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Chapter 31 |
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The Nixon administration's inordinate fear of political enemies led to numerous illegal activities by Republican officials and campaign supporters, including plans to break into the Democratic national headquarters in the Watergate building. Nixon probably did not have advance knowledge of the break-in, but he committed a criminal act by authorizing a far-reaching cover-up.
Nixon in Power
While Nixon appeared more moderate and restrained than in the past, he remained exceptionally sensitive to criticism. He assembled a powerful White House staff whose main task was to shield and isolate him from Congress and the press. Nixon focused his attention on foreign affairs and allowed subordinates to handle domestic issues.
Reshaping the Great Society
Nixon streamlined the federal bureaucracy. He overwhelmingly appointed conservative judges to the Supreme Court while shifting the responsibility for school integration to the federal courts to enhance his political appeal to Southerners.
Nixonomics
Nixon inherited severe economic problems that did not seem to respond to traditional remedies. In 1971, however, he curbed inflation with temporary wage and price freezes and improved the balance of trade with a devaluation of the dollar and a 10 percent surtax on imports.
Building a Republican Majority
Republicans sought to win new voters among traditionally Democratic blue-collar workers and southern Whites for 1972. Vice-President Spiro Agnew blamed Democratic liberals for such national social problems as drug abuse, sexual permissiveness, and crime in the streets. This strategy limited Republican losses but failed to gain a national majority in 1972.
In Search of Détente
Strongly influenced by National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, Nixon pursued a foreign policy of détente—a relaxation of tension—with the Soviet Union and with China. Nixon signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) treaty in 1972. Following his plan to use American trade to thaw relations, the president engineered sales of grain and computer technology to the Soviet Union.
Ending the Vietnam War
Secret negotiations between Kissinger and North Vietnam's Le Duc Tho produced a truce, signed in January 1973. Accepting what amounted to a disguised surrender, the United States agreed to remove its troops in return for the release of all American prisoners of war, and the American role in Vietnam was over.
The Crisis of Democracy
Although Nixon’s refusal to accept any blame for the Watergate Hotel break-in proved to be initially successful, it was actually his first step in falling from power.
The Election of 1972
Ironically, the Watergate break-in was hardly necessary to guarantee an overwhelming Nixon reelection in 1972. The Democrats nominated George McGovern. Americans overwhelmingly perceived McGovern as too liberal. George Wallace, a popular though controversial third-party candidate, withdrew after an attempted assassination. This left Nixon with a complete monopoly over the political right.
The Watergate Scandal
The president's attempt to cover up his administrations illegal actions unraveled in early 1973. After the House Judiciary Committee voted three articles of impeachment and the Supreme Court ordered the release of the tapes of presidential conversations, Nixon chose to resign on August 9, 1974. The Watergate Scandal revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the American political system, and prodded many to question the nation's political leadership.
Energy and the Economy
While Nixon and the nation swam in the wake of the Watergate scandal, war in the Middle East threatened the foundation of American life: oil.
The October War
In October 1973, Arab nations imposed an oil embargo against the United States to force American pressure on Israel to return Arab lands taken from Egypt, Syria, and Jordan during the Six Day War. Henry Kissinger soon negotiated an end to the embargo, but dramatic increases in oil prices remained and alerted Americans to an energy crisis.
Oil Shocks
Increased energy costs led to double-digit inflation, rising unemployment, and a decline in economic growth for the United States. Amplified oil prices nearly doubled gasoline prices, raised manufacturing costs, and increased utility bills. Throwing even more fuel on the fire, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) took advantage of the Iranian Revolution to embark on a new round of oil price increases in 1979.
The Search for an Energy Policy
Congress could not agree on a coherent energy policy. Republicans advocated removal of price controls and increased production while the Democrats wished to maintain price controls and pursue conservation efforts. A coherent national strategy for solving the energy problem never emerged.
The Great Inflation
The startling price increases of the 1970s resulted from swollen deficits from the Vietnam War, a worldwide shortage of food, and especially the six-fold increase in oil prices. Wages for many Americans failed to keep pace, and actions by the Federal Reserve Board increased interest rates.
The Shifting American Economy
The United States lost world markets though the 1970s in heavy industries, such as steel and automobiles. The more diversified multinational corporations and conglomerates fared better. Within the United States, industry shifted increasingly to the Sunbelt, with high-technology industries as computer and electronics firms proving most profitable.
Private Lives, Public Issues
American families and the private lives of individuals changed beginning in the 1970s and continuing throughout the century.
The Changing American Family
During the 1970s, families became smaller, divorce rates increased, female-headed households increased, unmarried couples doubled, and married couple households with children decreased. These changes, among others, strongly chipped away at the traditional nuclear family perceived by many as the norm.
Gains and Setbacks for Women
Women made dramatic strides in the last third of the 1970s, but still faced discrimination and lower pay. The Equal Rights Amendment failed to pass, and women have found their right to choose under attack as Roe v. Wade was assaulted in the courts. The most encouraging development for women came in business ownership.
The Gay Liberation Movement
A new pride movement, in some ways modeled after the ethnic pride movements of the same period, emerged as homosexual men and women across the country fought against discrimination based on sexual orientation and for acceptance. Violence and discrimination against gays and lesbians has diminished, but continues
Politics After Watergate
Conflicts between the president and Congress hastened ineffective leadership and hampered the necessary handling of the many 1970s crises.
The Ford Administration
Ford's popularity rapidly declined with a pardon of Nixon and a seeming ineptitude in dealing with Congress. When congressional investigations revealed excesses by the CIA, Ford approved reform of the agency and appointed George Bush as its new director.
The 1976 Campaign
Former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination by portraying himself as an honest and candid “outsider,” untainted by Washington politics. Carter won a narrow victory, ensured by an overwhelming support from African American voters.
Disenchantment with Carter
Although an intelligent politician initially, Carter never offered the public a clear sense of direction. Tension and conflict among his officials, among numerous other problems, doomed the administration to failure.
From Détente to Renewed Cold War
Internal and external debacles fostered a dwindling of American global political power during the1970s.
Retreat in Asia
In 1974, Congress cut military aid to South Vietnam and refused to grant additional aid the next year as Communists seized control.
Accommodation in Latin America
Carter signed two treaties in 1977 providing a gradual return of the Panama Canal and returning sovereignty in the Canal Zone to Panama. Carter held out the lure of American economic aid in hopes of moderating the leftist Sandinista regime in Nicaragua as well as the right-wing military junta in El Salvador. Neither venture proved successful.
The Quest for Peace in the Middle East
The Camp David accords of 1978 led ultimately to a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, but left the problems of the Palestinian Arabs unsettled. In 1979, Iranian mobs in Teheran seized the American embassy and fifty-eight American hostages. The failure of diplomacy, economic reprisals, and a military rescue mission to free the hostages steadily eroded the nation's confidence in Carter's leadership.
The Cold War Resumes
When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, Carter banned sales of grain and high-tech equipment to the Soviet Union, reinstated registration for the draft, and ordered a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. These actions failed to force Russia out of Afghanistan and signaled a resumption of the Cold War.
Conclusion: A Failed Presidency
National frustration over American-held hostages in Iran, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and double-digit inflation eroded public confidence in the Carter administration.
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