The Stalemated Seventies
1)
Sources of Stagnation
a)
Americans had enjoyed a long economic
boom50s and 60s. 70's would mark the end.
b) Low productivity during the
70s reasons for halt.
i)
Women and teens entered
the workforce usually as temps.
ii)
Machines were old and run down
iii) the "upward
spiral of inflation". Vietnam War cost helped inflation, but due to increased oil prices.
iv)
boom-years had put
more money in people's hands. prices went up.
c)
Germany and Japan were rebuilt and caught up to America's econ lead
2)
Nixon “Vietnamizes” the War
a)
Nixon promised to end the war. He started "Vietnamization": returning U.S. troops and turning the war over to the Vietnamese.
i)
"Nixon Doctrine": U.S.
would honor its commitments, but the Vietnamese would have to go it without
massive American troop numbers.
b)
America was divided, opponents—hawks wanted action, doves wanted immediate leave protested
i)
Nixon appealed to the “silent majority”, ppl who supported
the war, without protesting.
c) the fighting was left to the poorer classes.
i) young men in college recieved a
deferment from the draft
ii)
African-Americans suffered high casualties rates compared to whites.
iii)
Vietnam
"grunts" (ground soldiers) barley graduated from high school (average
age was 19).
d)
Morale was low too. A bogged down
war, with high casualties and no clear mission led to drugs, mutiny, sabotage,
and "fragging" troop's own officers. Frustration was best seen in the
infamous My Lai Massacre (1968).
i)
At that village, U.S. troops snapped
and killed the entire village, including women and children.
ii)
My Lai increased protest at home and
helped lead to charges of "baby killers"—an unfair charge for nearly
all of the troops.
3)
Cambodianizing the Vietnam War
a)
The North Vietnamese had been using
their neighbor as a staging-ground for attacks. The land was out-of-bounds for
U.S. troops, but the North channeled supplies through Cambodia down the "Ho Chi Minh Trail."
i)
In 1970, Nixon ordered the U.S. to
invade Cambodia to put a stop to the uneven playing field.
b)
On U.S. universities, there was much
protest to moving into Cambodia. The logic went, "The U.S. is not at war
with Cambodia, why are we invading there?"
i)
A protest at Kent State University got out of hand and the National Guard was
called in to disperse the protestors. For some reason, the Guard opened fire
and killed four protesters.
ii)
A similar situation occurred at
Jackson State College killing two.
iii)
The rift between hawks and doves had
widened. Nixon pulled out of Cambodia after only two months. U.S. troops
resented Nixon's reversal and having to fight with "one hand tied behind
their back."
c)
Congress was regretting the blank
check (Tonkin Gulf Resolution). The Senate repealed the Resolution (this was
symbolic only).
d)
The Twenty-sixth Amendment (1971) was passed. It lowered the voting
age to 18. The reasoning was that 18 and 19 year olds should be allowed to vote
for the politicians sending them off to war.
e)
The New York Times dropped a
bombshell in June 1971. They broke the "Pentagon Papers"—a top secret study that showed goof-ups by
JFK and LBJ.
i)
The Pentagon Papers helped to the
the "credibility gap"
which was the gap between what the government said (the war is going great) and
the reality (it wasn't).
4)
Nixon’s Détente with Beijing
(Peking) and Moscow
a)
China and the Soviet Union were
fighting (literally at times) over what it means to be a communist. Nixon saw
this as a chance to step in and play one against the other.
b)
National security adviser Henry A. Kissinger had been secretly
meeting in Paris with North Vietnamese officials in hopes of working to an end
of the war. He was also preparing the way for Nixon to visit China and Russia.
c)
Nixon did visit China, in 1972. It
was a symbolic visit where each side promised to get along better. Three months
later, Nixon went to Russia. With better U.S.-China relations, he felt Russia
would be inclined to give in a bit. He was right.
i)
The U.S.S.R. was low on food. A deal
was struck where the U.S. would sell $750+ million grain to the Soviets.
ii)
There was some disarmament as well.
America and the Soviets agreed to an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) reduction and
to a string of "Strategic Arms Limitations Talks" (SALT).
(1)
This was a hollow victory though.
The quantity may have been limited, but agreements could be easily
ignored and were by both sides.
(2)
Plus, the move was now toward "MIRVs" (multiple independently
targeted reentry vehicles) where several nuclear weapons were mounted on a
single missile.
d)
Still, getting along better with
China and Russia brought on another round of détente (eased tensions).
e)
Nixon was still against communism.
This is seen in the government's involvement in Latin American governments that
were possibly going red.
5)
A New Team on the Supreme Bench
a)
Under Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Supreme Court had made a noticeable
shift to the left (liberal side) and was activist. Nixon fussed about this
move. Several cases showed the trend…
b)
Griswold
v. Connecticut (1965) - Struck down a state law
banning contraceptive use as a "right of privacy."
c)
A series of cases gave rights to
defendants in criminal cases.
i)
Gideon v.
Wainwright (1963) - Said all defendants were
entitled to a lawyer.
ii)
The Escobedo and Miranda
cases (1966) - Said arrested individuals must be told their rights.
d)
New York
Times v. Sullivan (1964) - A public figure could only
sue for libel if "malice" on the writer's part could be proven. This
opened wide the door for jabs at politicians and movies stars.
e)
Engel v.
Vitale (1962) and School District of
Abington Township v. Schempp (1963) - Removed prayer and the Bible from
schools, arguing the First Amendment separates church and state.
f)
Reynolds
v. Sims (1964) - Forbade creative district
lines that made some people's votes weigh more than others. This type of
gerrymandering had been used by southern whites to keep power.
g)
Nixon sought to change the Court's
liberal trend by appointing otherwise-minded justices. Warren E. Burger was quickly nominated, accepted, and became chief
justice. Nixon appointed a total of four supposedly conservative justices.
i)
However, justices are free to rule
as they wish, not how the president wants. The Burger Court was reluctant to
undo what the Warren Court had done.
ii)
Evidence of how the court was not
conservative came with the Roe v. Wade decision (1973) which legalized
abortion.
6)
Nixon on the Home Front
a)
Contrary to what one might guess
from a conservative, Nixon made the Great Society programs grow. For example:
i)
Money for Medicare, Medicaid, and
Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) increased. The Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) was created to help the old, blind, and disabled. Social
Security would be automatically increased with inflation.
b)
In his controversial
"Philadelphia Plan", trade-unions were required to set "goals
and timetables" for hiring blacks.
i)
The policy was extended to all
federal contracts. It forced businesses to hire a quota of minorities.
ii)
The Supreme Court backed Nixon in Griggs
v. Duke Power Co. (1971).
(1)
The court prohibited things like
intelligence tests, saying they limited women and minorities in some fields.
The court suggested hiring proportions should be the same ratio as the
population.
iii)
To many, especially white males, the
idea of "affirmative action" had turned into "preferential
treatment" or "reverse discrimination."
c)
Environmental laws were passed.
i)
The godmother of the modern
environmental movement was Rachel
Carson. She wrote Silent Spring (1962) about the ill-effects of
the pesticide DDT.
ii)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was formed in 1970 along
with the Occupational Health and Safety Admin. (OSHA) to set safety standards in workplaces.
iii)
The Clean Air Act (1970) and the Endangered Species Act (1973) were passed. Symbolically,
"Earth Day" began.
d)
Back to the economy, Nixon tried to
halt inflation by imposing a 90-day wage and price freeze in 1971.
i)
He surprisingly took the U.S. off
the gold standard and devalued the dollar. This ended the "Bretton
Woods" system of currency stabilization set after WWII.
e)
As a minority president (he'd gotten
only 43% of the votes), Nixon gathered southern support by appointing
conservative justices, paying little attention to civil rights, and opposing
school busing.
7)
The Nixon Landslide of 1972
a)
North Vietnam attacked across the
dividing line (the "DMZ") in 1972. Nixon responded by ramping up
bombings and mining the harbors of the North.
i)
The fear was that Russia and China
might respond—they didn't, thanks to Nixon's smoothing of relations.
b)
The presidential election of 1972
saw Nixon seek reelection. The Democrats nominated George McGovern who promised to end the war in 90 days.
i)
McGovern was supported by young
adults and women. His campaign was hurt when it became known that his V.P.
candidate, Thomas Eagleton, had
received psychiatric treatment.
ii)
12 days before the election, Henry
Kissinger announced that "peace is at hand" and an agreement would be
announced in a few days. Nixon won in a huge way, 520 to 17.
c)
The agreement Kissinger had spoken of
didn't come just yet. Nixon ramped up the bombings in attempt to drive the
North back to the bargaining table, it work, and on January 23, 1973 a
cease-fire was reached.
i)
Nixon declared "peace with
honor", but it was hollow. The U.S. would withdraw, but the North kept
145,000 soldiers and 30% of the South occupied.
8)
The Secret Bombing of Cambodia and
the War Powers Act
a)
In mid-1973, people were surprised
to learn that the U.S. had made some 3,500 secret bombings of Cambodia. This
despite assurances from the government that Cambodia's neutrality was intact.
The "credibility gap" widened.
i)
Nixon's goal had been to hurt the
communists there and help the non-communists.
ii)
The end result was that, in the
chaos, a tyrant named Pol Pot
killed some 2 million of his own people.
b)
Congress set out to ensure that no
"blank check" like the Tonkin Gulf Resolution would be passed again.
i)
Congress passed the War Powers Act (1973). It said (1) the
president must report to Congress within 48 hours of putting troops in harms
way in a foreign country and (2) there would be a 60 to 90 day limit.
ii)
This law helped start what was
called the "New Isolationism."
9)
The Arab Oil Embargo and the Energy
Crisis
a)
The Arab nations were unhappy about
their loss to Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. In 1973, Egypt and Syria
attacked Israel trying to win back lands lost.
i)
America aided Israel, while
Kissinger helped keep the Soviets out of the fray. After tense times, an uneasy
peace was reached.
ii)
But, Arab nations were not pleased
at America's support of Israel.
b)
In October of 1973, Arab nations
placed an embargo on oil.
i)
Long lines formed at gas stations
and prices of gas skyrocketed in the U.S.
c)
The "energy crisis"
changed things in America.
i)
The Alaska pipeline was approved to
flow oil southward.
ii)
A 55 MPH speed limit was set to
conserve fuel. Americans also moved to smaller cars, like the VW Bug.
iii)
There were calls for more use of
coal and nuclear power.
d)
The embargo was lifted after 5
months. But, the message was clear: America was addicted to oil and the Middle
East had nearly all of the cards in their hands.
i)
Using OPEC to exert their will, the
Arab nations nearly quadrupled the price of oil by the end of the 70s.
10)
Watergate and the Unmaking of a
President
a)
During the campaign, five men had
been caught breaking into the Democratic party's headquarters in the Watergate
building. They were snooping files and planting microphones. It was discovered
they were part of CREEP (the
Committee to Reelect the President).
i)
The question became, "Who
ordered this and who knew of this?" Nixon said he knew nothing of the
business.
ii)
At about the same time, Nixon's
V.P., Spiro Agnew, had his own
mini-scandal involving past bribes. Agnew resigned and Gerald Ford was chosen as the new Vice President.
b)
The Senate investigated Watergate. A
former White House lawyer, John Dean,
accused Nixon of a cover-up (to quiet anyone with any knowledge). It was then
learned Nixon had tape recordings of all Oval Office conversations, so the
tapes were sought. Nixon refused which looked bad.
i)
Also, in the "Saturday Night
Massacre", Nixon fired Watergate investigators and the attorney general,
which also looked bad.
ii)
Some tapes were handed over in 1974
at the Supreme Court's ruling. They revealed Nixon's foul mouth—embarrassing
but not impeachable.
iii)
A month later, impeachment for
"obstruction of justice" was going forward so Nixon handed over all
of the tapes. Those revealed Nixon had indeed ordered a cover-up—this
was an impeachable offense.
c)
Rather than get booted out of
office, Nixon resigned on August 8, 1974. Gerald Ford was sworn in as the new
president.
11)
The First Unelected President
a)
Gerald
Ford became president without anyone
ever voting for him, either for president or vice president.
b)
He was seen as a nice guy, more of
an everyman, but a bit of an average-minded and clumsy fellow. None of the
negatives were really fair, but that was much of the public view.
c)
Surprisingly, Ford pardoned Nixon
for any illegal actions he might have done.
i)
This smelled stinky. The deal appeared
to have been…Ford was chosen V.P. so that if Nixon ever got into trouble, Ford
would cover his back. There is no way to know this, but that was the
perception. This would hurt Ford in the 1976 election.
ii)
Later, Ford's popularity went
downhill when he gave amnesty to draft dodgers. He felt they'd not
served out of heartfelt reasons, so they were welcome to return to the U.S.
d)
Ford's foreign relation activities
centered on the Helsinki accords
with the U.S.S.R. In these agreements, (1) the boundaries of eastern Europe
were agreed upon, (2) agreements were made on traveling from the U.S. and
U.S.S.R., and (3) guarantees were made of human rights.
i)
To many Americans, détente was
benefiting Russia, but America was getting little in return.
12)
Defeat in Vietnam
a)
America's goal in Vietnam was to
contain communism. America left in 1973, generally having done that. In
1975, however, North Vietnam overran and took over South Vietnam.
i)
It was embarrassing that the last
Americans were evacuated from the rooftop of the American embassy by helicopter.
b)
Technically, America didn't lose the
war. America left when it was a tie, then the U.S.-supported South Vietnam
lost. But, in reality and in perception, America lost.
13)
Feminist Victories and Defeats
a)
The feminist movement of the 60s
gained some steam entering the 70s.
b)
Congress passed "Title IX" (1972) which prohibited
sex discrimination in any federally-funded educational program. This was best
seen in the rise of girls' sports to equal boys'.
c)
The Supreme Court heard cases
regarding women.
i)
Reed v.
Reed and Frontiero v. Richardson,
dealt with sex discrimination in laws and jobs.
ii)
The Roe v. Wade (1973) case
legalized abortion.
d)
The proposed "Equal Rights Amendment" (ERA)
passed Congress in 1972. ERA sought to legislate equality by stating equal
rights can't be denied due to gender.
i)
Next, 38 states needed to ratify ERA
for passage as a Constitutional Amendment. 28 states ratified it quickly.
Feminists were energized.
ii)
At this point, opposition stalled
ERA. Essentially, the opposition felt ERA would undercut and deteriorate the
family.
(1)
National child care was proposed.
The thinking was that this would weaken family life.
(2)
The feminist movement was seen as
the cause of divorce. The divorce rate had tripled between 1960 and '76.
(3)
Many despised abortion. Catholics and
other Christians viewed pregnancy as a blessing and charged the feminists
viewed it as an inconvenience.
(4)
The leader against ERA was Phyliss Schlafly. She traveled the
country advocating "STOP ERA" and advocating traditional roles for
women.
(5)
ERA was failed in 1982, 3 states
short of the needed 38.
14)
The Seventies in Black and White
a)
The race issue wouldn't go away. In Milliken v. Bradley, the Supreme
Court ruled that, while integrating schools, officials could not force students
across district lines.
i)
The practicality of this was that
integration took a hit. If students went to their nearest school, the
schools would stay largely segregated.
ii)
The "white flight" to the
suburbs sped up. What was left behind to deal with the tensions of integration
were the less-advantaged classes of society.
b)
"Affirmative action"
(giving preference to minorities in selection) led to charges of "reverse
discrimination."
i)
The idea was that affirmative action
meant selection for colleges or jobs based on race, not on achievement.
ii)
In the Bakke case (1978), the Supreme Court dealt with reverse
discrimination.
(1)
Bakke had sued saying he'd been
turned down grad school due to policies that favored minorities. He won. The
Court said admission preference could not be based on race.
(2)
Paradoxically, the court also said
race can be used in the overall admission policies to help
balance out the student body's demographics.
(3)
Thurgood
Marshall was the only black justice. He
voted against Bakke and said the decision might undo years of civil rights progress.
15)
The Bicentennial Campaign and the
Carter Victory
a)
1976 was the nation's bicentennial
celebration. After years of race problems, Vietnam, and Watergate. Despite all
of the turmoil and ousting a president, America and the Constitution had
survived. America needed a celebration.
b)
It was also an election year.
President Ford tried to get elected on his own, the Democrats chose Jimmy Carter.
i)
Carter capitalized on being a
“Washington outsider,” and therefore untainted by the supposed corruption of
D.C. (he’d previously been governor of Georgia).
ii)
The election was very close, but the
Republican "brand" had been too tarnished by Watergate nonsense.
Carter won 297 to 240.
c)
Congress also went heavily Democrat.
During his "honeymoon period", Carter got a new Dept. of Energy established. He also
got a tax cut through.
i)
Carter's honeymoon was short though.
Being a political outsider was good during the election, but not good inside
Washington D.C. where "back-slapping" and "back-scratching"
is how things get done.
16)
Carter’s Humanitarian Diplomacy
a)
Jimmy Carter was a devout Christian
and had a high concern for human rights. That would be his guiding principle
when it came to foreign policy.
i)
For example, he expressed his
concern and support for the oppressed people of Zimbabwe (called Rhodesia
then).
b)
Carter's crowning foreign policy
achievement was a Middle East peace settlement.
i)
Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli president Menachem Begin met Carter at Camp
David in 1978.
ii)
They shook hands and agreed that
Israel would withdraw from lands gained in the Six-Day War (1967) and Israel's
borders would be respected.
c)
Full diplomatic relations with China
were reestablished.
d)
Another agreement planned to turn
over the Panama Canal to Panama by the year 2000 (and did).
e)
To many, Carter's policies seemed
nice, but soft and too willing to give.
i)
Plus, the Cold War kept on going.
Thousands of Soviet backed Cuban troops showed up in various African countries
to support communist forces there. Carter made no response.
17)
Economic and Energy Woes
a)
Carter had worse problems than
foreign affairs—the economy was tanking.
i)
Inflation was rising by 13% in 1979
(4% is normal). The cost of importing oil was skyrocketing.
ii)
Carter proposed energy conservation
laws, but they weren't well received.
iii)
Interest rates were very high as
well. This meant borrowing money (to buy a home for example) was too expensive.
b)
Along with oil, the Middle East gave
Carter more headaches in 1979 when the shah of Iran was ousted by Islamic
fundamentalists. The shah had been put into power with help from the CIA and
was seen as a symbol of the West and the U.S.
i)
The new Muslim government took over
the oil fields. Oil production went down and OPEC raised oil prices farther.
ii)
Carter went to Camp David, talked
with energy experts, then scolded America for its dependence on oil and
materialism. This was probably true, but it was a scolding, not an energy
solution.
(1)
Within a few days he fired four
cabinet members and reverted to his close-knit Georgia crew. Some wondered if
Carter was losing touch with the people.
18)
Foreign Affairs and the Iranian
Imbroglio
a)
Another high-note for Carter came
with the SALT II agreements. He met with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and agreed to limit nuclear weapons.
i)
The high-note was short lived—the
Senate was very reluctant to ratify the agreement.
b)
At the same time, militant Muslim
radicals in Iran stormed the U.S. embassy in Teheran and took everyone hostage.
i)
The militants demanded that the U.S.
hand over the shah who'd fled earlier. Worse, what would the U.S. do about the
52 Americans being held hostage?
ii)
Another bad event at the same time
mixed the Cold War, oil, and the Muslim World.
(1)
The Soviet Union suddenly attacked
and took over Afghanistan (Dec. 1979). This move threatened (1) to expand communism,
(2) oil fields and production, and (3) next-door neighbor Iran.
c)
Carter reacted by placing an embargo
on the U.S.S.R. and by boycotting the 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow.
i)
He proposed setting up a "Rapid
Deployment Force" for trouble-spots and asked that young people, including
women, be required to register for a possible military draft.
ii)
Carter admitted he'd misjudged the
Soviets at the SALT II talks. This is when SALT II died.
d)
The Iran hostage situation was still
going—it would be the undoing of Carter.
i)
The U.S. tried economic sanctions,
they failed.
ii)
A secret rescue mission was planned
and tried. It literally went down in flames in a sandstorm.
iii)
Carter was unable to resolve the
Iran hostage situation. Fair or not, the American hostages in Iran became a
symbol of problems which Carter could not solve.
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