The Bottom Falls Out — 19641980 Vietnam

The Bottom Falls Out -- 19641980

Vietnam to 1960 • • France in Vietnam Ho Chi Minh 1950: Aid to France Dien Bien Phu (1954) Geneva Conference SEATO (1954) Ngo Dinh Diem’s Government

Kennedy and Vietnam • National Liberation Front (NLF) / Vietcong • Kennedy • Fall of Diem (Nov. 2, 1963)

Johnson and Vietnam • • The Gulf of Tonkin Crisis The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution Rolling Thunder (1965) Escalation Search and Destroy Air Power 1969: 543, 000 troops Hearts and Minds

Vietnam and Student Protests • • First Anti-Vietnam March Realist Critics Student Movements Mass Expansion

Radicalization of Protest • • War with Administrations Terrorists Nonviolent Resistance Democratic Opposition to the War

Youth Culture of the Sixties and Seventies • • • Counterculture Folk --> Rock Drugs and More Drugs Communes and Sexuality Gay Rights Fade to Self-Indulgence

The Women’s Movement (I) • • Depression Era WWII Post-War President’s Commission on the Status of Women (1961) • 1964 Civil Rights Act

The Women’s Movement (II) • Literature – Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (1953) – Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (1963) • Women’s Political Organizations – Women’s Equity Action League (1963) – National Organization for Women (1965) • Radical Feminism

The Urban Crisis • • Perceptions Strangulation by Suburbs The Ghetto High Taxes

Race Relations (Black) • Urban Race Riots • The Black Panther Party • Black Power Politics

Race Relations (Hispanic) • • Counterculture La Raza Unida (1972) Cesar Chavez Bilingualism

Race Relations (Indians) • Wheeler-Howard Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 • National Congress of American Indians (WWII) • Government Support • AIM (1968) • Wounded Knee II (1973)

Suburban Triumph • • Prosperity and Growth Community College Baker vs. Carr (1962) School Busing

1968: Chaos in America-The Tet Offensive (I) • January 29, 1968 -February, 1968 • 50, 000 US and SVA vs 85, 000 NVA and Vietcong • 45, 000 NVA and Vietcong killed, 6000 capture • US and SVA lose 4, 324 killed, 16, 063 wounded, and 598 missing. • Vietcong largely ceases to exist

1968: Chaos in America-The Tet Offensive (II) • Aftermath: – A blow to morale – TV coverage – The Logic of War • My Lai (1968) • Vietnamization

1968: Chaos in America-Eugene Mc. Carthy’s Revolt • • March 21 --Close results in New Hampshire March 24 --RFK comes in March 31 --LBJ goes out April 4 --Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassinated. Riots in 60 cities • June 4 --Sirhan kills RFK • Hubert Humphrey nominated

1968: Chaos in America-The Election of 1968 • Richard Nixon’s Southern Strategy • George Wallace’s Hate / “Law and Order” Strategy • Nixon and Agnew: 31. 78 million votes, 301 electoral (Nixon took 8 Southern States out of 15) • Humphrey and Muskie: 31. 27 million votes, 191 electoral (Only 1 Southern State. Johnson had taken 10 in 1964. ) • Wallace and Le. May: 9. 9 million votes, 46 electoral (6 Southern States)

1968 Election

Nixon and Foreign Policy • • House of Cronies Nixon Doctrine SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) I Latin America Middle East Nixon Goes to China Detente

Nixon and Vietnam (I) • Goals – Avoid Appearance of Defeat – Build up South Vietnam: “Vietnamization” • Invasion of Cambodia (1970) – Khmer Rouge • December 1970 --Gulf of Tonkin repealled • Prisoners of War?

Nixon and Vietnam (II) • December 1971: 100, 000 out, 133, 000 remain • April 1, 1972: New NV offensive • Negotiations • January 23, 1973: Peace settlement • 1975: Fall of Saigon

The Nixon Era: Domestic Programs • • Apollo 11: July 20, 1969 The Problems of the Cities--Ignored “New Federalism” Welfare Reform

The Nixon Era: Economic Weakness • • • “Demand-Pull Inflation” Off the Gold Standard Cost-Push Inflation Conservation and Energy Efficiency Stagflation

The Nixon Era: Domestic Arena II • Supreme Court--2 appointments • Supreme Court--Burger Court • Regulation – The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) – Wage and Price Freeze (August 15, 1971)

1972 Election • • Nixon Runs Left George Mc. Govern’s Coalition Watergate Breakin The Results – Nixon/Agnew: 47. 168 million (520 electoral) – Mc. Govern/Shriver: 29. 1 million (17 Electoral votes)

The Criminal Presidency I • A Culture of Criminality • The Committee to Re-Elect the President (CREEP) • Watergate • The Trial • The Accusation: March 1973 • John Dean Confesses

The Criminal Presidency II • • Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox The Tapes vs Executive Privilege VP Spiro Agnew Resigns The Saturday Night Massacre “I am Not a Crook”--November 17, 1973 The Tapes Censored The IRS The Watergate Tapes

The Criminal Presidency III • • Impeachment Supreme Court -- July 24, 1974 The Smoking Gun--June 23, 1972 Tape August 8, 1974 --Nixon Resigns

Gerald Ford, 1974 -7: A Mediocre Presidency • • • August 9, 1974 Less Imperial Fall of Vietnam Cambodia and Pol Pot Refugees to the US

Economic Woes • Stagflation – Unemployment: 5. 8 -11%, Inflation: 6 to 13%. • The Energy Crisis – Prelude – Kissinger and the 1973 War • Oil Embargos – Gas from $3 to $12 a barrel

Jimmy Carter, 1977 -81

The Carter Years, Unsuccessful Idealism, 1977 -81 • Jimmy Carter vs. Ford – Carter: 40. 8 million (297 EV) – Ford: 39. 1 million (240 EV) • Simplicity • Economic Troubles: – Inflation hit 13%, the Fed tightened Credit, Interest Rates hit 15% by 1979.

Carter’s Struggle • • • Energy Plan Industrial City Meltdown Corporatization of Agriculture Human Rights Deregulation – Airlines: 1978 – Trucking and Rail: 1980 – Banking Industry

Carter Abroad: Success • Salt II (1979) • Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan • Sadat and Begin – Camp David Peace Accords (1978)

The Bottom Falls Out • The Iran Crisis (1979 -81) – Khomeni – Hostage Crisis – Failed Rescue – Release • Oil Crisis: 16$ a barrel to 36$ a barrel in 1981 • The Bottom Falls Out