Topic 15 - Postwar America (1945-1975)

Lesson 7 - The Nixon Years

By 1968, the counterculture and antiwar movements were peaking. Protests took place at universities across the nation. Angry demonstrators protested at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. As the elections of 1968 rolled around, enormous pressure was building for a change in course in Vietnam.

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Millions of people around the world watched on TV as Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon. What adventure do you foresee in the future that will equal the interest that landing on the moon held for so many people? Write your ideas.

Guiding Questions

What were President Nixon’s accomplishments?
How did the Vietnam War end, and what were the results of the war?
What was the Watergate scandal, and how did it lead to Nixon’s resignation?

Vocabulary

Academic Vocabulary

The Nixon Years

Johnson had already served as President for six years. Constitutionally, he could have run for another term, but his popularity had plummeted. To avoid angry protesters, Johnson stayed in the White House more and more. Early in 1968 he announced his decision not to run for another term.

The Election of 1968

Johnson’s decision not to run for re-election opened the way for other Democrats to seek their party’s nomination in 1968. New York senator Robert Kennedy, brother of the late President, made a strong run. However, tragedy again struck the Kennedy family. While campaigning in Los Angeles, Kennedy was shot and killed by a Palestinian who opposed the senator’s support for Israel. The Democrats selected Vice President Hubert Humphrey as their candidate.

The Republicans again nominated former Vice President Richard Nixon. Nixon promised “peace with honor” in Vietnam and “law and order” at home. Alabama governor George Wallace entered the race as a third-party candidate. Helped by this and by divisions among Democrats over the Vietnam War, Nixon won a narrow victory.

Analyze Charts This chart shows data concerning Richard Nixon’s narrow victory in the 1968 election.

Cite Evidence In what key states did Nixon lose the popular vote to Humphrey? Why did he still win the election?

The Silent Majority

As President, Richard M. Nixon cut funds for many Great Society programs, including job training, education, and low-income housing. He also sought to return power to the states. He called this transfer of power the “New Federalism.”

During his presidential campaign, Nixon said that he wanted to help those whom he called the silent majority. By this he meant Americans who were disturbed by the unrest of the 1960s but did not protest publicly. They were, Nixon maintained, the “great majority of Americans, the nonshouters, the nondemonstrators.”

True to his campaign promise, Nixon began his law-and-order program. Federal funds were used to help local police departments. Nixon also named four conservative justices to the Supreme Court. They tended to favor dealing harshly with people accused of crimes.

The Moon Landing

Nixon inherited the space program from Kennedy and Johnson. Its greatest triumph came in 1969 just as Nixon took office. That summer, two astronauts landed a small craft on the moon’s surface. With millions of television viewers around the world watching, Neil A. Armstrong became the first person to step onto the moon. “That’s one small step for a man—one giant leap for mankind,” he radioed back to Earth. American astronauts visited the moon five more times.

The Economy Suffers

During the Nixon years, the economy suffered from stagflation, a combination of rising prices, high unemployment, and slow economic growth. To halt inflation, Nixon froze wages and prices. To stimulate economic growth, he increased federal spending.

Still, economic problems would not go away. Increased federal spending caused federal budget deficits; that is, the government spent more than it received in revenues. Early in Nixon’s second term, Arab nations imposed an oil embargo on the United States. Gas and other petroleum products were in short supply and prices increased. The shortage put added pressure on the economy as higher energy prices caused the price of goods to rise even more.

Analyze Graphs This graph shows the annual percent increase or decrease in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a standard measure of inflation.

Compare and Contrast How did the value of a dollar in the 1970s compare to the value of a dollar in the 1950s and 1960s?

READING CHECK

Draw Conclusions Why do you think the moon landing was important?

The Vietnam War Comes to an End

At first President Nixon widened the war in Vietnam, hoping to weaken the enemy. For years, North Vietnam had sent supplies to Vietcong soldiers in South Vietnam using trails through nearby Cambodia. The Vietcong also escaped into Cambodia when American and South Vietnamese units attacked.

In 1969, Nixon ordered the bombing of Communist bases in Cambodia. Then, American and South Vietnamese forces invaded by land. These moves helped plunge Cambodia into its own civil war between Communist and non-Communist forces.

Withdrawal of U.S. Troops

As the war progressed without an end in sight, public support for U.S. involvement waned. President Nixon began to turn the war over to South Vietnam and to withdraw American troops. Meanwhile, peace talks were held in Paris. In January 1973, the two sides reached a cease-fire agreement. The next year, the last American combat troops left Vietnam.

The United States continued to send large amounts of aid to South Vietnam. Even so, the South Vietnamese were unable to stop a North Vietnamese advance.

In April 1975, Communist forces captured Saigon. They renamed it Ho Chi Minh City. Soon after, Vietnam was united under a Communist government.

Communism in Cambodia

Also in 1975, the Communist Khmer Rouge (kuh MER ROOZH) won the civil war in Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge imposed a brutal reign of terror on their own people. More than one million Cambodians starved to death or were killed.

In 1979, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and set up a new Communist government. It was less harsh than the Khmer Rouge, but it could not end the fighting. Not until the 1990s would a shaky peace be restored in Cambodia.

The Aftermath

The Vietnam War was a costly conflict. More than 58,000 American soldiers lost their lives. Over 150,000 American soldiers were wounded, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers suffered lingering effects from the psychological stress of the war. More than one million Vietnamese soldiers and perhaps half a million civilians died. The war shattered the Vietnamese economy.

After 1975, hundreds of thousands of people fled Vietnam and Cambodia. Refugees from Vietnam escaped in small boats. Many of these boat peopledrowned or died of hunger and thirst. Others made it to safety. Eventually, many were allowed to settle in the United States.

The Vietnam War was a painful episode in American history. The war produced no victory and divided the nation. Instead of celebrations and parades, many returning soldiers were met with protests and with resentment by family and former friends. Vietnam left Americans wondering about how far the nation should go to fight communism.

Analyze Images In 1975, as the Vietcong were entering Saigon, American planes and helicopters flew almost nonstop into Saigon to rescue people desperately fleeing the Communist forces.

Infer Why were South Vietnamese desperate to leave their country?

READING CHECK

Identify Main Ideas Why did Nixon order attacks on Cambodia?

Nixon Seeks to Ease Cold War Tensions

In 1971, while Americans were still fighting in Vietnam, the Cold War showed signs of a thaw. President Nixon wanted to ease world tensions, and his first move was to seek improved relations with the People’s Republic of China.

Recognizing Mao’s China

Since 1949, the United States had refused to recognize Mao Zedong’s Communist government in China. Instead, it recognized the Chinese Nationalists, now confined to the island of Taiwan. The United States gave arms and aid to the Nationalists and supported their claim to being the legitimate government of all China.

Richard Nixon had long been an outspoken opponent of giving official recognition to the Chinese government. As president, though, Nixon ordered secret talks with Chinese officials. As a show of goodwill, China invited the American table tennis team to a competition in Beijing.

To the surprise of many Americans, Nixon then visited the People’s Republic of China in 1972. Television cameras captured the President walking along the Great Wall of China and attending state dinners with Chinese leaders.

The visit was a triumph for Nixon and the start of a new era in relations with China. As tensions eased, the United States and China established formal diplomatic relations in 1979.

Analyze Images President Nixon (center) visited the People’s Republic of China in 1972 and met with Chinese Premier Chou En Lai (left).

Identify Main Ideas What was significant about Nixon’s trip to China?

Détente

President Nixon followed his visit to China with another historic trip. In May 1972, he became the first U.S. President since the start of the Cold War to visit the Soviet Union. The trip was part of Nixon’s effort to reduce tensions between the superpowers. This policy was known as détente (dayTAHNT). A French word meaning “loosening,” détente represents an end to strained relations between countries.

Détente eased the tensions of the Cold War by establishing more trade and other contacts between the superpowers. It also led them to sign a treaty to limit the number of nuclear warheads and missiles. The treaty was known as the SALT Agreement. (SALT stands for Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.)

The next two Presidents, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, continued the policy of détente. Trade between the United States and the Soviet Union increased. Under President Ford, Soviet and American astronauts conducted a joint space mission. In 1979, President Carter met with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev (BREZH nef). They worked out the details of a SALT II Treaty.

Analyze Graphs The graph shows how rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union resulted in a massive buildup of nuclear warheads by both nations.

Identify Implied Main Ideas What was the purpose of the SALT II agreement?

READING CHECK

Identify Cause and Effect What were the results of Nixon’s foreign policy in China and the Soviet Union?

The Watergate Scandal

During President Nixon’s second term in office, an event that began while he was campaigning for reelection turned into a major scandal known as Watergate. On June 17, 1972, police caught five men breaking into Democratic party headquarters in the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. The burglars were there to steal information about the Democrats by taking secret documents and wiretapping phones. Though it was suspected that the spies were linked to Nixon, no solid evidence was found at first. The President assured the public that no one in the White House was involved in the break-in. He won the election by a landslide.

The Scandal Deepens

Watergate did not go away with Nixon’s re-election. The American people would learn that Nixon was indeed involved. After the break-in, he paid the spies to keep quiet about his involvement, and he enlisted the CIA to obstruct the investigation. However, seven men were charged in the scandal. Of those seven, two were convicted and five pleaded guilty.

Despite Nixon’s denials of involvement, a Senate committee began public hearings in May 1973. The hearings revealed that Nixon had made secret tape recordings of conversations in his office. Nixon refused to give the committee the tapes, knowing that the tapes would prove his guilt.

In the fall of that same year, another unrelated scandal erupted. Vice President Spiro Agnew was accused of taking bribes and evading taxes. He was forced to resign. The President appointed Representative Gerald R. Ford of Michigan to replace him.

Nixon Resigns

In July 1974, Nixon was ordered by the Supreme Court to surrender the tapes. The Watergate crisis came to a head when Nixon continued to hold onto the tapes. A House of Representatives committee passed articles of impeachment against the President. One of several charges was obstructing, or blocking, justice.

A month later, on August 5, Nixon handed over the tapes that proved he and several close advisers had tried to cover up the truth about the Watergate break-in. Three days later, before an impeachment trial could begin, Richard Nixon became the first President to resign from office.

Analyze Political Cartoons In this cartoon, the White House is crushed by the tapes that Nixon secretly made of his office conversations.

Recognize Point of View What was the cartoonist trying to show about the importance of Nixon’s tapes and the Watergate affair?

Ford Takes Office

Gerald Ford, the new President, had a difficult job. He faced a troubled economy and the challenge of helping the nation emerge from a major political scandal. In response to the nation’s troubled mood, President Ford granted Nixon a “full, free, and absolute pardon.” He did so a month after Nixon resigned. Some felt that Nixon should have been brought to trial. Ford, however, said that he wanted to save the country from more bitter debate over Watergate. Ford lost a great deal of public support because of his decision.

Analyze Images On August 8, 1974, Richard Nixon resigned from the presidency.

Understand Effects Do you think it was better for the country that Nixon resigned rather than being found guilty in an impeachment trial?

READING CHECK

Sequence List the series of events that led to Nixon’s resignation.

Lesson Check

Who were the silent majority?
How did détente ease Cold War tensions?
What was the Watergate scandal?
Summarize What economic pressures existed during Nixon’s presidency?
Identify Main Ideas How did relations between the United States and China change during Nixon’s presidency?
Writing Workshop: Include Formatting and Graphics Review your essay and think about how you can use formatting and graphics to better develop and explain your ideas. Consider using diagrams, charts, or graphs. Sketch some ideas you might use as you finalize your essay.

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