Chapter 32-An Age of Limits

I. The Nixon Administration

A. Election of 1968

1. LBJ steps down

2. RFK assassinated

3. Violence at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago

4. Hubert Humphrey vs. Richard Nixon

B. Nixon’s New Conservatism

1. Decrease the power of the federal government

2. Dismantle some Great Society programs

3. Install a sense of order into a nation still divided over Vietnam

C. New Federalism—a plan to distribute a portion of federal power to state and local governments (revenue sharing)

D. Wellfare Reform—Family Assistance Plan

1. Guaranteed income or a work requirement for supplemental income

2. Defeated by conservatives AND liberals in the Senate

E. New Federalism’s Two Faces

1. Nixon worked with the Democratic Congress to enhance some social programs (social security, Medicare, and Medicaid)

2. Nixon impounded federal funds for programs he disagreed with (federal courts declared impoundment unconstitutional)

F. Law-and-Order politics

1. Nixon sought to restore order for Americans tired of urban riots and antiwar demonstration

2. He used the FBI to accomplish this goal (sometimes illegally)

3. His administration complied an “enemies list” to harrass

G. Nixon’s Southern Strategy—1972 election strategy to appeal to southern conservative Democrats and convert them to Republicans

1. Started in 1948 with the Dixiecrats

2. Anger at federal desegregation

3. Anger at the liberal Supreme Court

4. He tried to slow down desegregation and placed conservative justices on the supreme court

H. Nixon confronts a stagnant economy

1. Stagflation—rising inflation and unemployment

2. caused by:

a. massive government spending on the Great Society and Vietnam

b. the rise of international competition

c. the influx of new workers

d. the dependency on foreign oil

3. Nixon unsuccessfully tried to fight inflation with tax increases, budget cuts, raising interest rates, price and wage controls

II. Watergate: Nixon’s Downfall

A. An imperial presidency—over time the executive branch had become the most powerful branch

B. The “President’s Men” (H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, John Mitchell) through their personalities and attitudes developed a sense they were above the law

C. The drive toward reelection: Nixon’s paranoia

1. A bungled burglary at the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate complex in D.C.

2. Carried out by members of Nixon’s campaign group called the Committee to Reelect the President or (CREEP)

3. Once they were caught, instead of demanding their resignation Nixon tried to cover it up

4. Two Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein kept the story and the investigation alive

5. Nixon won reelection in 1972 with the biggest victory by a Republican ever

D. The cover-up unravels

1. January 1973, the trial for the Watergate burglars began

2. May 1973 the Senate began its own investigation

3. The testimony revealed that Nixon had taped all of his presidential conversations which could reveal “what the president knew and when he knew it”

4. The Saturday Night Massacre—After Nixon refused to turn over the tapes and fired some of the investigators the House began to consider impeachment

E. The Fall of a President

1. The Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned after it was revealed he took bribes—Gerald Ford became the new Vice-President

2. Under pressure Nixon released edited tapes

3. Investigators demanded the unedited tapes

4.Nixon refused and the case went to the Supreme Court—the court decided that he must release the tapes

5. The President resigns

a. The House Judiciary Committee impeaches the president

b. Nixon releases most of the tapes

c. August 8, 1974 Nixon resigns

6. The effects of Watergate

a. disillusionment with the “imperial” presidency

b. a general cynicism of politicians and government that continues today

III. The Ford and Carter Years

A. “Our long national nightmare is over”

1. Ford pardoned Nixon in 1974

2. The pardon cost him a great deal of public support

B. Ford tries to “whip” inflation

1. By the time Ford took office the economy had gone from bad to worse

2. The administration came up with a program called “Whip Inflation Now” or WIN

a. the program called for voluntary cutbacks on oil and gas—it didn’t work

b. He then cut government spending and raised interest rates

c. This led to the worst recession in 40 years

C. Ford battles Congress

1. Ford rejected the Democratic congress’s economic plans which called for more government spending

2. In the end Ford held stagflation steady but provided no solutions for the problem

D. Jimmy Carter Enters the White House

1. Ford won the Republican nomination in 1976 in a tough race against Ronald Reagan

2. Jimmy Carter, a Washington outsider, governor of Georgia and peanut farmer won the Democratic

nomination

E. Carter refused to play the “insider” game of compromise and deal-making which alienated him from members of both parties

F. Carter’s Domestic Agenda

1. National Energy Act taxed gas-guzzling cars and other energy saving measures

2. This produced only slight improvement

G. The Economic Crisis Worsens

1. Summer 1979 OPEC increased prices and inflation soared

2. Carter tried a “shotgun” approach which didn’t work

3. The “malaise” speech hurt America’s confidence in Carter

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/carter-crisis/

H. A Changing Economy

1. Rise of the service sector

2. Decline of manufacturing

3. Growing overseas competition

IV. The Roots of Environmentalism

A. Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring awakened the nation to the dangers that their everyday behavior and the nation’s industrial growth posed for the environment

B. The first Earth Day April 22, 1970 highlighted issues such as pollution, the growth of toxic waste, and the earths dwindling resources

C. The government takes action

1. President Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency or the EPA which oversees environmental issues

2. New environmental laws angered conservatives and liberals

a. conservatives complained the new laws placed too great a burden on business

b. liberals argued that they did not go far enough

D. The Debate over nuclear energy

1. Its proponents argued that it provided cheap, plentiful, and safe energy

2. Its opponents argued that it was too dangerous

3. Three Mile Island- A near disaster at this Pennsylvania nuclear power plant caused increased safety standards and continued protests

E. The environmental movement of the 1970s became in the 1980s and 90s a struggle to balance environmental concerns with jobs and progress

F. The Exxon Valdez Oil spill in Alaska for example held the corporation liable for $5 billion which showed that the nation was getting more serious about holing corporations responsible for damaging the environment

G. Global Warming is the biggest environmental issue today