THE 60SCHAPTER 25

CIVIL RIGHTS STRUGGLES/FREEDOM RIDE

• Success of Bus boycott had led to further civil disobedience movements Sit ins, Boycotts.

• Freedom Ride (organized by CORE congress on racial equality)- would ride busses, trains etc… in ALL sections. Riders arrested, sometimes beaten. But that is part of non-violent non cooperation, if you do nothing in the face of aggression- who looks bad? Would shift the tide of public opinion.

• JFK very silent on civil rights for 2 years, he knows how narrow his margin of victory was, and is afraid to make south even more mad.

BIRMINGHAM

• Birmingham was violent… even for the deep south. Had been over 50 bombing s of black homes, and nearly 100 lynchings since end of WWII. MLK, jailed there in April, wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” an eloquent plea for racial justice.

• June 1963 Birmingham AL closes all city facilities (parks, pools etc) to avoid integration. MLK stages a march, deliberately including young people- children/teens. Police of Birmingham (under chief “Bull” Connor) attack; dogs, fire hoses, cattle prods.

• Events in Birmingham forced Americans to decide if they had more in common with civil rights workers- or segregationalists. Called JFK to action, he openly and actively sides with Civil Rights. Used troops again to integrate University of Alabama (Gov George Wallace stood in the door “Segregation today, Segregation tomorrow, Segregation forever” )

MEDGAR EVERS

• MLK under death threats after Birmingham, his motel was bombed, as was his brother’s house- showing white supremacists were not going to give in

• The day that U of Alabama was desegregated, Medgar Evers (NAACP director) was shot in cold blood (assassinated- and the person responsible not brought to trial until 2002)

MARCH ON WASHINGTON

• August 28th 1963- largest protest in nation’s history (to that point)

• 200,000 come- demand civil rights legislation (which JFK had already started working on)

• MLKs “I have a Dream Speech” became a compelling testament – the argument that African Americans are unfit or unworthy wasn’t holding water…. That they were seeking the freedom in 1963 that they had been promised in 1863

• Show strong degree of black/white cooperation in support of both racial and economic justice.

THE KENNEDY YEARS

• JFK’s was a short presidency, which didn’t achieve many of it’s stated goals- but is idealized as a time of hope and confidence. “Camelot” was the golden age of the modern presidency – at least we have convinced ourselves it was

PRESIDENTIAL RANKINGS: C-SPAN SURVEY, 2009

1. Abraham Lincoln2. Franklin Roosevelt3. George Washington4. Theodore Roosevelt5. Harry Truman6. John Kennedy7. Thomas Jefferson8. Dwight Eisenhower9. Woodrow Wilson10. Ronald Reagan11. Lyndon Johnson12. James Polk13. Andrew Jackson14. James Monroe

15. Bill Clinton16. William McKinley17. John Adams18. George H.W. Bush19. John Quincy Adams20. James Madison21. Grover Cleveland22. Gerald Ford23. Ulysses Grant24. William Taft25. Jimmy Carter26. Calvin Coolidge27. Richard Nixon28. James Garfield

29. Zachary Taylor

30. Benjamin Harrison

31. Martin Van Buren

32. Chester Arthur

33. Rutherford Hayes

34. Herbert Hoover

35. John Tyler

36. George W. Bush

37. Millard Fillmore

38. Warren Harding

39. William Harrison

40. Franklin Pierce

41. Andrew Johnson

42. James Buchanan

A NEW FRONTIER

• Kennedy calls for a “New Frontier” wanting to increase

military spending, and have further gov’t action on

domestic problems.

Inaugural address was considered a watershed policy statement: “the torch had been passed to a new generation of Americans who would pay any price, bear any burden, to assure the success of liberty….Ask not what your country can do for you….” Urging Americans to move beyond the self centered consumer culture of the 1950s.

KENNEDY AND THE COLD WAR

• Expanded ties with Latin America- Alliance for Progress, meant to be the Marshall Plan for the Western Hemisphere. But it is a failure- b/c we give $$ to dictators (whose main qualification for our friendship is that they aren’t communists) and then wonder why they spend it on themselves rather than their people

• Continued Containment, but backed off Brinksmanship to a certain extent (though ironically the biggest “brink” of all will come during his presidency) “Flexible Response” to rebuild conventional as well as nuclear forces (after all- why spend major $$ on something you don’t want to use..)

PEACE CORPS

• The flip side of tension – sent volunteers (college grads) around the globe to undeveloped areas to improve living conditions, health issues and provide education.

• by 1966 15,000 volunteers will have served in 46 countries. Alternative to military domination- improve countries and they will support us as they grow strong

BERLIN WALL

• East Germany is not a fun place to live- and while it is behind Iron Curtain there is a way out- West Berlin is right in the middle of East Germany. People flood from West Berlin to West Germany, which is frustrating to Soviets

• August 1961- they build a wall separating East and West Berlin- almost overnight. Purpose: stop East Germans from “defecting”

• Soviets did not restrict air or land routes into/out of the city- made it clear they were cutting off refugees.

• Kennedy goes to Berlin to show support “Ich bin ein Berliner”

• Wall remains until Nov 1989.

CRISIS IN CUBA

• Military dictator (Batista) was overthrown by Fidel Castro in 1959.

• At 1st we were ok– If not big fans, but then Castro goes to the left- nationalized all foreign property, collectivizes agriculture, and begins to make very Anti-American comments, with help from his new BFF- the USSR.

• JFK tries to retaliate with Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1960 – where CIA troops would land and trigger a popular uprising to overthrow Castro. Except it doesn’t. We land….no uprising….instead we get spanked (troops had been ordered not to engage as it might trigger full war) HUGE embarrassment

CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS• Bay of Pigs draws Cuba and USSR even closer- Soviets begin to install

missiles 90 miles off the coast of the US. Full US freak out• JFK demands missiles removed, and send navy to “quarantine” the

island. (Soviets head their navy that direction- so we have a full scale game of chicken) For 13 days in October 1962 we are in a standoff- Hottest moment in cold war- REALLY close to all out war (with military leaders telling JFK that with a cost of 10 million dead Americans we can “win” a nuclear war and eliminate the Soviets entirely.

• In the end, it’s Khrushchev who blinks- Soviets agree to withdraw if we will promise not to interfere Cuba, and remove missiles we have been installing in Turkey.

EASING COLD WAR TENSIONS

• Upside: both US/USSR realize how close we came

• Washington/Moscow “Hotline” installed (red phone) start more summit meetings- Leads to Nuclear Test Ban Treaty 1963 (and to Khrushchev being removed from power- seen as week by Soviets for compromising)

DOMESTIC POLICIES

• JFK Interested in real change but this is where he will not

accomplish as much has he promised- Congress is not a fan of his ideas. (LBJ will pass most of them during HIS presidency)

• Surrounded himself with expert advisors, the “best and the brightest” – though his most controversial advisor was his brother Robert Kennedy as attorney general (only 35- no gov’t or legal experience)

LEGISLATIVE FAILURES/SUCCESSES

• Southern legislators (in both parties- the switch is starting) are unhappy about civil rights rhetoric, so they block much of Kennedy’s agenda. Vote no on aide to education, urban renewal, medical care for old age etc (again, LBJ will get it done)

• Did raise minimum was from $1 to $1.25. Provided $5 billion for preservation of urban greenspaces and development of mass transit

• And of course- got congress to spend $24 billion on NASA culminating with the Apollo 11 moon landing in July 1969

THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION

• Shot in Dallas TX Nov 22nd 1963. (on a tour of the South with VP Johnson trying to build support for re-election)

• Lee Harvey Oswald arrested, but killed by Jack Ruby the same day- endless conspiracy theories, no real answers as to who/why etc…

• National tragedy played for the first time live to the nation- changes the impact, people saw Oswald Murdered, saw the funeral.

• Many historians feel that if Kennedy had lived, he might not have won re-election, and would certainly not be as well remembered as his is today. Assassination was the start of a turbulent era in US, and is often associated with a loss of unity.

LYNDON JOHNSON’ PRESIDENCY

• JFK and LBJ really couldn’t have been more different (and

belonged to the same party) Wealth and Privilege vs Ambition

and Scrap. Smooth and attractive vs plain and folksy (RFK

called LBJ “Uncle Cornpone”) But LBJ will be the guy who doesn’t talk about things, he gets them done

• Kennedy had an international focus, Johnson much more domestic- Used the assassination as a political tool (carrying out will of fallen president) to get legislature passed. LBJ is a master backroom politician (most skilled since the “little magician”) he knew how to work with groups, and pull groups together to get things done.

PRESIDENTIAL RANKINGS: C-SPAN SURVEY, 2009

1. Abraham Lincoln2. Franklin Roosevelt3. George Washington4. Theodore Roosevelt5. Harry Truman6. John Kennedy7. Thomas Jefferson8. Dwight Eisenhower9. Woodrow Wilson10. Ronald Reagan11. Lyndon Johnson12. James Polk13. Andrew Jackson14. James Monroe

15. Bill Clinton16. William McKinley17. John Adams18. George H.W. Bush19. John Quincy Adams20. James Madison21. Grover Cleveland22. Gerald Ford23. Ulysses Grant24. William Taft25. Jimmy Carter26. Calvin Coolidge27. Richard Nixon28. James Garfield

29. Zachary Taylor

30. Benjamin Harrison

31. Martin Van Buren

32. Chester Arthur

33. Rutherford Hayes

34. Herbert Hoover

35. John Tyler

36. George W. Bush

37. Millard Fillmore

38. Warren Harding

39. William Harrison

40. Franklin Pierce

41. Andrew Johnson

42. James Buchanan

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964• South has stood firm to block effective Civil rights legislation since the end of

reconstruction. Truman and Eisenhower had made some progress, but not with strong laws (1957 law primarily “investigated” rather than “enforced”. But LBJ was from the south (1st since before war), and he knew how to get things done.

• Civil Rights Act of 1964: put teeth in policy of Brown- forbid discrimination in “places of public accommodation” – hotels, restaurants, theaters. Said you could not deny anyone entry to a public facility based on race….and that your state won’t get federal funds (for schools, hospitals, highways etc.) if you don’t follow the law. Also said any business with more than 15 employees cannot discriminate in hiring. Once hired, all races were to be treated the same in terms of wages, conditions etc… To enforce, there is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

FREEDOM SUMMER• Johnson created the laws, but it was civil rights

groups (CORE, NAACP, SNCC) that worked to

realized the goals. • Organized college students (of all races – more than half are white) to go

south in summer of 1964 for voting registration drive. Often met resistance- and violence, the worst of which was 3 volunteers (2 white Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, 1 black James Chaney) were kidnapped and murdered in Mississippi (KKK member convicted in 2005 – the three were posthumously awarded the medal of freedom this year)

• The tricky part is how will the democrats of the “Solid South” take this change in the election of 1964 –will there be a walkout like there was in 1948 with Truman?

ELECTION OF 1964• Johnson wants to be elected on his own merits. • Republicans run Barry Goldwater- who is VERY conservative.

Calls for end to deficit spending (and eliminating income taxes), opposition to Civil Rights and “dynamic foreign policy”- aggressive cold war intervention, which could include using nuclear weapons.

• Democrats call Goldwater and extremist, who will eliminate new deal reform and destroy the world. TV Commerical. LBJ spanks Goldwater, but Deep South starts to turn against Democratic party. Conservatives see that avoiding racism, but appealing to “law and order, freedom of association, and the evils of welfare” works

VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965

• January of 1965 MLK begins a voter registration

campaign in Selma Alabama- and a march from Selma to Montgomery- once again met with horrific police brutality (cattle prods, tear gas, whips)

• LBJ takes action and proposes new law. Designed to enforce the 15th Amendment, and break the power of Jim Crow Laws.

• Federal examiners empowered to investigate areas with large #s of black residents, but not large #s of black voters. Abolished literacy tests for voting. 740,000 African Americans registered in 3 years

• 24th amendment added to strike down poll tax and prevent that from being a condition as well.

IMMIGRATION REFORM

• 1965 Hart Celler Act dismantled the National

Origins system (Quotas) of the 1920s, which had prohibited Asian immigration and limited eastern European immigration. Still limits, but is “racially neutral”

• Allows 120,000 from Western Hemisphere, and 170,000 from the rest of the world. Entry based on if you have family here, and if you have skills needed in US – OR if you are a refugee from communism (in which case you can be outside the quota)

• Big jump in Latin American (rather than “just” Mexican and Asian Immigration

THE GREAT SOCIETY

• LBJ took landslide as a mandate to expand his own programs

(rather than seem to be fulfilling Kennedy legacy) Program

often compared to FDR and New Deal- but Great Society was not a

response to crisis, but a reflection of prosperity, and desire to share

it throughout the nation. Wanted to reduce inequality and injustice.• Great Society Programs:

• Medicare/Medicaid: provide healthcare for poor and elderly- which will be offered to ALL citizens (makes it popular with middle class)

• federal $$ into education – Headstart, and funds for inner city schools

• urban development to reverse blight of inner cities that came with shift in demography to suburbs. Establish a new cabinet post Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

CULTURE

• LBJ believed that the gov’t should help bring culture and educational opportunities to citizens

• National Endowment for the Arts: filmed opera, musicals, symphonies etc and aired them on television to make them more accessible to the population. Also funded the creation of many types of works

• National Endowment for the Humanities: funded educational tv programs and documentaries

• National Public Broadcasting (PBS): to ensure that all tv markets had high quality education programming options

THE WAR ON POVERTY

A bold goal, and a huge task for government-

you can’t just hand out $$ you have to build

a system. Equal Opportunity Act 1964• Office of Economic Opportunity – creates idea of using

“community action” to involve people IN the community into programs. Provides job training, childcare. Food stamps most direct resource- but it isn’t supposed to be about handout, but equipping the underclass with skills and improved opportunity.

• VISTA- Peace Corps for Inner City.

THE CHANGING CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

• By 1966 45% of African Americans lived outside the South, and were often experiencing De Facto (in practice) rather than De Jure (by law –which the movement of the 50s took care of) discrimination. Often lived in disadvantaged urban areas (“ghettos” or “inner city”) where there were disproportionate amounts of crime and poverty

• Affirmative Action: Civil Rights Activists argued that

employers, schools etc should actively recruit

African Americans, shifting standards if necessary

so they would qualify, to create a more fair “balance”

URBAN RIOTS• Poverty and discrimination created anger outside the south (where there

was not the history of retaliation – and sit in movements didn’t work) and during the 60s that anger could often explode.

• Watts Riots 1965- South side of LA. Sparked when white police officers arrested a black man in a white area (for “drunk driving”) 5 days of rioting, 35 dead, 900 hospitalized and $30 million in damages. Worst during the “Long Hot Summer” of 1967, when there will be riots in 8 cities. Detroit (43 dead) and Newark (23 dead) being the worst

• Kerner Report: Said the country was in danger of being torn apart- African American unemployment 2x whites, and more than ½ live in poverty

BLACK POWER

• MLK advocated civil disobedience and Passive Resistance. (based on ideas of Thoreau and Gandhi) saying that behaving justly in the face of injustice was the most important thing.

• As the 60s continue, other African American leaders advocate changing tactics.

• Black Power: Achieve an equal place in society through whatever means necessary- including Violence. Most famously advocated by Malcom X, a Black Muslim leader. Black Power (and Black Panthers, an even more violent offshoot) rejected white society, including Christianity, as having been forced upon them. Actually hurts movement- b/c it gets scary…..

THE CONTROVERSIAL WARREN COURT

• Earl Warren was chief justice from 1952- 1969 a seminal time in American legislation. Most “liberal” (meaning decisions generally favored civil liberties individual rights) court in American History – including our 1st Black justice; Thurgood Marshall. Under constant fire from conservatives “Impeach Earl Warren” signs on display around the country.

• Judicial Activism: tendency for court to challenge existing policies and create new ones. Prohibited prayer in public school, limited censorship, protected rights of the accused

IMPORTANT CASES OF WARREN COURT

• Miranda v Arizona : Must inform someone arrested of their rights• Gideon v Wainright: Counsel for accused• Baker v Carr : Congressional Districts need to be proportional• Engel v Vitale : no prayer in public school• New York v Sullivan: protect newspaper’s right to conceal source

TWO ASSASSINATIONS

• Disagreement signaled divisions in civil rights

movement, which was a contributing factor in the

riots and racial violence at the end of the decade. • 1968 both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy assassinated

within two months of each other. MLK killed by a white supremacist (James Earl Ray) RFK running for president, advocated improving race relations as a major cornerstone of his campaign. Killed by Sirhan Sirhan a Christian Palestinian (motive unclear)

THE VIETNAM WAR

• Began as a French Colonial conflict. “Indochina” was a part

of French empire seeking independence after the war. But

the leader of the rebellion is a communist: Ho Chi Minh, who set up a gov’t in the north in 1954.

• Containment, the Truman Doctrine, and the Domino Theory (if one country becomes communist, others around it will too) lead US to offer help to the French, 1st $$, then “advisors”. French officially pull out after defeat at Dien Bien Phu

THE GENEVA ACCORDS

• Vietnam divided at 17th parallel (like Korea) with Communism in the North, and a Democratic gov’t in the south at Saigon. Then in 1956 elections would be held to est one gov’t for entire nation

• US and “our” South Vietnamese gov’t refused to sign, or hold elections (b/c Ho Chi Min would have won) We back repressive Ngo Dinh Diem instead.

KENNEDY AND VIETNAM

• Vietnam was never a popular conflict- (possibly

b/c we were never on the right side- we were

forcing people to accept a gov’t they didn’t want) But Kennedy continued to send $$ and troops (still small scale- and “advising” rather than full ground troops)

• June of 1963 Protests begin IN Vietnam against US presence- Buddhist suicides (Diem persecutes Buddhists) November 1st South Vietnamese gov’t overthrown, but Kennedy killed before he can respond

JOHNSON AND VIETNAM

• LBJ inherits a small conflict, and decides to go bigger to put an end to things. Justification is N Vietnamese boats firing on US ships patrolling in Gulf of Tonkin (we were there to provoke)

• Asked congress for unlimited funds – and got them: Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. • By 1966 there are 365,000 American Troops in Vietnam…. And we have spent $2

billion…but are no closer to suppressing the Viet Cong (who are fighting on their own- Guerilla style, w/o significant help from USSR or China) “underground” movement (both in terms of secrecy and actually in tunnels etc..

• We spent a fortune going all over the country to convince people the Viet Cong are the bad guys….and don’t make much progress, “In Country” is Cong territory

TET OFFENSIVE

• The war in on television every night- reports from the

field - where things are rarely going well- though gov’t

does a lot of propaganda to make it look like they are• Vietnamese launch an offensive campaign into the South in

January of 1968- which is very successful in penetrating land supposedly “controlled” by US.

• US pouring $$ in, dropping more bombs every DAY than we had on Germany in the entire war- and getting NO WHERE

ANTI WAR PROTESTS

• Other than hardliners, this was never a “popular”

war. Many people weren’t sure why we were there

in the 1st place- it was a civil war on the other side

of the world.

• South Vietnamese gov’t clearly corrupt- we don’t look good being their friends

• Draft seems unfair and racially biased, in an age where that is an issue (esp for Black Power/Black Panther leaders

• Protesting the war will become focus of counterculture movement

ELECTION OF 1968• Johnson had won by a landslide in 1964, but now he had lowest

popularity on record, so he decides not to run again “I shall not seek,

nor shall I accept the nomination of my party for another term in office”

• Robert Kennedy decides to run, gaining strength in the primaries when assassinated in June of 1968. Hubert Humphrey the eventual Democratic candidate- but not all democrats (esp young ones) like him, and there are protests and riots outside the democratic convention in Chicago, which gave him little hope of winning

• Richard Nixon is back for a 2nd run, claiming to speak for the “silent majority” who want stability rather than activism. Promised “peace with honor” in “Vietnam. Courted southern conservatives to bring them in to the Republican party

1968- A HINGE YEAR

• Full of “shocking” events, will make the world seem a much less more uncertain place again…..

• Tet Offensive Vietnam• MLK assassinated• RFK assassinated• Riots at Dem Convention in Chicago• Rise of the Black Panthers

THE NEW LEFT AND COUNTERCULTURE

• The young people of the 1950s had embraced conformity- so it is time for the pendulum to swing to the “New Left”: who challenge the notions of the establishment. Began on college campuses (led to criticisms as centers of radical thinking)

• Did not approve of intervention in foreign countries, Vietnam, Iran, Guatemala etc… saw US as a Bully.

• Challenged cultural traditions in clothing, language, behavior. Become “hippies” with long hair, jeans, sex, drugs and rock n roll

• Sought “alternative” lifestyles, lived communally, trying to find harmonious existence

WOMEN’S LIBERATION

• Again, 50s conformity kept women at home for an idealized

sit-com family life. But civil rights movement led other groups

(like American Indians) and women to demand full social and economic equality

• Betty Friedan: The Feminine Mystique: said suburban motherhood traps women, and stifles them. (“is this all?”) Founded NOW designed to create equality between the sexes. Gloria Steinem another important thinker/leader

• Affirmative action expanded to include women. Title IX (part of civil rights act of 1964) prohibited discrimination based on sex as well as race in employment

• Equal Rights Amendment to constitution- 1st proposed by Alice Paul in the 20s brought up again, but not ratified

• Roe v Wade 1973- legalized abortion (probably most divisive decision of the modern age, helped solidify growing divisions between liberals and conservatives)

FEMINISTS

• Like many moments, there were splits in ideology- those who

thought women should work slowly, and those who demanded extreme change

• Liberal Feminists: said individuals should be free to choose their own path. And if that path is traditional family life- so be it. Supported “reproductive freedom” (birth control)

• Radical Feminists: believed that existing social and econ system exploited women, and needed to be completely overturned for women to be free (rather like “pure” communists and the proletariat) Said “love” was oppression, and marriage should be outlawed.

THE PRESIDENCY OF RICHARD NIXON

• Politics is a pendulum, so after a decade of democrats, we swing right. Nixon condemned counterculture protest, saying that they were good at complaining, but bad a proposing real solutions (he had a point). Results oriented rather than ideologically oriented, would have been a great Realpolitik with Bismarck.

PRESIDENTIAL RANKINGS: C-SPAN SURVEY, 2009

1. Abraham Lincoln2. Franklin Roosevelt3. George Washington4. Theodore Roosevelt5. Harry Truman6. John Kennedy7. Thomas Jefferson8. Dwight Eisenhower9. Woodrow Wilson10. Ronald Reagan11. Lyndon Johnson12. James Polk13. Andrew Jackson14. James Monroe

15. Bill Clinton16. William McKinley17. John Adams18. George H.W. Bush19. John Quincy Adams20. James Madison21. Grover Cleveland22. Gerald Ford23. Ulysses Grant24. William Taft25. Jimmy Carter26. Calvin Coolidge27. Richard Nixon28. James Garfield

29. Zachary Taylor

30. Benjamin Harrison

31. Martin Van Buren

32. Chester Arthur

33. Rutherford Hayes

34. Herbert Hoover

35. John Tyler

36. George W. Bush

37. Millard Fillmore

38. Warren Harding

39. William Harrison

40. Franklin Pierce

41. Andrew Johnson

42. James Buchanan

DOMESTIC POLICY UNDER NIXON

• Did not move to dismantle, or even change, Great Society programs (recognized that democratic congress would not allow)

• New Federalism: offered states Block Grants- fund to spend how they saw fit (which conservatives and states rights people like) Also created new environment restrictions and regulatory agencies: EPA, Clean Air Act etc…

• Revamped foodstamps, social security and Aid to Families with Dependent children so that benefits rose with inflation (which would be a big problem in the 70s)

ENVIRONMENTALISM• Industry overall still had very few regulations on waste etc… and it was taking

a toll. 1969 the Cuyahoga RIVER caught fire from oil residue on/in water• Love Canal NY (near a toxic waste dump)- soil and groundwater declared to be so

dangerous that all residents had to move- community sealed off

• 3 Mile Island: Nuclear energy plant was releasing radioactive waste into water, 100,000 people evacuated

• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created in 1970

• Clean Air Act also passed in 1970- required industry to

“scrub” emissions to eliminate smog. Clean Water Act 1972,

cannot dump biohazards into water.

• Endangered species act 1973

ECONOMIC PROBLEMS

• Econ growth had been strong through 50s and 60s (fueled by

consumerism and military spending) But 70s were rough- and NOT

b/c of things Nixon had created.• LBJ had tried to pay for Vietnam and Great Society w/o raising taxes. Econ strain landed in Nixon’s

lap.

• OPEC oil embargo on US (retaliation for US support of Israel in Yom Kippur war of 1973) which severely limited our supply (and changed the automobile industry) even after it ended- oil MUCH more expensive

• Stagflation: economic growth slowed, AND there was significant inflation (normally the two are inverse)

• Nixon freezes wages, prices and rents, and lowered interest rates to try to get a hold of economy. Works (to an extent) but inflation a significant factor of the 70s.

THE BURGER COURT

• Nixon is a conservative- and not a fan of the Warren Court. Earl Warren retired in 1969, Nixon appointed Warren Burger, a much more conservative justice, to try to shift the direction of the court. (also appt another conservative justice)

• BUT: court did not shift as much as conservatives would have liked- two significant cases upheld liberal ideals

• Roe v Wade (1973) says there cannot be laws forbidding

abortion b/c that violated the right to privacy

• Bakke v Regents of CA (1978) Upheld Affirmative Action

(though banned specific racial quotas)

NIXON AND VIETNAM• Nixon had promised “peace with honor” in 1968 election,

saying he had a plan.

• Peace negotiations are underway in Paris: and Nixon proposes both US and Viet Cong withdraw from South Vietnam and allow them to hold free elections (N Vietnamese refuse…they’re winning and they know it)

• Next Plan: Vietnamization- US will gradually back out and allow the South to fight their own war (US hoping to be gone before the end comes) We start pulling out troops, there were 500,000 in 1969 - 50,000 in 1972

• We also start to fight pretty dirty. This is when we put in Napalm and Agent Orange (which we know is poisonous, but use anyway). Start raiding Laos and Cambodia looking to cut Viet Cong supply lines- so now we are engaging new groups

PENTAGON PAPERS

• 1971. Former defense dept analyst leaked classified papers that showed the executive office (primarily LBJ) deliberately misleading the Congress and the public about the purpose of fighting in Vietnam. We were no longer really containing a threat- but avoiding a defeat. Nixon tried to block publication, couldn’t. Big blow to credibility of gov’t.

• Costs of Vietnam: 58k Americans dead, 300k wounded, 2500 MIA. 2 million Vietnamese Dead, 300K MIA. Cost $150 Billion dollars- helped create the “stagflation” of the 70s.

• Led many Americans to mistrust gov’t and military.

• Also led to 26th Amendment lowering voting age to 18- if you can be drafted, you should be able to vote.

MY LAI MASSACRE

• 1969 story broke at a US officer (Lt William Calley) had ordered the entire population of the village of My Lai – over 200 people, put to death. Charged as a war crime (convicted of murder) but paroled by Nixon. Again, makes US involvement in Vietnam look really bad….

• Paris Accords: Treaty between N Vietnam and US signed 1973. We agree to pull out, and North agrees to give back POWs. But we continue to support gov’t of south (a dictator named Nguyen Van Thieu) through our embassy

• 1975 Viet Cong overrun the border and take Saigon (we evacuate via helicopter, leaving those who had supported us behind) Vietnam becomes a single country. No diplomatic relation between US and Vietnam 1975 - 95

CHINA AND THE SOVIET UNION

• Here is the area where Nixon is most successful as a

president. He wanted Détente, and to exploit tensions

in relation to the two communist superpowers of USSR and China (which we have never recognized)

• 1971 1st Americans go to China- the US ping pong team (Go Forrest!). Then Nixon announced we would no longer block China’s entry into the UN, and finally, in 1972 Nixon himself goes to China

• All this recognition for China makes the Soviets nervous… and more likely to be “friendly” (Though Brezhnev not a “snuggly” guy…) Nixon also visited Moscow in 1972, and SALT talks in Helsinki Finland led to arms reduction

THE ELECTION OF 1972 AND WATERGATE

• Nixon was in good shape for re-election in 1972. George Wallace (who would draw conservative votes) was shot and forced to withdraw, and Dem nominee George McGovern was seen as far TOO liberal. Landslide Victory…

WATERGATE….

• Nixon wasn’t content to just win, he wanted a slam dunk

(which he got) CREEP and Plumbers set out to use “dirty tricks” to discredit McGovern and control information given to press

• After a gov’t worker leaked Pentagon Papers (which contained a wide variety of unpleasant facts) Plumbers broke in his psychiatrist’s office to prove he was getting treatment (and therefore should not be credible)

• Summer of 1972 a group of burglars caught breaking into Democratic National Headquarters in Watergate complex in Washington DC. Seemed like no big deal, but journalists (Woodward and Berstein) discovered that the “burglars” were actually part of CREEP/Plumbers

COVER UP AND RESIGNATION

• It was a long train of events, but eventually it was proved that the

president and other high ranking officials had known about and helped

plan the break-in. And worse, as soon as the men were caught- they

had covered up their actions, shredding documents, pressuring witnesses etc…

• Nixon protests “I am not a crook”, but America gets more and more suspicious as top aides are indicted. Then it comes to light that Nixon has recording devices in the oval office- and there are recordings of conversations. Tapes subpoenaed, Nixon claims executive privilege and refuses

• US v Nixon: supreme court rules President must surrender the tapes. Knowing they will incriminate him- Nixon resigns August 9th 1974 rather than face impeachment and almost certain conviction

EFFECTS OF WATERGATE

• People already “down” of gov’t b/c of Vietnam… this make things much worse. We have never fully recovered assumption that gov’t operates in our best interests (which had been typical before 1960s)

• Modern American have an innate distrust of government as a whole- and particularly of politicians, whom we see as working for their own gain or power (when in reality it is an incredibly self-sacrificing career)

IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY

• Presidents have been gaining power since FDR and the New Deal- taking a lot of legislating power from Congress.

• After Watergate- Congress worked hard to get that power BACK: • War Powers Act: Says president can only send troop into a conflict area for 90 days before

seeking congressional approval.

• Congressional Budget Control Act: Gives Congress oversight with funds being spent by President.

• Federal Election Campaign Act: sets limits on campaign contributions (later changed)

• Freedom of Information Act: allowed citizens access to files- gov’ts have to prove WHY they should stay classified after a set time.

AN UN ELECTED PRESIDENT

• Gerald Ford had only been VP for a few months when Nixon resigned. The former VP (Spiro Agnew- what a name!) had been forced to resign, Ford had been appointed by Nixon (it was after Watergate had started, he was “clean” and uninvolved)

• Ford took power through provisions of the 25th Amendment (up until then a president could only lose power if dead or impeached) but no one had ever voted for him (or for HIS vp, Nelson Rockefeller)

• Ford was a really nice guy….and a good choice- he helped restore faith in gov’t, but he never inspired great confidence. Pardoned Nixon almost immediately (justification was to spare nation seeing a former president on trial) which was controversial.

• Tough time to be president. Oil crisis, econ problems, and our final withdrawal from Vietnam…..

PRESIDENT CARTER AND THE LAST YEARS OF THE DECADE

• Jimmy Carter ran as a Washington “outsider” in 1976- which helped him win the election. People liked him (he’s a likable guy) but that wasn’t enough to solve the problems of the 70s.

• Worked hard on the economy- raised federal spending to stimulate the economy and cut taxes so people had more $$ - which leads to increasing debt. Unemployment went down, but inflation stayed high, mainly because of OPEC

HUMANITARIAN DIPLOMACY

• Carter sought to base foreign policy on human rights, but was criticized for inconsistency and a lack of attention to US interests . Ultimately ineffective….• Cut foreign aid to Uganda and Ethiopia b/c of human rights

violations- which led to widespread famine in the area• Denounced Apartheid in S. Africa- but continued trade. Spoke

against child labor in the Philippines, but continued aide

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

• Carter stepped away from cold war thinking and tried to bring sides together. Created treaty which gave control of panama canal TO Panama, signed SALT II treaty with Soviets, which reduced nuclear arsenal. Ended recognition of Taiwan- formally recognized People’s Republic of China

• Most famous for Camp David Accords- a treaty in 1979 between Egypt and Israel which was the 1st time an Arab nation recognized Israel’s right to exist. Carter won Nobel Peace Prize

PRESIDENTIAL RANKINGS: C-SPAN SURVEY, 2009

1. Abraham Lincoln2. Franklin Roosevelt3. George Washington4. Theodore Roosevelt5. Harry Truman6. John Kennedy7. Thomas Jefferson8. Dwight Eisenhower9. Woodrow Wilson10. Ronald Reagan11. Lyndon Johnson12. James Polk13. Andrew Jackson14. James Monroe

15. Bill Clinton16. William McKinley17. John Adams18. George H.W. Bush19. John Quincy Adams20. James Madison21. Grover Cleveland22. Gerald Ford23. Ulysses Grant24. William Taft25. Jimmy Carter26. Calvin Coolidge27. Richard Nixon28. James Garfield

29. Zachary Taylor

30. Benjamin Harrison

31. Martin Van Buren

32. Chester Arthur

33. Rutherford Hayes

34. Herbert Hoover

35. John Tyler

36. George W. Bush

37. Millard Fillmore

38. Warren Harding

39. William Harrison

40. Franklin Pierce

41. Andrew Johnson

42. James Buchanan