SSUSH25

Key Supreme Court Cases and the US Presidents from Nixon-Bush

The Last PowerPoint presentation of the semester

Supreme Court Cases of the 70’s

• Regents of UC vs. Bakke (1978) – Established the Bakke Decision

– Race could be used as a consideration in admission;

however, racial quotas is a violation of the 14th Amendment.

– Kept affirmative action legal • Affirmative action – a policy aimed to increase minority

representation in the workplace, educational institutions, social setting, and etc.

(Cont’d)

• Roe vs. Wade (1973)

– Legalizes abortion within the first three months of pregnancy.

Richard Nixon

• Foreign Policy

– Détente – the utilization of diplomacy rather than intimidation to ease tensions between the US and USSR.

– Signed SALT I with the USSR.

– 1st President to recognize the Communist government of China.

– Opened trade with China.

• The Watergate Scandal – Republicans attempted to wiretap phones at the

Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate building.

– Five individuals were arrested for breaking in to the building.

– Nixon did not know about that plan, but he participated in the cover-up.

(Cont’d)

• (cont’d)

– Nixon’s office recorded conversations proved that he was involved with the cover-up.

– Nixon resigned from office before being impeached by the House of Representatives and found guilty by the Senate.

Gerald Ford

• Took over Nixon’s presidency when he resigned.

• Ford pardoned Nixon.

• First president to serve as Vice President and President and never elected to either position.

Jimmy Carter

• Foreign Policy – Signed SALT II with the USSR

– Camp David Accords (1978) – a signed peace

agreement between Israel and Egypt.

– Iranian Hostage Crisis – • Iran had a revolution that forced the US friendly leader to

flee. • The US allowed the leader to come to the US • An Iranian mob stormed the US embassy and held US

citizens as hostage from Nov. 4, 1979 – January 21, 1981.

Ronald Reagan

• Most well known Conservative President

• Opposed high taxes, government spending, and many federal social programs.

• Reaganomics – an economic plan to reduce corporate taxes. It is also known as the “trickle down theory” – “trickle down theory” – let the tax cuts roll down to

the consumers from the top.

(Cont’d)

• Reagan and the USSR

– Reagan calls the USSR an “evil empire”.

– Engaged the USSR with another arms race because Reagan predicted that the economy of the USSR could not survive.

– Reagan was credited with bringing down the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the USSR.

(cont’d)

• The Iran-Contra Scandal – The US secretly sold weapons to Iran to fund

Nicaraguan rebels known as the Contras.

– The Contras opposed the pro-soviet government of Nicaragua.

– When Congress found out about the sell of arms to Iran, there was a large backlash against Reagan’s administration.

– In the end, Oliver North took the blame for the scandal. North ended up looking more like a hero fighting communism.

Bill Clinton

• NAFTA – Promoted free trade between the US, Canada, and Mexico.

– Supporters – it will cause and increase in business and jobs in the US because Canada and Mexico will demand more of our goods.

– Opponents – companies will leave the US and set up shop in other countries because it would cost less to operate the business.

(cont’d)

• Scandal and Impeachment

– Bill Clinton is the second president to be impeached.

– He was impeached for perjury (false testimony under oath).

• He lied about his involvement with Monica Lewinski

– Although he was impeached, Clinton was acquitted by the Senate.

Clinton and Congress

• Clinton, had to work closely with the Republican controlled Congress.

• There was a temporary shutdown of the government because a budget battle.

• Congress was blamed for the budget battle, and this controversy helped Clinton to be reelected in 1996 for a second term.

George W. Bush

• The Presidential Election of 2000

– George Bush vs. Al Gore

– The closest presidential election in our history

• Decided by a mere 537 votes.

– Gore won the popular vote while Bush won the most electoral college votes making Bush the winner.

(cont’d)

• 2000 Presidential Election controversy

– The election came down to Florida which had a total of 25 electoral votes.

– At first Gore conceded the election to Bush; however, he took it back because he realized that less than 1,000 votes separated the two candidates.

– Once the votes were counted and the victory was given to Bush, Gore asked for a recount.

– Voting irregularities suggested that some voters accidentally voted for a third party candidate instead of Gore.

– Eventually the Supreme Court ordered a stop on the recounts because it was dragging the election process.

– George Bush was named victorious in the 2000 Presidential Election.

(Cont’d)

• The War on Terror – Early in Bush’s presidency, the US was attacked on

9/11/01.

– Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda took responsibility for the terrorist attacks.

• Locations of the terrorist attacks

– New York City

– The Pentagon

– Pennsylvania (which could have been heading to the White House or the Capitol)

(cont’d)

• (cont’d) – Bush declared a war on terrorism

– Domestic Response

• Establishment of the Department of Homeland Security

• The PATRIOT ACT – allows government agencies to take more extreme measures in obtaining information of suspected terrorists.

(cont’d)

• Operation Enduring Freedom

– The US invades Afghanistan when to overthrow the Taliban government which provided bin Laden protection and to bring bin Laden to trial for his crimes against the US.

(cont’d)

• Operation Iraqi Freedom – The US entered Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein from

power.

– The US thought Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction in his country.

– He did not; however, we helped Iraq to overthrow a viscous dictator.

– Currently, the US is trying to help Iraq establish and maintain a democratic government.