After winning the election narrowly in 1968, President Nixon pursued a moderate domestic agenda including establishing new federal agencies like the EPA and OSHA. However, his proposal for a guaranteed annual income failed to pass Congress. Nixon aimed to consolidate Southern support by nominating conservative justices to the Supreme Court. The Watergate scandal erupted after the 1972 election, involving Nixon administration officials covering up a break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters. This led to Nixon's resignation in 1974 to avoid impeachment. The 1970s also saw rising inflation, energy crises, and economic stagnation known as stagflation.

1. The 1970s and 1980s Chapter 26

2. Election of 1868

4. After winning the election by a very narrow margin, Nixon quickly moved toward the political center

5. New Federal agencies

6. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)

7. OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)

8. NTSB (National Transportation and Safety Board)

9. Family assistance plan

10. Most startling part of his domestic agenda

12. Wanted to consolidate support in the South

13. Nominated two conservative southern jurists for the Supreme Court in order to support a “a Solid South”

14. Both were not certified by the Senate

15. Nixon nominated conservative Warren Burger to the Chief Justice position after Earl Warren announced his retirement

16. Warren and his tenure as Chief Justice proved to be more moderate than conservative

17. Affirmative action

18. Actively pursued this to upgrade minority employment

19. Whites begin to see affirmative action as reverse discrimination

22. Lessening of tensions with communist countries such as the Soviet Union and China

23. Alternative strategy to rollback (destroying an enemy state) and containment (preventing expansion of an enemy state)

24. Conservatives saw this as dangerously soft to communism

25. However, Nixon and Henry Kissinger continue their predecessors’ policy of attempting to undermine governments deemed dangerous to American strategic and/or economic interests

26. Nixon visits China in 1972

27. Goes to Moscow to sign the SALT treaty

28. Strategic Arms Limitations Talks

30. Nixon ratchets up the war before ending it

31. War Powers Act of 1973

32. President can send in troops for up to 60 days to protect the United States before a declaration of war is needed

33. President must notify Congress within 48 hours of deployment and must retract troops within 60 days (30 day extension) if war is not declared

34. Paris Peace Agreement made it possible the final withdrawal of troops in 1973

37. Nixon was obsessed with secrecy and was paranoid to the core

38. Could not accept an honest difference of opinion

39. Nixon sends in men (former CIA operatives) to the Watergate Complex to break into the Democratic National Committee offices

40. Investigation

41. Nixon’s staff conspires to cover up the break-ins

42. Former staff members testify against them in a Senate investigation

43. Revealed that Nixon had numerous tape recordings in his office (infrastructure left by LBJ)

45. The Watergate trial placed Nixon in a very bad spot

46. His presidency is a classic example of the abuse of political power

47. The House of Representatives begins articles of impeachment

48. Conspiracy to obstruct justice

49. Nixon resigned before a conviction was handed down

50. Resignation

51. 8 August 1974

53. Stagflation Term: occurs when both the inflation rate and unemployment rate are high. Essentially, inflation and economic stagnation are occurring simultaneously Despite this, energy production in the United States (and the West at large) increased rapidly The U.S. also experienced 2 oil shocks in the 1970s OAPEC decided to place an oil embargo on the U.S. after the U.S. committed to re-supplying the Israeli military during the Yom Kippur war By 1973, the U.S. imported 1/3 of its oil due to its precarious situation with OAPEC In 1979, oil exports in Iran were severely limited by the Iranian Revolution

54. Gerald Ford

56. Within a month in office, Ford announces a full and absolute pardon for Richard Nixon

57. Ford’s approval ratings drop from 71 to 40 percent

58. Domestic Policy

59. Lacked direction and any significant accomplishment

60. WIN – “Whip Inflation Now”

61. Political campaign to make people to respond to inflation

63. Helinski Accords of 1975

64. SALT treaty of Nixon’s administration still in place

65. Signs the Helinski Accords with the Soviet Union to ensure compliance of SALT

66. Assassination Attempts

67. 5 September 1975 – follower of Charles Manson pointed a Colt .45 at Ford

70. Ford’s presidency took a significant hit when North Vietnam invaded South Vietnam, captured the capital city, and unified the country under a communist government in March 1975

71. Jimmy Carter was viewed as a candidate with populist leanings and was perceived as an “outsider” to Washington politics

72. Seen as an individual who would restore morality and decency to the president’s role in government

74. Rising unemployment

76. Camp David Accords

77. Attempting to reconcile and organize peace between Egypt and Israel

78. Iran Hostage Crisis

79. Iran’s recently deposed Shah was allowed to come to the U.S. for medical treatment

80. Angered militants in Iran, they take numerous Americans hostage

81. Very publicized rescue attempted failed

82. Several Americans died

84. Most idealistic aspect of Carter’s foreign policy was his emphasis on human rights

85. Stated it would be supported absolutely throughout the world

86. The Soviets used it as a bargaining chip to express the hypocrisy of the U.S.

89. Optimistic and magnetic to a camera; really appealed to Americans

90. Made conservatism seem progressive

91. A conservative F.D.R.

92. Freedom became the watchword of Reagan’s presidency

93. Reshaped the national agenda and political language to a conservative tone

94. Compares to F.D.R in his effectiveness

96. Curtailing the power of unions

97. Dismantling regulations

98. Radically reducing taxes

99. Tax cuts are radically different from progressivism

100. Supply-side economics

101. Cutting taxes at all income levels makes people work harder

102. Thus, they would keep more of the money they earned

103. The “trickle-down” effect

105. Are we just coming out?

106. National debt rises to $2.7 trillion

107. Reagan’s policies, rising stock prices, and deindustrialization leads to another rise in economic inequality

108. Minority workers hit the hardest due to the lack of union support

109. National unemployment rate in 1981: 8.9 percent

111. Reagan makes numerous TV appearances and acknowledges the events occurred, but he knew nothing about it

113. Lack of U.S. interventional abroad

114. Great bias against the war

115. Very limited and lax foreign policy

116. Reagan uses military aid rather than American troops to pursue foreign policy objectives

119. Based on a market system rather than command system

122. At the Brandenburg Gate in West Germany

123. Challenges Soviet Premier Gorbechev to “tear down this wall”

125. Afraid of the implications of a unified Germany

126. French President Francois Mitterrand warned Europe that a united Germany could be worse than Hitler’s Third Reich