LECTURE #23: WATERGATE ERA &

SUPERPOWER DECLINE (1970-1981)

Derrick J. Johnson, MPA, JDAdvanced Placement United States

History,School for Advanced Studies

President Richard M. Nixon Born: January 9, 1913 Died: April 22, 1994 Term in Office: (1969-1974) Political Party: Republican

The Richard M. Nixon Presidency

The Richard M. Nixon PresidencyThe Nixon Cabinet

Office Name Term

President Richard Nixon 1969–1974

Vice PresidentSpiro Agnew 1969–1973Gerald Ford 1973–1974

Secretary of StateWilliam P. Rogers 1969–1973Henry Kissinger 1973–1974

Secretary of Treasury

David M. Kennedy 1969–1971John Connally 1971–1972George Shultz 1972–1974William Simon 1974

Secretary of DefenseMelvin R. Laird 1969–1973Elliot Richardson 1973James Schlesinger 1973–1974

Attorney General

John N. Mitchell 1969–1972Richard Kleindienst 1972–1973Elliot Richardson 1973William B. Saxbe 1974

Postmaster General Winton M. Blount 1969–1971

Secretary of the InteriorWalter Joseph Hickel 1969–1971

Rogers Morton 1971–1974

Secretary of AgricultureClifford M. Hardin 1969–1971Earl Butz 1971–1974

Secretary of CommerceMaurice Stans 1969–1972Peter Peterson 1972–1973Frederick B. Dent 1973–1974

Secretary of LaborGeorge Shultz 1969–1970James D. Hodgson 1970–1973Peter J. Brennan 1973–1974

Secretary of Health,Education, and WelfareRobert Finch 1969–1970Elliot Richardson 1970–1973Caspar Weinberger 1973–1974

Secretary of Housing andUrban DevelopmentGeorge W. Romney 1969–1973James Thomas Lynn 1973–1974

Secretary of TransportationJohn A. Volpe 1969–1973

Claude Brinegar 1973–197

The Richard M. Nixon Presidency

Supreme Court Appointments by President Nixon

Warren E. Burger (Chief Justice) – 1969Harry Blackmun – 1970

Lewis F. Powell, Jr. – 1971William H. Rehnquist – 1971

Nixon’s Domestic Policies

Nixon’s 1968 election victory was one of the greatest comebacks in American history.

However, Nixon was one of the most interesting men to be elected president in the 20th Century. He was never comfortable with large crowds and he was convinced that large numbers of the news media and Congress were his enemies.

He relied on a small group of close-knit advisors, including H.R. Haldeman, his chief of staff, and John Ehrlichman, his advisors for domestic affairs.

Nixon’s Domestic Policies

The Vietnam War was still going on and it took up most of Nixon’s time and energy. However, as he entered office, Nixon had to deal with rising inflation, unemployment, a sluggish GNP growth and a large trade deficit.

At first, Nixon tried to raise taxes and cut government spending, but his policy only worsen the economy.

After trying other unsuccessful measures, Nixon ordered that a program of deficit spending begin, which was similar to FDR’s Keynesian approach.

The Southern Strategy Southern whites had voted firmly Democratic

since the Reconstruction era. In the 1968 election, cracks in this relationship between the Democratic Party and the South began to show.

George Wallace’s candidacy highlighted the weakening of the Democratic South.

Nixon decided to take decisive measures to appeal to these Southerners and win them over to the Republican Party.

Nixon’s Southern Strategy included delaying school desegregation plans in Mississippi, blocking school busing initiatives, and attempting to block an extension of the Voting Rights of 1965.

The Burger Court

Four resignations of older justices from the Supreme Court gave Nixon a chance to replace liberal activist members of the Warren Court with more conservative, strict constructionist justices.

In 1969, he appointed Warren E. Burger to replace retiring Chief Justice Earl Warren. His appointments slowly began to shift the Court to the right politically.

Nixon’s Foreign Policy Nixon’s greatest achievements came in the area

of foreign affairs. In formulating his foreign policy, Nixon turned to former Harvard professor Henry Kissinger.

Kissinger served as Nixon’s national security advisor and later, in 1973, as his secretary of state.

Kissinger had conducted many of the negotiations with North Vietnam that allowed American troops to leave.

Nixon’s greatest accomplishments included better relations with both the Soviet Union and China.

Détente with Russia

Nixon instituted a policy of détente with the Soviet Union. The reduced tension of this policy was a welcome relief to the anticommunist rhetoric that existed in prior years.

He visited the Soviet Union in 1972 and during the discussions with Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev, they agreed to halt the continued build up of nuclear weapons.

The SALT treaty was the first time the two superpowers agreed to halt the production of nuclear weapons.

Détente with China

Nixon knew that only an outspoken critic of communism like himself could take the bold step of improving relations with “Red China” without being condemned as “soft” on Communism.

After a series of secret negotiations with Chinese leaders, Nixon astonished the world in February 1972 by traveling to Beijing to meet with Mao.

His visit led to the U.S. official recognition of the communist government of China in 1979.

Nixon & Vietnam

When Nixon took office, more than half a million U.S. troops were in Vietnam. His principal objective was to find a way to reduce U.S. involvement in the war while at the same time avoiding the appearance of conceding defeat.

Nixon announced that he would gradually withdraw U.S. troops from Vietnam and give the South Vietnamese the money, the weapons, and the training that they needed to take over the full conduct of the war.

Under his policy, U.S. troops in South Vietnam went from 540,000 in 1969 to under 30,000 in 1972.

Nixon & Vietnam In 1970, however, the president expanded the

war by using U.S. forces to invade Cambodia in an effort to destroy Vietnamese Communist bases in that country.

Nationwide protests to this action occurred on many college campuses resulted in the deaths of four students in Ohio.

Also, the American public was shocked to learn about a 1968 massacre of women and children by U.S. troops in a Vietnamese village.

Public outrage escalated with the publishing of the Pentagon Papers, a secret government history documenting the mistakes and deceptions of government policy makers in dealing with Vietnam.

Nixon & Vietnam

In the fall of 1972, Kissinger announced that “peace is at hand.” Kissinger had been in secret talks with his counterpart in North Vietnam. However, when the talks broke down, Nixon ordered a massive bombing campaign to force a settlement.

The North Vietnamese government finally agreed to an armistice in which the U.S. would withdraw its troops and get back 500 POWs.

The armistice finally allowed the U.S. to close the chapter on a war that had claimed the lives of 58,000 American.

The Election of 1972

Nixon was re-nominated by the Republicans and the Democrats nominated Senator George McGovern of South Dakota.

McGovern’s campaign quickly went off track. He had to drop his Vice Presidential running mate, Senator Thomas Eagleton, from his ticket after it was discovered that he underwent electroshock therapy for depression.

Nixon’s re-election was practically assured by his foreign policy successes, the removal of George Wallace from the race due to an assassination attempt, and by the fact that the Democrats nominated a very liberal, antiwar, antiestablishment candidate.

The Election of 1972

Nixon won re-election with 520 electoral votes (47,168,710 popular votes) to McGovern’s 17 electoral votes (29,173,222popular votes).

The success of Nixon’s Southern Strategy became evident in the presidential election of 1972 when the Republican ticket won majorities in every southern state. The election results indicated that there was a major political realignment occurring.

The Watergate Scandal Nixon’s paranoid view of the American political

system colored his and his aide’s judgment leading up to the 1972 election.

In 1971, Nixon created an enemies list and suggested that various forms of harassment could be used on everyone on that list. Names on Nixon’s list included Senator Edward Kennedy (the youngest brother of JFK), CBS newsman Daniel Schorr, and New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath.

After the Pentagon Papers were released, a special unit to “plug” leaks were formed by the Whitehouse. This unit was known as the plumbers, and it included former members of the CIA and FBI like Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy.

Some of the plumbers broke into Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office to get incriminating evidence. Other aides working for the Committee to Re-elected the President (CREEP) performed various “dirty tricks.”

The Watergate Scandal On the night of June 16, 1972, James McCord, an

assistant in the office of security on CREEP, led four other men into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.

The goal of this group was to photocopy important documents and to install electronic surveillance devices in the Democratic offices. The five were caught and arrested and the money that they had on their persons could be traced back to CREEP.

Five days later, Nixon became part of the illegal cover-up of the Watergate break-in. Nixon contacted friendly CIA officials and convince them to call the FBI and get them to cease its investigation of Watergate.

In the months before the 1972 election, “hush money” was paid to the Watergate burglars, and several officials of CREEP committed perjury by denying under oath that they knew anything about the break in.

All the President’s Men

The Watergate story most assuredly would have died if not for the effort of reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward of the Washington Post. They were aided by a secret source named “Deep Throat” who provided them with valuable background information about the case. It was revealed in 2005 that Deep Throat was former associate director of the FBI, Mark Felt.

All the President’s Men

In February of 1973, the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities began to investigate the Watergate Affair. White House attorney John Dean testified that Nixon was involved in the cover-up and another aide revealed the existence of a taping system that recorded all of Nixon’s conversations.

Haldeman, Ehrlichman and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resigned to save the presidency.

The Saturday Night Massacre

Nixon’s approval ratings began to fall. In an effort to quell the firestorm around him, Nixon appointed a special prosecutor, Archibald Cox, to investigate the Watergate affair.

After losing a court argument that the tapes should be exclusive property of the president, Nixon ordered the new attorney general, Richardson, to fire Cox.

On October 20, 1973, rather than fire Cox, Elliot Richardson and his assistant William Ruckelhaus resigned. Ultimately, Solicitor General Robert Bork fired Cox.

The New Vice President

In the late summer of 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew was under investigation by the United States Attorney's office in Baltimore, Maryland, on charges of extortion, tax fraud, bribery and conspiracy.

In October, he was formally charged with having accepted bribes totaling more than $100,000, while holding office as Baltimore County Executive, Governor of Maryland, and Vice President of the United States.

The New Vice President

October 10, 1973, Agnew was allowed to plead no contest to a single charge that he had failed to report $29,500 of income received in 1967, with the condition that he resign the office of Vice President.

Agnew resigned and two months later, House Republican Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford was appointed Vice-President.

Agnew became the second Vice President, after John Calhoun, to resign from office.

The Resignation of Nixon In the wake of the Watergate Affair, Nixon struggled

to maintain his public image, so he concentrated on foreign policy.

Nixon ordered almost $2 billion in arms for Israel to stem the retreat of the Syrians and Egyptians in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. In response, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) placed an embargo on oil sold to Israel’s supporters, which led to Congress imposing a 55 MPH national speed limit (to conserve gasoline) and it caused the U.S. economy to become sluggish.

In 1974, Nixon made triumphal visits to Moscow and Cairo, but at home his reputation continued to slide.

Nixon became the second U.S. President to be the subject of impeachment (Andrew Johnson was the first). The start of impeachment hearings in the House of Representatives encouraged Nixon to reveal some of the transcripts of the Watergate tapes in April 1974, but it took the U.S. Supreme Court decision of U.S. v. Nixon to force Nixon to turn over the tapes to the courts and Congress.

The Resignation of Nixon

The House Judiciary Committee voted three articles of impeachment against Nixon: Obstruction of Justice Abuse of Power Contempt of Congress

The conversations recorded on the tapes shocked friends and foes alike. The transcripts of one such conversation clearly implicated Nixon in the cover up.

Faced with certain impeachment in the House and removal trial in the Senate, Nixon chose to resign on August 9, 1974. Gerald Ford took the oath of office on the same day.

Nixon became the first president ever to resign from office.

President Gerald R. Ford Born: July 14, 1913 Died: December 26, 2006 Term in Office: (1974-1977) Political Party: Republican

The Gerald R. Ford Presidency

The Gerald R. Ford Presidency

The Ford CabinetOFFICE NAME TERM

President Gerald Ford 1974–1977Vice President Nelson Rockefeller 1974–1977

State Henry Kissinger 1974–1977Treasury William E. Simon 1974–1977Defense James R. Schlesinger 1974–1975  Donald Rumsfeld 1975–1977Justice William B. Saxbe 1974–1975  Edward Levi 1975–1977Interior Rogers Morton 1974–1975  Stanley K. Hathaway 1975  Thomas S. Kleppe 1975–1977Agriculture Earl Butz 1974–1976  John Albert Knebel 1976–1977Commerce Frederick B. Dent 1974–1975  Rogers Morton 1975  Elliot Richardson 1975–1977Labor Peter J. Brennan 1974–1975  John Thomas Dunlop 1975–1976  William Usery, Jr. 1976–1977HEW Caspar Weinberger 1974–1975  F. David Mathews 1975–1977HUD James Thomas Lynn 1974–1975  Carla Anderson Hills 1975–1977Transportation Claude Brinegar 1974–1975  William Thaddeus Coleman,

Jr.1975–1977

The Gerald R. Ford Presidency

Supreme Court Appointments by President Ford

John Paul Stevens – 1975

The Unelected President

Gerald Ford was the first unelected president ever. Since he was appointed to the Vice Presidency by Nixon, Ford was different than vice presidents who had ascended to presidency. Previous vice presidents had at least been supported as running mates of the president that had been elected.

Ford had an image problem during his years as president. Ford was a likable man, but his ability to be president was questioned by many in the media. He was also seen as a stupid jock of a president, who constantly had tripping gaffes (which was noted heavily on Saturday Night Live).

Pardoning of Nixon

In his first month in office, President Ford lost the good will of many by granting Nixon a full and unconditional pardon.

Ford’s popularity and respect sank as a result and it set the impression that there was a corrupt bargain with Nixon.

Ford explained that the purpose of the pardon was to end the “national nightmare,” instead of prolonging it for months.

The Fall of Saigon & the Mayaguez Incident

President Ford was unable to get additional funds from Congress for the South Vietnamese, who in 1974 were facing strong attack from Communist forces.

In April of 1975, the U.S. supported government in Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese forces. Disastrously for Ford, the rest of South Vietnam fell in 1975, and American troops had to be evacuated, the last on April 29, 1975, thus ending the Vietnam War.

The fall of Saigon marked a low point in American prestige abroad.

Also, the U.S. supported government in Cambodia also fell to the communist Khmer Rouge which practiced genocide over millions of its own people.

President Ford ordered an attack on the Cambodian naval base that had captured the U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez. The action helped free 39 crewmen, but 38 marines died in the assault.

Ford & the Cold War

In July 1975, Ford signed the Helsinki accords, which recognized Soviet boundaries and kind of helped to ease the Cold War situation.

Critics charged that détente was making the U.S. lose grain and technology while gaining nothing from the Soviets.

Bicentennial Celebration

In 1976, the U.S. celebrated its 200th birthday. Americans’ pride in their history helped to put Watergate and Vietnam behind them.

Even the lackluster presidency of Gerald Ford served the purpose of restoring candor and humility to the White House.

The Election of 1976

Watergate still cast its gloom over the Republican Party in the 1976 elections. President Ford was challenged by former actor and California Governor Ronald Reagan.

Ford won the nomination in a close battle, but the conflict with Reagan hurt him in the polls.

A number of Democrats competed for the nomination, including former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter. With Watergate still an issue, Carter ran as an outsider to Washington.

Carters victories in the primaries propelled him on to the national stage.

The Election of 1976

Carter had a huge lead in the polls, however, it diminished greatly towards the end of the campaign. Carter narrowly defeated Ford with 297 electoral votes (40,831,881 popular votes) to Ford’s 240 electoral votes (39,148,634 popular votes).

President James Earl “Jimmy” Carter Born: October 1, 1924 Term in Office: (1977-1981) Political Party: Democrat

The James E. Carter Presidency

The James E. Carter PresidencyOFFICE NAME TERM

President Jimmy Carter 1977–1981Vice President Walter Mondale 1977–1981

State Cyrus Vance 1977–1980  Edmund Muskie 1980–1981

Treasury W. Michael Blumenthal 1977–1979

  G. William Miller 1979–1981Defense Harold Brown 1977–1981

Justice Griffin Bell 1977–1979  Benjamin R. Civiletti 1979–1981

Interior Cecil D. Andrus 1977–1981Commerce Juanita M. Kreps 1977–1979

  Philip M. Klutznick 1979–1981Labor Ray Marshall 1977–1981

Agriculture Robert Bergland 1977–1981HEW Joseph A. Califano, Jr. 1977–1979HHS Patricia R. Harris 1979–1981

Education Shirley M. Hufstedler 1979–1981HUD Patricia R. Harris 1977–1979

  Maurice "Moon" Landrieu 1979–1981

Transportation Brock Adams 1977–1979  Neil E. Goldschmidt 1979–1981

Energy James R. Schlesinger 1977–1979  Charles W. Duncan 1979–1981

The James E. Carter Presidency

Supreme Court Appointments by President Carter

None

Although President Carter did not have an opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court Justice, he

did appoint 259 federal lower court judges, like Procter Ralph Hug, Jr. and Mary M. Schroeder.

Carter’s Domestic Policy

The informal style of Jimmy Carter signaled an effort to end the imperial presidency. On his inaugural day, he walked down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House instead of riding in the presidential limousine.

Veteran members of Congress always viewed Carter as an outsider, who relied on advice from his inexperienced advisors from Georgia.

At home, the biggest issue was the growing inflation rate. In 1979-1980, inflation seemed out of control and reached the unheard of rate of 13%.

Carter’s Domestic Policy Carter called for legislation to improve energy

conservation, but the American people, who had already forgotten about the long gas lines of 1973, didn’t like this.

Inflation slowed economic growth as consumers and businesses could no longer afford high interest rates that came with high prices.

Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker hoped to break the back of inflation by pushing interest rates even higher, to 20%. These rates hurt the automobile and building industries, which laid off thousands of workers.

Inflation also pushed the middle class taxpayers into higher tax brackets, which led to a tax revolt.

Many Americans had to accept the truth that for the first time since WWII, their standard of living was in decline.

Culture of the 1970s

The 1970’s saw the rise of disco music from the Bee Gees and the rise of glam rock bands like Kiss and Led Zeppelin.

The country witnessed the advent of the blockbuster films like Saturday Night Fever, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the Godfather and Jaws.

In terms of fashion, the 1970s were notorious for displaying high platform shoes, leisure suits, and bell bottom pants.

Carter’s Foreign Policy

Jimmy Carter’s greatest success came in the area of foreign policy, where human rights were the hallmark of his presidency.

Carter appointed Andrew Young, An African American, to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, who championed human rights causes of groups like the oppressed black majority in Rhodesia.

The Carter Administration renegotiated a new treaty with Panama to correct the inequities of the original 1903 Panama Canal treaty. Politically, his critics used this in the 1980 election to make the point that Carter “gave away the Canal.”

Camp David Accords (1978)

Carter’s greatest achievement as president was arranging a peace settlement between Egypt and Israel. In 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat took the first courageous step peace in the Middle East by visiting Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in Jerusalem.

Carter took the next bold step by inviting both of them to the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland.

With Carter acting as an intermediary, the two leaders, negotiated the Camp David Accords in September of 1978. In 1979, Egypt became the first Arab nation to recognize Israel. In return, Israel returned the Sinai Territory taken from Egypt in the Six-Day War of 1967.

Carter & the Cold War

Carter attempted to continue the détente policies of Nixon and Ford with China and the Soviets. Carter officially recognizes the communist government of China, in 1979.

Carter signed the SALT II agreements with Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev, but the U.S. senate wouldn’t ratify it due to the fact that on December 27, 1979, the U.S.S.R. invaded Afghanistan.

Relations become tense when Carter puts an embargo on the Soviet Union and boycotted the Olympic games in Moscow.

Iranian Hostage Crisis

In, in 1979, Iran’s shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi, who had been installed by America in 1953 and had ruled his land as a dictator, was overthrown and succeeded by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Iranian fundamentalists were VERY against Western customs, and Iran stopped exporting oil; OPEC also seized to hike up oil prices, thus causing another oil crisis.

Iranian Hostage Crisis Then, on November 4, 1979, a bunch of anti-

American Muslim militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took the people inside hostage, demanding that the U.S. return the exiled shah who had arrived in the U.S. two weeks earlier for cancer treatments.

The American hostages languished in cruel captivity while night TV news reports showed Iranian mobs burning the American flag and spitting on effigies of Uncle Same.

At first Carter tried economic sanctions, but that didn’t work. Later, he tried a daring commando rescue mission, but that had to be aborted, and when two military aircraft collided, eight of the would-be rescuers were killed.

Iranian Hostage Crisis For many Americans, Carter’s unsuccessful

attempts were a sign of a failed presidency. Intelligence and integrity were not enough to get Carter through the crisis.

In 1979, in his “national malaise” speech, he blamed the problems of the U.S. on a “moral and spiritual crisis” of the American people. By 1980, his approval rating had fallen to 23%.

The stalemate hostage situation dragged on for most of Carter’s term, and was never released until January 20, 1981—the inauguration day of Ronald Reagan.

The Election of 1980

Senator Edward Kennedy’s challenge to President Carter for the Democratic nomination left Carter battered at the polls. Carter was able to win the 1980 Democratic nomination fir president despite a challenge from Kennedy. The extended battle with Kennedy forced Carter to campaign on his record, which was a very difficult thing to do.

Former California Governor Ronald Reagan, who came close to taking the party’s nomination from President Ford in 1976, decided to run again in the 1980 election.

Handsome and vigorous in his late 60s, he proved to be a master of the media an effective spokesman for the conservative position.

The Election of 1980

Reagan promised to build up the military; at the same time, he promised to cut taxes. He also promised to take power from Washington and give it to the states. He also promise to renew family values and patriotism.

John Anderson, a moderate Republican also ran as an independent against Carter’s failures and Reagan’s extreme conservatism.

Ultimately, Reagan defeated Carter and Anderson with 489 electoral votes (43,903,230 popular votes) to Carter’s 49 electoral votes (35,480,115 popular votes) and Anderson’s 0 electoral votes (5,719,850 popular votes).

The Election of 1980

Reagan’s election broke up a key element of the New Deal coalition by taking over 50% of the blue collar vote. Also, for the first time since 1954, the Republicans gained control of the Senate by defeating 11 liberal Democrats targeted by the Moral Majority. The Democrats retained control of the House of Representatives, but the Republicans gained 33 House seats which, combined with the southern Democrats, gave them a working majority, in the House on key issues.

The 1980 election set the tone for what was to come for the rest of the decade – a new kind of Federalism.

THE END OF LECTURE #23