Presidency Chart – Richard M. Nixon (37th) (1969 – 1974)
Election of 1968
/Election of 1972
Candidates:Nixon & Agnew– GOP = winner
Hubert Humphrey – Demo.
George Wallace – American Independent Party
Issue: Vietnam War
· Nixon appealed to what he called the "silent majority" of socially conservative Americans who disliked the hippie counterculture, and anti-war demonstrators.
· Nixon promised peace with honor, and, though never claiming to be able to win the war, Nixon did say that "new leadership will end the war and win the peace in the Pacific". / Candidates:
Nixon & Agnew – GOP winner
George McGovern – Demo.
Issues: radicalism & the Vietnam War
· Nixon, proclaiming that peace was at hand in Vietnam because of his policies, ridiculed McGovern as the radical candidate of "acid, amnesty and abortion."
· Nixon won the election in a landslide, with a 23.2% margin of victory in the popular vote, the largest such margin in Presidential election history.
Foreign Policy
Vietnam:
-Vietnamization =
-My Lai =
-Invasion of Cambodia =
-Kent State =
-Peace protests at home =
-Repeal of Gulf of Tonkin Resolution =In 1970 Nixon’s administration began to shift its stance. It asserted that its conduct of operations in southeast Asia was based not on the resolution but was a constitutional exercise of the President's authority, as commander in chief of US military forces, to take necessary steps to protect American troops as they were gradually withdrawn (the U.S. had begun withdrawing its forces from Vietnam in 1969 under a policy known as “Vietnamization”).
To those members of Congress who did not consider the resolution to be imprudent, the administration's position now made it seem meaningless. Rescinding it ceased to be controversial, and a provision to repeal it was attached to a bill that Nixon signed in January 1971. Seeking to assert limits on presidential authority to engage US forces without a formal declaration of war, Congress passed in 1973, over Nixon's veto, the War Powers Act, which is still in effect.
-Christmas Bombings (Dec., 1972) = Aerial bombings of N.Vietnam to get them to agree to a reasonable peace settlement. The operation was conducted from Dec. 18th to Dec. 29th, 1972 and saw the largest heavy bomber strikes launched by the U.S. Air Force since the end of WWII. On Dec. 26th, Hanoi notified Washington that it was willing to return to the talks.
-Cease fire agreement (Jan., 1973) =
Nixon Doctrine:
· Stated that the U.S. expected its allies to take care of their own military defense. The Doctrine argued for the pursuit of peace through a partnership with American allies.
· The doctrine is called Vietnamization in reference to Vietnam.
Yom Kippur War (Oct, 1973):
· Between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria.
· The war began with a surprise joint attack by Egypt and Syria on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Egypt and Syria crossed the cease-fire lines in the Sinai and Golan Heights, respectively, which had been captured by Israel in 1967 during the Six-Day War.
· The war had far-reaching implications for many nations. The Arab World, which had been humiliated by the lopsided defeat of the Egyptian-Syrian-Jordanian alliance during the Six-Day War, felt psychologically vindicated by its string of victories early in the conflict. This vindication paved the way for the peace process that followed (Camp David Accords).
Energy Crisis:
Kissinger’s “Shuttle Diplomacy”:
· the use of a third party to serve as an intermediary or mediator between two parties who do not talk directly.
· The third party travels frequently back and forth (that is, "shuttles") between the two primary parties. Shuttle diplomacy is often used when the two primary parties do not formally recognize each other but still want to negotiate.
· Kissinger, Nixon’s Sec. of State, used this with the Middle East and the PRC / Domestic Policy
Apollo 11:
Appoints Warren Burger Chief Justice:
Roe v. Wade:U.S. v. N.Y. Times: (Pentagon Papers)
U.S. v. Richard Nixon:
Woodstock:
Clean Air Act and EPA established (1970):· Clean Air Act extended in 1970 to reduce smog and atmospheric pollution in general
· The Environmental Protection Agency is a federal afency charged with protecting human health and with safeguarding the natural environment: air, water, and land. The EPA is not a Cabinet agency, but the Administrator is normally given cabinet rank.
26th Amendment (1971):
The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
War on Inflation (1971) wage and price controls:
· August = U.S. Government institutes Phase I price controls. Invoking the powers granted to the president by the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970, President Nixon orders 90-day nationwide freeze on all wages, prices, salaries and rents.
· November = U.S. Phase II price controls begin. Plan is to allow for gradual 2-3 percent annual price increases, however, domestic petroleum prices remain at Phase I levels.
War Powers Act (1973):
· Limits the power of the President to wage war without the approval of Congress.
· The purpose of the War Powers Resolution is to ensure that Congress and the President share in making decisions that may get the U.S. involved in hostilities.
· Portions of the War Powers Resolution require the President to consult with Congress prior to the start of any hostilities as well as regularly until U.S. armed forces are no longer engaged in hostilities…
· and to remove U.S. armed forces from hostilities if Congress has not declared war or passed a resolution authorizing the use of force within 60 days
· Following an official request by the President to Congress, the time limit can be extended by an additional 30 days (presumably when "unavoidable military necessity" requires additional action for a safe withdrawal).
Wounded Knee, SD (1973):
Resignation of Agnew and replacement with Ford (1973):
Watergate:
-Coverup =
-Saturday Night Massacre =
-Oval Office taping =
-Supreme Court orders Nixon to turn over tapes =
-Resignation =
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