The Stalemated Seventies

1. The Stalemated Seventies 1968-1980 Vietnam, Nixon, and Gerald Ford Chapter 40

2. Richard Nixon and the 70s • Economic Boom of 1950s and 60s had been depleted by the Great Society and Vietnam War of Lyndon Johnson • Richard Nixon wins the presidency in 1968 and 1972.

3. Nixon’s Plan to End Vietnam • Vietnamization – Richard Nixon’s plan to withdraw the 540,000 U.S. troops in South Vietnam over an extended period. • Nixon Doctrine proclaimed United States would honor its existing defense commitments but in the future, Asians and others would have to fight their own wars without the support of large numbers of American troops.

4. Nixon Widens The War • April 29, 1970 - ordered American forces to join with the South Vietnamese in attacking neutral Cambodia • Nixon withdrew US troops from Cambodia on June 29, 1970.

5. Youth Protest Vietnam War • In 1971, the 26th Amendment was passed, lowering the voting age to 18. • In the spring of 1971, mass rallies and marches erupted again all over the country as antiwar sentiment grew.

6. Detente • Nixon believed Chinese-Russian hostility provided US opportunity to push for peace in Vietnam • 1972 – Nixon Visits China

7. Nixon Visits China • Paved the way for better relations between Washington and Beijing. • 1969 – Henry Kissinger began to meet with North Vietnamese in Paris secretly.

8. Nixon Visits Russia • May 1972 – Richard Nixon Visits Moscow! • Détente – relaxed relationship with USSR and China • The Great Deal of 1972 – plan for US to sell $750 million of wheat, corn, and cereal • Nikita Kruschev and Nixon

9. S.A.L.T. • Strategic Arms Limitation Talks • froze the numbers of long-range nuclear missiles for 5 years • Détente – peaceful time between US and USSR • May 26, 1972 – Moscow, Russia

10. The Supreme Court • Earl Warren – 1953 – becomes Chief Justice • Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) • Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) • Escobedo (1964) and Miranda (1966) • President Nixon set Warren E. Burger to replace the retiring Earl Warren in 1969.

11. Election of 1972 • George McGovern (D) • Richard Nixon (R) • McGovern campaigned on leaving Vietnam in 90 days • Nixon wins in landslide

12. Bombing North Vietnam to the Peace Table • Nixon ordered a two-week bombing of North Vietnam in an attempt to force the North Vietnamese to the conference table • January 23, 1973 - cease-fire agreement really an American retreat…

13. Watergate • Washington, D.C. Hotel • June 17, 1972 - 5 men working for the Nixon Re-Election Committee were caught breaking into the Watergate Hotel and bugging rooms. • Great Scandal !!

14. Spiro Agnew • Conversations involving the Watergate scandal were discovered on tape • Nixon quickly refused to hand them over • 1973 – V.P. Spiro Agnew was forced to resign over tax evasion

15. Nixon Fires Staff • October 20, 1973 “Saturday Night Massacre” - Archibald Cox, prosecutor of Watergate scandal case who had issued a subpoena of the tapes, was fired.  • Both the A.G. and Dept. A.G. resigned because they, themselves did not want to fire Cox.

16. Nixon Resigns • August 8, 1974 – Nixon finally releases all tapes • These last 3 tapes held the damning evidence • August 8, 1974 – Richard M. Nixon resigns

17. Cambodia • 1973 - Cambodia was taken over by the dictator Pol Pot - later committed genocide of over 2 million people over a span of a few years. • War Powers Act –required the president to report all commitments of U.S. troops within 48 hrs.

18. Arab Oil Embargo and the Energy Crisis • Arab nations imposed an oil embargo after Israel’s Six-Day War • Speed Limit: 55mph • 1974 – Alaska Oil Pipeline approved • OPEC removed embargo in 1974 but quadrupled the price Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries

19. Gerald Ford • The Un-Elected President • August 8, 1974 – becomes president after resignation • Popularity sank when he issued Nixon full pardon • July 1975 – signed Helsinki Treaty relaxing relations with USSR even more

20. Loss In Vietnam • 1975 – North Vietnam invades South Vietnam • Ford requested aid but Congress refused • South Vietnam fell quickly • April 29, 1975 – US troops were evacuated

21. Vietnam • Estimated cost to America was $188 billion • 56,000 dead and 300,000 wounded • Lost face in the eyes of foreigners, lost self-esteem, lost confidence in military power, and lost much of the economic strength that had made possible global leadership after WWII.

22. Election of 1976 • Jimmy Carter (D) • Gerald Ford (R) • Carter defeats Ford promising never to lie to the public • 1978 – Carter gets $18 B tax cut through Congress • Economy cont. to crumble

23. Carter and Peace • Sept. 17, 1978 - President Anwar Sadat (Egypt) and P.M. Menachem Begin (Israel) - signed peace accords at Camp David • Israel gave up territory gains from 1967

24. Carter and the Late 70s • Inflation ’79 – 13% • Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini takes over Iran – fundamentalist Muslim • SALT II – Senate refused to ratify • Nov. 4, 1979 – Muslims take embassy workers in Iran hostage

25. Boycott ‘80 • December 27, 1979 - Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan • Soviet Union’s own Vietnam • Carter - embargo on the USSR and boycotted the Olympics in Moscow