The 1968 Presidential Election With the end of

The 1968 Presidential Election: With the end of the Great Society came the end of the New Deal Coalition and the election of Richard Nixon by the so-called “Silent Majority. ” America seemed to be coming apart. The streets were filled with protests and violence: blacks fought whites, young fought old, doves fought hawks, liberals fought conservatives. Political assassination seemed a matter of course. Riots turned American inner cities into burned-out shells of despair and rage. Nixon tapped into concerns about the unraveling of society by asserting a “law and order” message in the campaign. He focused the nation’s attention on street crime, general lawlessness, and disorder, arguing that it was time to take back the cities from the muggers, drug pushers, and more violent criminals. Promising to clean up the streets and to find “a peace with honor” in Vietnam, he won a resounding victory in the Electoral College (301 votes to Democratic candidate Vice-POTUS Hubert Humphrey 191). Equally essential to Nixon’s victory, was Independent Democrat George Wallace of Alabama. Stripping southern votes from Humphrey, he won 46 electoral votes. Wallace took the highest popular vote of any “Third Party” candidate to that time.

“One Giant Leap for Mankind”: In 1961, John F. Kennedy promised that the U. S. would beat the Soviets in the space race, asserting that an American would land on the Moon by the end of the decade. Funding for the Mercury astronaut program increased and Alan Shepard became the first American in space (a month after Russian Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth) and a year later, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. In 1963, NASA began the Apollo Program to achieve a lunar landing. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the Sea of Tranquility and commander Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon, proclaiming “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. ” Armstrong and crewmate “Buzz” Aldrin collected Moon rock samples, telephoned President Nixon, and placed an American flag before departing.

Détente: Thawing of tensions between the U. S. and the Soviets under Nixon (authored by Henry Kissinger), as the two nations recognized the need to coexist as rivals but reduce the potential for war between them. Among its developments was an agreement that the US would increase sales of wheat to the USSR at a fixed price. SALT I: Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, signed by Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Leonid Breshnev in May 1972. It limited the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs--long range missiles) and the construction of antiballistic missiles (ABMs--missiles designed for defensive purposes to shoot down ICBMs) on both sides. It basically froze nuclear arsenals, giving the USSR an advantage in number of missiles and the US an advantage in number of warheads. It did not end the arms race, however, as both nations were free to develop new weapons systems. It was followed by SALT II under Jimmy Carter, but that treaty was not ratified because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The arms race escalated during the Reagan era, until Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) in 1987.

Nixon in China: Nixon’s foreign policy triumph and high point of his presidency. Nixon developed a policy of “triangulation” to drive a wedge between the Soviets and China, as well as one between the China and the Vietnamese. The key to the policy was opening diplomatic relations with Red China. In February 1972, Nixon, the ardent Cold Warrior, became the first POTUS to visit China, traveling to Beijing, touring the Great Wall, and being feted by Communist leader Mao Zedong. During the visit, Nixon and Mao agreed to scientific and cultural exchanges, as well as a pathway to opening up trade between the two nations. They also advanced talks that led to the Geneva Accords on Vietnam. One of the more interesting and amusing results of the new relationship was a series of ping-pong matches between Chinese and U. S. players like those spoofed in Forrest Gump.

Arab Oil Embargo: When Egypt and Syria invaded Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973, the U. S. came to Israel’s aid. After their defeat, the Arab nation’s decided to make the U. S. pay. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) refused to sell oil to any country supporting Israel. The embargo devastated a U. S. economy reeling from the Vietnam War and Great Society. Inflation wracked the economy, but the embargo and the baby boomers entry into permanent jobs caused unemployment to increase at the same time, leading to an economic paradox called “stagflation”. The government responded by expanding alternative fuel programs, notably natural gas and ethanol, and by reducing speed limits on federal highways. Americans responded by buying more economical compact cars from Japan. The competition caught U. S. auto makers flatfooted as their gas-guzzling land yachts lost market share, throwing workers out of jobs and bringing Chrysler to the brink of bankruptcy. The oil embargo led to the energy crisis” and “gas lines” of the Carter years.

Roe v. Wade (1973): Case involving the legal right to abortion. It grew out Norma L. Mc. Corvey’s (Jane Roe) challenge to a Texas law banning abortion. Building on the 1964 case, Griswold v. Connecticut, which established a constitutional “right to privacy, ” the U. S. Supreme Court ruled that abortion was a constitutional right. The 7 -2 decision followed a three-part policy based on the trimester pregnancy. In the first trimester, before “viability” of the fetus, abortion was absolutely legal; the second trimester was a gray area, dependent on doctor-patient agreement; in the third trimester abortion was not legal except to save the life of the mother. The trimester system has been significantly refined by later decisions, notably Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992). The case made a national issue of abortion as Americans divided into two camps – Pro. Choice and Pro-Life. The political parties also divided on the issue: the Republican Party calling for a constitutional amendment to restrict abortion, and the Democratic Party calling for expanded abortion rights. This created a “gender gap” that defined American politics from the 1970 s to 2001.

Salvador Allende: The CIA had long influenced elections in Chile, but when the socialist Salvador Allende won in 1970. As Chile moved closer to the Soviet Union, the Nixon administration increased aid to Allende's opponents in the Chilean military, including the fascists. In 1973, General Augusto Pinochet, with CIA support, led a coup that resulted in Allende's death. The CIA's involvement became public in 1975 during hearings before the Church Committee. CIA actions in Chile are symbolic of U. S. activities throughout Latin America and elsewhere.

Watergate: Named for a building in Washington, it refers to the Nixon campaign’s plot to burglarize the Democratic National Committee's campaign headquarters and the subsequent cover-up. Nixon’s staff hired a group of burglars, called “plumbers, ” to do various “dirty tricks. ” When the burglars were caught, an investigation traced payment of the burglars back to the Committee to Re-Elect the President (“CREEP”) and the White House. Nixon did not know about the plot, but when he found out he decided to cover it up. An investigation by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein led to a whistle-blower, FBI Associate Director W. Mark Felt, known as “Deep Throat. ” Felt told the reporters to talk to John Dean, White House Counsel. When they did, Dean told them that he and Nixon had discussed the cover-up on many occasions. As news accounts exposed the plot, Congress discovered Nixon had taped all conversations in the Oval Office. It demanded Nixon turn over the tapes. Nixon refused, claiming Executive Privilege.

As Congress got closer, the Justice Department began an investigation through the Office of the Special Prosecutor. Archibald Cox, a liberal Democrat who had served as Solicitor General under JFK, was named chief investigator. Cox subpoenaed the tapes; Nixon again refused to turn them over. When Cox rejected a compromise on the tapes, Nixon ordered the Attorney General to fire Cox. The AG refused and resigned, as did the Deputy AG. Finally, Solicitor General Robert Bork carried out Nixon’s order. It became known as the Saturday Night Massacre. Meanwhile, Congress sued Nixon and the SCOTUS, in U. S. v. Nixon, in July 1974, ruled Nixon had to turn over the tapes. When he did, there was no “smoking gun” evidence, but there was an 18. 5 minute gap in the recording. It looked bad. Even Republicans said Nixon was done for. With impeachment imminent, Nixon resigned the presidency in August 1974. Shortly after Nixon left office, claiming the “our national nightmare is over, ” President Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon.

President Gerald Ford: From Michigan, he became the 37 th POTUS, but is the only president never elected to any national office. In 1973, Nixon’s first Vice-POTUS (Spiro Agnew) resigned in the face of corruption charges; so under the 25 th Amendment, Nixon nominated and Congress approved Ford to replace him. When Nixon resigned, Ford became POTUS. Although many criticized him for it, historians now suggest the Nixon pardon put Watergate behind us and kept it from dragging through the courts and continuing to cause political upheaval. In retrospect, Ford was an important stabilizing figure.

Whip Inflation Now (WIN): With the U. S. economy reeling from inflation in 1974, it seems that the best Ford came up with was a slogan: Whip Inflation Now. He asked people to wear WIN buttons and control spending habits. Not only did it not stop inflation (because the high cost of fuel caused everything else to go up) it may have helped lead the country into a mild recession of 1975. The Tumbling President

Ford’s Foreign Policy Executive Order 11905: Lingering disgust with U. S. foreign policy in the wake of Vietnam and Public outrage over the finding of the Church Committee caused Ford to issue this executive order in 1976. It bans the C. I. A. or other government bodies from using assassination as an instrument of American policy. Helsinki Accords: The high point of the foreign policy of the Ford administration, the accords resulted from a conference held in Helsinki, Finland, in 1975. NATO and Warsaw Pact nations agreed to respect and promote the “human rights and fundamental freedoms” of all citizens. They marked an expansion of international law in the area of human rights and led to Human Rights Watch.

Jimmy Carter: Given Watergate, Gerald Ford’s unpopular pardon of Nixon, and a tanking economy (unemployment at 9%), the 1976 election was closer than one might expect, but the Democrat Jimmy Carter won. A major story of the election was low voter turnout. Carter, former Georgia Governor, campaigned as an outsider. That, and his lack of a mandate, left him unable to control the sizeable Democratic majority in Congress and led to conflicts that made resolving the country’s problems nearly impossible. As the economy remained stagnant, Carter lost credibility.

Energy Crisis II: The lingering effects of the Arab Oil Embargo and the new shock of the Iranian Hostage Crisis led to a second energy crisis in the late 1970 s. The Blizzard of 1977 made that winter the hardest in memory; heating oil prices sky-rocketed. Then the strife in Iran caused oil prices to go up. Oil had cost less than $5 a barrel in 1969, but by 1979 the price had risen to near $40; a year later it climbed to $50 per barrel. To end the inflationary spiral, the Federal Reserve boosted interest rates to 20%, which slowed the economy and through more people out of work. Carter’s popularity in polls dropped to 26% (lower than Nixon’s rating at the depth of Watergate. )

Three Mile Island: Amid the energy crisis, many hoped nuclear power would offer an alternative to oil. Others feared nuclear power. In 1979, a partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Pennsylvania fed fears of a nuclear catastrophe. The station had a “loss of coolant accident” causing the reactor core to overheat. To relieve pressure, steam was released into the atmosphere. Fears spread of nuclear radiation; the area was evacuated. In the end, no one was hurt in the accident, but fears of nuclear disaster remained and construction of new nuclear energy facilities stopped. Making the matter worse was the release of a movie about a meltdown at a nuclear reactor. The China Syndrome told the story of what could happen if there were a real meltdown. The movie suggested it would cause an explosion so big that it would push downward through the Earth “all the way to China. ” Although nothing really happed at Three Mile Island, a real nuclear disaster did occur in the Soviet Union in 1986. An explosion at the Chernobyl reactor killed 31 immediately and contaminated the air and water of the Chernobyl region for a decade.

“The basic thrust of human affairs points toward a more universal demand for fundamental human rights. ” Jimmy Carter’s Foreign Policy: Unknown nationally in 1975, Carter became POTUS in 1977. He ran as an incorruptible outsider intending to clean up Washington and as a Christian moralist advancing human rights around the world. His focus on human rights included not only Soviet violations, but also atrocities perpetrated by the U. S. , like those exposed by the Church Committee. To improve relations with Latin America, he negotiated transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama; stopped U. S. support for the unpopular Somoza regime in Nicaragua; and refused to send troops to prop up the government of El Salvador. In the Far East, he ended military support for Taiwan, moving toward closer relations with Red China. In the Middle East, he found one major success, but then a disastrous failure that put the nail in the coffin of his presidency. Carter Doctrine: As things fell apart in 1980, Carter issued his own foreign policy doctrine, asserting that the U. S. would use troops to protect its interests in the Middle East.

Camp David Accords: High point of the Jimmy Carter administration’s foreign policy, the Accords resulted from a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at Camp David. President Carter hosted the meeting. For the first time, Egypt, an Arab country, recognized Israel’s right to exist and Israeli sovereignty. In return, Israel agreed to return all land in the Sinai Peninsula. The Accords proved more limited over time than hoped, but were a major first step and won Sadat and Begin the Nobel Peace Prize when the treaty was finally signed in 1979.

1980 Moscow Olympics: Sports, particularly the Olympics, became a pawn in the Cold War during the Carter years. Because the U. S. could not respond militarily when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, the Carter administration responded with several symbolic rebukes. It asked the Senate to table SALT II and suspended grain shipments. A major debate arose inside the administration over whether the U. S. should participate in the Summer Olympic Games to be held in Moscow in 1980. Although in retrospect it seems mild, the main response of the Carter administration was to lead a boycott of the games. The declared boycott might have caused the Soviets to boycott the Winter Games to be held in Lake Placid, NY. They did not boycott and this opened the opportunity for the so-called “Miracle on Ice: ” the U. S. hockey team’s defeat of the Soviets and subsequent victory of the gold medal.

Teheran Hostage Crisis: Carter administration’s lowest point and greatest failure in foreign policy involved relations with Iran. Islamist fundamentalist Ayatollah Khomeini led a revolution ousting the U. S. backed government of the Shah in January 1979. In November, an Iranian mob overran the U. S. embassy in Teheran and took 53 hostages. Carter asked the U. N. to intervene, but Khomeini ignored it. Carter froze Iranian assets and asked other countries to embargo Iran, but Iranian oil supply outweighed the insult to the U. S. in the eyes of most countries. In April 1980, Carter okayed a mission to free the hostages, but the raid proved not just a failure but an embarrassment. Also insulting was the administration having to listen as CBS anchor Walter Cronkite ended each newscast with the phrase, “day _ of captivity for the hostages in Iran. ” Rubbing salt in Carter’s wound, the hostages were freed on inauguration day, Day 444, after Reagan was sworn in as the new President.

“Malaise”: On July 15 th, 1979, Carter made a political mistake that plagued the rest of his time in office. “It's clear that the true problems of our nation are much deeper, ” he said in a televised speech, “deeper than gasolines of energy shortages, deeper even than inflation or recession. ” He said a crisis of the American spirit, a malaise, had overcome the country. Then he offered his solution: a reduction of oil imports and an increase in taxes. Leaving aside the statement's validity, the speech’s negative tone further alienated the citizenry. By 1980, unemployment stood at 7. 5%, inflation was 12%, and the prime interest rate was 20%. When dramatic failures in foreign policy overtook Carter and Senator Edward Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic nomination, Carter was all but guaranteed to lose the 1980 election. He won only 41 percent of the vote and Ronald Reagan won an overwhelming electoral victory, 489 to 49.