Election of 1968
- LBJ announced he wasn’t running for reelection
- McCarthy vs. Nixon
- Nixon won by a landslide
Vietnamization
- US withdraw troops slowly
- SV Army increase its fighting
- Anti-war protestors wanted immediate withdrawal
- Spring 1970 (US bombed Cambodia)
- Vietcong used Ho Chi Minh Trail and supply route
- “Peace with Honor”
- Many accused Nixon of expanding war and not ending it like his promised
My Lai Massacre
- 1968
- US troops opened fire on village of women and children
- Lieutenant William Calley Jr. gave order to open fire
- Found guilty of murder but ruling was overturned
- Outrage spread across US
Protests Increase
- 1.5 million college students shut down 1,200 campuses
- Some turn deadly
- May 4 (Kent State University students burn down campus, ROTC buildings, and
destroyed property)
- Kent State Massacre grabbed attention of the country
- May 14 (Jackson State students protested, 2 were killed)
Paris Peace Accords of 1973
- Jan 27 1973 (“Agreement on Ending War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam)
- 17th Parallel would remain political dividing boundary
- Country would be reunified through peaceful measures
- NV promised to not move military past boundary
- Nixon promised to respond with “full force” if they did
- Last US troops withdrew March 29
- US involvement over, but war continued
Veterans Return Home
- Did not receive warm welcome
- Anti-war protestors saw them as killing innocents
- War supporters saw them as losing the war
- 15% of 3 million experience PTSD
- Agent Orange exposure led to diseases and cancer
- Abused alcohol and drugs
- Comitted suicide
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
- Opened in 1982 (Washington, D.C.)
- Honored those who fought in the war
- Contains names of 58,000 American troops who were killed or went missing in action
US International Policy
- Draft was ended
- War Powers Act passed Nov. 1973
- Limited president’s ability to initiate military action in other countries
- Required president to inform Congress within 48 hours of sending troops into hostile
environment without declaration of war
- Troops can’t remain in environment for more than 90 days unless Congress approves
president’s actions or declares war
- Nixon vetoed the act, but Congress overruled him
Triangular Diplomacy
- US, China, USSR
- Feb. 1972 (Nixon traveled to China)
- US agreed to support China’s entry to the UN and became open to a diplomatic
relationship
- Nixon also made trip to USSR in 1972
- Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) and signed SALT 1 Treaty
- 5 year agreement that limited number of ICBM and submarine missiles
- US agreed to send wheat to USSR
- Agreed to joint space exploration called Apollo-Soyuz
US Domestic Policy
- Nixon wanted to reduce power of the federal government and give more power to state
and local governments (New Federalism)
- 1972 (State and Local Fiscal Assistance Act)
- Allowed state and local governments to decide how to spend federal money with certain
guidelines
- Nixon reformed social programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and food
stamps
- Tried to end Job Corps
- Vetoed a bill that would increase funding for the HUD
- Used impoundment (delayed funding to programs he believed were unnecessary
- 1973 (withheld almost $15 billion from over 100 federal programs)
Southern Strategy
- Nixon’s plan to swing southern democrats to vote for him in 1972 election
- Nixon slowed desegregation
- Ordered the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to delay desegregation of
schools in Mississippi and South Carolina
- Nixon was forced to abide by the second Brown v. Board of Education ruling
- However, only 20% of children in South attended desegregation schools in 1969
- 1972 (90% of children in South attended desegregation schools)
- Nixon opposed extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Congress overruled him)
- Nixon opposed integration through busing
EPA
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Est. Dec. 1970
- Protected and conserved environment and improved health of people
- Still exits today
Watergate
- Nixon resigned in 1974 to prevent from getting impeached
- Wanted to win 1972 election at any cost (he did)
- June 17 1972 (5 men broke into the Democratic National Committee Headquarter
- Placed wire taps and took photos of secure documents
- Men were arrested
- Nixon placed monetary bribes to keep from being connected
- Asked FBI to stop investigating
- Told White House staffers to lie in court
- Nixon administration commanded the break in
- Articles of Impeachment were drawn up, but Nixon resigned
- VP Ford became president
- Ford immediately pardoned Nixon for his crimes
Stagflation
- Inflation was a major problem
- 1967-73 (high inflation and unemployment)
- High inflation was mostly caused by LBJ’s Great Society and funding Vietnam War
- US relied heavily on oil from other countries
- OPEC placed embargo on oil
- Supply of oil dropped and prices rose
WHY???
- US supported Israel in 1973 Yom Kippur War against Arab countries
- OPEC was made up of mostly Arab countries
- Prices of goods increased that required petroleum to produce or goods transported by
gasoline-powered vehicles increased
- Oil embargo ended in 1974, but prices remained high
Ford’s Presidency
- Whip Inflation Now (WIN)
- Asked Americans to use less oil and gasoline to conserve energy
- Decreased government spending
- Encouraged Federal Reserve Board to increase interest rates on loans
- Not successful = worst economic recessions since Great Depression
- US economy struggled into the 1980s
- Continued Nixon’s international policies
- 1975- Helinski’s Accords
- Ford asked Congress to send aid for SV (they refused)
- March 1975 NV invaded SV
- Saigon renamed Ho Chi Minh City
- 1976- Vietnam reunified as Socialist Republic of Vietnam (communist)
1976 Election
- Ford’s supprt decreased
- Economic problems and Nixon’s pardon angered Americans
- Democrat Jimmy Carter beat Ford
