheered the decision as proof that justice is colorblind

Red America – Indians ―Red Power‖ movement used more violent tactics of Civil Rights movement to gain national attention for their assumed rights as semi-sovereign nations

They seized the island of Alcatraz 1970 and Wounded Knee, SD 1972

Vine Deloria: Custer Died For Your Sins 1969

AIM – American Indian Movement

Red Power

AIM subsequently marched on Washington D.C. and raided the offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. No one was hurt but as an act of defiance to the organization that had mismanaged Indian affairs for two centuries, the group destroyed several files and made quite a mess. They symbolically captured the Mayflower II while it was anchored in Plymouth harbor in 1970.

AIM occupied the reservation at Pine Ridge—the site of the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. When federal agents moved in to remove the dissidents, tensions flared and the resulting gun battle cost the lives of two members of the group. Flushed out after 71 days of siege,. A second siege at Pine Ridge in 1975 made criminals of the leadership of the American Indian Movement and cost the lives of two federal agents.

.By the 1980s, AIM had reorganized amid a renewed era of grass roots activism that had once more swept the nation. The leaders of AIM realized that the only way to improve the status of Native Americans rights was to work through the system and participate in the great march toward peace

Bicentennial Campaign

Election of 1976

(D) Jimmy Carter 51% pop - 297 EV (Former Governor of Georgia)

(R) Ford Black vote- 240 EV

Carter won by being unknown

Staffed White House with close-knit group of Georgia friends

Cuts taxes and increases spending to help with unemployment

Ends up with high inflation "double digit"

High interest rates 20% - hurts home loans and Small business people

Energy program- OPEC inflated oil prices -

Carter Administration

“Stagflation” Carter faces high unemployment and High inflation – can’t use federal $ to control one without increasing the other

Many claim it is the end of Keynesian economics

Carter calls for tight money measures and voluntary restraints.

“Malaise speech”: public felt that Carter was blaming them for his problems

Public approval rating of 26% - even lower than Nixon

Huge federal debt increase under Carter (and every president since)

ERA – promoted by Democrats and Roslyn Carter (Jimmy’s wife) – extended 3 years but still fails to gain the support of the states for ratification.

Panama Canal Treaty 1978 - best way to improve relations with Latin American countries – Given back to Panama by 2000 – Senate vote 68-32 (by one vote 2/3 needed)

Crusade for Human Rights (foreign policy) Russia & African nations

Carter

Israeli-Egyptian Peace Conference March 1979

Camp David Accords – Anwar Sadat (Egypt) Menachem Begin (Israel) some land given back by Israel & respect current borders

Does not solve the Palestinian refugee issue.

SALT II Republicans in the Senate felt it was favorable to the Soviet Union - blocked its passage

Korean Scandal - bribes over foreign aid

Draft evaders pardoned - 10,000 Most in Canada

Soviet Union - Worldwide advances using Cubans

Carter cannot pass legislative programs

Two new Departments on the Presidents Cabinet

Department of Energy

Department of Education

Carter

Shaw of Iran flees the country Jan. 1979 allowed in US for medical treatment

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenini - hatred of West: US in particular

Iranian Hostages – 53 Americans held hostage after supporters of the Ayatollah stormed the American Embassy.

US had several billion $'s of Iranian assets frozen in American Banks -

There was an attempted military rescue of the hostages in April of 1980: it was a failure.

Secretary of State Cyrus Vance resigned in protest.

The hostages were held for 444 days and were released on inauguration day (Reagan's) after Carter released the frozen Iranian assets. Iran needed the money for their war with Iraq.

Russian invasion of Afghanistan - Carter imposed economic sanctions against the Russians and canceled US participation of the 1980 Olympics.