Period8:1945-1980PartFour:TheCrisisofAuthority

ElectionofNixon-1968•  Reac%ontoculturalrevolu%on–fear•  Longingforstability–Nixonwasthe“lawandorder”candidate

TheYouthCulture

TheNewLeft•  BabyBoomers–largestyouthgenera%on•  Sourcesofthe“NewLe@”•  Childrenofthe“OldLe@”•  Wri%ngson1950ssocialcri%cs•  CivilRightsMovement

•  StudentsforaDemocra%cSociety(SDS)•  Freespeechmovement–UniversityofCaliforniaatBerkeley•  “People’sPark”conflict

•  Vietnam“moratorium”–Fallof1969

TheCounterculture•  “Hippies”–Haight-AshburyneighborhoodofSanFrancisco•  Sexualrevolu%on•  GrowinginfluenceofRockn’Roll•  TheBeatlesand“Beatlemania”•  BobDylan“goeselectric”•  Woodstock–summer,1969

TheMobilizationofMinorities

SeedsofIndianMilitancy•  Leastprosperous,leasthealthy,leaststableminoritygroup•  Highunemployment,lowlifeexpectancy,highsuiciderate

•  Con%nuedeffortstowardassimila%onbyU.S.government•  Policyof“termina%on”–corrup%onandabuse

•  Na%onalCongressofAmericanIndians(NCAI)–increasedmilitancy

TheIndianCivilRightsMovement•  TheDeclara%onofIndianPurpose–1961manifesto•  AmericanIndianMovement(AIM)•  1968IndianCivilRightsAct•  Occupa%onofAlcatraz•  Occupa%onofWoundedKnee•  UnitedStatesv.Wheeler(1978)•  CountyofOneidav.OneidaIndianNa?on(1985)

LatinoActivism•  FastestgrowingminoritygroupintheU.S.•  SurgingLa%noimmigra%on:PuertoRico,Cuba,Mexico

•  Mostlivedinci%es–lowpayingservicejobs•  “Chicano”Ac%vism•  CesarChavez:UnitedFarmWorkers(UFW)•  Issueofbilingualismineduca%on

Challengingthe“MeltingPot”Ideal•  Challengedbynewlyasser%veethnicgroups•  Advocatedculturallypluralis%csociety•  Ledto“mul%culturalism”inthe1980sand1990s

GayLiberation•  UnacknowledgedrealitythroughoutAmericanhistory•  “StonewallRiot”•  GayLibera%onFront•  HarveyMilk

TheNewFeminism

TheRebirth•  Feministmovementweakenedsince1920s•  BedyFriedan:TheFeminineMys?que•  Describedsuburbanlifeasa“comfortableconcentra%oncamp”

•  President’sCommissionontheStatusofWomen•  EqualPayAct,TitleVIIofCivilRightsAct

•  Na%onalOrganiza%onforWomen(NOW)

Women’sLiberation•  Late1960s–newandmoreradicaldemands•  KateMilled:SexualPoli?cs•  Calledforassaultonmaledominatedpowerstructure

•  Rejectedno%onofmarriage,family,sex

ExpandingAchievements•  Affirma%veac%onexpandedtowomen•  Openingofuniversi%estofemalestudents•  Increasedpresenceinbusinessandtheprofessions•  Representa%oninCongress,cabinets,governors,SupremeCourt•  Professionalsports:BillyJeanKing•  SallyRide–firstwomaninspace•  FailureofEqualRightsAmendmentin1982

The“BattleofTheSexes”-1973

TheAbortionControversy•  Controversyoverdissemina%onofcontracep%vesandbirth-controlinforma%on

•  Abor%onbannedbybeginningof20thcentury•  Roev.Wade(1973)•  “righttoprivacy”•  Invalidatedalllawsprohibi%ngabor%onin“firsttrimester”

EnvironmentalisminaTurbulentSociety

TheNewScienceofEcology•  Environmentaldegrada%onincreasinglyevident•  Newscien%ficra%onalismforenvironmentalism:ecology•  AldoLeopold:TheSandCountyAlmanac•  Humanresponsibilitytomaintainbalanceofnature

•  RachelCarson:SilentSpring•  Inves%ga%onontheimpactofDDT

EnvironmentalAdvocacy•  Nongovernmentorganiza%ons:•  WildernessSociety,SierraClub,Na%onalAudubonSociety,NatureConservancy,Na%onalWildlifeFedera%on,Na%onalParksandConserva%onAssocia%on

•  Newprofessionalenvironmentalac%vists

EnvironmentalDegradation•  LadyBirdJohnson“bea%fica%on”campaign•  Airandwaterpollu%onincreasinglyvisible•  CuyahogaRiverfireinCleveland•  “smog”levels•  Uncheckedindustrialdevelopment–fossilfueluse•  Acidrain•  Globalwarming

EarthDayandBeyond•  April22,1970–first“EarthDay”•  Environmentalismbecamepartofna%onalconsciousness•  Na%onalEnvironmentProtec%onAct–1970•  EstablishedEnvironmentalProtec%onAgency(EPA)

•  CleanAirAct,CleanWaterAct

Nixon,Kissinger,andtheWar

NixonandVietnamization•  ClaimedtohavesecretplantoendwarinVietnam“withhonor”–warcon%nuedforfourmoreyears

•  HenryKissinger:specialassistantforna%onalsecurityaffairs•  Controlledsecretariesofstateanddefense

•  “Vietnamiza%on”:trainandequipSouthVietnamesemilitarywhileU.S.forcesgraduallywithdraw•  Didnothingtobreakstalemate

Escalation•  FocusonNorthVietnamesebasesinCambodia•  Overthrewgovernmentandestablishedpro-Americanregime

•  An%-wardemonstra%onsintensified:KentState–May4,1970•  SenaterepealedGulfofTonkinResolu%on•  PentagonPapersleaked•  MyLaiMassacre•  EasterOffensive

“PeaceWithHonor”•  Nego%a%onsintensifiedas1972elec%onapproached•  Nobreakthrough

•  “ChristmasBombing”–highciviliancasual%es

•  Parisaccords:immediateceasefire,NorthVietnamesewouldfreeAmericanPOWs

DefeatinIndochina•  ParisaccordscollapsedalmostassoonasAmericanwithdrawalbegan

•  March1975–NorthVietnameselaunchedfullscaleinvasion•  U.S.refusedtointervene

•  SaigonfallsinApril1975–renamedHoChiMinhCity•  Pro-AmericanregimeinCambodiafallsaswell

Nixon,Kissinger,andtheWorld

ChinaandtheSovietUnion•  Newviewofa“mul%polarworld”•  Nixon’sChinavisit–admissionofcommunistChinatoUN•  StrategicArmsLimita%onTreaty(SALTI)withtheSovietUnion•  Détente:deliberatereduc%onofColdWartensionsunderNixon

TheProblemsofMultipolarity•  “ThirdWorld”remainedvola%leanddangerous•  “NixonDoctrine”–U.S.would“par%cipateinthedefenseanddevelopmentofitsalliesandfriends”butwouldleavethe“basicresponsibility”fortheirfuturetothena%onsthemselves•  EffortsagainstcommunistregimeinChile•  Instabilitycausedbythe“Six-DayWar”•  YomKippurWar–ArabOilEmbargo

PoliticsandEconomicsUnderNixon

DomesticInitiatives•  Appealedtothe“SilentMajority”•  DismantlingtheGreatSocietyandNewFron%er•  AbolishedOfficeofEconomicOpportunity

•  Adempttooverhaulwelfaresystem•  ProposedFamilyAssistancePlan–failedtopassintheSenate

FromtheWarrenCourttotheNixonCourt•  Engelv.Vitale,Gideonv.Wainwright,Mirandav.Arizona,Bakerv.Carr•  Infuriatedconserva%ves

•  EarlWarrenresignsin1969–Nixonreplacedwithmoreconserva%ve,WarrenBurger•  Replacedotherswithmoreconserva%vecandidates

•  Lessconserva%vethanNixonpredicted:•  Roev.Wade,Bakkev.BoardofRegentsofCalifornia

TheElectionof1972•  GeorgeWallaceassassina%onadempt•  DemocratsnominateGeorgeMcGovern•  Nixonwinsinalandslide

TheTroubledEconomy•  Soaringinfla%on–resultofdeficitspendinginthe1960s,lackofaccesstorawmaterials

•  Increasingcostofenergy–fossilfuels•  Organiza%onofPetroleumExpor%ngCountries(OPEC)

•  OilembargoagainstalliesofIsrael

•  Declineofmanufacturingsector•  Increasedforeigncompe%%on

TheNixonResponse•  Reducedspendingandraisedtaxes–unpopular•  Contractedmoneysupply•  Ledto“stagfla%on”–risingpricesandeconomicstagna%on•  Nixonimposedninetydayfreezeonwagesandprices•  Laidoutmandatoryguidelinesforwageandpriceincreases

•  Infla%oncon%nued

TheWatergateCrisis

TheScandals•  TheWatergatebreak-in:June17,1972•  OfficesoftheDemocra%cNa%onalCommidee•  Reportersdiscoveredconnec%onstoCommideefortheRe-Elec%onofthePresident(CRP)

•  McCordtes%monyexposedcorrup%onintheWhiteHouse•  Nixon“cover-up”•  “SaturdayNightMassacre”

TheFallofRichardNixon•  SpiroAgnewscandals•  ReplacedbyGeraldFord

•  UnitedStatesv.RichardNixon–SupremeCourtruledthatNixonmustrelinquishWhiteHousetapes

•  NixonresignsonAugust8,1974withimpeachmentinevitable