nixon, ford & cartermrnicksullivan.weebly.com/.../nixon_presidency.pdf · the nixon campaign...

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RichardNixonAdministraCon

NIXON&THEECONOMY

I.  President Richard M. Nixon wanted to turn the U.S. in a more conservative direction.

II.  He tried to decrease the power of the federal government and give more power to the States

Nixon’s plan was called New Federalism.

I.  It’s goal was to give federal power to the states.

II.  Allowed state & local governments to spend federal money however they wanted (revenue sharing)

NixonInOfficeI.  Nixon ended the Vietnam war in 1973

A.  South Vietnam became communist in 1975

II.  Nixon increased government spending on: A.  Social security, Medicare & food stamps

III.  Nixon attacked crime: A.  Worked for “silent majority” = average Americans B.  End violent riots & protests

I.  Nixon immediately attempted to ensure he would get reelected in 1972

II.  To achieve this, he used what he called a Southern strategy to win the support of Southerners.

Southern Strategy

I.  Nixon needed the southern votes to assure reelection in 1972

A.  Nixon tried to appeal to southern Democrats and get them to switch to the Republican party

II.  Nixon slowed civil rights legislation passed while LBJ was in office

A.  Stop school integration (southerners don’t want that) B.  Do not extend the Voting Rights Act 1965

I.  Nixon believed that the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren was too liberal.

II.  Nixon would appoint 4 conservative Supreme Court justices

I.  One of the biggest problems facing the USA was a weak economy.

II.  Between 1967 & 1973, inflation & unemployment increased. This is known as STAGFLATION.

StagflaCon

I.  Stagflation occurred due to increased global trade competition

A.  Harder for Americans to sell their goods (everyone is producing)

II.  Baby boomers need jobs (too many people, not enough work)

III.  The government spent too much money in Vietnam (deficit spending)

Many of these countries belonged to a cartel called OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries).

I.  Stagflation also occurred due to the nation’s need for foreign oil.

II.  The U.S. received much of its oil from the Middle East.

I.  During the 1960’s, OPEC gradually raised oil prices.

I.  Then, in 1973, a war broke out, with Israel against Egypt & Syria.

The U.S. sent military aid to Israel.

I.  The OPEC nations sided with Egypt & Syria. & stopped selling oil to the U.S.

NIXON&POLITICS

Nixon’sForeignPolicyI.  Nixon appointed Henry Kissinger as his foreign political

advisor

II.  Kissinger used the theory of realpolitik A.  The USA should focus on powerful nations B.  Don’t worry about communism or capitalism C.  Befriend strong nations

III.  Nixon ended policy of containment and set out to ease Cold War tensions

In 1972, Nixon visited Communist China.

Before this, the U.S. had refused to recognize the Communist government.

I.  3 months later, Nixon went to the Soviet Union. Nixon & the Soviet Union signed the SALT 1

Treaty.

II.  This 5 year agreement limited nuclear weapons. Nixon’s successes in foreign affairs helped him win

reelection.

NIXON’SDOWNFALL

I.  The Nixon campaign was determined to win the 1972 election.

II.  They hired 5 men to raid Democratic party offices in the Watergate complex in D.C.

A.  The goal was to steal secrets & plans so Nixon could win the election in 1972

I.  The men were caught photographing files & placing wiretaps on phones.

II.  The people did not know that the president had ordered these men to do this

ChapStick microphones used during the burglary.

Nixon & his staff tried to hide the link to the White House.

Workers shredded evidence, Nixon asked the FBI to stop their investigation of him

The Watergate burglary wasn’t a big issue in the 1972 election.

Nixon won the election and was able to persuade the American people he had no part

in the Watergate scandal

TheWatergateScandal

A.  In 1973 the scandal began to unravel

B.  The burglars soon changed their pleas to innocent

C.  They then began admitting that Nixon was involved in the cover-up and then break-in

D.  The public soon began to question Nixon about the incident

A.  His advisors resigned & he denied a cover up on TV

TheInvesCgaCon

I.  Nixon announced a new attorney general A.  Appointed a special prosecutor for the Watergate scandal

II.  The Senate then began their own investigation A.  A Nixon employee admitted Nixon knew of the cover up

Then it was reveled that White House meetings had been tape-recorded.

The Senate committee demanded the tapes. Nixon refused to release them.

An example of a Sony 800B recorder, as used in Nixon's office

A Uher 5000, similar to the one used by Nixon's secretary to erase part of one of the tapes.

TheBaSleForTheTapesI.  Nixon continued to refuse to give up the tapes

II.  Nixon was order to hand over the tapes by a federal court

A.  He demanded the prosecutor fired for demanding this

III.  In March of 1974 Nixon was changed with obstruction of justice (not cooperating) & perjury (lying)

IV.  The Supreme Court required Nixon to hand over the tapes

Richard M. Nixon press conference releasing the transcripts of the White House tapes, April 29,

1974

Three days later, a House committee voted to impeach President Nixon.

I.  If the full House of Representatives approved, Nixon would go to trial in the Senate.

II.  If found guilty there, he would be removed from office.

When the tapes were finally released, they proved that Nixon had known of the

cover-up.

On August 8, 1974, before the impeachment could happen, Nixon resigned.

ATerWatergate

I.  Gerald Ford became president after Nixon’s resignation

A.  He immediately pardoned Nixon for all crimes (forgave)

II.  The American people now distrust the president

III.  People forever view the government as crooks after the Nixon administration

IV.  Gerald Ford will now serve out the remaining 2 years of the Nixon presidency