The Seventies Mr Wells W History FACTS

The Seventies Mr. Wells W History

FACTS about this decade. Population: 204, 879, 000 Unemployed in 1970: 4, 088, 000 National Debt: $382 billion Average salary: $7, 564 Food prices: milk, 33 cents a qt. ; bread, 24 cents a loaf; Life Expectancy: Male, 67. 1; Female, 74. 8

On July 21, 1969 Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the Moon, while Michael Collins piloted. Apollo 11 landed on the moon. . .

The US & USSR signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Prohibits acquiring or helping others acquire nuclear weapons. The NPT purpose was to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

Charles Manson Convicted on January 25, 1971

former cult leader who led what became known as the Manson Family

Mao Zedong greets Nixon opened U. S. relations with China and became the first U. S. president to visit China

Yom Kippur War (1973 Arab-Israeli War) October 6 – 26, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria

OPEC oil embargo OPEC is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries founded in 1960 by five founding members: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. In response to the U. S. support of Israel, in 1973 OPEC placed an oil

Gas Shortages The OPEC oil embargo led to gas shortages in the United States and throughout the world. Gas prices skyrocketed and people were limited to the amount of gasoline they

Gas Shortages Long lines and hours of waiting to get gas were common sights in the 1970 s.

Watergate Scandal

What was Watergate? Watergate was one of the largest political scandals in the history of the United States

What was Watergate? The Watergate scandal occurred when the Republicans were caught spying on the Democrats at the Democratic Headquarters

The Watergate Break-in On June 17, 1972, 5 men were arrested attempting to bug Democratic headquarters inside the Watergate building in Washington D. C.

Election of 1972 Nixon is re-elected in a landslide race

Gerald Ford Spiro Agnew resigns as Vice-President because of bribery charges from the time when he was the Governor of Maryland. Nixon chooses Gerald Ford to replace Agnew as Vice-President.

The Washington Post Watergate came to public attention largely through the work of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, investigative reporters from the Washington Post

What was Watergate? Watergate became a major scandal when President Nixon lied about his role in the break-in and tried to cover it up

Congressional Hearings Congress began hearings to investigate the scandal and found that Nixon’s Attorney General, controlled a fund to pay for the espionage operations

The Oval Office Tapes Nixon had secretly been tape-recording conversations. These tapes would become the focus of the investigation.

The Smoking Gun Tapes When the Supreme Court forced Nixon to surrender the tapes, he refused invoking “executive privilege”

The Oval Office Tapes On October 23, 1973 Nixon agreed to turn over White House tape recordings

The Smoking Gun Tapes Many of the conversations on the tapes indicated Nixon’s knowledge of the Watergate break in and the following cover-up.

Nixon’s Final Days On July 27, 1974, the House Judiciary Committee recommends that Impeachment charges be brought against Nixon.

Nixon Resigns On August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon became the first American president to resign

Gerald Ford becomes president. 1974 The only president not elected by the people

U. S. celebrates Bicentennial On July 4, 1976, the United States celebrated its bicentennial (200 th birthday)

Election of 1976 In the 1976 Presidential Election, the Republicans nominated the sitting president Gerald Ford as their candidate The Democrats nominated a relative unknown, Georgia’s Governor Jimmy Carter, who had once been a peanut farmer Carter defeated Ford to become the nation’s 39 th president. Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter,

Election of 1976

The Carter Years Carter’s Presidency was troubled by the Iran hostage crisis and an economic

Militants in Iran took 53 Americans in the U. S. embassy in Tehran hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981.

Iran Hostage Crisis

Iran Hostage Crisis

Iran Hostage Crisis The American hostages were held in captivity for 444 days and not released until after Carter was defeated in the 1980

Jonestown Massacre Americans were shocked in 1978 when The Peoples Temple, a religious cult, had a mass suicide that left nearly 1, 000 people dead

Afghanistan Dec. 27, 1979

Why? To expand Soviet influence in Asia n To preserve the Communist government n Protect Soviet interests from Iran and western nations n

Soviet tanks in Afghanistan

Resistance fighters, called mujahidin, saw the Christian or atheist Soviets controlling Afghanistan as a defilement of Islam as well as of their traditional culture. Proclaiming a "jihad"(holy war), they gained the support of the Islamic world.

mujahidin

The US gave them weapons and money. Osama bin Laden became the head of al -Qaeda (non-Afghani, Arab Muslim fighters) leading guerilla warfare against the Soviet Army. The fighters used whatever weapons they could take from the Soviets or were given to them by the US.

The tide of the war would be turned by the introduction of US-made shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles in 1987. With these missiles, the mujahidin shot down Soviet planes and helicopters every day, increasing the monetary and human cost of the war, and making Soviet strike tactics ineffective. Demoralized and with no victory in sight, the USSR's forces are forced to leave Afghanistan.

Effects of the war on Afghanistan (1979 -1989) n n n Several million Afghan refugees Millions more died from starvation and Soviet bombing raids A generation that knows only war, hatred, and fear Country in barren and in ruin Thousands of miniature land mines were dropped by Soviet planes