key points: details - pc\|macimages.pcmac.org/.../documents/ush-fergusons-notes-ch24_20161… ·...
TRANSCRIPT
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 1
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
● Nixon’s New Conservatism
○ Silent majority: the forgotten Americans, the non-shouters, the
non-demonstrators
■ Support came from middle-class voters upset over events
in the 1960s
■ Pledged to restore law and order and cut back on the
Democrats (Johnson’s) programs
● Nixon tried to reform the federal gov’t role in
Americans’ lives
● Democrats controlled Congress, and Nixon is a
Republican
○ New Federalism: distribute a portion of federal power to state
and local gov’ts
■ Nixon believed Johnson’s “Great Society” programs gave
the federal gov’t too much responsibility in dealing with
social problems
■ Revenue sharing: state and local gov’ts could spend their
federal dollars however they saw fit within certain
limitations
● State and Local Fiscal Assistance
Act/Revenue-Sharing Bill became law in 1972
● The federal gov’t wouldn’t be as demanding in how
state and local gov’ts could spend federal dollars
○ Family Assistance Plan (FAP): every family of four with no
outside income would receive a basic federal payment of $1,600 a
year, with a provision to earn up to $4,000 a year in supplemental
income (the bill was attacked in Senate)
■ Supporters: direct aid would end gov’t red tape and
expensive programs
● Unemployed participants would have to take job
training and accept any reasonable work offered
them
● Liberals believed the payments were too low and
the work requirement was too stiff
■ Critics: direct aid makes families more dependent on the
gov’t
Chapter 24: An Age
of Limits
Section 1: The Nixon
Administration
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 2
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
○ To win backing for his New Federalism program from a
Democrat-controlled Congress, Nixon increased spending on
some social programs
■ Nixon increased spending on Social Security, Medicare,
and Medicaid payments and made food stamps
■ Nixon unsuccessfully tried to eliminate the Job Corps and
vetoed a bill, in 1970, to provide additional funding for
Housing and Urban Development
■ Nixon impounded, or withheld, necessary funds for
programs, thus holding off their implementation
● By 1973, Nixon impounded almost $15 billion,
affecting more than 100 federal programs
■ The federal courts ordered the release of the impounded
money
● The courts ruled that the presidential
impoundment of money was unconstitutional and
that only Congress had the authority to decide
how federal funds should be spent
○ Nixon had been elected on a dual promise to end the war in
Vietnam and mend the divisiveness within America that the war
had created
■ Nixon started to de-escalate America’s involvement in
Vietnam, oversaw secret peace negotiations with North
Vietnam, and secretly worked on his reelection campaign
for 1972
● Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s advisor for national
security affairs, had been meeting privately with
North Vietnam’s chief negotiator, Le Duc Tho,
since 1969
● Nixon and members of his staff ordered wiretaps
on many left-wing individuals and the Democratic
Party offices at the Watergate office building in
Washington, D.C.
■ He also implemented his “law and order” policies that he
promised the “silent majority”
● The CIA investigated and compiled documents on
thousands of American dissidents-people who
objected to the govt's policies
● IRS audited the tax returns of antiwar and civil
rights activists
● Nixon created a personal “enemies list” that the
gov’t would harass
Section 1: The Nixon
Administration (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 3
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
● Nixon’s Southern Strategy
○ Nixon had won the 1968 presidential election by less than one
percent of the popular vote therefore wanting to create a new
conservative coalition to build on his support
■ Southern strategy: a plan to win conservative southern
white voters away from the Democratic Party by
appealing to their unhappiness with federal desegregation
policies and a liberal Supreme Court
■ Nixon realized Southerners were upset with Democrats
when they voted for former Alabama governor George
Wallace, a conservative segregationist
● Nixon wanted to win over Wallace’s supporters in
hopes of keeping the White House and recapturing
the majority in Congress
○ In effort to increase the success of the Southern Strategy, Nixon
slowed the country’s desegregation efforts
■ In 1969, Nixon ordered the Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare (HEW) to delay desegregation
plans for school districts in South Carolina and Mississippi
● The NAACP responded by filing a suit in which
the high court ordered Nixon to abide by the
second Brown ruling
■ Nixon also opposed extending the Voting Rights Act of
1965
● Despite Nixon’s opposition, Congress extended
the act
○ Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenberg Board of Education (1971)
■ -Nixon opposed integration through busing and went on
national TV to urge Congress to halt the practice
■ Facts of the Case
● After the Supreme Court's decision in 1954 in
Brown v. Board of Education, little progress had
been made in desegregating public schools. One
example was the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North
Carolina, system in which approximately 14,000
black students attended schools that were either
totally black or more than 99 percent black. Lower
courts had experimented with a number of possible
solutions when the case reached the Supreme
Court.
Section 1: The Nixon
Administration (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 4
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
■ Question
● Were federal courts constitutionally authorized to
oversee and produce remedies for state-imposed
segregation?
■ Conclusion
● In a unanimous decision, the Court held that once
violations of previous mandates directed at
desegregating schools had occurred, the scope of
district court's' equitable powers to remedy past
wrongs were broad and flexible. The Court ruled
that 1) remedial plans were to be judged by their
effectiveness, and the use of mathematical ratios
or quotas were legitimate "starting points" for
solutions; 2) predominantly or exclusively black
schools required close scrutiny by courts; 3)
non-contiguous attendance zones, as interim
corrective measures, were within the courts'
remedial powers; and 4) no rigid guidelines could be
established concerning busing of students to
particular schools.
○ Nixon claimed the Warren Court encouraged lawlessness in
America and was too liberal during the 1968 election
■ During Nixon’s first term in the White House, he had the
opportunity to appoint four justices
● In 1969, Nixon appointed Warren Burger to head
the Court and appointed three other conservative
justices (Senate must approve)
● Patricia Nixon, President Nixon’s wife, urged her
husband to appoint women to the Supreme Court
(rejected one woman)
■ The more conservative Supreme Court didn’t always take
the conservative approach
● Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenberg Board of
Education (1971): encouraged busing to integrate
schools.
Section 1: The Nixon
Administration (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 5
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
■ The Women’s Movement Gains Momentum
● Sparks of unrest
○ Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique:
rejected the popular idea that women were
content with the roles of wife, mother, and
homemaker
■ Published The Fountain of Age:
growing old does not mean growing
worthless
○ Feminism: the belief that women should
have economic, political, and social equality
with men (right to vote in 1920)
○ President JFK appointed a Presidential
Commission on the Status of Women in
1961
○ Reported women paid far less, even when
doing the same job, and seldom promoted to
management positions
● National Organization for Women (NOW-1966):
lobbied for women’s rights
■ Pushed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) to enforce the ban that was placed on gender
discrimination when hiring
■ EEOC declared sex-segregated job ads illegal and to
issue guidelines to employers, stating they could no longer
refuse to hire women for traditionally male jobs
■ New York Radical Women - 1968 disrupted the Miss
America pageant saying it degraded women
■ A new generation
■ Gloria Steinem was a feminist, who wrote After Black
Power, Women’s Liberation
■ First openly feminist article in a women’s magazine known
as Ms. (1972)
■ Helped develop the National Women’s Political Caucus in
1971
■ Encouraged women to run for political office
■ Many gender-based distinctions were questioned:
■ Girls exclusion from sports was questioned (baseball and
football)
■ Women didn’t always take their husband’s last name
Section 1: The Nixon
Administration (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 6
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
○ Controversy over the effects of the Women’s movement
developed
○ Higher Education Act/Education Amendment Act (1972): ban on
gender discrimination in “any education program or activity
receiving federal financial assistance.”
○ Equal Rights Amendment (ERA): proposed constitutional
amendment barring discrimination on the basis of sex (first
introduced in 1923)
■ Congress passed ERA in 1972, but it was three states
short of passing in 1982 (need 38 states to ratify it)
■ Many working-class and minorities felt leaders of
National Organization for Women (NOW) did not see
their needs
■ Phyllis Schlafly and others believed NOW, ERA, and Roe
v. Wade condemned the home-maker and destroyed
traditions
○ Roe v. Wade (1973): Supreme Court overturned state law limiting
women’s access to abortions
■ Facts of the case:
● Roe, a Texas resident, sought to terminate her
pregnancy by abortion. Texas law prohibited
abortions except to save the pregnant woman's
life. After granting certiorari, the Court heard
arguments twice.
● The first time, Roe's attorney -- Sarah
Weddington -- could not locate the constitutional
hook of her argument for Justice Potter Stewart.
● Her opponent -- Jay Floyd -- misfired from the
start. Weddington sharpened her constitutional
argument in the second round.
● Her new opponent -- Robert Flowers -- came
under strong questioning from Justices Potter
Stewart and Thurgood Marshall.
■ Question:
● Does the Constitution embrace a woman's right to
terminate her pregnancy by abortion?
Section 1: The Nixon
Administration (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 7
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
● Confronting a Stagnant Economy
○ Gov’t spending of social programs and the Vietnam War led to a recession and
unemployment, which created stagflation: phenomenon of high inflation and high
unemployment
■ President Johnson’s policy to fund the war and social programs
through deficit spending caused inflation
■ Increased competition in international trade and a flood of new
workers led to stagflation
■ America’s heavy dependency on foreign oil caused major economic
problems
● Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC):
formed mainly by Arab nations in an effort to get higher
prices for their oil
● The U.S. was importing 1/3 of its oil
■ Yom Kippur War/October War (1973-74) pitted Israel against
Egypt and Syria (other Arab nations supported Egypt and Syria)
● Egypt and Syria invaded Israel in an attempt to recover the
land they lost during the Six Day War in 1967 (wanted the
Sinai Peninsula back which they lost during the Six-Day
War).
● When the U.S. sent massive aid to Israel, the Arab OPEC
nations responded by cutting off oil sales to the U.S.
● By the time OPEC started selling oil to the U.S. again in
1973, the price had quadrupled
● Some believed oil companies were keeping prices artificially
high for profit
■ The reduction in oil caused an energy crisis in the U.S. during the
winter of 1973-74
● Oil was discovered at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in 1968, after
explorers had been searching all over Northern Alaska since
the 1950s
● A pipeline was considered the only viable system for
transporting the oil to the nearest ice-free port, almost 800
miles (1,300 km) away at Valdez
● U.S. President Richard Nixon signed the Trans-Alaska
Pipeline Authorization Act into law on November 16, 1973,
which authorized the construction of the pipeline (finished
being built in 1977)
■ The gov’t called for energy conservation, but oil imports grew
● Gas rose from 30 cents to $1.00 a gallon
■ The Arab oil squeeze affected the entire world
● The Netherlands allowed motorists 2 ½ gallons of gas per
week
● Norway banned Sunday driving
● France lowered speed limits
Section 1: The Nixon
Administration (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 8
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
○ Nixon had to revive the economy if he wanted to win reelection in 1972
■ Nixon attempted to raise taxes and cut the budget, in an effort to
reduce deficit spending
● Congress didn’t go along with Nixon’s plan
■ Nixon tried to reduce the amount of money in circulation by urging
that the interest rate be raised
● Raising interest rates only created a mild recession or
slowdown in the economy
■ In August 1971, Nixon enforced price and wage controls to stop
inflation
● Labor leaders feared that the tactic would hurt low wage
earners
● Nixon eased price and wage controls after he won reelection,
which caused inflation to reach 12% in 1974
● Nixon’s Foreign Policy Triumphs
○ In 1968, Nixon commented, “I’ve always thought this country could run itself
domestically without a president.”
■ Realpolitik (political realism): foreign policy should be based solely
on consideration of power, not ideals or moral principles
● Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s advisor for national security affairs
and later Nixon’s secretary of state, believed in evaluating a
nation’s power, not its philosophy or beliefs
● If a country is weak, communist or not, simply ignore it
■ Containment was no longer the policy, but instead direct
confrontation with powerful nations was acceptable (negotiations
also played a role)
■ Détente: a policy aimed at easing Cold War tensions
● Détente was on full display when Nixon decided to visit
Communist China in 1972
○ Since the Communists took control of China in 1949, the U.S. wouldn’t
recognize the Chinese gov’t until Nixon’s visit in Feb 1972
■ Nixon took advantage of the conflict(s) between the S.U. and China
● The Chinese accused the Soviets as being soft in its policies
against the West
● The two Communist superpowers broke ties in 1960
■ Nixon opened up diplomatic and economic relations with the
Chinese, which resulted in important agreements b/w China and the
U.S.
● Agreed to promote peace in the Pacific region, develop trade
relations, and cultural and scientific ties
● Nixon promised to pull U.S. troops out of Taiwan, which
decreased Chinese support for the North Vietnamese
Section 1: The Nixon
Administration (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 9
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
○ Nixon felt he had the leverage to promote a new policy with the S.U. leader
Leonid Brezhnev (Nixon was the first American president to visit the S.U. in
May 1972)
■ Agreed to promote trade (buy US grain) and to cooperate on issues
of mutual concern
■ Strategic Arms Limitation Talks/SALT I Treaty: five-year
agreement that limited the number of intercontinental ballistic
missiles (ICBMs) and submarines-launched missiles to the 1972
levels
■ Foreign policy triumphs in China and S.U. and the announcement
that peace “is in hand” in Vietnam helped reelect Nixon in 1972 (it
took six more months for Vietnam to end)
● President Nixon and His White House
○ Nixon increasingly worked to extend and maximize his power
○ Nixon shifted authority from his cabinet, which Congress must approve, to his
personal White House staff
○ Withheld vital info from Congress and the public
○ Nixon charged the news media with biased reporting
○ Enemies list: made up of critics who opposed his policies
■ Conducted background checks on men and leaked damaging info to the
press about those men opposed to Nixon’s policies
○ Plumbers: included former CIA and FBI agents that were ordered to stop leaks
and carry out various illegal activities in the name of “national security”
○ Nixon inner circle, which was based on secrecy and consolidation of power,
consisted of the following:
■ H. R. Haldeman-White House chief of staff
■ John Ehrlickman-Chief domestic advisor
■ John Mitchell-Nixon’s former attorney general resigned in order to
lead CREEP
■ John Dean-white house counsel to President Nixon
■ James McCord-in charge of the plumbers
○ The Imperial Presidency, written by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., argued that by the
time Nixon became president, the executive branch had taken on an air of
imperial, or supreme authority
○ Teddy Roosevelt and the Panamanian revolution against Columbia
○ FDR and his first and second New Deals
○ LBJ and the Tonkin Gulf Resolution
○ Nixon impounded funds for federal programs he opposed and ordered troops to
invade Cambodia without Congressional approval
○ Watergate: involved criminal activities and cover-ups in order to ensure
Nixon’s reelection
○ At 2:30 a.m., June 17, 1972, a guard caught five men trying to enter the
Watergate offices of the Democratic National Committee in order to install
wiretaps and other spying devices
■ The group's leader was former CIA agent James McCor
Section 1: The Nixon
Administration (con’t)
Section 2: Watergate:
Nixon’s Downfall
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 10
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
● Discovered that men had ties to White House and paid with funds from Nixon’s
campaign organization, the Committee to Re-elect the President (CREEP)
■ Workers shredded all the incriminating documents in Haldeman’s
office
■ The White House, with Nixon’s consent, asked the CIA to urge the
FBI to stop its investigation into the burglary on the grounds of
national security
■ CREEP gave almost $450,000 in bribes to the Watergate burglars
to keep them quiet
● The Nixon administration denied any link to the men, which prevented it from being an
issue during the 1972 election
■ Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
found the truth
■ Informer William Mark Felt, Sr., who was second in command for the
FBI, (“Deep Throat”) revealed that White House officials and CREEP
hired 50 agents to sabotage the Democrat’s chances in the 1972
election
● The Cover-Up Unravels
○ On March 20, 1973, James McCord sent a letter to the presiding judge, John
Sirica, stating he lied under oath and hinted that powerful members of the
Nixon administration had been involved in the break-in
○ Nixon responded by dismissing many members of his inner circle (John Dean,
Haldeman, Ehrlichman, etc.
○ The president also went on TV where he denied any cover-up, announced he
appointed a new attorney general, Elliot Richardson, who had the power to
appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Watergate
○ In May 1973, Senator Samuel James Ervin of North Carolina led the
investigation of Watergate for the Senate (the hearings were televised)
○ Ex-CIA agent James McCord admitted that top White House officials helped
plan the break-in and tried to cover it up
○ John Dean declared President Nixon had been deeply involved in the cover-up
○ Presidential aide, Alexander Butterfield, revealed Nixon had secretly
tape-recorded all of his presidential conversations (the would-be smoking gun
in the case against Nixon)
■ Justice Department special prosecutor Archibald Cox demanded
Nixon turn over the tapes
■ Nixon said releasing the tapes would endanger national security
(executive privilege)
○ While Nixon was being investigated, the Justice Department charged Vice
President Spiro Agnew with bribe-taking from an engineering firm and
income-tax evasion while serving as governor of Maryland
■ Agnew pleaded no contest and resigned in exchange for minimal
punishment
■ Nixon nominated House minority leader Gerald Ford as vice president
○ In Oct 1973, Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox took President Nixon to court
in order to obtain Nixon’s tapes
Section 2: Watergate:
Nixon’s Downfall (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 11
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
○ Refusing to turn over the tapes, Nixon ordered his Attorney General Elliot
Richardson to fire Cox
■ Saturday Night Massacre: both his Attorney General, Richarson, and
Deputy Attorney General, William Ruckelshaus, resigned rather than
fire Cox
■ Solicitor General Robert Bork fired Cox, but his replacement Leon
Jaworski also demanded the tapes
○ On July 25, 1974, a House Judiciary Committee considered whether to
recommend Nixon be impeached for “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
■ The committee eventually voted to recommend the impeachment of
Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal
● The Fall of a President
-In the spring of 1974, Nixon told a TV audience that he was releasing 1,254 pages
of edited transcripts of White House conversations about Watergate
○ U.S. v. Nixon (on July 24, 1974, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the
president surrender the unedited tapes)
■ Facts of the Case
● A grand jury returned indictments against seven of President
Richard Nixon's closest aides in the Watergate affair. The
special prosecutor appointed by Nixon and the defendants
sought audio tapes of conversations recorded by Nixon in the
Oval Office. Nixon asserted that he was immune from the
subpoena claiming "executive privilege," which is the right to
withhold information from other government branches to
preserve confidential communications within the executive
branch or to secure the national interest. Decided together
with Nixon v. United States.
■ Question
● Is the President's right to safeguard certain information,
using his "executive privilege" confidentiality power, entirely
immune from judicial review?
■ Conclusion
● No. The Court held that neither the doctrine of separation
of powers, nor the generalized need for confidentiality of
high-level communications, without more, can sustain an
absolute, unqualified, presidential privilege. The Court
granted that there was a limited executive privilege in areas
of military or diplomatic affairs, but gave preference to "the
fundamental demands of due process of law in the fair
administration of justice." Therefore, the president must obey
the subpoena and produce the tapes and documents. Nixon
resigned shortly after the release of the tapes.
Section 2: Watergate:
Nixon’s Downfall (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 12
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
○ At a press conference in Nov 1973, Nixon proclaimed defiantly, “I am not a
crook.”
■ Impeachment charges were approved in the House, without the
original tapes, on July 27, 1974, and Nixon realized he would likely be
found guilty in the Senate
● Charged with obstruction of justice
● Abuse of power
● Contempt of Congress for refusing to obey a congressional
subpoena to release the tapes
■ On August 5, 1974 Nixon released the full unedited version of the
White House tapes
● One tape had a 18 ½ minute gap that was supposedly
accidentally erased by Nixon’s secretary Rose Mary Woods
● The deleted section consisted of a conversation b/w H. R.
Haldeman and Nixon
● A tape dated June 23, 1972-six days after the Watergate
break-in-verified that Nixon knew about the break-in at
Watergate and agreed to the plan to obstruct the FBI’s
investigation
■ On August 8, 1974, before the full House voted on the articles of
impeachment, Nixon told the nation he would resign as president
● August 9, 1974 Gerald Ford became president and Nelson
Rockefeller became his vice president
● It was the first time in history that both the president and
vice president were not elected by the people (appointed)
● First president to resign from office because of criminal
charges
● Congress passed laws limiting political contributions from
companies and individuals to clean up gov’t corruption
■ Eventually 25 members of the Nixon Administration were convicted
and served prison terms for crimes connected to Watergate
● The public and the media developed a general cynicism about
public officials that still exists today
● It seems the media no longer want to protect the president,
but instead attack the president
Section 2: Watergate:
Nixon’s Downfall (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 13
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
● Ford Travels a Rough Road
○ On Sep 8, 1974, President Ford pardoned Nixon in an attempt to move the
country beyond Watergate, but offered limited forgiveness to draft dodgers
■ Ford’s popularity rating dropped from 72% to 49% overnight
■ Ford offered only partial amnesty to Vietnam draft evaders
● Had to reaffirm allegiance to the U.S. and spend two years
performing public service
■ Ford admitted, “I’m a Ford, not a Lincoln.”
○ After the massive OPEC oil-price increases in 1973, inflation moved from 6%
to over 10% by the end of 1974
■ Whip Inflation Now (WIN): the president called on Americans to cut
back on their use of oil and gas and to take energy-saving measures
● Without incentives, the plan failed
■ Tight money policy: cut gov’t spending and encouraged the Federal
Reserve Board to restrict credit through higher interest rates
● The tight money policy created the worst economic recession
in 40 years
■ Ford was fighting an uphill battle with the Democrat majority in
Congress
● Ford vetoed social-welfare bills sponsored by Democrats
● Congress returned the favor by not passing his policies
○ Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975): required all public schools
accepting federal funds to provide equal access to education and one free meal
a day for children with physical and mental disabilities
■ Disabled students should be placed in the least restrictive
environment-one that allows the maximum possible opportunity to
interact with non-impaired students
● Ford’s Foreign Policy
○ Following Henry Kissinger’s advice, Ford pushed ahead with Nixon’s policy of
negotiating with China and the S.U.
■ In Nov 1974, Ford met with Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev
● Less than a year later, Ford traveled to Helsinki, Finland,
where 35 nations, including the S.U. signed the Helsinki
Accords
● Helsinki Accords: a series of agreements that promised
greater cooperation b/w the nations of Eastern and
Western Europe
■ Congress disapproved of the S.U. restricting the freedom of Jews and
political dissidents from leaving the country
● Upon hearing Congress criticize the policy, the Soviets
canceled a proposed U.S.-Soviet trade pact
○ Congress opposed Ford’s request for a $722 million military aid package for
Cambodia and S. Vietnam
■ Without U.S. aid South Vietnam surrendered to the North in 1975
● Operation Frequent Wind (April, 1975): evacuation by
helicopter of American civilians and "at-risk" Vietnamese
from Saigon, South Vietnam during the last days of the
Vietnam War (more than 7,000 people were evacuated)
Section 3: The Ford
(Republican) and Carter
(Democrat) Years
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 14
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
■ In May 1975, the Communist Cambodian gov’t seized the U.S.
merchant ship Mayaguez in the Gulf of Siam
● Forty-one U.S. troops died trying to free the 39 crew
members (officially the last battle of the Vietnam War)
● Later, facts revealed that the crew had already been
released when the troops were sent
○ Sinai Interim Agreement (Sept 1975): diplomatic agreement signed by Egypt and
Israel that stated conflicts between the countries "shall not be resolved by
military force but by peaceful means."
■ Egypt was hoping to diplomatically re-acquire the land (Sinai
Peninsula) it lost to Israel during the Six Day War in 1967
● Carter Enters the White House (Election of 1976)
○ Ford narrowly won the Republican nomination over Ronald Reagan, and chose
Robert Dole as Ford’s vice president
○ Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination and chose Walter Mondale as
his vice president
■ One Democratic leader claimed, “We could run an aardvark this year
and win.”
○ Jimmy Carter said, “I will never tell a lie to the
American people.”
○ Carter openly noted that his religious ethics shaped
his political actions
■ Carter insisted that his wife play a crucial role in White House affairs
○ Sent Rosalyn (wife) on diplomacy missions in Latin
America
■ Congresswoman Barbara Jordan of Texas gave the keynote address
at the Democratic convention
○ First African American women elected to the Texas
senate in 1966
○ Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in
1972
○ Helped draw up impeachment charges against Nixon
■ Carter won 40.8 million popular votes compared to Ford’s 39.1 million
○ Carter held Roosevelt-like “fireside chats” on radio
and TV
■ Carter failed to reach out to Congress in the same way he reached
out to Americans
○ Carter relied heavily on his team of advisors to play
the “insider” game of deal making within Congress
○ Congress often stopped many of Carter’s budget
proposal, and tax and welfare reforms
Section 3: The Ford
(Republican) and Carter
(Democrat) Years (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 15
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
● Carter’s Domestic Agenda
○ During his fireside chats, Carter urged Americans to cut their consumption of
oil and gas and also offered numerous (over 100) energy conservation and
development proposals to Congress
■ Oil and gas producing states resisted some of the proposals and auto
makers lobbied against gas-rationing provisions
■ Congress created several agencies to reduce oil prices and
dependence on imported oil
○ Department of Energy (1977): reduce the nation's
dependence on imported oil
○ National Energy Act (1978): placed a tax on
gas-guzzling cars, removed price controls on oil and
natural gas produced in the U.S., and extended tax
credits for the development of alternative energy
○ In January 1979, a revolution in Iran disrupted oil shipments
■ A few months after the revolution started, OPEC raised the price of
oil 50%, causing another U.S. energy crisis
○ Drivers waited over an hour to fill gas tanks
■ In March 1979 a nuclear reactor failed at Three Mile Island power
plant in Pennsylvania
○ The Movie, The China Syndrome, was released two
weeks prior to the Three Mile Island incident, which
depicted a utility company trying to cover up a
serious accident at a power plant
■ In 1979 inflation soared from 7.6% to 13.3%
○ Carter attempted to deal with the crisis, but lacked
the ability to gain the support of Congress
○ Americans were convinced that Carter had no
economic policy at all
■ By 1980 inflation reached 14%, the highest rate since 1947
○ The standard of living in the U.S. had dropped from
1st to 5th place in the world
● Many of Carter’s economic problems were the result of a long-term trend in the
economy where manufacturing jobs decreased (automation and foreign competition) while
jobs in the service sector increased (communications, transportation, and retail)
○ The higher paying jobs in the service sector required more education and
specialized skills than those jobs in the manufacturing sector
○ The booming economies of West Germany and countries in the Pacific Rim
(Japan, Taiwan, and Korea) hurt many U.S. markets
● Iron, steel, rubber, clothing, and auto had to cut production
and shut plants in the U.S.
○ 7.8% of workforce was unemployed and the unemployment rate for minorities
was at 13%
● Carter made corporate tax cuts which slightly reduced
unemployment, but caused inflation to increase to 13.3% in
1979
● Carter called for voluntary wage and price controls and cut
social service funding, which caused unemployment to
increase (1980 recession)
Section 3: The Ford
(Republican) and Carter
(Democrat) Years (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 16
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
● Carter’s administration included more African Americans and women than any before it
○ Carter appointed civil rights leaser, Andrew Young, as U.S. ambassador to the
U.N.
● Young was the first African American to hold that post
○ Carter appointed 28 African Americans, 29 women, and 14 Latinos to the
judicial branch
○ Some civil rights leaders believed that the energy crisis and the economy
occupied too much of Carter’s time, which prevented him from giving civil rights
his full attention
● Affirmative action was being analyzed and criticized
● Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
○ Facts of the Case
● Allan Bakke, a thirty-five-year-old white man, had twice
applied for admission to the University of California Medical
School at Davis. He was rejected both times. The school
reserved sixteen places in each entering class of one hundred
for "qualified" minorities, as part of the university's
affirmative action program, in an effort to redress
longstanding, unfair minority exclusions from the medical
profession. Bakke's qualifications (college GPA and test
scores) exceeded those of any of the minority students
admitted in the two years Bakke's applications were rejected.
Bakke contended, first in the California courts, then in the
Supreme Court, that he was excluded from admission solely
on the basis of race.
○ Question
● Did the University of California violate the Fourteenth
Amendment's equal protection clause, and the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, by practicing an affirmative action policy that
resulted in the repeated rejection of Bakke's application for
admission to its medical school?
○ Conclusion
● No and yes. There was no single majority opinion. Four of the
justices contended that any racial quota system supported by
government violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Justice
Lewis F. Powell, Jr., agreed, casting the deciding vote
ordering the medical school to admit Bakke. However, in his
opinion, Powell argued that the rigid use of racial quotas as
employed at the school violated the equal protection clause
of the Fourteenth Amendment. The remaining four justices
held that the use of race as a criterion in admissions
decisions in higher education was constitutionally permissible.
Powell joined that opinion as well, contending that the use of
race was permissible as one of several admission criteria. So,
the Court managed to minimize white opposition to the goal
of equality (by finding for Bakke) while extending gains for
racial minorities through affirmative action.
Section 3: The Ford
(Republican) and Carter
(Democrat) Years (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 17
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
● A Human Rights Foreign Policy
○ Jimmy Carter rejected the philosophy of realpolitik-the pragmatic policy of
negotiating with powerful nations despite their behavior-and strived for a
foreign policy committed to human rights
■ Human rights: the rights of all people to freedom from unlawful
detention and torture
○ Carter cut military funds to Argentina and Brazil,
countries that had a good relationship with the U.S.
but tortured their own citizens
■ Carter’s Human Rights position to foreign affairs had its critics
○ Supporters of containment felt the president
undercut allies such as Nicaragua, a dictatorial but
anti-Communist country
○ Others believed Carter was sending mixed
messages by supporting dictators in South Korea
and the Philippines
○ Panamanians resented the fact that the U.S. built the Panama canal without
approval for the Panamanian gov’t and took complete control of the canal in
1914
■ Panama Canal treaties (1977): the U.S. and Panama agreed to two
treaties, one which turned over control of the Panama Canal to
Panama on Dec 31, 1999 (U.S. interests would be safeguarded)
○ Conservative Ronald Reagan said, “We built it, we
paid for it, it’s ours, and…we are going to keep it!”
○ In 1979, the U.S. Senate approved each treaty by a
vote of 68 to 32-one more vote than the required
2/3rds
○ A Panamanian general said they would have
resorted to “violent liberation” of the canal zone if
the treaties weren’t ratified by the U.S. Senate
○ Carter’s firm insistence on human rights led to a breakdown in relations with
the S.U.
■ Carter’s concern over the S.U.’s treatment of dissidents, or
opponents of the govt's policies, delayed a second round of SALT
negotiations
○ Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev finally met in June
of 1979 in Vienna, Austria, where they signed the
SALT II agreement: it didn’t reduce arms, but it did
provide for limits on the number of strategic
weapons and nuclear-missile launchers that each
side could produce
■ Saur Revolution: occurred in Afghanistan in 1978 and created two
factions in the government People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan
known as Khalq (Masses) vs Parcham (Flag)
○ In 1978 a treaty was signed with the Soviets that
allowed the PDPA to call on the Soviets for
military aid.
○ Some Marxist/Soviet style reforms appeared to be
in direct violation of Islam (civil war occurred)
○ In 1979 the Afghan government requested military
assistance to fight the Mujahideen (Islamic) rebels
Section 3: The Ford
(Republican) and Carter
(Democrat) Years (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 18
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
■ Jimmy Carter signed an executive order authorizing the CIA to
conduct covert propaganda operations against the communist regime
○ Operation Cyclone: was the codename for the CIA
program to arm, train, and finance the Afghan
Mujahideen during the Soviet war in Afghanistan
○ This process would eventually culminate and lead up
to the buildup and intervention in Afghanistan in
December 1979 to preserve, stabilize and militarily
intervene on behalf of the communist regime there
■ In Dec. 1979 Soviet troops invaded (some say invited) Afghanistan to
ensure that the pro-Soviet government remained in control of
Afghanistan (also close to major oil areas)
○ Carter cut grain sales to the S.U. and boycotted the
1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow (50 nations
chose not to participate)
○ The SALT II treaty was abandoned when the
Soviets invaded the neighboring country of
Afghanistan in Dec 1979
○ Carter warned of a U.S. military response if any
Soviet action was taken in the Persian Gulf
■ A strong Muslim rebel group known as the Mujahideen was intent on
overthrowing the Afghan gov’t that was controlled by the Soviets
(fearing the rebels would win the Soviets sent in troops in 1979)
○ During the Soviet-Afghanistan War, American
intelligence operatives armed Afghan rebels and
trained them in terrorist tactics (Osama bin-laden
used his wealth and connections to help the rebels)
○ After suffering thousands of casualties, the last
Soviet troops pulled out of Afghanistan in Feb 1989
○ Fighting b/w rival factions continues for years, until
the Taliban controlled 90% of Afghanistan by 2000
(Osama bin-laden)
● Triumph and Crisis in the Middle East
○ Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin
met in Jerusalem for peace talks in 1977
■ When peace talks stalled, Carter invited el-Sadat and Begin to Camp
David, the presidential retreat in Maryland
■ Camp David Accords (1978): under this first signed peace agreement
with an Arab country, Israel agreed to withdraw from the Sinai
Peninsula, which had been seized from Egypt during the Six-Day War
in 1967
○ Egypt, in turn, formally recognized Israel’s right to
exist
○ El-Sadat and Begin shared the Nobel Peace Prize
for 1978
○ In 1979, they signed a peace treaty ending 30 years
of war b/w Egypt and Israel
Section 3: The Ford
(Republican) and Carter
(Democrat) Years (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 19
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
○ Both Carter and el-Sadat were criticized for their efforts
■ Supporters of Israel accused Carter of appeasing Arab oil exporting
nations such as Saudi Arabia
■ In 1981 Sadat was assassinated by an Islamic fundamentalist group
within Egyptian army that was upset over his recognition of Israel
○ Sadat ordered the arrest of over 3,000 opponents
and wanted to oust foreign journalists
○ In 1953, the U.S. helped overthrow Iran’s leader Mohammad Mosaddeq and
restore Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi to power (by the mid-1970s Iran
accounted for half of U.S. arms exports)
■ In Jan 1979, followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini forced Pahlavi
to leave the country an established a religious state based on strict
obedience to the Qur’an-the sacred book of Islam
○ In Oct 1979, Carter allowed the shah to enter the
U.S. for cancer treatment, although Pahlavi already
fled Iran in Jan 1979
○ This act of kindness infuriated the revolutionaries of
Iran
■ Khomeini branded the U.S as the “great Satan” and the S.U. as the
“lesser Satan.”
○ Wanted to purge the country of Western culture
and create a pure Islamic state
■ On Nov 4, 1979 52 Americans were taken hostage from the U.S.
embassy in Tehran, Iran’s capital
○ The militants demanded that the U.S. return the
shah in exchange for the 52 hostages
■ In April 1980 a U.S. rescue mission (Operation Eagle Claw) failed
when a helicopter crashed killing 8 Americans
○ America’s inability to free the hostages
demonstrated the country’s weaknesses in the
1970s
○ The U.S. also realized it had limited natural
resources (oil)
■ The hostages were released after 444 days on Jan 20, 1981
○ In 1980 Carter had a 21% approval rating
Section 3: The Ford
(Republican) and Carter
(Democrat) Years (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 20
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
● The Roots of Environmentalism
○ In 1962, Rachel Carson, a marine biologist, published a book entitled Silent
Spring
■ Carson warned against the growing use of pesticides-chemicals used
to kill insects and rodents
● She warned pesticides poison the food people eat and kill
many innocent animals
■ Many chemical companies called the book inaccurate and threatened
legal action
● JFK established an advisory committee to investigate the
situation
● Americans realized their behavior and industrial growth, had
a damaging effect on the environment
● Environmental Concerns in the 1970s
○ Earth Day (April 22, 1970): nearly every community in the nation and more than
10,000 schools and 2,000 colleges hosted some type of
environmental-awareness activity and spotlighted such problems as pollution,
the growth of toxic waste, and the earth’s dwindling resources
■ Massive oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara
■ First Earth Day in April 1970
● Idea created by Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson
○ Although President Nixon was not considered an environmentalist, or someone
who takes an active role in protection of the environment, he recognized the
nation’s concern over the environment
■ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA-1970): the federal agency
was given the power to set and enforce pollution standards, to
conduct environmental research, and to assist state and local gov’ts in
pollution control
● The EPA fostered an agreement with the auto industry to
install catalytic converters to reduce hydrocarbon emissions
■ Clean Air Act (1970): gave the gov’t the authority to set air-quality
standards and tough emissions guidelines for car manufacturers
(amended the 1963 Clean Air Act)
■ Water Quality Improvement Act (1970): made oil companies pay for
some of the cleanup costs of oil spills and set limits on discharges of
pollutants into water
■ Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA-1970):
enforces laws protecting workers from dangerous or unhealthy
working conditions
■ Endangered Species Act (1973): provides broad protection for species
of fish, wildlife and plants that are listed as threatened or endangered
in the U.S. or elsewhere due to "the consequences of economic
growth and development untempered by adequate concern and
conservation".
Section 4: Environmental
Activism
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 21
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
○ The reduction in oil caused an energy crisis in the U.S. during the winter of
1973-74
■ Oil was discovered at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in 1968, after explorers
had been searching all over Northern Alaska since the 1950s
■ A pipeline was considered the only viable system for transporting the
oil to the nearest ice-free port, almost 800 miles (1,300 km) away at
Valdez
● U.S. President Richard Nixon signed the Trans-Alaska
Pipeline Authorization Act into law on November 16, 1973:
authorized the construction of the pipeline (finished being
built in 1977)
■ The influx of new development raised concerns about Alaska’s wildlife,
as well as the rights of its native peoples
● Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (1971): turned over
millions of acres of land to the state’s native tribes for
conservation and tribal issues
● In 1978 Carter set aside an additional 56 million acres and in
1980 Congress added another 104 million acres
■ The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) was originally formed
on Dec. 6, 1960 with an original size of 8.9 million acres
● In 1980 and 1983 ANWR was added which increased its
current size to 19.6 million acres comprising of three distinct
legal areas of use within its borders
● Since ANWR was established in 1960, exploration in the
region has been restricted to surface geological
investigations, aeromagnetic surveys, and two winter seismic
surveys (in 1983-84 and 1984-85)
● No exploratory drilling has been accomplished in the area
except for one well commenced in the winter of 1984-85 on
Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation and Arctic Slope Regional
Corporation lands southeast of Kaktovik on the Coastal
Plain
■ In 1978 670,00 gallons of oil was spilled near Fairbanks, Alaska
● On Oct 2001, a man fired bullets into the Trans-Alaska
pipeline causing a leak of 285,600 gallons of oil
○ During the 1970s, Americans became aware of the drawbacks to its heavy
reliance on foreign oil and looked to nuclear energy to reduce the addiction
■ In January 1972, there were 42 operational nuclear plants and 160
being built
■ On March 28, 1979 a nuclear reactor failed at the Three Mile Island
power plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
● The reactors cooling system failed, and it was feared that
radiation might escape (low-level radiation did escape)
causing over 100,000 residents to evacuate their homes
● On April 9, 1979, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a
federal agency that monitors the nuclear plant industry,
announced that the immediate danger was over
■ The Movie, The China Syndrome, was released two weeks prior to
the Three Mile Island incident, which depicted a utility company trying
to cover up a serious accident at a power plant
Section 4: Environmental
Activism (con’t)
Key Points: Details:
Summary:
Name: Date:
Unit/Era: Chapter:
Page: 22
Ferguson’s Notes
An Age of Limits24
Class Website: http://desotocountyschools.org/ferguson
■ The world’s nuclear disaster occurred on April 26, 1986, at
Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine, a part of the Soviet Union
● An explosion released large amounts of radiation, and it was
reported that 31 people died and hundreds were injured
● To this day radiation levels are elevated on the ground and in
the air causing higher levels of cancer and other illnesses
● A Continuing Movement
○ Opponents of the environmental movement also made their voices heard
■ When a federal dam project was halted in Tennessee b/c it
threatened a fish, local developers took out ads asking residents to
“tell the gov’t that the size of your wallet is more important than some
two-inch-long minnow.”
■ When confronted with environmental concerns, one unemployed
steelworker spoke for others when he remarked, “Why worry about
the long run, when you’re out of work right now.”
Section 4: Environmental
Activism (con’t)