Vietnam War and Watergate: U.S. Political Turmoil (1972-1978)

School

University of Alabama *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

230022.001

Subject

Political Science

Date

Oct 30, 2023

Type

Pages

Uploaded by MegaEagleMaster909

Political, Social, and Economic Decline (1972-1978) Vietnam ● “Peace is at hand” Henry Kissinger (1972) ● After election: Heavy bombing of North Vietnam to force them to negotiations ● Treaty of Paris (January 23, 1973) ● Nixon: “Peace with honor” ● Terms: 1. U.S. withdraw all troops (27,000) and retrieve all POW’s (560) 2. North Vietnam keeps 127,000 troops in South Vietnam Shock Waves ● Americans learned U.S. had heavily bombed Cambodia in 1969-1970 while U.S. claimed Cambodia’s neutrality was being respected. ● This was done to destroy North Vietnamese positions in Cambodia ● Americans questioned the honesty of its government ● After January 1973 Nixon ordered continued bombings of Cambodia to help support a rightist government there over a Communist attempt to take over. ● Despite efforts Cambodia fell to a horrible dictator named Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. He was responsible for the deaths of about 2 million Cambodians. (The Killing Fields) The War Powers Act ● To prevent future expansion of presidential abuse of military power, Congress passed the War Powers Act in November 1973. ● President must report to Congress within 48 hours of committing combat troops to a foreign conflict. ● Congress must authorize within 60 days or the troops must be removed. ● Draft ended in January 1973 A Bitter End ● The last combat troops left Vietnam March 29, 1973 ● All POWs were released that day ● Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize ● Within one month fighting resumed in Vietnam

● Cambodia fell to Communists and was renamed Khmer Republic and later Kampuchea (today it is Cambodia again) Collapse of South Vietnam ● North Vietnam finally defeated South Vietnam in 1975 ● April 30, 1975 U.S. evacuated its embassy in Saigon. Thousands of South Vietnamese attempted to get into the embassy so they could be evacuated. They had to be turned away. ● U.S. learned that spreading democracy to places with no history of democracy was very difficult if not impossible. Arab Oil Embargo ● The Six-Day War/Yom Kippur War (October 1973) ● Nixon put nuclear forces on alert and sent supplies to Israel. ● Israel defeated both Syria and Egypt and was about to take Cairo when U.S. helped negotiate a cease-fire. ● October 1973: OPEC places an embargo on oil to the U.S. as punishment for supporting Israel. ● Lasted 5 months/huge oil shortages/55 mph speed limit ● Marked a major change in U.S./gas guzzlers; Japanese auto imports Watergate Break-in ● June 17, 1972: Watergate break-in ● CREEP: Committee to Re-elect the President ● January 1973 trial, one of the accused burglars implicated the Nixon administration in the Watergate episode. ● Paranoid, Nixon ordered illegal wire tappings of political enemies. ● April 1973 top Nixon advisors resigned (Ehrlichman and Haldeman) ● Few days later Nixon spoke on TV: “I am not a crook.” Watergate Scandal ● June 25, 1973: John Dean (White House Attorney) testifies to a Senate committee over 5 days that there had been a White House orchestrated cover-up of the Watergate scandal. ● Senator Sam Irvin (committee head) orders White House to turn over

requested documents. ● Nixon refuses, claims it is a matter of national security and claims “executive privilege”. ● White House aid tells Irvin committee there is a secret Oval Office taping system. Nixon taped all conversations in the Oval Office It Gets Worse ● October 1973: Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigns after it is discovered he had taken bribe money while governor of Maryland and while Vice President. ● Nixon has to appoint a new VP so he appoints Gerald R. Ford, a Congressman from Michigan Follow the Tapes ● “The Saturday Night Massacre”: Nixon ordered the firing of special prosecutor Archiblad Cox because he was taking him to court to get the tapes. ● April 30, 1974: Nixon refuses to release actual tapes but releases 1,254 page transcript of the tapes. He had personally edited the transcripts. ● Public calls for impeachment ● Nixon begins to become unstable/heavy drinking The End ● July 24, 1974: United States v. Richard Nixon , Supreme Court ruled all tapes must be turned over. ● House Judiciary Committee voted to recommend three articles of impeachment ● Nixon turns over tapes, but 18 minutes of key info about Watergate is missing/deleted. ● August 9, 1974: Nixon resigned ● Ford becomes first president to have never been elected. President Ford

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

● Ford: “our long national nightmare is over.” ● A poor speaker, played football at University of Michigan ● Ford said, “I am a Ford, not a Lincoln.” Stagflation ● The post WWII economic boom began to fizzle in the early 1970s. ● Causes: - More teenagers and women working for lower wages and shorter terms - Vietnam drained tax dollars away from needed areas - Rapidly rising oil prices - Military spending and welfare spending increase incomes but do not provide additional consumer goods, thus inflation. - Failure of many companies to modernize equipment - Germany and Japan were now leading in Auto industry The Ford Administration ● First unelected president ● Ford appointed Nelson Rockefeller as his VP ● Few months into office Ford announced a “full, free, and absolute pardon” for Nixon. ● Ford’s approval rating dropped in one day from 71% to 49%. ● Greatly hurt his chances for election in 1976. ● Ford vetoed 39 bills passed by the Democrat-controlled Congress ● He refused to cut taxes and raise government spending, which resulted in deepest recession since Great Depression. ● Ford called inflation “Public Enemy No. 1” ● January 1975 State of the Union address, Ford admitted: “The state of the union is not good.” ● Fall of Saigon occurred that May. Feminism

● NOW ● 1972: Equal Rights Amendment(ERA) ● Nixon and Ford endorsed ● ● Roe v. Wade Supreme Court struck down laws prohibiting abortion Feminist Backlash ● 1972: Nixon vetoed a bill to provide nationwide public daycare. Felt it was anti-family ● Antifeminists blamed the rising divorce rate on Feminism (tripled from 1960 to 1976) ● Phyllis Schlafly: leading antifeminist, The Carter Administration The Bicentennial ● Year long celebration of 200 years as a nation 1976 ● Ford edged out Ronald reagan for the Republican nomination ● Dems nominated a little known former Georgia governor and peanut farmer, James Earl (Jimmy) Carter ● Walter Mondale was Dem. VP ● Carter campaigned reminding people about Watergate and the need for new blood in Washington ● Very low voter turnout due to disillusionment from Watergate. Carter and Foreign Affairs ● Carter and Human Rights/Spoke against oppression of Blacks in South Africa and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) ● Carter invited the President of Egypt and Prime Minister of Israel to Camp David. ● The Camp David Accords ● Opened full diplomatic relations with China ● Panama Canal Treaty ● SALT II Treaty

● Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan ● Boycott of 1980 Moscow Olympics Carter and Domestic Affairs ● 13% inflation by 1980 ● Largely driven by rising oil prices ● Forces the U.S. to become more globalized and abandon isolation ● Huge budget deficits by 1980 ($60 billion) ● Inflation especially hurt people on fixed incomes. ● Prime interest rates hit 20% by 1980 ● Iran Crisis stopped the flow of Iranian oil and OPEC additionally hiked prices in 1979 leading to another oil shortage ● July 15, 1976: Malaise Speech A Return to Conservative Economic Values ● Late 1970s neoconservatives (former liberals) began to blame the nation’s economic woes on big government spending (New Deal, Great Society). Called for the government to get out of the way of business. Even Carter got on board. ● Milton Friedman: Keynesian Economist/ Free to Choose /all about free markets and capitalism/Won Nobel Prize in Economics ● Tax Revolts/California: Proposition 13 , slashed property taxes Crisis in the Middle East ● Senate was considering ratifying the SALT II Treaty with the Soviet Union/summer 1979 ● November 4, 1979: anti-American Muslims stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran and took over 50 American hostages ● Outraged, the Carter Administration pondered how to safely get the hostages released. ● Decemeber 27, 1979: U.S.S.R. invaded Afghanistan to prop up a communist government there. ● Carter responded by condemning Soviets, an embargo on grain and technology, and boycotting the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The Hostage Crisis

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Reaganomics ● Reagan: The Democrats “never met a tax they didn’t like” ● Supply-side economics: stimulate investment and economic growth by cutting taxes and government spending ● 1981-1982: the Reagan Recession/11% unemplyment, bank failures ● Was actually caused by decisions in the Carter Administration ● Reagan stuck to his philosophy, cut taxes, and by 1983 the economy recovered. ● But, due largely to Congress, spending was not cut as much as needed and deficits began to mount. ● Also, Reagan increased defense spending to record highs to close the gap with the Soviets. ● By 1987 the U.S. debt was growing rapidly ● In 80s there was a widening gap between rich and poor. ● Yuppies The Cold War ● Reagan called the Soviet Union the “Evil Empire” ● Believed in negotiating from a position of overwhelming strength. ● The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) dubbed “Star Wars” ● Reagan believed defense spending would drive the Soviets to the negotiation table. ● Late 1981 in Poland: Lech Walesa led the formation of a union called “Solidarity” ● The Polish government clamped down with martial law. ● Reagan announced economic sanctions against Poland and the U.S.S.R. ● In 1982 Leonid Brezhnev died ● Was replaced by aged Yuri Andropov who died less than two years later in 1984/was replaced by aging Konstantin Chernenko who died about a year later. It Gets Colder

● 1983: Soviets shot down South Korean airliner that strayed into Soviet airspace killing hundreds of Koreans and U.S. citizens ● 1984: Soviets and Soviet-bloc boycott summer Olympics in Los Angeles Reagan and Foreign Affairs ● Israel: June 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon to destroy Palestinian fighters who used Lebanon as a base to attack Israel. ● 1983: Reagan sent U.S. Marines to Lebanon as part of an international peacekeeping effort. ● October 23, 1983: suicide bomber crashes truck into Marine barracks killing over 200 Marines. ● Shortly after, Reagan withdrew the troop ● Nicaragua: 1979 leftist revolution deposed the dictator. ● Sandinistas : Nicaraguan revolutionaries were very anti-American ● Reagan, using spy plane photos, said Snadinistas were shipping weapons to neighboring El Salvador to revolutionaries there to help overthrow the pro- U.S. government of El Salvador ● Reagan sent military advisors to El Salvador to help the pro-American government. ● Reagan sent secret aid to the rebel group ( Contras ) in Nicaragua that was fighting the Sandinistas Grenada ● October 1983: Reagan sent U.S. forces to invade the Caribbean nation of Grenada. ● A coup had killed the Prime Minister and Marxists had taken power. ● Aerial photos showed massive construction of an airport funded by Cuba. Thought to be for military purposes. ● U.S. medical students were rescued and island was taken over by U.S. forces Election of 1984 ● Democrats nominated Walter Mondale for President ● Democrats nominated the first woman in U.S. history for Vice President: Geraldine Ferraro

Results ● Republican: Reagan-525 (52,609,797) ● Democrat: Mondale-13 (36,450,613) Reagan, Bush, and End of Cold War Glasnost and Perestroika ● March 1985: Soviet Politburo appoints new, younger, outgoing Soviet leader ● Mikhail Gorbachev ● Gorbachev announces a new policy of openness “Glasnost”, in the Soviet Union ● Also announces new policy of Perestroika “restructuring” of the Soviet economy. ● Gorbachev will allow free speech and some political liberty/will adopt free- market practices ● Basically the Soviet Union will adopt western capitalistic ideas ● Gorbachev becomes very open and friendly to the west and announces an end to intermediate range nuclear forces (INF) that targeted Western Europe Reagan-Gorbachev Summits ● 1st meeting: November 1985, Geneva, Switzerland: first meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev ● 2nd meeting: October 1986, Reykjavik, Iceland: Reagan storms out because he believes Gorbachev’s goal is to destroy SDI. ● June 12, 1987: Reagan visits Berlin and gives famous speech. ● 3rd meeting: December 1987, Washington: Two leaders sign the INtermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty /bans missiles from Europe ● 4th meeting: May 1988, Moscow: Reagan warmly praises Gorbachev/Two become rather good friends. Reagan’s 2nd term Foreign Policy ● February 1986: Reagan backed Corazon Acquino’s ouster of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos ● April 1986: Reagan orders quick bombing of Libya and its leader, Muamar

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Gadafi, in retaliation for terrorist attacks on U.S. servicemen in a West Berlin discotheque, and the downing of a British airliner that killed hundreds. Iran-Contra Scandal ● Reagan wanted to help the Contras in Nicaragua against the Sandinistas but Congress would not authorize the money. He also wanted to rescue some hostages that were held in Lebanon by Muslim extremists. ● Plan: Sell Iran weapons to use in war against Iraq/use that money to give to Contras/while at same time supplying Iraq (Saddam Hussein) with weapons. ● Scandal broke out but Reagan was never directly connected. ● Subordinates were held responsible and many felt Reagan was becoming senile or too old to manage staff. ● Puts shadow over great Foreign Policy successes of Reagan Administration. The “New Right” ● The rise of Conservatism: Examples: 1. Proposition 13 (tax revolt) in California 2. The Moral Majority led by the Reverend Jerry Falwell/resurgence of religion/Mega churches/pro-life, pro-family, pro-morality, pro- American 3. Anti-Feminism backlash: Led by groups like Women who want to be Women and Females Opposed to Equality. Phyllis Schlafly successfully led the movement to stop ERA. Also helped the Anti- Abortion or “pro-life” movement 4. Pro-Life Movement: The National Right to Life Committee. Reagan and Anti-Liberalism ● Reagan criticized labor unions despite having been president of one. Election of 1988 ● Democrats took the Senate in 1986 and rejected a Reagan Supreme Court Appointment ● October 19, 1987: Black Monday : Stock market took largest drop in history to then. ● Democrats were hopeful for ‘88

1988 Election ● Candidates: - Democrat: Michael Dukakis: 111 - Republican: George H.W. Bush: 426 - Democrat/Independent: 1 Bush Resume ● Yale Graduate ● WWII Pilot / Shot down ● Texas Oil Millionaire ● Congressman ● Emissary to China ● U.N. Ambassador ● Director of the CIA ● Vice President End of Cold War ● Tiananmen Square Protests; 1989 ● Solidarity helps topple communist government in Poland in August 1989 ● Within months communist governments in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Romania collapsed. ● December 1989 the Berlin Wall was toppled ● October 1990 East and West Germany were reunited as one Germany Fall of Communism in Soviet Union ● Glasnost and Perestroika worked better than Gorbachev expected. ● Communist hardliners tried to overthrow Gorbachev in a coup (August 1991) ● Boris Yeltzin of the Russian Republic helped save Gorbachev and his government ● December 1991 Gorbachev resigned and Soviet Union ceased to exist ● Former SSR’s became separate states called the confederated Commonwealth of Independent States. Russia was the most powerful state and Boris Yeltsin became its leader.

● New concern!!!: Who controls the bombs now????? Additional International Events ● U.S. cuts defense spending and closes 34 military bases. ● Nelson Mandela is freed in South Africa and is elected President in 1994 ● Free elections in Nicaragua end Sandinista power. (1990) ● War ends in El Salvador (1992) Bush, Clinton, 2000 Election Bush and Foreign Policy ● 1993 Bush signs START II Treaty with Russia to reduce long-range nuclear weapons ● Manuel Noriega in Panama/Invasion of Panama (Decemebr 1989) ● August 1990 Saddam Hussein and Iraq invade Kuwait ● U.N. votes to intervene ● Operation Desert Shield ● Operation Desert Storm Bush and Domestic Issues ● 1990: Americans w/ Disabilities Act ● Nomination of Clarence Thomas for Supreme Court/2nd Black man ever, after Thurgood Marshall/Very hotly debated in Senate because Thomas was very conservative ● Anita Hill Scandal ● 1992 Recession hurts Bush ● 1988 campaign Bush said: “Read my lips-No new taxes.” ● Due to recession and growing budget deficit Bush raised taxes in 1990 1992 Election ● Candidates: - Republican: George H.W. Bush: 168 - Democrat: William Jefferson (Bill) Clinton: 370 - Independent: Ross Perot/most popular votes since T.R. in 1912.

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

Clinton Administration ● Democrats took House and Senate ● Appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Supreme Court/Extreme liberal ● Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ● 1st Lady Hillary backed and wrote a bill for Health Care Reform. Miserable failure. ● Dot Com bubble/temporary economic boom ● Oklahoma City Bombing ● 1994: Republican “Contract with America” ● Republicans take House and Senate for first time in 40 years. Speaker was Newt Gingrich. ● 1996: Welfare Reform Bill: Cut welfare and required healthy recipients to find jobs. ● Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (1996) began alienating Hispanics from the Republican party 1996 Election ● Candidates: - Democrat: Bill Clinton: 379 - Republican: Robert (Bob) Dole: 159 Clinton’S Second Term ● Globalization ● North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) ● 1997: Clinton appoints Madeleine Albright as the first female Secretary of State ● By 2000 over 60% of women will work outside the home Foreign Affairs ● March 1994: Somalia “Black Hawk Down” ● 1994 Rwanda Genocide ● NATO peace keeping mission in Bosnia ● 1999 Kosovo and Serbia (ethnic cleansing) ● Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians

● 1998 terrorist bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. (230 killed) ● 2000: Bombing of USS Cole (17 sailors killed) ● Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda Clinton Scandals ● Whitewater ● January 1998: The Monica Lewinsky Affair ● 1999: Impeachment (45-55 vote) 2000 Election ● Candidates: - Republican: George W. Bush - 271 - Democrat: Albert Gore - 266 - Green: Ralph Nader Hanging Chad ● Gore concedes to Bush, but an hour later calls Bush back and says wait, vote in Florida is too close. ● Vote in Florida/Hanging Chad ● After weeks of bisckering Supreme Court intervened and gave the election to Bush ● Bush won the state of Florida by 537 votes