SSUSH25
Key Supreme Court Cases and the US Presidents from
Nixon-Bush
The Last PowerPoint presentation of the semester
Supreme Court Cases of the 70’s
• Regents of UC vs. Bakke (1978)
– Established the Bakke Decision
– Race could be used as a consideration in admission;
however, racial quotas is a violation of the 14th
Amendment.
– Kept affirmative action legal
• Affirmative action – a policy aimed to increase minority
representation in the workplace, educational institutions,
social setting, and etc.
(Cont’d)
• Roe vs. Wade (1973)
– Legalizes abortion within the first three months of
pregnancy.
Richard Nixon
• Foreign Policy
– Détente – the utilization of diplomacy rather than
intimidation to ease tensions between the US and
USSR.
– Signed SALT I with the USSR.
– 1st President to recognize the Communist
government of China.
– Opened trade with China.
• The Watergate Scandal
– Republicans attempted to wiretap phones at the
Democratic National Committee headquarters at
the Watergate building.
– Five individuals were arrested for breaking in to
the building.
– Nixon did not know about that plan, but he
participated in the cover-up.
(Cont’d)
• (cont’d)
– Nixon’s office recorded conversations proved that
he was involved with the cover-up.
– Nixon resigned from office before being
impeached by the House of Representatives and
found guilty by the Senate.
Gerald Ford
• Took over Nixon’s presidency when he
resigned.
• Ford pardoned Nixon.
• First president to serve as Vice President and
President and never elected to either position.
Jimmy Carter
• Foreign Policy
– Signed SALT II with the USSR
– Camp David Accords (1978) – a signed peace
agreement between Israel and Egypt.
– Iranian Hostage Crisis –
• Iran had a revolution that forced the US friendly leader to
flee.
• The US allowed the leader to come to the US
• An Iranian mob stormed the US embassy and held US
citizens as hostage from Nov. 4, 1979 – January 21, 1981.
Ronald Reagan
• Most well known Conservative President
• Opposed high taxes, government spending, and
many federal social programs.
• Reaganomics – an economic plan to reduce
corporate taxes. It is also known as the “trickle
down theory”
– “trickle down theory” – let the tax cuts roll down to
the consumers from the top.
(Cont’d)
• Reagan and the USSR
– Reagan calls the USSR an “evil empire”.
– Engaged the USSR with another arms race
because Reagan predicted that the economy of
the USSR could not survive.
– Reagan was credited with bringing down the
Berlin Wall and the collapse of the USSR.
(cont’d)
• The Iran-Contra Scandal
– The US secretly sold weapons to Iran to fund
Nicaraguan rebels known as the Contras.
– The Contras opposed the pro-soviet government of
Nicaragua.
– When Congress found out about the sell of arms to Iran,
there was a large backlash against Reagan’s administration.
– In the end, Oliver North took the blame for the scandal.
North ended up looking more like a hero fighting
communism.
Bill Clinton
• NAFTA
– Promoted free trade between the US, Canada, and Mexico.
– Supporters – it will cause and increase in business and jobs
in the US because Canada and Mexico will demand more
of our goods.
– Opponents – companies will leave the US and set up shop
in other countries because it would cost less to operate
the business.
(cont’d)
• Scandal and Impeachment
– Bill Clinton is the second president to be impeached.
– He was impeached for perjury (false testimony under
oath).
• He lied about his involvement with Monica Lewinski
– Although he was impeached, Clinton was acquitted by the
Senate.
Clinton and Congress
• Clinton, had to work closely with the
Republican controlled Congress.
• There was a temporary shutdown of the
government because a budget battle.
• Congress was blamed for the budget battle,
and this controversy helped Clinton to be
reelected in 1996 for a second term.
George W. Bush
• The Presidential Election of 2000
– George Bush vs. Al Gore
– The closest presidential election in our history
• Decided by a mere 537 votes.
– Gore won the popular vote while Bush won the
most electoral college votes making Bush the
winner.
(cont’d)
• 2000 Presidential Election controversy
– The election came down to Florida which had a total of 25 electoral votes.
– At first Gore conceded the election to Bush; however, he took it back because
he realized that less than 1,000 votes separated the two candidates.
– Once the votes were counted and the victory was given to Bush, Gore asked
for a recount.
– Voting irregularities suggested that some voters accidentally voted for a third
party candidate instead of Gore.
– Eventually the Supreme Court ordered a stop on the recounts because it was
dragging the election process.
– George Bush was named victorious in the 2000 Presidential Election.
(Cont’d)
• The War on Terror
– Early in Bush’s presidency, the US was attacked on
9/11/01.
– Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda took responsibility for the
terrorist attacks.
• Locations of the terrorist attacks
– New York City
– The Pentagon
– Pennsylvania (which could have been heading to the White House or
the Capitol)
(cont’d)
• (cont’d)
– Bush declared a war on terrorism
– Domestic Response
• Establishment of the Department of Homeland Security
• The PATRIOT ACT – allows government agencies to take
more extreme measures in obtaining information of
suspected terrorists.
(cont’d)
• Operation Enduring Freedom
– The US invades Afghanistan when to overthrow
the Taliban government which provided bin Laden
protection and to bring bin Laden to trial for his
crimes against the US.
(cont’d)
• Operation Iraqi Freedom
– The US entered Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein from
power.
– The US thought Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass
destruction in his country.
– He did not; however, we helped Iraq to overthrow a
viscous dictator.
– Currently, the US is trying to help Iraq establish and
maintain a democratic government.