Chapter 24.1 The Nixon Administration

1. Chapter 24.1 The Nixon Administration

2. Some of the promises Nixon made to the American people during the Election of 1968 • Promised the “silent majority” peace with honor in Vietnam • Law and order • A streamlined government • Return to traditional values at home

4. Ping-pong diplomacy • U.S. ping-pong team that competed in Communist China in April of 1971 • First Americans to enter China since it became Communist in 1949 • Symbol of easing the tensions between the two nations

5. Detente • Relaxation of tensions between the U.S. and its Communist rivals the Soviet Union and China • The U.S. had to build a better relationship with its rivals in the interests of world peace

6. Nixon eases tensions with the China and the Soviet Union CHina Soviet union • Nixon traveled to China in February of 1972 to discuss “more normal” relations between the two nations • Believed détente with China might persuade the Soviets to push for the same thing • May of 1972, Nixon flew to Moscow for a week long summit • First U.S President to visit the Soviet Union since WWII • Nixon and Brezhnev signed SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty) • Both sides agreed to increase trade and exchange scientific secrets

7. Chapter 24.2 The Watergate Scandal

8. Nixon’s “enemies” list. • Race riots and protests still swept the nation as Nixon was elected in 68 • Nixon felt that these “radicals” were out to destroy the nation • This list contained members of the media and politicians whom he concerned a threat to his job

9. College Campuses

10. Long Hot Summers

11. Watergate • Seeking to gain an edge in the upcoming election of 1972 • During the 72 election, Nixon staffers were trying to steal sensitive information from the Democratic Party and to plant wiretaps in the office phone lines

12. The Beginning of the End • After the arrest of the 5 Nixon staffers for the Watergate break-in, arrows started pointing to the White House • Nixon strongly denied any involvement in the break-in and his people worked night and day at covering up the story

13. The Strategy Worked Until… • Most Americans bought the idea that the Watergate break-in was a small time burglary attempt, not a government conspiracy • But Washington Post writers Woodward and Bernstein began pointing right at Nixon himself

14. The Testimony of John Dean. • During grand jury testimony for the burglary attempt, Chief Counsel to the President, John Dean took the stand • He announced under oath that Attorney General John Mitchell ordered the break-in and Nixon played an active role in covering it up

15. Nixon refuses to give up the secret tapes • Investigators sought audio tapes from a secret recording system in the White House • He refused, claiming executive privilege, meaning White House conversations should remain confidential to protect national security

16. Vice-President Spiro Agnew resigns • Nixon’s Attorney General and his deputy both resigned amid the tape controversy • Spiro Agnew resigned both for taking bribes while Governor of Maryland and as Vice President, and tax evasion

17. Feeling the Pressure… • Nixon finally released the audio tapes as well as the transcripts after the Supreme Court ordered him to do so, claiming they proved his innocence, but… • Over 18 minutes was mysteriously missing • The House voted to impeach (put him on trial)

18. Impeachment Charges • Obstruction of justice in the Watergate cover up • Misuse of federal agencies to violate the rights of citizens (CIA and FBI to silence hippies and protestors) • Refusing to deliver tapes and other materials to the Congressional Committee investigating him

19. Watergate changes the way Americans felt about their leaders. • August 9, 1974 Nixon resigns • Americans left with a deep distrust of their public officials • Loss of respect to the job of President • Increased skepticism towards politics and politicians

20. Chapter 24.3 Ford and Carter

21. Ford Becomes the 38th President • After Nixon resigned in August of 1974, Ford is sworn in • *Becomes the only man to serve as V.P. and President without being elected to those positions • Most Americans considered him a decent and honest man, unlike his predecessor

22. The Accidental President

24. Two major reasons why the American economy was struggling in the 1970’s. • (1) LBJ’s federal deficit spending (spending more money than you tax) on the Vietnam War and Great Society Programs which led to inflation • (2) rising cost of oil

25. OPEC negatively affects the American economy • Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) • U.S. support of rival Israel led Arab oil rich nations to embargo or stop selling oil to us • Also raised prices of oil by 130%

26. Ford Pardons Nixon • Within the first month of his Presidency, Ford officially pardoned Nixon on 9-8-74 • Lowered his approval rating

28. Jimmy Carter • Became a very successful farmer and small business owner and politician in Georgia • Elected 39th President in 1976 as an “outsider” • Inability to solve the nation’s economic problems • Inexperienced and did not work well with Congress

29. Carter’s Struggles • Suffered from more energy issues • Rising inflation • High interest rates • Carter lacked the answers • Approval rating dipped to 26% by 1979

30. The Camp David Accords • Violence between Israel and Egypt had been taking place since the late 60’s • Carter invited Egyptian and Israeli leaders to Camp David in September of 1978 • Persuaded the leaders to stay there until the framework for a peace treaty was reached; sign agreement in 79

31. The Iran Hostage Crisis • U.S. had been supporting the Shah of Iran long before Carter to help halt Soviet aggression in the middle east • The Shah was trying to westernize and modernize Iranian society which didn’t fly with most of his citizens

32. Iranian Revolution • Revolution begins and the Shah fled the country in Jan. of 1979 • The Ayatollah Khomeini (right) takes power in Iran • Had a fervent hatred of the west, the U.S. in particular

33. Hostage Crisis • The Shah arrives in New York for cancer treatment in October of 1979 • On November 4, an armed mob stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran • Seized the diplomats and military personnel inside, demanding the Shah’s capture and return to Iran in exchange for the return of the 53 hostages • These Americans remained in the Embassy for over a year before they were released at the very beginning of Reagan’s Presidency

34. End of Iran Hostage Crisis • On Reagan’s inauguration day (pure coincidence), the 53 hostages in Iran were released (444 days into the crisis) in exchange for the release of billions of dollars of Iranian assets that Carter had frozen in American banks

35. Soviets Invade Afghanistan • December 27, 1979 • Carter: “the gravest threat to world peace since WWII” • Carter imposed economic sanctions (wheat embargo) on the Soviet Union and canceled American participation in the upcoming 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics

36. Story of Charlie Wilson • Small town Texan • Finished 8th from the bottom of his class at the U.S. Naval Academy • At age 27, accidentally won a seat in the Texas House in 1960 after his mother and sister went door to door campaigning for him while he was overseas • Won seat to the House in Washington from Texas in 1972

37. Wilson in Washington • Known as “Good Time Charlie” • Staffed his office with young, attractive women (Charlie’s Angels) and was known for a reckless partying playboy in Washington • Never associated with the great issues of the day • Underneath it all, Wilson remained strongly anti-communist and secretly desired to play a more active role in the containment of communism worldwide

38. Wilson takes on the Soviets • Wilson reads an article describing the plight of millions of Afghani refugees from the Soviet invasion • Around the same time, Wilson had been named to the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, a group of 12 men in the U.S. House of Representatives responsible for funding CIA operations. • He decided to use his seat, through a series of backroom deals, to secretly steer billions of dollars to the Afghan rebels, known as the Mujahedeen.

39. Charlie Wilson’s War Begins • The appropriation for Afghanistan grew from a fewmillion dollars in the early 1980s to an astounding $750 million a year by the end of the decade. • As the money began to flow, the CIA put Gust Avrakotos in charge of the operation • Avrakotos formed a small band of agency officers who arranged to have weapons and satellite intelligence maps sent across Pakistan's border into Afghanistan on the backs of mules.

40. Once the Mujahedeen had the weapons in their hands to knock down the Russian Mi-24 Hind helicopter, they gradually started defeating the Soviet Superpower (see V.C. in Vietnam) • By 1991, The Soviets had completely crossed back over their border and the Afghani War was over • Poor mountain people with spirit and top secret assistance from the CIA were able to defeat one of the most powerful militaries on the planet

41. Aftermath of Charlie Wilson’s War • U.S. government neglects to help clean up the mess from this decade long war • No infrastructure, schools, hospitals, government, organization, or leadership was given to the Afghani people throughout the 90’s • By the end of the decade, theTaliban used old American weapons and military tactics to seize power in Afghanistan • While receiving millions, maybe billions in support, Al-Qaeda was allowed to train for their terrorist missions there

42. Al-Qaeda is most famous for this

43. Ultimate Irony • When the U.S. goes to war against the Taliban in October of 2001 in response to the September 11 attacks, the Taliban was using American-made weapons and using American military combat tactics from their CIA training back in the 80’s to fight us • See Charlie Wilson’s War

44. Navy Seals kill bin Laden (May 1, 2011)