APUSH Lecture Ch. 30-31 Nixon to Reagan

2. DEEP DIVISIONS AT HOME: Election of 1968
•LBJ
•Robert Kennedy
•Hubert Humphrey
•Democratic Convention - Chicago
•Richard M. Nixon – “silent majority”
Robert Kennedy Hubert H. Humphrey Richard Nixon
President Johnson

3. Presidential Election
of 1968

4. “Peace with Honor”- Nixon
The Problem of Vietnam
•Nixon did not want to be the
1st president to lose a war
•“Vietnamization” pulling US
troops, shift responsibility to
S. Vietnamese

5. Evacuation from Saigon, April 29, 1975

6. Richard
Nixon

7. Nixon’s Presidency
•He appeals to the “silent
majority” who were opposed
to the counterculture
movement and the civil unrest.
People looking for a more
conservative leader.
•Vietnam war was at a boiling
point when Nixon took office.
•He made a campaign pledge to
find a way out ofVietnam....In
reality he had no plan.

8. “Nixon Doctrine”
•Morality of the War - this was questioned for many
reasons.
•1. Seen as a civil war - none of U.S. business
•2.What is the purpose/who is the enemy? Proxy wars
often have no clear purpose
•3.The unconventional use of guerilla warfare, civilian
population and booby traps led to troop unrest -> My
Lai massacre

10. China and “Ping-pong”
Diplomacy
•China begins to split away from USSR
in 1969. Nixon takes full advantage
•1971 US ping pong team visits
•1972 Nixon visits China and opens up
US borders to Chinese trade and
investment
•A modern “Open Door Policy”

11. SALT I
•S.A.L.T. I - Strategic Arms Limitation Talks - pushed by
the newly formed US-China relations, USSR comes to
the table to begin peaceful discussions.
•A peaceful pause would result from these talks between
the US and USSR

12. Watergate Scandal
•Watergate Hotel - Washington DC
June, 1972 - Nixon’s aides break into
the hotel which was serving as the
headquarters of the Democrats.
•Additional past indiscretions now
came to light including: numerous
wiretaps, payoffs, and even
administrative threats.

14. Watergate Scandal
•Nixon was now faced with a huge
political scandal which was not
helped by the secret war he
started in Cambodia.
•Nixon decided to resign as
president before he could be
impeached by Congress.

15. Middle East Problems
•Yom Kippur War - Also known as the 1973 Arab-
Israeli War - October 6 to October 26 1973 between
Israel and Egypt/Syria forces.
•Egypt and Syria launch a surprise attack on Israel and
achieve early victories but are later defeated and forced
back to original borders.

16. Middle East Problems
•Two major effects were: the Arab
world felt vindicated militarily by
the war.
•The war and the US support of Israel
would led to the emergence of OPEC
and the 1973 oil crisis

17. Oil Crisis
•Began in 1973 as a result of US support for Israel
during the Yom Kippur War.
•Gas prices were extremely high for the time
approaching $1.00 a gallon
•Formation of OPEC leads to a market dominance of the
petroleum by Arab nations.

19. Oil Crisis
•Lasting Effects of Oil Crisis
•Major effect on inflation prices in U.S.
•Beginning of Japanese automobile invasion
•Achilles heal of U.S. is exposed by OPEC, which
will lead to future conflicts.
•Increase in value of Russia’s oil which keeps them
afloat for longer

20. Sports heroes
•Battle of the Sexes 1973 - Bobby
Riggs is defeated in straight sets by
Billy Jean King after he claimed he
could beat any woman
•Mark Spitz 1972 - broke 7 world
records to win 7 gold medals at the
olympics. His spotlight was tainted
by the Munich hostage crisis

21. Secretariat
•By 1973 the US was at its
lowest point since the Great
Depression.
•Many held no faith in the
Government
•Secretariat was a symbol of
hope and greatness that
people clung to...unable to
be corrupted

22. Kentucky Derby and Preakness

23. Belmont Stakes

24. Support of Dictators
•Pinochet - In 1973, Pinochet came to
power in Chile and began to wipe
out the communist party there.
•Nixon’s support of Pinochet was
due to his anti-communist
sentiment and his embracing of a
US dominated free-market world.

25. Civil Rights
•School Desegregation - Nixon oversaw
more students integrated into the public
school system, than any other president.
•Philadelphia Plan and Affirmative Action -
the first legislation that addressed
affirmative action was under Nixon.
Helping minorities gain work and access to
higher education.

26. Mr. “Green”
•EPA - The Environmental Protection
Agency while often ineffective was the
first environmental watchdog set up by
the US government.
•Legacy of Parks - a federal program
where the national government will
match a city’s funds 50-50 for the
purpose of building city parks.

27. More Domestic Issues
•DEA - Drug Enforcement Agency
- Nixon’s famous “war on drugs”
- Created to combat the flow of
narcotics entering the US.
•Nixon stops the practice of the
US treasury balancing the dollar
to a gold standard - long reaching
effects across the world.

28. Gerald Ford
•Only President in history to never be
elected into office.
•Appointed Vice President after
Spiro Agnew resigns - 1973
•Becomes president after Nixon
resigns - 1974
•Is not reelected in 1976

29. Nixon’s Pardon
•September 8, 1974 Ford gave
Nixon a full and unconditional
pardon for any crimes he
committed as president.
•This was seen as highly
controversial and unpopular. To
many people, this would result in
Ford not being reelected.

30. Gerald Ford 1974-1976
•1975 Helsinki accords - Warsaw Pact
and NATO agree to keep current
European boundaries and provide
equal human rights
•Nixon and Ford caused anti-
Republican sentiment for their stance
on the Cold War

32. Jimmy Carter 1977-1981
•Son of a peanut farmer, was Gov.
of Georgia who was well known
for being a supporter of racial
desegregation.
•As Gov. of Georgia, filed a
report with UFO Bureau on his
1969 sighting.

33. Jimmy Carter 1977-1981
•Carter appealed to voters as a
strong Christian leader who
would restore the presidency.
•For a Democrat, his policies
were very “Republican” as he
reduced the size of the Federal
Government by 1/3.

34. Jimmy Carter 1977-1981
•Carter did not support
dictatorships across the globe -
cut funding to S. Africa, Chile,
Guatemala, and Nicaragua.
•Camp David Agreement 1979 -
agreement between Israel and
Egypt for peaceful relations and
Israel’s withdrawal from the Sinai

35. No more peace
•SALT II talks resume but are quickly tabled as the USSR
invades Afghanistan in 1979.
•The war would be Russia’s Vietnam lasting from 1979 to
1989 with heavy casualties and a strategic loss.
•Carter funds a multi-billion dollar program to train and
arm Islamic fundamentalists to fight the USSR.
•Concern over USSR taking over Middle East

36. Panama Canal Debate
•In 1977 Jimmy Carter signs
over control of the Panama
Canal to Panama, a move
that angered many
Americans.

37. Iran Hostage Crisis
•1953 the US backed the a ruthless
Iranian monarch the Shah. The Shah
held good relations with the US.
•1979 Iranian Revolution toppled the
Shah and the Ayatollah Khomeini was
now in charge and he increased anti-
American sentiment.

38. Iran Hostage Crisis
•The Shah goes to NewYork to seek cancer
treatment...mobs in Tehran go nuts and
storm the US embassy in the city and take
60 hostages.
•The standoff that ensued between the
terrorists and Carter would not end until
Reagan entered office, 444 days later.
•Change and instability of Iran causes oil
shortage and the 1979 energy crisis.

39. Energy Crisis of 1979
•As oil prices rise again, the
economy slows down but
Carter cut gov’t spending.
•Economy tanking was a
result of off-shoring jobs
and increased
mechanization

40. Ronald Reagan 1981-1989
•Started out as an actor. In the film
“Knute Rockne” he played The Gipper.
•“Win won for the Gipper”
•Never a major actor.
•Reagan was married twice...only
president to have been divorced. His
second wife, Nancy, had a very close
relationship to Ronald
•Reminded many of a grandfather figure

41. Ronald Reagan 1981-1989
•Reagan had always been a hard line anti-
Communist and supported methods used
by Eisenhower and Nixon over Carter.
•Jimmy Carter lost his presidency over
inflation, unemployment, Iran hostage crisis.
•Famous for his movie references “Make my
day” and “Star Wars”

43. Reagan Doodles

44. Reagan Revolution
• Economic Recovery and Tax Act of 1981 - reduced
personal income taxes by 25% over three years.
• The program cut government budget by $747 billion
dollars but gave more money to consumers. Many
programs cut. Under Reagan national debt increased from
$150 billion to $3 trillion dollars. At the same time
unemployment and inflation went down.
• Deregulation - opened up business by removing many
regulations; horrible for the environment.

45. Reagan Revolution
• Some of the hardest hit were the poorest people.
• Poverty rates went up from 11 to 15% during the 1980s.
• Reagan’s tax cuts meant less government money for the
mentally ill. Most of these patients ended up on the
streets. During the 1980s the homeless population
increased from 200,000 to 700,000
• The war on drugs under Reagan saw high numbers of
minorities jailed (Crack v. Powder cocaine)

46. 1984 Election
Can you say
landslide?

47. “Reaganomics”
•Supply Side economics - the belief that economic
relief to the suppliers of goods and services will
result in lower prices and more economic
investment by them in the long run.
•Yuppies - young urban professionals emerged as
a new market. Greed and commercial gains
became popular. Brand name popularity as social
status.

48. “Reaganomics”
• 1. reduce the growth of government spending
• 2. reduce marginal tax rates on income from
labor and capital
• 3. reduce government regulation of the
economy
• 4. control the money supply to reduce
inflation

49. Loss of the Middle Class
•1. Tax Cuts for the wealthiest 20% did not
translate into economic assistance to the poor.
•2. Middle Wage industrial jobs continued to be
shipped overseas to other countries such as
China and Mexico or mechanized.
•3. Immigration numbers peak increasing the
number of lower wage workers.
MiddleClass

50. End of the Cold War

51. Lebanon
•October 1983 - Civil war in
Lebanon resulted in an
American peacekeeping force
to be sent. American soldiers
were attacked by suicide
bombers killing 241 soldiers.
Grenada
•Three days after the attack in
Lebanon, the US invaded
Grenada where a communist
government existed.
•US fought Grenadan and
Cuban forces that resulted in a
US victory by mid-December.

52. Iran Contra Affair
• In the 1980s the Reagan administration sold
arms to Iran in exchange for the release of
American held captives.
• Reagan then illegally sent the money from
the weapons to the Contras in Nicaragua.
• In separate instances the Reagan
administration sold arms to Saddam
Hussien to fight Iran as well as Afghanistan
to fight Russia. (these are weapons now
being used against us)
Contras vs. Sandistas
US supported Dictatorship vs.
Sandistas

53. Star Wars
•SDI - Strategic Defense Initiative - was a defensive
weapons system
•SDI initiative established by Reagan to build up the
nuclear program.
•The new arms race increase military expenditures
especially in the southwest or Sunbelt states.
•USSR could no longer keep up with the US in military
spending

54. Fall of USSR
•Gorbachev establishes Glasnost
which is political openness in Russia.
•He later establishes Perestroika
which sought to restructure the
political and economic systems in
Russia to more flexible and modern
methods.
•Reagan pleads for the wall to come
down

55. Fall of USSR
•Gorbachev hoped that more democratic
methods would allow Russia to reduce military
spending and focus more on the economy
•Gorbachev’s introduction of more democratic
ideals into USSR led to the breaking up of the
Empire
•December 1991 - 14 non-Russian republics
declared their independence from Russia

57. Year 1946 1950 1956 1960 1970 1980 1988
Total # of US & USSR
Nukes
9 400 2,207 3,471 7,176 18,088 23, 444

58. Explain how glasnost,
democratization and
perestroika are
examples of “the death
of communism” in the
Soviet Union”

60. Fall of the Berlin
Wall, November, 1989
As East German border
guards watch passively,
a West Berliner pounds
away at the hated
symbol of a divided
city. ((c) Bettmann/
Corbis)
Fall of the Berlin Wall, November, 1989
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

61. Rainbow Coalition poster
During the 1984 and 1988
campaigns, Reverend Jesse
Jackson won a large
following as the first
African American to make
a serious bid for the
presidential nomination of
a major party. His
multiethnic political
organization, the Rainbow
Coalition, included people
of all colors.
Rainbow Coalition poster
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

62. Persian Gulf oil fields
In the Persian Gulf War
of early 1991, Operation
Desert Storm forced
Iraqi troops out of
Kuwait. Much of that
nation's oil industry was
destroyed by bombs and
the retreating Iraqis, who
torched oil facilities as
they left. Oil wells
burned for months,
darkening the sky over
these American forces
and causing
environmental damage.

63. Exxon Valdez disaster and oil
spill
Fisherman John Thomas rescues an
oil-soaked cormorant after the
massive oil spill in Alaska's Prince
William Sound in March of 1989.
((c) Bettmann/Corbis)