Richard Nixon was elected president in 1968 and 1972, promising to end the Vietnam War and restore order. While he pursued détente with China and the USSR, the Watergate scandal erupted in 1973 over a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters and the subsequent cover-up, implicating Nixon. Facing impeachment and certain conviction, Nixon resigned in 1974, the first US president to do so. The scandal undermined trust in the presidency and government.
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Richard Nixon rose through the political ranks as a staunch anti-communist; however, the policy of his predecessors brought the world to the brink of nuclear war and brought the U.S. into an expensive and increasingly unpopular war.
Nixon embraced the policy of détente, a relaxing of tensions with the communist world. He negotiated the SALT I Treaty, established relations with Communist China, and established the Nixon Doctrine of assisting allies with money and weapons, but not with U.S. troops.
The Nixon Doctrine was applied in Vietnam with the Vietnamization of the war. Nixon declared “Peace with Honor” when the last U.S. troops left Vietnam, but Saigon fell to the communists just two years later.
Nixon employed the Madman Theory so that his adversaries would believe he was unpredictable.
http://www.tomrichey.net
Richard Nixon rose through the political ranks as a staunch anti-communist; however, the policy of his predecessors brought the world to the brink of nuclear war and brought the U.S. into an expensive and increasingly unpopular war.
Nixon embraced the policy of détente, a relaxing of tensions with the communist world. He negotiated the SALT I Treaty, established relations with Communist China, and established the Nixon Doctrine of assisting allies with money and weapons, but not with U.S. troops.
The Nixon Doctrine was applied in Vietnam with the Vietnamization of the war. Nixon declared “Peace with Honor” when the last U.S. troops left Vietnam, but Saigon fell to the communists just two years later.
Nixon employed the Madman Theory so that his adversaries would believe he was unpredictable.
1. The Presidency of
Richard Nixon
1968-1973
■ Essential Question:
– Do the negative effects of the Watergate
scandal truly deserve to overshadow the
positive foreign policy accomplishments
of Richard Nixon?
2. Nixon was the first candidate to appreciate the
The Republican Resurgence
new importance of the “Sunbelt”:
military bases, high-tech industries,
■In 1968, Republicans benefited
from the Vietnam disaster &
division in the Democratic party:
–Richard Nixon (R) ran as the
Nixon claimed to represent the “silent majority”
retirement who worked, communities, paid taxes, anti-& did segregationists
not protest
made the South more conservative than before
one candidate who could restore
order in America
–Humphrey (D) was plagued by
anti-war protesters
–George Wallace (3rd) attacked
blacks & liberals
3. The End of an Era
■The presidential election of 1968
ended 30 years of:
–Liberal reform—Americans
began to favor conservative
political leaders
–Activist foreign policy—Vietnam
proved that Containment failed
to be applied to global scale
■A “silent majority” seemed fed up
with protest, violence, long hair,
drug use, & sexual promiscuity
4. Foreign Policy
■Nixon Nixon proved hoped for to be a relaxing
an effective
foreign-of Cold policy War president:
tensions
–Most foreign policy decisions
were made by Nixon & National
Security Advisor Henry Kissinger
■Developed a plan for détente:
– An “honorable” exit from Vietnam
• “PEACE WITH HONOR”
– Using U.S. trade to induce cooperation
from the USSR
– Improved relations with China
5. Nixon on Vietnam
Nixon’s 1968 Campaign promised an
end to the war: Peace with Honor
Appealed to the great
“Silent Majority”
“Vietnamization”- turning war over
to the Vietnamese
Expansion of the
conflict The “Secret War”
Cambodia
Laos
Agent Orange
(chemical defoliant)
6. Ending the Vietnam War
In 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Act
requiring Congress’ approval to send U.S.
forces into combat for more than 90 days &
must inform Congress within 48 hours as to
These bombings were conducted without
■ Nixon’s plan for an “honorable peace”
the consent or approval of Congress
was “Vietnamization”:
–Gradual withdraw of U.S. troops
–Handing over the fighting to South
Vietnamese troops
the reasons for military intervention
Protests at Kent State & Jackson State
resulted in bloody confrontations
between students & National Guard
■ Privately, Nixon hoped for a “knockout
blow” & ordered U.S. troops into
Cambodia & Laos
–“SECRET WAR”
■ The effect was the largest series of
protests in American history
7.
8. FALL OF SAIGON
■In January 1973 cease fire
agreement was reached
–By March 1973, U.S. troops
were withdrawn
–By 1975, the South Vietnamese
capital of Saigon fell & S.
Vietnam fell to Communism.
–Vietnam proved Containment
could not be sustained
9. The Fall of Saigon
South Vietnamese
Attempt to Flee the Country
12. Vietnam: The Costs
1. 3 Million Vietnamese killed
2. 58,000 Americans killed;
300,000 wounded
3. Under-funding of Great Society
programs
4. $150 Billion in U.S. spending
5. U.S. morale, self-confidence,
trust of government, decimated
13. The Impact
26th Amendment: 18-year-olds
vote
Restricted media access to
battlefields.
Nixon abolished the draft
all-volunteer army
WAR POWERS ACT limits
executive power for WAR
17. In Search of Détente
■In Feb 1972, Nixon became 1st
U.S. president to visit & recognize
the People’s Republic of China:
–These improved Sino-American
relations helped eased Cold War
tensions & forced the USSR to
consider diplomacy with the U.S.
–Presented the U.S. with its 1st
economic access to China
18. In Search of Détente
■Nixon traveled to Moscow to meet
with NEW Soviet leader Brezhnev:
–The U.S. agreed to sell the USSR
$1 billion worth of grain
–USSR agreed to Strategic Arms
Limitation Talks (SALT), the 1st
Cold War nuclear arms treaty
■Kissinger negotiated an end to the
Yom Kippur War in 1973 between
Israel & Egypt
19. Nixon’s Covert Operations
■Despite Nixon’s public détente
with the USSR & China, most
foreign policy was covert:
–CIA funded the leaders of brutal
gov’ts in Iran, South Africa, the
Philippines, & Nicaragua
–CIA assassinated Chilean
president Salvador Allende
20. Nixon’s Domestic Policy
■Nixon Replaced entered retiring office chief as justice
a
moderate Earl Warren who with kept Warren LBJ’s Burger
Great
Society Nominated in place
Harry Blackmun,
–But, Lewis Nixon Powell, shifted & William responsibility
Rehnquist
for social problems to state &
local governments
–Nixon reshaped the Supreme
Court along conservative lines
when 4 justices retired
21. Roe v. Wade (1973)
■ Woman in TX (alias Jane
Roe) attempted to obtain
an abortion through legal
means and was denied
because she had not
been a victim of
rape/incest
■ Sued claiming this
violated her right to
PRIVACY
■ WON
■ Abortion became
LEGAL in U.S.
23. Nixon’s Domestic Policy
■Nixon oversaw the creation of:
–EPA (Environmental Protection
Agency)
•Rachel Carson- “Silent Spring”
• Earth Day
–Endangered Species Act
–A failed plan to replace welfare
benefits with a minimum income
–Ended the gold standard in 1971
24. Nixonomics
■The economy Democrats coined was a “Nixonomics”
challenge:
–Nixon to describe inherited Nixon’s inflation failed & plan
deficit
spending from the Vietnam War
–Nixon’s decrease in government
spending & increase in interest
rates led to the 1st American
recession since 1958
■In 1971, Nixon responded with a
90-day freeze on wages & prices
& imposed a 10% tax on imports
This “Great Nixon Turnaround”
ended the recession
25. The 1972 election saw a shift in voting patterns:
The Election of 1972
Only blacks, Jews, & the poor voted
■In 1972, Nixon ran for re-election
–Democrat George
overwhelmingly Democratic while the GOP
continued its dominance in the Sunbelt
McGovern was
labeled an “outsider”
who supported “acid,
abortion, & amnesty”
–Nixon won in the 4th largest
margin of victory in history
■But…the Watergate scandal
ended the Nixon presidency
27. The Watergate Scandal
■1972, a break-in at Democratic
candidate George McGovern’s
headquarters revealed a well-funded
plan of espionage &
sabotage by the Committee to
Re-Elect the President (CREEP)
■Wiretappings ordered by Nixon
revealed his involvement
■ Pentagon Papers leaked revealed
Govt’s planning of Vietnam in 60’
31. The Watergate Scandal
■ The Watergate scandal began to
unravel in 1973:
–The discovery that Nixon recorded
conversations proved most
damning
–U.S. vs. Nixon: Obstruction SCOTUS of justice
ordered
Abuse Nixon of to power turn over Contempt all tapes of Congress
to a
Senate investigative committee
–The House brought 3 articles of
impeachment against president
35. Effects of The Watergate Scandal
■Impact of the Watergate scandal:
–26 members of Nixon’s
Teddy Roosevelt began the trend of a stronger
president than Congress; a trend that continued
administration were sent to jail
throughout the 20th century until Nixon
■changed American perception of
the gov’t & the role of the media
became that of a “watchdog”
■Power shifted from the president
to Congress
36. The Ford Administration
■Gerald Ford failed to restore
public confidence after Watergate:
–Ford pardoned Nixon for any crimes
he may have committed saying that
the US did not need to focus on the
trail of Nixon because it had more
pressing issues
–appointed George H.W Bush to
reorganize the CIA
–Vetoed 39 Great Society-style bills
