THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION

Chapter 27

Section 1

Election of 1968 Nixon’s Dem opponent was Hubert

Humphrey; served as LBJ’s VP Nixon also had to wage his campaign

against a strong 3rd party candidate, George Wallace, an experienced S’rn politician & avowed supporter of segregation

On Election Day, Wallace captured an impressive 13.5% of the popular vote, the best showing of a 3rd party candidate since 1924

Nixon managed a victory receiving 43.4 % of the popular vote to Humphrey’s 42.7% & electoral vote 301-191

Nixon’s Southern Strategy

One of the keys to Nixon’s victory was his surprisingly strong showing in the South

the South had long been a Democrat stronghold; Nixon had refused to concede the region

To gain S’rn support, Nixon had met with powerful SC Sen. Strom Thurmond & won his backing by promising several thing:appoint only conservatives to the federal courtsname a S’rner to the Supreme Courtoppose court-ordered busing

Large numbers of white Southerners deserted the Dems, granting Humphrey only victory in TX

While Wallace claimed most of the states in the Deep South, Nixon captured VA, TN, KY & SC

Issue with the Supreme Court

His admin specifically targeted the nation’s antiwar protesters

Nixon also went on the attack against the recent Supreme Court rulings that expanded the rights of accused criminals

Nixon openly criticized the Court & its chief justice, Earl Warren

Nixon promised to fill vacancies on the Supreme Court w/ judges who would support the rights of law enforcement over the rights of suspected criminals

When Chief Justice Warren retired shortly after Nixon took office, Nixon replaced him w/ Warren Burger, a respected conservative judge

Henry Kissinger Nixon chose as his national security

adviser Henry Kissinger Nixon and Kissinger shared views on

many issues Nixon & Kissinger also believed in

shaping a foreign policy rooted in practical approaches rather than ideologies

They felt the nation’s decades-long anticommunist crusade had created a foreign policy that was too rigid & often worked against the nation’s interests

They believed that engagement & negotiations w/ Communists offered a better way for U.S. to achieve its internat’l goals

Detente Nixon believed the U.S. needed to

understand the growing role that China, Japan & W’rn Europe would soon play

Nixon fashioned an approach called détente, or relaxation of tensions, between the U.S. & its 2 major Communist rivals, the USSR & China

In explaining détente to the U.S., Nixon said that the U.S. had to build a better relationship with its main rivals in the interests of world peace

Détente with China Détente began with an effort to improve U.S.-

Chinese relations Since 1949, the U.S. had refused to recognize

the Communists as the legitimate rulers He began by lifting trade & travel restrictions &

w/drawing the 7th Fleet from defending Taiwan 2/1972, Nixon visited China During the historic trip, the leaders of both

nations agreed to establish “more normal” relations between their countries

Nixon hoped not only to strengthen ties with the Chinese, but also to encourage the Soviets to more actively pursue diplomacy

Nixon believed détente with China would encourage Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev to be more accommodating with the U.S.

Détente with the USSR Shortly after the public learned of U.S.

negotiations with China, the Soviets proposed an U.S.-Soviet summit, or high-level diplomatic meeting, to be held in 5/1972

5/22, Nixon flew to Moscow for a weeklong summit

He became the first president since WWII to visit the USSR

During the historic Moscow summit, the two superpowers signed the first Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, or Salt I a plan to limit nuclear arms the 2 nations

had been working on for years Nixon & Brezhnev also agreed to increase

trade and the exchange of scientific information

PREPARE FOR QUIZ

TAKE OUT A SEPARATE, FULL SHEET OF PAPER

NUMBER 1-5

QUIZ1. Who was Nixon’s principal opponent in the

Election of 1968?

2. Whom did his administration specifically target?

3. Whom did Nixon chose as his national security adviser?

4. What is known as a “relaxation of tensions”

5. This was a plan to limit nuclear arms the two nations had been working on for years?