Download US History 1970- 1980

Nixon longed to be known for his expertise in
foreign policy. Although occupied with the
Vietnam War, Nixon also initiated several new
trends in American diplomatic relations. Nixon
contended that the communist world consisted
of two rival powers — the Soviet Union and
China. Given the long history of animosity
between those two nations, Nixon and his
adviser Henry Kissinger, decided to exploit
that rivalry to win advantages for the United
States. That policy became known as triangular
diplomacy.
The United States had
much to offer China.
Since Mao Zedong's
takeover in 1949, the
United States had
refused recognition to
the communist
government. Instead,
the Americans pledged
support to the Chinese
Nationalist government
in Taiwan. China was
blocked from admission
to the United Nations
by the American veto,
and Taiwan held
China's seat on the
Security Council.
President and Mrs
Nixon on the Great
Wall, 1972
In June 1971 Kissinger traveled
secretly to China to make
preparations for a Presidential
visit. After Kissinger's return,
Nixon surprised everyone by
announcing that he would
travel to China and meet with
Mao Zedong. In February
1972, Nixon toured the Great
Wall and drank toasts with
Chinese leaders. Soon after,
the United States dropped its
opposition to Chinese entry in
the United Nations and
groundwork was laid for the
eventual establishment of
diplomatic relations.
Henry Kissenger
As part of the Cold War's
temporary thaw during the
1970s, Soviet Premier
Leonid Brezhnev agreed to
import American wheat into
the Soviet Union. The two
countries would also agree
to a joint space exploration
program dubbed ApolloSoyuz.
As expected, this maneuver caused concern in
the Soviet Union. Nixon hoped to
establish a détente, or an easing of
tensions, with the USSR. In May 1972,
Nixon made an equally significant trip to
Moscow to support a nuclear arms
agreement. The product of this visit was
the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
(SALT I). The United States and the
Soviet Union pledged to limit the number
of intercontinental ballistic missiles each
side would build, and to prevent the
development of anti-ballistic missile
systems.
Nixon and his Soviet counterpart, Leonid
Brezhnev also agreed to a trade deal
involving American wheat being shipped
to the USSR. The two nations entered into
a joint venture in space exploration
known as Apollo-Soyuz.
Arguably, Nixon may have been the only
president who could have
accomplished this arrangement.
Anticommunism was raging in the
United States. Americans would
view with great suspicion any
attempts to make peace with either
the Soviet Union or China. No one
would challenge Nixon's
anticommunist credentials, given
his reputation as a staunch redbaiter in his early career. His
overtures were chiefly accepted by
the American public. Although the
Cold War still burned hotly across
the globe, the efforts of Nixon and
Kissinger led to a temporary thaw.
The situation inherited by Richard Nixon was no less a
"mess" than it was in November 1963 when Lyndon
Johnson rose to the presidency. In fact, it was much
worse. Over 500,000 troops were stationed in Vietnam;
Americans killed in action averaged 1200 a month. And
domestic opinion about the war was divided (no
consensus on a course of action in Vietnam), negative (a
majority felt that the war was a mistake), and pessimistic
(people saw little progress at the peace talks and believed
the fighting would go on for at least 2 more years).
Added to the mix were the racial divisions in the
country, the skepticism toward within the anti-war
movement, and a long standing antipathy toward Nixon
among Democratic loyalists.
Nixon and Kissinger quickly agreed upon two premises
about American policy in Vietnam. First, the war in
Vietnam was not "winnable" in any conventional sense of
the term. Public opinion would tolerate neither an
escalation nor the continuation of a status quo that
included over 1,000 killed per month. Second, a
unilateral withdrawal was not feasible because the
political costs, both domestic and international, were
unacceptable. Withdrawal would dissolve Nixon's
political base at home and, as Kissinger continually
emphasized, undermine American credibility abroad. [2]
Apart from the military situation in Vietnam, the
political problem confronting President Nixon was
complex. How could Nixon "buy time" to achieve his
understanding of "peace with honor" without
succumbing to Lyndon Johnson's fate of eroding public
support?
The history of his first
administration reveals
that Nixon's strategy
consisted of four
components:
1. Vietnamization
2. The "Politics of
Polarization"
3. The "Madman"
scenario
4. Triangular Diplomacy
(1)
(2)
Vietnamization
First, it was necessary to reduce
American casualty rates and the
number of combat troops in
Vietnam. To this end, Nixon
defined his policy as
"Vietnamization" -- the idea that
South Vietnamese would gradually
assume a greater combat role and
ultimately eliminate the need for
American ground forces. Because
the US would not withdraw
abrubtly, the policy of
Vietnamization would require time.
The domestic political objective was
to convince the public that the
Army of South Vietnam could
eventually handle the war on their
own.
The "Politics of Polarization"
To buy time, Nixon had to build a
larger and more reliable base of
support within the American
public. His popular vote margin
in the 1968 election was razor
thin. However, to his
advantage, the Democratic
coalition was shattered in 1968
and there were political
opportunities. To exploit these
opportunities, the
administration would pursue a
"politics of polarization" in
which it would, at one and the
same time, appeal to a "silent
majority" and attempt to isolate
opponents and paint them, in
one manner or another, as
extreme.
The "Politics of Polarization"
To buy time, Nixon had to build a
larger and more reliable base of
support within the American
public. His popular vote margin
in the 1968 election was razor
thin. However, to his
advantage, the Democratic
coalition was shattered in 1968
and there were political
opportunities. To exploit these
opportunities, the
administration would pursue a
"politics of polarization" in
which it would, at one and the
same time, appeal to a "silent
majority" and attempt to isolate
opponents and paint them, in
one manner or another, as
extreme.
The polarizing effect of Vice President Agnew's attacks were intentional and part of
the political strategy of the administration. As Agnew noted, "I say it is time for a
positive polarization. It is time to rip away the rhetoric and to divide on authentic
lines." [9] President Nixon and his political advisors were strongly influenced by
The Emerging Republican Majority, published by Kevin Phillips in 1969 and
called "The Political Bible of the Nixon Era" by Newsweek magazine. In the book,
Phillips argued that the once potent New Deal coalition of the Democrats was in
shambles. Nixon could, Phillips contended, build a permanent national majority
for the Republicans by holding his traditional Republican base while augmenting
that base with southern Democrats (many of whom voted for George Wallace in
1968) and other conservative elements in the Democratic Party.
At 9:30 PM on November 3, President Nixon addressed a national television audience
from the White House. This speech, whose date was announced just two days
before the first moratorium, was designed to buy time in Vietnam and to reach
out to dissident Democrats along with Nixon's core constituency. In the speech,
the president traced the history of American involvement in Vietnam, highlighted
the negotiating efforts of administration since taking office, outlined his policy of
Vietnamization, and placed the blame for the continuation of war on the
government of North Vietnam. The speech reached its crescendo when he
appealed to the public for support:
And so tonight-- to you, the great silent majority of my fellow
Americans-- I ask for your support. I pledged in my campaign
for the Presidency to end the war in a way that we could win the
peace. I have initiated a plan of action which will enable me to
keep that pledge. The more support I can have from the
American people, the sooner that pledge can be redeemed; for
the more divided we are at home, the less likely, the enemy is to
negotiate at Paris. Let us be united for peace. Let us also be
united against defeat. Because let us understand: North Vietnam
cannot defeat or humiliate the United States. Only Americans
can do that.
- Nixon’s “Silent Majority” Speech Nov. 3, 1969
The public reaction to the president's speech was most
favorable. Among those who watched the address,
77% approved of how Nixon was handling the
situation in Vietnam and only 6% disapproved. In
the wake of the speech, Nixon's overall approval
rating climbed from 56% to 67%. Although Nixon
had increased his personal support, other indicators
suggested that the public remained divided on
policy in Vietnam. 55% of public now classified
themselves as "doves" with only 31% using the
"hawk" label (down from 41% after the TET
offensive).


The "Madman" scenario
A "madman theory" was devised for negotiating
with the government of North Vietnam. In this
gambit, Henry Kissinger would emphasize, in his
meetings with representatives of North Vietnam,
the volatility of President Nixon's personality. He
would warn the North Vietnamese that Nixon was
unpredictable, that he could fly into a rage, and that
this could happen in response to either North
Vietnamese military action or intransigence in the
peace talks. A similar theme was sounded by
Kissinger in his dealing with the American press.
Over the course of the term, Nixon provided a
number of examples to give credence to Kissinger's
claims: secretly bombing Cambodia, bombing
Hanoi and Haiphong, invading Cambodia and
mining Haiphong harbor.

Triangular Diplomacy



Finally, Nixon pursued a "geopolitical" approach to the war
as well. During the first years of his term, Nixon discovered
reason to believe that both the Soviet Union and People's
Republic of China were interested in what became known as
detente -- an easing of Cold War tensions and expanding
trade relations. This interest, plus the suspicions between
USSR and the PRC, would provide Nixon with leverage for
pressing the Soviets and Chinese to "do business" with the
U.S. and to pressure the North Vietnamese to settle the war.
When we examine the history or chronology of the first
Nixon administration, each component is evident as is the
manner in which the components "meshed" into both a
political strategy for getting America out of Vietnam and
reelecting Nixon in 1972.

On April 20, 1970, President
Nixon addressed a national
television audience. In his
speech, he reviewed the
progress of his
Vietnamization policy and
announced that 150,000
American troops would be
withdrawn from Vietnam in
the following year. This was
the third and largest
announcement of troop
withdrawals since Nixon took
office. And, unlike the troop
increases of the Johnson
years, the announcements by
Nixon were well publicized.
Ten days later, Nixon took to
the airwaves again. The
news this time was more
controversial as the
president announced that
American and South
Vietnamese forces were
launching an invasion of
Cambodia. The object of
the offensive was to wipe
out sanctuaries within
Cambodia that were used
by the North Vietnamese
infiltrating the south.
In his speech, Nixon emphasized not
only the strategic value of the
operation but also American
credibility. "If, when the chips are
down," the president argued, "the
world's most powerful nation, the
United States of America, acts like a
pitiful, helpless giant, the forces of
totalitarianism and anarchy will
threaten free nations and free
institutions throughout the world."
In order to persuade the public, the
speech exaggerated the strategic
value of the operation and
contained a number of "whoppers."
[13] The address concluded with a
classic Nixonian flourish as the
president asserted that "I would
rather be a one-term President and
do what is right than to be a twoterm President at the cost of seeing
America become a second-rate
power and to see this Nation accept
the first defeat in its proud 190-year
history."
The response of public opinion to the military
action was peculiar. The public approved of the
way Nixon was handling the situation in
Cambodia by a margin of 50% to 35%; in
response to the question of whether U.S. troops
should be sent to Cambodia, only 25%
responded affirmatively while 59% said troops
should not be sent.
Despite the nature of the polls, the
"Cambodian decision" triggered
a firestorm of protest. The most
publicized occurred on the
campus of Kent State University
in northeast Ohio. On the
evening of May 1, 1970, antiwar
protests turned violent when the
ROTC (Reserve Officers'
Training Corp) building was
torched. In response, the
Governor of Ohio, James Rhodes,
dispatched the National Guard
to Kent. During another
demonstration on Monday, May
4th, members of the National
Guard began firing at
demonstrators. Four students
were killed and eight injured.
In the wake of Kent State, all hell
broke loose. Two students were
killed when Mississippi State
police fired on a crowd of
students at Jackson State
University. 450 colleges and
universities went on strike;
Governor Ronald Reagan
closed the entire college and
university system in California;
within a week, the National
Guard had been deployed in
sixteen different states and on
21 different campuses. A
number of universities simply
closed down for the year.
In the weeks after Kent State, "hard hats" -- the slang for workers in construction
and the building trades --- staged a
series of demonstrations in support of
Nixon. In one New York city
demonstration the "hardhats" attacked
a group of antiwar demonstrators with
"fists, boots, and hammers, chanting
'Love It or Leave It.' " These blue collar
workers, traditionally Democratic
voters, were one of the groups Nixon
hoped to attract with the politics of
polarization.
The remainder of 1970 saw a continuation
of the Vietnamization policy. By the
end of the 1970, there were 335,000
American troops in Vietnam (down
from 537,000 at the end of Johnson's
term) with an average monthly
casualty rate of 344 (down from an
average of 1,200 during 1968).
In early February, 1971,the South
Vietnamese army, backed by
the US air and tactical support,
launched an incursion into Laos
with the intent of cutting off the
Ho Chi Minh trail. Initially, the
operation was successful with
South Vietnamese forces
moving twenty miles deep into
Laos. On February 20th, the
North Vietnamese launched a
counteroffensive and, during
nearly a month of fighting,
captured the territory initially
occupied by South Vietnamese
forces. On March 19th, the U.S.
began an airlift to remove South
Vietnamese from Laos and on
March 24th, the operation was
officially declared at an end
The Laotian incursion was seen as
the first "test" of Nixon's
Vietnamization policy in the
sense of revealing whether the
army of South Vietnam could
sustain an offensive. The results
were, at best, mixed. As
Stephen Ambrose notes, "the
offensive designed to prove that
Vietnamization was working
had turned into a rout, made
painfully visible to American
television viewers by footage
showing ARVN troops fighting
among themselves for a place
on American helicopters
extracting them from Laos."
The coming of spring brought
more anti-war protests to
Washington D.C. There
were sizable demonstrations
in March, April, and May.
The April demonstrations
were led by the organization
known as Vietnam Veterans
Against the War (VVAW).
The most dramatic moment
of the April protests occurred
near the Capitol Building
where numerous combat
veterans threw back their
medals to protest Nixon's
continuation of the war.
Another round of
demonstrations began on
May 3, 1971.
The events of early 1971
registered an impact on the
polls. The Harris Poll records
that positive evaluations of
Nixon's handling of Vietnam
dropped from 44% to 34% in
the wake of the Laotian
incursion . In the Gallup
Poll, approval of Nixon's
overall job performance
dropped to 48% in June, the
lowest level recorded during
his first term.
President Nixon was far from a passive observer of unfolding events. The removal
of U.S. forces associated with Vietnamization continued. On April 7, 1971,
Nixon announced, in a nationally televised speech, that 100,000 troops would
be withdrawn by the end of the year. In an impromptu news conference on
November 11th, he reported that another 45,000 would be withdrawn by
February 1st, 1972. By the end of 1971, the number of U.S. troops in Vietnam
would stand at 157,000; the average number of casualties per month would
fall to 123.
The administration also made three "blockbuster" policy announcements in 1971.
On May 20th, Nixon announced before a national television audience that the
United States and Soviet Union had reached tentative agreements on limiting
anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems and strategic arms (SALT). Next came
relations with the People's Republic of China. In a nationally broadcast
address on the evening of July 15, President Nixon announced that, after a
series of secret meetings, the government of the PRC had extended an
invitation --- which he accepted --- for the president to visit the country.
Finally, on August 15th, the president informed the public of his "New
Economic Policy." The policy included a 90 day freeze of wages and prices
along with abandoning the gold standard for the U.S. dollar.
The failure to bring
negotiations in Vietnam
to a close had little impact
on the outcome of the
1972 presidential election.
Nixon thoroughly
defeated his Democratic
opponent, Senator George
McGovern of South
Dakota. The president
won 60.7% of the popular
vote to McGovern's 37.5%;
Nixon carried 49 of the 50
states to win 520 electoral
votes while McGovern
carried only
Massachusetts and the
District of Columbia for a
total of 17 electoral votes.

On October 10, 1973,
following months of
pressure and scandal, Vice
President Spiro Agnew
turned in his letter of
resignation to President
Nixon (who was soon to
follow him) becoming only
the second vice president to
resign.* Michigan
representative Gerald R.
Ford took his place as vice
president on December 6,
1973.

The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of
Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the
OAPEC (consisting of the Arab members of OPEC, plus Egypt,
Syria and Tunisia) proclaimed an oil embargo "in response to the
U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom
Kippur war; it lasted until March 1974. . With the US actions seen as
initiating the oil embargo and the long term possibility of high oil
prices, disrupted supply and recession, a strong rift was created
within NATO. Additionally, some European nations and Japan
sought to disassociate themselves from the US Middle East policy.
Arab oil producers had also linked the end of the embargo with
successful US efforts to create peace in the Middle East, which
complicated the situation. To address these developments, the
Nixon Administration began parallel negotiations with both Arab
oil producers to end the embargo, and with Egypt, Syria, and Israel
to arrange an Israeli pull back from the Sinai and the Golan Heights
after the fighting stopped. By January 18, 1974, Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger had negotiated an Israeli troop withdrawal from
parts of the Sinai. The promise of a negotiated settlement between
Israel and Syria was sufficient to convince Arab oil producers to lift
the embargo in March 1974. By May, Israel agreed to withdraw
from the Golan Heights.
Watergate
The Watergate, which gave the scandal its name, was a hotel and office complex in
Washington. In 1972, the Democratic National Committee had its headquarters
there. (The Watergate is still around, and is still a part of public life -- Monica
Lewinsky took refuge there at the height of the scandal about her affair with
President Clinton.)
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
Without Frank Wills, the scandal never would have happened. On June 17, 1972, Wills,
then 24, was a security guard at the Watergate. While doing his rounds, he found that a
door lock had been covered with electrical tape to keep it from locking. He called police,
who found five men burglarizing the offices of the Democratic National Committee.
The burglars had equipment for bugging the phones at the DNC. Wills quit his job because
he didn't get a raise for discovering the burglary.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
Among those arrested was James W. McCord, security director for the Committee
To Re-Elect the President (CREEP). John Mitchell, head of the Nixon re-election
campaign (pictured) denied any ties between the campaign and the burglary.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
The burglars were later revealed to be "plumbers" -- members of a clandestine unit of the
CRP, led by John Mitchell. One of the plumbers' previous jobs was a 1971 burglary at the
office of a psychiatrist who was treating Daniel Ellsberg (pictured). Ellsberg had leaked the
Pentagon Papers -- the Defense Department's secret history of the Vietnam War –
to The New York Times. They were published by the Times, The Boston Globe, and
The Washington Post.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
One of those arrested in the burglary, Bernard Barker, was carrying an address book with an
entry for "HH" (Howard Hunt, pictured) at "WH" (White House). Hunt was a spy novelist
and White House consultant who had previously worked for the CIA, and was revealed as
one of the planners of the burglary.
(Globe File Photo)
Watergate
On Aug. 1, two Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward (right) and Carl Bernstein,
reported that a $25,000 cashier's check, apparently earmarked for the Nixon campaign,
wound up in the bank account of one of the accused burglars. Woodward and Bernstein
would follow the story for more than a year, eventually writing a book,
"All the President's Men," about what they discovered.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
On Sept. 29, 1972, Woodward and Bernstein reported that John Dean (pictured), former
attorney general turned White House counsel, controlled a Republican slush fund used to
finance intelligence-gathering operations against the Democratic Party.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
Ken Clawson, a former reporter who joined the White House communications staff under
Nixon, was named in an Oct. 10, 1972, story as the writer of an anonymous letter to a
New Hampshire newspaper that helped torpedo the career of Democratic vice-presidential
candidate Edmund Muskie. The letteralleged that Muskie had used the slur when describing
French-Canadians, a large part of his Maine constituency. The Post described this
"Canuck letter" as part of a "massive campaign of political spying and sabotage" on
Nixon's behalf.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
On Nov. 7, 1972, Nixon was re-elected by a landslide over Sen. George W.
McGovern of South Dakota.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
On Jan. 30, 1973, G. Gordon Liddy (pictured) and James W. McCord were convicted of
conspiracy, burglary, and wiretapping in the Watergate break-in. Liddy, a former FBI agent,
was not among those first arrested, but was convicted of planning the burglary.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
In February 1973, the Senate established the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign
Activities to investigate the Watergate break-in and rumors of other operations. Sam Ervin,
a North Carolina Democrat who cultivated a folksy "country lawyer" persona, is chairman;
Howard Baker, a Republican from Tennessee, is his deputy.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
On March 19, days before his sentencing in the original Watergate burglary, James W.
McCord sent a letter to Judge John Sirica, describing how other suspects had withheld
information and charging that payments were made by high White House officials to
persuade them to lie and plead guilty. Sirica made the letter public.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
Presidential Counsel John Dean was fired at the end of April for cooperating with the
Watergate Committee. His testimony the following summer would be key to the
investigation, and his description of the cover-up as "a cancer on the presidency" would
become one of the best-remembered remarks from the scandal.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
Also at the end of April, Nixon's top aides, Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman (left) and
domestic-affairs assistant John Ehrlichman (center), resigned over their roles in the
widening scandal. Also resigning was the attorney general, Richard Kleindienst. Elliot
Richardson of Massachusetts is named to replace Kleindienst.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
On May 18, 1973, the Senate Select Committee (later known simply as the
"Watergate Committee") began its hearings, which were nationally televised. The same day
Richardson, about to take office as attorney general, appointed Archibald Cox as a special
prosecutor for Watergate.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
Alexander Butterfield, a former presidential appointments secretary, testifed before the
Senate committee in July, confirming that Nixon had a system in place for taping all
conversations and phone calls in his office. The committee and Nixon began a battle over
the tapes.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
Nixon, increasingly embattled in his refusal to hand over any tapes, began a series of events
known as the "Saturday Night Massacre" by ordering Richardson to fire Cox (pictured).
Richardson refused and resigned. Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus was also
ordered to fire Cox, refused and resigned. Robert Bork, then solicitor general (and later,
briefly, a Supreme Court nominee), finally fired Cox.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
Nixon finally released some of the tapes. In December 1973, investigators discovered an
18 1/2-minute gap in one of them. Chief of Staff Alexander Haig (pictured) said one theory
was that "some sinister force" erased the segment.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
Rosemary Woods, Nixon's secretary, took the blame for the gap, demonstrating
in this photo how she could have accidentally erased the segment of the tape.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
Nixon, who had been named an "unindicted co-conspirator" when charges were filed
against seven of his aides, had also been the subject of impeachment hearings by the
House Judiciary Committee, which began considering the matter in February 1974.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
By April 30, 1974, the Senate committee still hadn't gotten all the tapes it had asked for.
Instead of handing them over, Nixon released 1,200 pages of edited transcripts. The
transcripts were notable for the frequent use of the delicate "expletive deleted" to replace
saltier language. (Rolling Stone ran a quiz suggesting a range of profanities that might
have filled a few Important gaps.) That summer, the Supreme Court affirmed a lower
court order that Nixon turn over all the tapes.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
Late in July, the House Judiciary Committee passed the first of three articles of
Impeachment against Nixon. On August 5, under increasing pressure, he released
transcripts of three conversation he had with Haldeman six days after the Watergate
break-in. The June 23 tape became known as "the smoking gun" because it revealed that
Nixon ordered the FBI to abandon its investigation of the break-in. Under increasing
threat of impeachment, Nixon resigned three days later.
(Globe Photo)
Nixon knew he was in a loosing
battle, when, in U.S. v. Nixon, the
Supreme Court declared that
executive privilege did not apply, and
Nixon was ordered to give the
evidence to the Congress.
By this time, the House Judiciary
Committee had already drawn up
articles of impeachment, and Nixon
knew he did not have the votes in the
Senate to save his Presidency.
On August 8, 1974,
Nixon resigned the
office, becoming the
first President to do so.
Watergate
Vice President Gerald Ford assumed the presidency to fill out Nixon's term.
One of his early acts in office was to issue a full pardon for Nixon for all charges
related to the Watergate case.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
One of the lasting impacts of Watergate was a change in the relationship between
government and the media. Reporters Woodward and Bernstein -- and their editor,
Ben Bradlee, and publisher Katharine Graham (pictured) -- are credited with moving past
the Nixon administration's attempts at a cover-up to bring the web of misdeeds to light.
Other journalists joined the chase, and more than 50 journalists appeared on Nixon's
"enemies list.“
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
Watergate made its way into popular culture with the publication of Woodward and
Bernstein's book, "All the President's Men," and the movie based on it, starring Dustin
Hoffman and Robert Redford as the two reporters. Phrases like "expletive deleted" and
"credibility gap" entered the language during the height of the story, and subsequent
scandals – Monicagate, Irangate -- had "-gate" appended to their names.
(Globe Photo)
Watergate
The presidents who came after Nixon found greater restrictions on their activities, including
a ban on "slush funds" and a law requiring them to report financial statements. They also
faced more public cynicism and deeper questioning of the facts behind their actions.
Ultimately, many believe that the system of checks and balances worked, and that the
result was a stronger democracy.
(Globe Photo)
By April 25th, 1975, after the NVA captured
Phuoc Long city, Quang Tri, Hue, Da Nang
and Hue, the South Vietnamese Army had
lost its best units, more than a third of its
men, and nearly half its weapons. The NVA
were closing in on Saigon, which forced
President Ford to order an immediate
evacuation of American civilians and South
Vietnamese refugees in Operation
Frequent Wind.
The operation was put into effect by secret
code. Remaining citizens, refugees, and
officials were to stand by until the code
was released. "White Christmas" was the
code, which was broadcast on the morning
of April 29th. Refugees and Americans
then "high-tailed" it to designated landing
zones.
U.S. Marine and Air Force helicopters,
flying from offshore carriers, performed
a massive airlift. In 18 hours, more than
1,000 American civilians and nearly
7,000 South Vietnamese refugees
were flown out of Saigon.
South Vietnamese pilots also were
permitted to participate in the evacuation,
and they landed on U.S. carriers. More
than 100 of those American-supplied
helicopters (more than $250,000 each)
were then pushed off carrier decks to make
room for more evacuees.
At 4:03 a.m., April 30th, 1975, two U.S.
Marines were killed in a rocket attack at
Saigon's Tan Son Nhut airport. They were
the last Americans to die in the Vietnam
War. At dawn, the remaining marines of the
force guarding the U.S. Embassy lifted off.
Only hours later, South Vietnamese
looters ransacked the embassy as
Soviet-supplied tanks, operated by
North Vietnamese, rolled south on
National Highway 1. On the morning of
April 30th, Communist forces captured
the presidential palace in Saigon,
which ended the Second Indochina
War.

Disco is a genre of dance music whose popularity
peaked during the middle to late 1970s. It had its
roots in clubs that catered to African American,
gay, psychedelic and other communities in New
York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s
and early 1970s. Disco was a reaction by New
York City's gays as well as black and Latino
heterosexuals against both the domination of rock
music and the demonetization of dance music by
the counterculture during this period. Women
embraced disco as well, and the music eventually
expanded to several other popular groups of the
time

Well-known late 1970s disco performers included Donna
Summer, Amanda Lear, The Bee Gees, KC and the Sunshine
Band, Chic, and The Jacksons. Summer would become the
first well-known and most popular disco artist, giving her the
title 'The Queen of Disco', and also played a part in
pioneering the electronic sound that later became a part of
disco (see below). While performers and singers garnered the
lion's share of public attention, the behind-the-scenes
producers played an equal, if not more important role in
disco, since they often usually wrote the songs and created the
innovative sounds and production techniques that were part
of the "disco sound".[23] Many non-disco artists recorded
disco songs at the height of disco's popularity, and films such
as Saturday Night Fever and Thank God It's Friday
contributed to disco's rise in mainstream popularity.

The Hues Corporation's 1974 "Rock The Boat", a U.S. #1 single and millionseller, was one of the early disco songs to hit #1. Other chart-topping
songs "Love's Theme" by Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra, Gloria
Gaynor ‘s "Never Can Say Goodbye" and "Reach Out (I'll Be There)". KC
and the Sunshine Band’s "Get Down Tonight", "That's the Way (I Like It)",
"(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man" and
"Keep It Comin' Love". The Bee Gees "You Should Be Dancing", "Stayin'
Alive", and "More Than A Woman". In 1975, hits such as Van McCoy's "The
Hustle" and Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby" and "Could It Be
Magic" brought disco further into the mainstream. Other notable early
disco hits include The Jacksons’s "Dancing Machine" (1974), Barry White’s
"You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (1974), LaBelle’s "Lady
Marmalade" (1975) and Chic's "Le Freak" (1978) became a classic and is
heard almost everywhere disco is mentioned.
Festivities included elaborate fireworks displays in the skies above major
American cities. Those in Washington, D.C. were presided over by President
Ford and televised nationally. A large international fleet of tall-masted sailing
ships gathered first in New York City on the Fourth of July and then in Boston
about one week later. These nautical parades, witnessed by several million
observers, were named Operation Sail (Op Sail). The vessels docked and
allowed the general public to board the ships in both cities, while their sailors
were entertained on shore at various ethnic celebrations and parties.
.
Most requested songs of the 1970’s
Year
Song
Artist
1970
I'll Be There
Jackson Five
1971
You've Got A Friend
James Taylor
1972
Rock and Roll part II
Gary Glitter
1972
American Pie
Don McLean
1973
Let's Get It On
Marvin Gaye
1974
Sweet Home Alabama
Lynyrd Skynrd
1975
Get Down Tonight
KC & The Sunshine Band
1976
Play That Funky Music
Wild Cherry
1977
Dancing Queen
Abba
1978
Last Dance
Donna Summer
1978
Disco Inferno
Trammps
1979
Y.M.C.A.
Village People
Year
Title
1970
Patton
1971
The French Connection
1972
The Godfather
1973
The Sting
1974
The Godfather Part II
1975
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
1976
Rocky
1977
Annie Hall
1978
The Deer Hunter
1979
Kramer vs. Kramer
Year
Title
1970
M*A*S*H
1971
Dirty Harry
1971
A Clockwork Orange
1971
The Last Picture Show
1972
Deliverance
1973
Serpico
1973
American Graffiti
1974
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
1974
Chinatown
1976
All The President's Men
1976
The Outlaw Josey Wales
1976
Taxi Driver
1977
Star Wars
1977
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1979
The China Syndrome
1979
Hair
1979
Apocalypse Now
TV In The 1970’s
#1 Shows of the 1970’s
Season
Show
Network
1970-71
Marcus Welby, M.D.
ABC
1971-76
All in the Family
CBS
1976-77
Happy Days
ABC
1977-79
Laverne & Shirley
ABC
1979-80
60 Minutes
CBS
Theme
Type
Show
Network
Police Drama
Adam-12
NBC
Police Drama
Ironside
NBC
Police Drama
The Mod Squad
ABC
Police Drama
Cannon
CBS
Police Drama
Barnaby Jones
CBS
Police Drama
Kojak
CBS
Police Drama
The Rockford Files
NBC
Police Drama
Starsky and Hutch
ABC
Police Drama
Baretta
ABC
Police Drama
Barney Miller
ABC
Police Drama
Charlie's Angles
NBC
Police Drama
The Six Million Dollar Man
ABC
Family Drama
Little House on the Prairie
NBC
Family Drama
The Waltons
CBS
Family Drama
The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams
NBC
Variety
Hee Haw
CBS
Theme
TV In The 1970’s
Other
Popular
TV Shows
of the 1970’s
Type
Show
Network
Comedy
The Flip Wilson Show
NBC
Comedy
The Partridge Family
ABC
Comedy
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
CBS
Comedy
Sanford and Son
NBC
Comedy
Maude
CBS
Comedy
M*A*S*H
CBS
Comedy
Three's Company
ABC
Comedy
WKRP in Cincinnati
CBS
Comedy
Good Times
CBS
Comedy
One Day at a Time
CBS
Comedy
Welcome Back, Kotter
ABC
Comedy
Taxi
ABC
Comedy/Drama
The Dukes of Hazzard
CBS
Drama
Dallas
CBS
Reality
Real People
NBC
Theme
TV In The 1970’s
Other
Popular
TV Shows
of the
1970’s
Democratic Party Candidate
James Earl (Jimmy) Carter
from Georgia
Republican Party Candidate
Gerald R. Ford from Michigan
The United States presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President
Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President
Gerald Ford, the Republican candidate, against the relatively unknown former governor
of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic candidate. Ford was saddled with a slow
economy and paid a political price for his pardon of Nixon. Carter ran as a Washington
outsider and reformer and won a narrow victory. He was the first president elected from
the Deep South since Zachary Taylor in 1848. Eugene McCarthy, a former Democratic
Senator from Minnesota, ran as an independent candidate.
Democratic Party Candidate
James Earl (Jimmy) Carter
from Georgia
Republican Party Candidate
Gerald R. Ford from Michigan
One of the advantages Ford held over Carter as the general election campaign began
was that, as President, he was privileged to preside over events dealing with the United
States Bicentennial; this often resulted in favorable publicity for Ford. The Washington,
D.C. fireworks display on the Fourth of July was presided over by the President and
televised nationally. On July 7, 1976, the President and First Lady served as hosts at a
White House state dinner for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of the United
Kingdom, which was televised on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) network. These
events were part of Ford's "Rose Garden" strategy to win the election; instead of
appearing as a typical politician, Ford presented himself as a "tested leader" who was
busily fulfilling the role of national leader and Chief Executive. Not until October did Ford
leave the White House to actively campaign across the nation.
Democratic Party Candidate
James Earl (Jimmy) Carter
from Georgia
Republican Party Candidate
Gerald R. Ford from Michigan
Jimmy Carter ran as a reformer who was "untainted" by Washington political scandals,
which many voters found attractive in the wake of the Watergate scandal, which had led
to President Richard Nixon's resignation. Ford, although personally unconnected with
Watergate, was seen by many as too close to the discredited Nixon administration,
especially after Ford granted Nixon a presidential pardon for any crimes he may have
committed during his term of office. Ford's pardon of Nixon caused his popularity, as
measured by public-opinion polls, to plummet. Ford's refusal to publicly explain his
reasons for pardoning also hurt his image. His son, Jack Ford, gave an interview in 1976
in which he stated that his father felt that he "(doesn't) have to prove anything" regarding
the pardon of Nixon, and thus did not feel compelled to talk about it.
Despite his campaign's blunders, Ford managed to close the remaining gap in the
polls and by election day the race was judged to be even. Election day was November
2, and it took most of that night and the following morning to determine the winner. It
wasn't until 3:30 am (EST), that the NBC television network was able to pronounce
that Carter had carried Mississippi, and had thus accumulated more than the 270
electoral votes needed to win (seconds later, ABC News also declared Carter the
winner based on projections for Carter in Wisconsin and Hawaii; CBS News
announced Carter's victory at 3:45 am). Carter defeated Ford by two percentage
points in the national popular vote.

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. (born October 1,
1924) served as the 39th President of the United
States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient
of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S.
President to have received the Prize after
leaving office. Before he became President,
Carter served two terms as a Georgia State
Senator and one as Governor of Georgia, from
1971 to 1975, and was a peanut farmer and
naval officer.
As president, Carter created two new cabinet-level departments: the
Department of Energy and the Department of Education. He established a
national energy policy that included conservation, price control, and new
technology. In foreign affairs, Carter pursued the Camp David Accords,
the Panama Canal Treaties and the second round of Strategic Arms
Limitation Talks (SALT II). Throughout his career, Carter strongly
emphasized human rights. He returned the Panama Canal Zone to
Panama and faced criticism at home for what was widely seen as yet
another signal of US weakness. He took office during a period of
international stagflation which persisted throughout his term and eroded
his popularity. The final year of his presidential tenure was marked by
several major crises, including the 1979 takeover of the American embassy
in Iran and holding of hostages by Iranian students, an unsuccessful
rescue attempt of the hostages, serious fuel shortages, and the Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan. By 1980, Carter had become so unpopular that
Ted Kennedy challenged him for the Democratic Party nomination in the
1980 election. Carter survived the primary challenge, but lost the election
to Republican Ronald Reagan in a 44 state landslide.

Stagflation occurs when a country's inflation rate is high
and unemployment rate is high. It is an economic
condition in which inflation and economic stagnation are
occurring simultaneously and have remained unchecked
for a significant period of time. The concept is notable
partly because, in postwar macroeconomic theory,
inflation and recession were regarded as mutually
exclusive, and also because stagflation has generally
proven to be difficult and, in human terms as well as
budget deficits, very costly to eradicate once it gets
started. In the political arena a simple measure of
Stagflation termed the Misery Index (derived by the
simple addition of the inflation rate to the
unemployment rate) was used to swing Presidential
elections in the United States in 1976 and 1980.

Richard Nixon had imposed price controls on domestic
oil, which had helped cause shortages that led to gasoline
lines during the 1973 Oil Crisis. Gasoline controls were
repealed, but controls on domestic US oil remained. The
Jimmy Carter administration began a phased
deregulation of oil prices on April 5, 1979, when the
average price of crude oil was US$15.85 per barrel (42 US
gallons). Over the next 12 months the price of crude oil
rose to $39.50 per barrel (its all time highest real price
until March 7, 2008.)[6] Deregulating domestic oil price
controls allowed domestic U.S. oil output to rise sharply
from the large Prudhoe Bay fields, while oil imports fell
sharply. Hence, long lines appeared at gas stations, as
they had six years earlier during the 1973 oil crisis.
As the average vehicle of the time consumed between
two to three liters (about 0.5-0.8 gallons) of gasoline
(petrol) an hour while idling, it was estimated that
Americans wasted up to 150,000 barrels (24,000 m3) of oil
per day idling their engines in the lines at gas stations.
Many politicians proposed gas rationing; one such
proponent was Harry Hughes, Governor of Maryland,
who proposed odd-even rationing (only people with an
odd-numbered license plate could purchase gas on an
odd-numbered day), as was used during the 1973 Oil
Crisis. Several states actually implemented odd-even gas
rationing, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and
Texas. Coupons for gasoline rationing were printed but
were never actually used during the 1979 crisis.


"Equality of rights under the law shall not be
abridged by the United States or by any State on
account of sex."
This simple sentence comprised Section 1 of the
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which was first
proposed in Congress by the National Women's
Party in 1923. Feminists of the late 1960s and early
1970s saw ratification of the amendment as the
only clear-cut way to eliminate all legal genderbased discrimination in the United States.

Amending the Constitution is a two-step
process. First, the Congress must propose the
amendment by a two-thirds majority in both
the House and Senate. After proposal, it must
be ratified by three-fourths of the state
legislatures. Organizations like the National
Organization of Women (NOW) began a hard
push for the ERA in 1970.

Leaders such as Gloria Steinem addressed the
legislature and provided argument after
argument in support of the ERA. The House
approved the measure in 1970, and the Senate
did likewise in 1972. The fight was then taken
to the states. ERA-supporters had the early
momentum. Public opinion polls showed
strong favorable support. Thirty of the
necessary thirty-eight states ratified the
amendment by 1973.


But then the tide turned. From nowhere came a
highly organized, determined opposition that
suggested that ratification of the ERA would lead
to the complete unraveling of traditional American
society.
Stop-ERA advocates baked apple pies for the
Illinois legislature while they debated the
amendment. They hung "Don't draft me" signs on
baby girls. The strategy worked. After 1973, the
number of ratifying states slowed to a trickle. By
1982, the year of expiration, only 35 states had
voted in favor of the ERA — three states shy of the
necessary total.

Feminist groups maintained that a serious
blow was struck toward the idea of gender
equity in the United States. They also saw
women divided against other women. Despite
early gains by the feminist movement, the rise
in social conservatism led Americans of both
genders to draw limits on a constitutionally
mandated equality between the sexes.


The Iran hostage crisis was a
diplomatic crisis between Iran and the
United States. 52 Americans were held
hostage for 444 days from November 4,
1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group
of Islamist students and militants took
over the American Embassy in support
of the Iranian Revolution.
Sixty-six Americans were taken captive
when Iranian militants seized the U.S.
Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979,
including three who were at the Iranian
Foreign Ministry. Six more Americans
escaped and of the 66 who were taken
hostage, 13 were released on Nov. 19
and 20, 1979; one was released on July
11, 1980, and the remaining 52 were
released on Jan. 20, 1981.

The episode reached a climax when, after failed
attempts to negotiate a release, the United States
military attempted a rescue operation, Operation
Eagle Claw, on April 24, 1980, which resulted in a
failed mission, the destruction of two aircraft and the
deaths of eight American servicemen and one Iranian
civilian. It ended with the signing of the Algiers
Accords in Algeria on January 19, 1981. The hostages
were formally released into United States custody
the following day, just minutes after the new
American president Ronald Reagan was sworn in.
The crisis has been described as an entanglement of
"vengeance and mutual incomprehension". In Iran, despite
freezing of all Iranian assets held in the United States
(Executive Order 12170), the hostage taking was widely seen
as a blow against the U.S, and its influence in Iran, its
perceived attempts to undermine the Iranian Revolution, and
its long-standing support of the recently overthrown
government of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
The Shah had been restored to power in a 1953 coup against a
democratically-elected nationalist Iranian government
organized by the CIA at the American Embassy and had
recently been allowed into the United States for medical
treatment. In the United States, the hostage-taking was seen
as an outrage violating a centuries-old principle of
international law granting diplomats immunity from arrest
and diplomatic compounds sovereignty in their embassies.

The crisis has also been described as
the "pivotal episode" in the history of
Iran – United States relations. In the
U.S., some political analysts believe
the crisis was a major reason for U.S.
President Jimmy Carter's defeat in the
November 1980 presidential election.
In Iran, the crisis strengthened the
prestige of the Ayatollah Khomeini
and the political power of those who
supported theocracy and opposed any
normalization of relations with the
West. The crisis also marked the
beginning of U.S. legal action, or
economic sanctions against Iran, that
further weakened economic ties
between Iran and the United States.