foreign and domestic policies of the 60s and 70s presidents
TRANSCRIPT
Foreign and Domestic Policies of the 60s and 70s Presidents
John Kennedy
○ Kennedy articulated a “New Frontier” ● The new frontier was a goal for social
justice and Civil Rights improvements ● He wasn’t able to pass legislation to
meet the goal ○ Mostly due to Southern Democrats that
didn’t want the Civil Rights passed
“Ask not what your country can do for you… but what you can do for your country”
○ Kennedy in office in 1961 ● Young people were
engaged ● Public service became an
honor ○ Peace Corp
● American volunteers to 3rd world
● Increased Social Security and min. wage
The Space Race
○ JFK promised a man on the moon by 1970 ● Spurred by sputnik and Soviet
cosmonauts circling the Earth ● John Glenn orbited in 1962 ● Would occur under Nixon in 1969
○ Weapons Tech of the Space Race ● ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) ● Russians had IRBMs (intermediate
Range) by 1962
JFK and Foreign Affairs○ Bay of Pigs invasion
● Tried to overthrow Cuba through CIA
● Failed ● Angered other Latin Countries
and pushed Cuba toward USSR
○ The Berlin Wall ● West Berlin prospered within
Communist territories ! refugees leaving East Berlin
● USSR made a wall to keep them in
Remember it was JFK that steered us through the Cuban Missile Crisis
JFK’s assassination
○ Nov. 1963 ○ Assassinated by Oswald in Dallas ○ Bewilderment and grief ○ Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) sworn
in aboard Air Force One
LBJ in office
○ Wanted to continue JFK programs ● Met MLK Jr. about Civil Rights ● Pushed the Civil Rights Bill and the
Voting Rights Bill ○ Kept federal $ from segregated programs ○ Created Equal Employment Opportunity ○ Outlawed discrimination in public areas ○ Also no “sex” discrimination
LBJ in Office – Domestic Policy
○ “The Great Society” ● Programs designed to
fight a “War on Poverty” (somewhat effective) ○ Economic Opportunities
Act ○ Volunteers in Service to
America ○ Job Corps ○ Head Start
The Great Society
○ The greatest intervention of the government since the New Deal ● Would lead to Medicaid and Medicare
○ Increased effort to use the government to promote social welfare (protecting the people)
LBJ and Foreign Policy
○ Thought the US could fight and promote domestic programs at the same time ● Called “Guns and Butter”
○ This led to inflation ○ Also an inability to fully fund the Great
Society programs
○ Eventually lost public confidence through the escalation of Vietnam
National Tragedies in ‘68
○ Assassinations ● MLK Jr. ● Bobby Kennedy
○ 4 leaders killed by assassins since ’64 ● JFK and Malcolm X
○ Dem Convention riots in ‘68
Nixon elected in ‘68
○ In an era of liberal chaos Nixon claimed the ‘silent majority’ ● Worked hard, paid taxes,
went to church, obeyed the law, respected the flag
○ Promised a return to law and order
○ Also “Vietnamization” of the war ● US would train S.
Vietnamese troops to take their place.
Vietnam At Home○ Still Very Controversial ○ ’70, invasion of
Cambodia to root out NV along the “ho chi minh” trail
○ Brought back protest ○ Kent State – protests
● 4 dead ● More campus protests
Nixon on Civil Rights
○ Seemed to favor gradualism ○ Boldest initiatives involved business
and employment ● Office of minority business enterprise ● Philadelphia Plan – black construction
worker plan
Nixon Foreign Issues○ Kissinger and Nixon removed
containment policy ● Instead flexibility – talking,
find common ground, encourage balance of power
○ “Rapprochement with China” ● Trade possibilities, ● Drive a wedge between
China and SU ● give US better bargaining
with SU over nukes ○ Also isolate N. Vietnam
during peace negotiations
Detente○ Nixon to Moscow – met with Brezhnev ○ Arms control and increased trade ○ SALT treaty – limited ICBMs and anti-
ballistic missiles
Watergate○ Nixon implicated in a ‘seamless web’ of
criminal activity ● Plumbers (Nixon’s fix-it men) broke into
Democratic headquarters at the Watergate hotel to find information on Nixon’s opponent
● The plumbers were acting without Nixon’s knowledge
○ Nixon paid ‘hush money’ to arrested Watergate burglars
○ Nixon later took responsibility but no blame ● Said he was too busy running country
Nixon implicated in the scandal
○ Arrested men claimed that Nixon recorded the conversations ● Nixon refused to release any taped
conversations ○ Transcripts eventually released with
sections blanked out ● That made him look guilty and the
stuff that was left was racist and paranoid and didn’t help the cause
○ Tapes eventually subpoenaed (SC case), released and showed Nixon’s involvement
The Middle East
OPEC and the Embargo○ 10/6/73 – Yom Kippur War; US backs
Israel ○ The Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC), mainly arab nations, responded by halting oil shipments
○ US forced to ration energy ○ Impact lingered (ended ’74)
● Costs increased dramatically (gas from 30 ! 75 cents); inflation; higher production costs; shook American Dream
Ford in Office / Watergate Legacy
○ ’73 War Powers Act – limited pres ability to use troops without declaration of war
○ Freedom of Information act ● Citizens could see all public/government
documents ○ Hearings on FBI and CIA activities
● To make sure there was no illegal activities ○ Ford controversially granted Nixon a
Pardon (crushed Fords approval rating) ○ Ford also offered amnesty to 350,000
draft dodgers (resisted on both sides)
Carter ○ Ford proved to be an
ineffective President ● The public didn’t trust
him after the Nixon pardoning
○ Carter represented a small town, virtuous man
○ Won a close race against Ford
Carter – Foreign Issues○ US needed to stress
democracy and human rights
○ Gave up Panama Canal ○ Middle East and Camp
David Accords ● Egypt recognized Israel;
Israel returned Sanai Peninsula
Economic Issues
○ High inflation and unemployment ○ Carter fought inflation
● Tight money supply and control of deficit
● Created high unemployment without helping inflation
Persian Gulf and Iranian issues○ Iran appeared to be a stable
nation in ’77 ○ Revolution led Ayatollah
Khomeini to set up an essentially Islamic nation
○ Khomeini ended shipments of oil to US
○ Allowing the former Shah into US for med. Treatment created a conflict in Iran
Iranian Hostage Crisis○ Iranian militants stormed US embassy
and took 179 Americans hostage ○ Wanted the Shah in exchange for the
hostages ● threatened execution
○ Sponsored by Ayatollah ○ US froze Iranian assets in US, but this
was ineffective ○ Carter ordered a secret mission to free
the hostages (disastrous) ○ Iranians displayed the corpses of the
failed mission
Carter’s Image Ruined
○ The Economic problems of the late 1970s and the Iranian Hostage Crisis hurt Carter’s Image
○ Carter will be defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980