American History II: Note Set #35: The Nixon Years
l Richard Nixon (1913 – 1994), 37th President (1969 – 74), Republican
l Had been Eisenhower’s Vice-President and had lost the 1960 presidential election
l Nixon had also lost the 1962 election for Governor of California, after which he temporarily withdrew from politics, pledging "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore”
l Entered the 1968 presidential election at the urging of his many Republican supporters
l Nixon and the Vietnam War
l A Shift in Strategy
l After becoming president in 1969, Nixon began gradually scaling back the number of US ground troops in Vietnam, turning the war over to US trained South Vietnamese troops in a process he termed “Vietnamization”
l At the same time, Nixon stepped up US air strikes against the North and allowed the bombing of Vietcong sanctuaries and supply routes in Cambodia
l Nixon wanted the US to be able to negotiate an end to the war with the North from a position of strength, so a complete US withdrawal wasn’t practical
l Henry Kissinger (1923 - Present)
l Kissinger was appointed by Nixon to try a diplomatic approach to ending the war
l Kissinger tried to improve US relations with China and the USSR in an effort to undermine their support for the Vietcong
l Also entered into secret cease-fire talks with North Vietnam, but these talks drug on for 4 years
l The My Lai Massacre
l An American platoon massacred over 200 unarmed Vietnamese civilians, mostly children and the elderly, in the village of My Lai in the spring of 1968
l When the story broke in Nov. 1969, Americans were horrified and many began to believe this one event was evidence that all US soldiers were becoming overly-violent “baby killers”
l The US Invades Cambodia
l In April 1970, Nixon announced that US troops had entered Cambodia to destroy Vietcong bases and supply lines
l Many Americans saw this as a widening of the war and as a betrayal of Nixon’s promise to end the war
l Anti-War Violence on College Campus
l May 4, 1970: Student protestors on the campus of Kent State University in Ohio were fired on by soldiers of the Ohio National Guard, killing 4 and wounding 9 - The "Kent State Massacre"
l 10 days later, police killed 2 student protestors at Jackson State College in Mississippi
l An Angry Congress
l Nixon did not inform Congress of his authorization of the invasion of Cambodia prior to the attacks
l December 1970: Congress repealed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, removing the president’s authority to solely direct the war
l The 26th Amendment (Ratified 1971)
l Public outcry had grown over drafting young men at age 18 when they could not vote until 21
l Rather than raise the age for military service, the voting age was lowered to 18
l The Pentagon Papers (1971)
l Former Dept. of Defense employee Daniel Ellsberg leaked classified documents to the New York Times
l These documents revealed that the White House and military had deliberately acted to deceive Congress, the media, and the public about how the war was progressing
l After the leak, Nixon attempted to prevent the Times from publishing the information, claiming that it was a violation of the Espionage Act to publish classified government papers
l The Supreme Court ruled in New York Times v US (1971) that 1st Amendment Freedom of Press rights held, since the government could offer no justification for prior restraint
l The Christmas Bombings
l After peace talks broke down in December 1972, Nixon ordered a wide-scale bombing campaign against the North
l B-52 bombers hit targets in North Vietnam for 11 straight days
l To stop the bombing, the North agreed to return to the bargaining table
l The Paris Peace Accords (Signed Jan. 27, 1973)
l The US promised to withdraw all troops, ending its military involvement in the war
l Both sides agreed to exchange prisoners
l North Vietnamese troops were NOT required to withdraw from the South
l No permanent peace was promised between North and South
l The War Powers Act of 1973
l Congress passed the War Powers Act to place limits on the president’s power to engage the military in combat operations
l The Act requires the president to inform Congress within 48 hours of committing US troops to military action and to withdraw those troops within 60 to 90 days unless Congress approves their mission
l The Costs of Vietnam
l US spent $170 billion on the war
l Over 58,000 American dead and over 300,000 wounded
l Over 1700 Americans remain “Missing In Action” (MIA), their fates unknown
l Over 1 million refugees from Southeast Asia emigrated to the US
l Many Americans lost faith in their government’s ability to be honest with them
l The Counter-culture Movement
l Upper and middle class white youth began to abandon the mores of their parents’ generation and create a new society, one that promoted the virtues of “sex, drugs, and rock and roll”
l Sometimes these “hippies” lived and worked together in classless communes, pursuing the ideals of tolerance and cooperation, or pursuing new religious experiences such as Unification (a messianic cult) or Hare Krishna (an offshoot of Hinduism)
l The Woodstock Music Festival (August 1969)
l Music festival, held in upstate New York
l Over 500,000 hippies attended this celebration of love, peace, and rock and roll that was the pinnacle of the counter-culture movement
l Nixon and Civil Rights
l Swann v Charlotte-Mecklenburg (1971)
l Many Southern school systems were deliberately slow obey the Supreme Court's Brown v Board of Education (1954) order to integrate
l In 1971, following a lawsuit against the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (NC) School System, the Supreme Court ordered that students be bused, districts redrawn, and racial quotas be used to fully integrate schools
l The Congressional Black Caucus (Founded in 1971)
l African-American members of the US Congress created the CBC in order to work together on matters of interest to black Americans and other minority groups, especially economic development, health care, and crime
l Hispanic-Americans Fight for Equality
l As the number of Hispanic-Americans swelled during the 1960s, so did their political power and their desire to be treated as equals in employment, housing, and education
l César Chavez (1927 – 1993)
l Organized a largely Hispanic labor workforce to demand better wages, benefits, and union recognition from California grape-growers
l When the growers resisted, he organized a boycott on grapes which forced the growers to pay better wages
l Dolores Huerta (1930 – Present)
l Huerta directed the grape boycott and helped Chavez found the United Farm Workers in 1966, which went on to become a part of the powerful AFL-CIO labor union
l Huerta was more political than Chavez – he organized the workers, she organized the political support
l La Raza Unida
l Political party founded in 1969 by Jose Angel Gutierrez
l Created to mobilize Mexican-American voters to elect candidates who supported job training programs and greater access to loans for Hispanics
l Demonstrated the increased political strength of Latino voters
l The Bilingual Education Act of 1968
l Passed in response to claims by Hispanic students that they were at a disadvantage to English-speaking students when they were required to learn in English before they had mastered the language
l Created ESL programs to accommodate non-English speakers
l Native Americans Fight for Equality
l One of America’s smallest minority groups, making up less than 1% of the population
l Suffered from high unemployment, extremely low standard-of-living, very little education, and a life-expectancy 7 years shorter than other American citizens
l The Declaration of Indian Purpose (1961)
l 67 Native American groups met in Chicago to discuss ways to address the problems faced by their peoples
l Called for the federal government to allow more economic development on reservations
l The Indian Civil Rights Act (1968)
l Guaranteed Native Americans who lived on reservations full protection under the Bill of Rights while also recognizing the legitimacy of tribal laws
l Native Americans no longer had to choose whether to exercise their constitutional rights or their tribal rights – they could have both
l The American Indian Movement (AIM)
l Militant group created in the mid-1960s to take a more aggressive stance against the US government in standing up for better treatment of Native Americans and better living conditions on reservations
l Alcatraz & BIA Occupations
l AIM engaged in acts of occupation as staged media events, such as seizing Alcatraz Island for 19 months in 1969, seizing control of a replica of the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock, occupying Mt. Rushmore, and seizing the Washington DC offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1971
l Confrontation at Wounded Knee
l AIM’s protests became more serious and more violent in 1973 when AIM members seized the town of Wounded Knee, site of the famous Indian massacre, and engaged in an armed standoff with the FBI for 70 days that left 2 AIM members dead
l Indian Self-Determination & Educational Assistance Act (1975)
l In response to Native American activism, Congress agreed to increase funds for education and allow more local control over federal aid programs
l Allowed more Native Americans to assume decision-making roles within the BIA
l Increased Self-determination
l Native American groups were given more autonomy over reservation lands, such as being allowed to impose taxes and to open casinos to create revenues which has allowed for some improvement in the standard-of-living for Native Americans
l Women Fight for Equality
l Betty Friedan (1921 – 2006)
l Her book The Feminine Mystique (1963), is often called the beginning of the modern feminist movement
l The book focused on the dissatisfaction felt by American women with their roles as housewives and mothers and led to creation of women’s groups around the nation
l The National Organization for Women (NOW)
l NOW was founded in 1966 by Betty Friedan
l Pushed for greater educational opportunities for women
l Pushed for women to be more included in professions such as law, politics, engineering, and medicine
l Targeted unfair practice of paying women less than men for the same types of work
l Gloria Steinem (1934 – Present)
l Feminist journalist who helped found and edit Ms., a magazine designed especially for the women’s liberation movement
l In many ways, Steinem became the national spokesperson for the movement due to her willingness to do televised interviews and speeches
l “Bra-burning”
l As the feminist movement grew, women showed their rejection of male-dominated culture by rejecting the use of bras, high-heeled shoes, and other “beauty” products
l They also became outspoken in their distaste for the objectification of women in beauty pageants, advertising, and pornography
l The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
l Constitutional Amendment passed by Congress in 1972, but never ratified by the states
l Designed to protect women from discrimination, but many feared that if passed it would cost women many of their traditional rights such as alimony in divorce
l Phyllis Schlafly (1924 – Present)
l Political activist and outspoken opponent to the feminist movement
l Organized the STOP-ERA movement (Stop Taking Our Privileges) which is credited with defeating ratification of the ERA
l Argued that ERA would lead to women being drafted into the military, unisex public bathrooms, and loss of marital perks
l Roe v. Wade (1973)
l Supreme Court decision which ruled that women have the right to decide whether or not to terminate a pregnancy because of a constitutionally implied right to privacy
l States cannot restrict abortion during the first trimester, but can create limits during the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy
l Case remains extremely controversial to this day
l The Space Race Continues
l Project Gemini (1965 – 1966)
l Could carry 2 astronauts
l 10 manned flights cost $5.4 billion
l Purpose was to develop the technologies that would be needed to make longer space flights possible (such as a trip to the moon and back)
l The Apollo Program
l Series of 6 manned missions to the moon between 1969 and 1972
l Each Apollo craft carried 3 astronauts
l Suffered two major accidents: during the Apollo I training exercise in 1967, 3 astronauts died in an oxygen fire, and an explosion onboard Apollo 13 forced the crew to abort the mission
l Cost $25.4 billion
l “The Eagle has landed” (July 20, 1969)
l Apollo 11 became the first manned-mission to land on the moon after a 4 day journey
l Represented a major victory for the US, since we had finally surpassed Soviet achievement in space (to this day, no other nation has landed astronauts on the moon)
l Neil Armstrong (1930 – 2012)
l The first of only 12 men to walk on the moon
l Former Navy pilot and Korean War veteran, Armstrong retired from NASA almost immediately after returning from the moon and became a professor
l “That’s one small step for a man … one giant leap for mankind.”
l After the success of the Apollo program, Americans tired of the “space race” – we had clearly beaten the Soviets and Americans were now distracted by more “down to earth” matters such as the Vietnam War, Civil Rights, and Watergate
l Nixon Practiced Détente (the easing of hostilities) to Try to End the Cold War
l Nixon looked to improve relations with both communist China and the Soviet Union
l In 1972, Nixon became the first US president to visit China, hoping to exploit a rift between the Chinese and Russians and gain influence
l The Soviets responded by welcoming Nixon to Moscow just 3 months later
l Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I), (1972)
l US and Soviets agreed to limit the number and type of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) held by each nation
l Led to dramatically improved relations with the Soviet Union
l Nixon’s “New Federalism”
l Nixon supported turning over many federal programs to local and state governments who could run them more efficiently; these governments would then be provided with federal funds to run the programs
l Over time, however, this system made the federal government more powerful, since it could threaten to withhold funding unless local and state governments met certain conditions
l The Watergate Scandal
l June 17, 1972: 5 men were caught breaking into the Democratic Party’s national headquarters in the Watergate complex of Washington DC
l All 5 were tied to the Republican Party’s Committee to Re-Elect the President (CReeP)
l Investigative journalists uncovered evidence tying several key Nixon aides (but not Nixon himself) directly to the plot, forcing Nixon to fire the aides
l The Cover-Up
l Nixon appointed Archibald Cox as special prosecutor to oversee the Watergate investigation