NIXON PRESIDENCY
1969- 1973
1968 Elections
• Republicans: -- Richard M. Nixon (VP to Eisenhower
• Democrats: Hubert Humphrey* (Senator from Minnesota)
(*won the nomination after the assassination of Robert
Kennedy)
Election influenced by a
series of traumatic events
Tet Offensive – Jan.
1968
Murder of RFK and
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Anti-war protests
Urban race riots
Nixon’s Vietnam Policy
• 1968 campaign – promised to end the war “honorably”
• 1969 – The Nixon Doctrine: The U.S. would act as a partner to
third world countries facing communist aggression, but not their
military protector
• Began “Vietnamization” of the war
• Secretly negotiated with N. Vietnam
• Escalated bombing of N. Vietnam and secretly bombing supply routes
in Cambodia and Laos
• Oct. 1972 – Henry Kissinger announced “peace is at hand”
• Invasions of Cambodia and Lao; massive bombing of N.
Vietnamese cities led to the Paris Accords in 1973
• The U.S. withdrew from Vietnam without victory
Response to Nixon Policy
• Protests increased as bombing escalated
• My Lai Massacre – created American disillusionment with
the war and the military
• 1970 -- Kent State shootings - 400 colleges close
because of student protests
• Vietnam veterans ignored or mistreated
• BUT, re-elected in 1972!
Nixon – Diplomatic Accomplishments
• Détente
• Normalization of relations with China
• 1972 – SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks)
• Committed U.S. and U.S.S.R. to strategic equality
• Middle East “Shuttle Diplomacy
• 1973 – Kissinger brought about a cease-fire in the Yom Kippur War
• Ended a oil embargo
• Kept the Soviet Union out of Middle East conflicts
Social Change during the Johnson/Nixon Years
• The Youth Movement
• Always a minority of young people
• Concentrated on College Campuses
• Initially followed the techniques of SNCC
• Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) – peaceful, disruptive protest
• Berkeley Free Speech Movement
Youth Movement Became More Radical
• Kent State – a response to violent actions of students
• After Kent State the movement became more violent and much smaller
• Most activists turned to other movements
• Women’s liberation, environmentalism, etc
• Some rejected traditional culture – The “Hippie” movement
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Encouraged use of drugs
Rejected consumerism
Distrusted authority
Impact of the Youth Movement
• Increased attention to minorities
• Influenced attitudes toward the war and government
• Changed the climate and culture of colleges and universities
• Backlash by older generations, conservative youth, and blue
collar workers (eg., Nixon’s political success)
• Encouraged a “revolution” in the attitudes toward sexual
behavior, the discussion of sex and the presentation of sexual
issues in movies, on TV, and in literature.
1972 Election
• Republicans: Richard M. Nixon
• Democrats: George McGovern
Watergate
• 1972 – Members of the
Committee to Re-elect the
President (CREEP) broke in to the
Democratic Party’s office in the
Watergate office complex
• When the break-in was
discovered and burglars working
for CREEP were arrested, Nixon
became involved in a cover-up.
The scandal got its name
after the hotel which was
broken into by 5 Nixon
supporters. A guard
making his rounds noticed
suspicious activity and
called the police.
The Cover-up
 High officials in the Nixon
administration destroyed
incriminating documents
and provided false
testimony
 Nixon denied involvement.
Most Americans believed
him and won the reelection
 Washington Post
investigative reporters
continued to pursue the
story
Reporters Bob Woodward
and Carl Bernstein
revealed the cover-up by
refusing to accept what
Nixon’s staff told the press
and with the help of a
secret informant called
Deep Throat.
The Nixon Presidency Collapsed
• In 1973, testimony revealed that
Nixon had tapes that directly
involved him in the cover-up
• V.P. Spiro Agnew resigned after
scandal revealed he took bribes from
state contractors while gov. of
Maryland
• July 24, 1974The Supreme Court
ruled that Nixon must turn the tapes
over the Congress
• July 27, 1974 – The House of
Representative passed articles of
impeachment
Nixon Resignation
• August 9, 1974 – Richard Nixon
resigned the presidency
• Gerald R. Ford became
president*
• * the first “appointed” president