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AP American
Chapter 31 Notes
A Crisis in Confidence 1969-1980
Nixon (Pre Watergate)
1. Inaugural promises:
 Peace and relief from the chaos of the 1960s
 Unity
 Make the Federal Bureaucracy function more efficiently
 Bring an end to the Vietnam War – Peace with Honor
2. Social Problems:
 He shifted the responsibility to state and local governments
 Developed Revenue Sharing – Congress shares revenue with Local Gov’ts
 Continued the “Great Society” of LBJ
3. Civil Rights:
 He shifted the responsibility of desegregation to the Federal Courts
 He opposed forced busing for desegregation, but was not supported by the SC
4. Supreme Court;
 He replaced Earl Warren (he retires) with Warren Burger – a more moderate judge
 Nixon was trying to make the court more conservative than the more liberal Warren Ct.
 See notes on the Warren Court v the Burger Court
Nixonomics
5. Nixon’s initial economic policy and result:
 Nixon inherited growing inflation due to the Vietnam War and The Great Society
 Reduce gov’t spending
 Encouraged the Federal Reserve Board to raise interest rates
 Results – disastrous – inflation continued and we went in to a recession
Imports exceeded exports, unemployment up, business failures up, the dollar is weakened
6. Economic reversal:
 90 day freeze on wages and prices
 Federally imposed guidelines will take place for wages and prices
 10% surtax on imports
 Recession ended
Nixon and Foreign Policy = Détente (easing of the tensions)
7. Kissinger:
 Refugee from Nazi Germany
 Nat’l Security Advisor, later Sec. of State
 Cold war should be managed and controlled, not won
 They realized that after Vietnam and Soviet developments, we were no longer 1st in the World
 New strategy –
 use American trade as leverage w/Soviets (their economy was very weak)
Improve relations w/ China
8. Re China/diplomatic recognition:
 1972 – Nixon meets with Mao Zedong
 This ends 2 decades of hostility
 Leads to SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks)
9. Re Soviets
 Salt I:
 Talks started in 1969
 1972 – Nixon signs docs w/ Brezhnev
 Anti-Ballistic Missiles were limited and Offensive Ballistic Missiles were frozen
 This was a symbolic step towards control of the Nuclear Arms Race
10. Re: Ending Vietnam and the three part plan
 Part 1: 1969 Gradual withdrawal of Am. Troops and training of South Vietnamese = Vietnamization
 Part II: Renewed Bombing 1969–
 we secretly bomb supply lines in Cambodia
 ground and air strikes on Cambodia increased antiwar protests at home – Kent State and Jackson
State
 the “Silent Majority” supported Nixon
 Part III: 1969 Hard line negotiations w Hanoi (in N. Vietnam)
 By 1972 the negotiations are almost done, then Hanoi tries to make some changes
 Nixon orders B 52 raids on Hanoi
 Hanoi signs Armistice in Jan of 1973
 We remove all troops w/I 60 days and they release all POWs
 They were allowed to keep N. Vietnamese troops in S. Vietnam
The Watergate Scandal
11. Brief description:
 Occurs in 1972 – haunts Nixon in 73 and 74 – shows abuse of power
 The Democratic Nat’l Committee offices were broken into
 former FBI and CIA agents, Hunt and Liddy were now W. House Aides and they directed the burglary
 Nixon turns some Oval Office tapes over to the Special Prosecutor, but not all
 1974 – The Supreme Court ruled that he must release all tapes
 House was voting on 3 articles of impeachment when Nixon resigns:
1. Obstruction of justice
2. Abuse of power
3. Contempt of Congress
12. Significances:
 It revealed both the weakness and strength of the Federal Gov’t
 Exhibited the growing power of the Modern Presidency
 Unlike other Presidential scandals, it involved a lust for power – not money
 Investigative reporting and an independent judiciary were effective ways to combat corruption
The Arab Oil Embargo
13. Causes:
 The Oct War (1973) – AKA the Yom Kippur War – Israel v Egypt and Syria
A surprise attack on Israel to get back territory taken in the 6Day War in 1967
 Nixon sends 2 million in aid to Israel
 Arab members of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)cut off all oil shipments to any
countries supporting Israel
14. Effects on the economy:
 Caused a worldwide shortage of oil
 Dramatic increase in oil prices – prices doubled in the US
 Sharp decline in consumer spending
 US car industry down – Americans switch to smaller Japanese cars
 Unemployment over 9% - highest since Great Depression