Lecture Notes: 70s to Present
APUSH
The Nixon Administration
•
Richard M. Nixon
– elected 1968
– sense of order to nation
•
New Federalism
– Main theme
• decrease size and influence of federal government
• New Federalism- give power back to state and local governments
– Increased
• Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid
• Decreased
• Job Corps, HUD
•
Southern Strategy
– attract Southern conservative Democrats
– slowed desegregation
– attempted to stop busing
•
Economy
– stagflation- high inflation and unemployment
• causes
• deficit spending
• increased competition
• immigration
• dependence on foreign oil
•
OPEC
– Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
• Yom Kippur War (1973) quadruples price
Foreign Policy
•
Henry Kissinger
– realpolitik: “political realism”
• policy based solely on consideration of power, not ideals or moral principles
• Ex. If country is weak, ignore it.
•
détente
– to ease Cold War tensions
– flexible
Watergate: Nixon’s Downfall
• Watergate- cover-up of burglary at the Democratic party headquarters
•
“The Inner Circle”
– H.R. Haldeman- Chief of Staff
– John Ehrlichman- Chief Domestic Advisor
– John Mitchell- Attorney General
– John Dean III- Presidential Counsel
Lecture Notes: 70s to Present
APUSH
•
June 17, 1972- 2:30 AM
– 5 caught breaking in DNC headquarters
• photo docs
• place wiretaps
• were attempting to steal info on election strategy
•
Leader = James McCord
– former CIA agent
– “Committee to Reelect the President”
led by John Mitchell
•
Cover-Up
– shredding documents
– White House asks FBI to stop investigating
– CIA tries to buy burglars silence with $450,000
•
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
– Washington Post reporters who investigated Watergate
– “Deep Throat”
– Woodward’s source in the White House
•
Public doesn’t care- Nixon wins reelection in 1972 in landslide
•
Trial
–
–
June 1973- trial of burglars begins
John Sirica- presiding judge
• letter from McCord stating he lied under oath
•
•
Senate Hearings
White House involvement gets the public interested.
– April 1973- “Inner Circle” fired or resigned
•
Nixon’s Fall
– March 1974- Nixon releases tapes
• “I am not a crook”
– July 27, 1974
• House Judiciary Committee approves three articles of impeachment
• obstruction of justice
• abuse of power
• contempt of Congress
– April 8, 1974- Nixon resigns
• admitted no guilt
• “judgments were wrong”
•
Effects
–
–
–
–
25 members of administration convicted
deep distrust of government
cynicism of public officials
“benchmark for all scandals”
Lecture Notes: 70s to Present
APUSH
Presidency of Jimmy Carter
•
Energy Crisis
– National Energy Act
• tax on gas guzzlers
• removed price controls on U.S. oil
• tax credits for alternative energy
•
Carter’s Middle East Policy
•
Camp David Accords
– Israel agrees to withdraw from Sinai Peninsula
– Egypt recognizes Israel’s right to exist
•
Iran Hostage Crisis
– Ayatollah Khomeini overthrows the shah or Iran
– shah comes to U.S.
– rebels take 52 American hostages
– one year standoff
Environmentalism
•
Rachel Carson- “Silent Spring”
– warned of pesticides
– early warning
•
Earth Day
– April 22, 1970
• spotlighted
• growth of toxic waste
• pollution
•
Three Mile Island
– March 28, 1979
• nuclear reactor malfunctions
• fears that radiation would escape
• 100,000 evacuated
The Conservative Tide
•
•
Goals
–
–
–
–
shrink size of government
family and patriotic values
reduce taxes
strengthen defense
The New Right
– opposed entitlement programs
– opposed affirmative action
• special treatment for African Americans and women even though not more
highly qualified
Lecture Notes: 70s to Present
APUSH
•
“quota system”
•
Conservative Coalition
– business leaders
– middle class voters
– upset Democrats
– fundamentalist Christians
•
Moral Majority
– Jerry Falwell
– evangelicals
•
1980 Election
– Ronald Reagan- issues
• abortion
• pornography
• teaching of evolution
• Reagan/Bush Policies
•
“Reaganomics”
– 1. Budget Cuts
– 2. Tax Cuts
– 3. Increased defense spending
•
Tax Cuts
– supply-side economics
• “trickle down theory”
•
Defense Spending
– Strategic Defense Initiative
• “Star Wars”
•
Supreme Court
– Sandra Day O’Connor
• first woman justice
Social Concerns of the 1980’s
•
Drug Abuse
– “Just Say No”- Nancy Reagan
•
•
Education
“A Nation at Risk”
– lagged behind other students in the world
– “America 2000”- school choice
Foreign Policy
•
Mikhail Gorbachev
– “glasnost”
• openness
Lecture Notes: 70s to Present
APUSH
–
“perestroika”
• less government control
Soviet Collapse
• Dec. 1991- 14 non Russian republics declare independence
• Fall of Berlin Wall
– Nov 9, 1989- East Germany opens the Berlin Wall
•
Tiananmen Square
– student protest for freedom of speech
– Li Peng- premier- orders military to crush them
•
Iran Contra Scandal
– 1983- Iran terrorists take American hostages in Lebanon
– Reagan urges allies to not sell to Iran
– 1986- discovered Reagan did sell arms to Iran
• In exchange they would get hostages released.
• Worse, the profits were used to supply Contras (Nicaraguan rebels)
•
Election of 1992
– George Bush
– Bill Clinton
– Ross Perot
•
“New Democrat”
– attempted to move party to the center
•
•
Reform
– health care
• affordable care for all Americans
• led by Hillary Clinton- “Hillarycare”
•
Foreign Policy
•
Bosnia
– Serbs began “ethnic cleansing” in Bosnia
– under Slobodan Milosevic
– U.S. troops join NATO troops
•
Trade
•
NAFTA- (North American Free Trade Agreement)
– agreement among U.S., Mexico, Canada
– Critics:
– transfer jobs to Mexico
– harm environment
•
Republican Revolution
– led by Newt Gingrich
– “Contract with America”
• term limits, balanced budget
Lecture Notes: 70s to Present
APUSH
•
“Whitewater Scandal”
– Clinton used money from a land deal with the Whitewater Development Co. to finance
gubernatorial campaign
– accused of lying under oath
•
“improper relations” with Monica Lewinsky
– White House intern
•
New Global Economy
•
Service Economy
– service sector- jobs that provide services
– teachers, doctors, lawyers, store clerks, etc
•
downsizing- trim payrolls to increase profits
•
High Tech Leaders
– Bill Gates
– Michael Dell
– Sam Walton
– Sean Fanning
– Ray Kroc
– Lee Iacocca
– Donald Trump
– Jeff Bezos