+ The Policies of Richard Nixon Valeria Martinez IB History of
the Americas Spring 2014
Slide 3
+ Richard Nixon Born in California on January 9, 1913. Became
the nations 37 th president on January 20 th 1969 until he became
the only President to date to resign from office on August 9 th
1974. He was a member of the Republican party, and had previously
been both a US Senator from California as well as the Vice
President under President Eisenhower. Achieved many diplomatic
victories in countries such as the Soviet Union and the Peoples
Republic of China.
Slide 4
+ The Policy of Dtente Dtente is a French word meaning release
from tension. Specifically, dtente refers to the period of time
that marked an improved relationship between the United States and
the Soviet Union. Tentatively started in 1971 and really took off
in May 1972 when President Nixon visited the secretary-general of
the Soviet Communist Party, Leonid I. Brezhnev.
Slide 5
+ Reasons Behind Dtente Among the reasons both countries
decided to adopt the policy of dtente was because they would both
benefit if they increased trade with each other, and decreased the
immediate threat of nuclear warfare. President Nixon was also up
for reelection, and wanted to please American citizens who demanded
social change, racial equality, and an end to the Vietnam War. Part
of the dtente policy was signing seven agreements that covered the
prevention of accidental military clashes, arms control,
cooperating in research (because of recent space exploration), and
expanding their shared commerce. Dtente came to an end when
President Ronald Reagan was elected.
Slide 6
+ SALT I
Slide 7
+ The first series of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. Lasted
from November 1969 to May 1972. During this time, the United States
and the Soviet Union began negotiating agreements to put limits and
restraints on central and important armaments. Two treaties were
reached by the end of SALT I: Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM),
and the Interim Agreement of the Limitation of Strategic Offensive
Arms.
Slide 8
+ Treaties During SALT I Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM)
Treaty between the US and the Soviet Union that limited
anti-ballistic missile systems that were used to defend areas
against missile delivered nuclear weapons. An anti-ballistic
missile is a missile used to shoot down ballistic missiles Interim
Agreement on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms was meant
to complement the ABM and to limit the competition in making
offensive strategic arms. It was meant to be limited in duration,
and only halted the production of more offensive strategic arms to
give time for further negotiations.
Slide 9
+ Leonid Brezhnev Born December 19, 1906 Became the most
powerful man in Soviet politics after his predecessor faced major
embarrassment following the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Presided over the Soviet Union longer than anyone else except
Joseph Stalin. Known for his policies of dtente which thawed the
U.S-Soviet relations.
Slide 10
+ Richard Nixon & Leonid Brezhnev Nixon and Brezhnev met a
total of three times for three different summits while they were
both in office. These meetings totaled over one hundred hours of
time. President Nixon famously said in one of his memoirs that I
felt that the relationship between the United States and the Soviet
Union would probably be the single most important factor in
determining whether the world would live at peace during and after
my administration. The two had a cordial friendship that helped
with their arms negotiations.
Slide 11
+ Warsaw Pact Included the Soviet Union, Albania, Poland,
Romania, Hungary, Easy Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria. This
alliance created a Soviet Union dominated military that called on
members to come to the defense of any other member if they were
attacked by an outside force.
Slide 12
+ Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia Also known as the Warsaw
Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia. The Soviet Union and its allies
through the Warsaw Pact invaded the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
in order to stop the Prague Spring. The Prague Spring was a period
of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia that deviated from
Communism, and was led by Alexander Dub ek. Prague Spring stopped
by this invasion.
Slide 13
+ Brezhnev Doctrine Doctrine set into place by Leonid Brezhnev
that affirmed the right of the Soviet Union to intervene in the
affairs of Communist countries in order to strengthen Communism. It
was announced in order to justify the Soviet invasion of
Czechoslovakia. Western powers did not approve of the Brezhnev
Doctrine, but they did not offer aid to the affected
countries.
Slide 14
+ Opening of China Refers to President Nixons trip to China
from February 21 to February 28, 1972. The first time a U.S.
President visited the Peoples Republic of China ended 25 years of
separation between the two counties. By opening China the United
States would have more leverage in relations with the Soviet Union.
The week that changed the world.
Slide 15
+ Primary Source 656-10 Excerpt 1 (1:24) January 26, 1972 RN,
Barend Biesheuvel, Alexander Haig, and J. William Middendorf RN:
Uh, we do believe that by starting the long process of some sort of
contact, there will--I will say, obviously, it will not come to
recognition on our part BB: No. RN: --because it cannot, since we
still recognize Taiwan and will continue to honor our treaty
commitments. They know this will not come out. What may come out of
it will be, uh, however, uh, uh, some method of communication in
the future, uh, some contact in the future, uh, and perhaps
reducing the chance in the immediate future of a confrontation
between the United States and the PRC in Asia, such as we had in
Korea, and such as we had indirectly in Vietnam. And looking
further in the future, uh, when they become a super power, a
nuclear super power, uh, to be in a position that at that time, uh,
we will have such relations with them that, uh, we, uh, can discuss
differences and, and not inevitably have a clash. Now, also, no one
can look at Asia, uh, and take 750 million Chinese out of it and
say you can have any policy in the Pacific that will succeed in
preventing war without having the Chinese a part of it. Its just as
cold- blooded as that.
Slide 16
+ Primary Source Analysis Origin: This is an Oval Office
metting with Barend Biesheuvel, Alexander Haig, and J. William
Middendorf. Purpose: The purpose of this meeting was for President
Nixon to explain his reasons behind making a trip to China. Value:
This primary source is very valuable because it is a recorded
conversation from the Oval Office during the time Nixon was
President. It allows one to see his way of thinking. Limitation:
Because Nixon knew that everything he said in the Oval Office was
recorded, he could have left key information out and been dishonest
while talking.
Slide 17
+ CIA Involvement in Chile In 1970, Salvador Allende became the
first Socialist president of Chile. When economic ties with the
United States and western European nations were cut, he made
relations with Cuba and China. President Nixon feared that Chile
would become the next Cuba. The United States had been trying to
support anti- Communist forces in Chile since the 1950s, and
Allendes rise to power posed a serious threat to United States
interests.
Slide 18
+ CIA Involvement with Chile The CIA created two plans called
Track I and Track II Part of the Track I strategy was to prevent
Allende from taking office, because he only narrowly won. When
Allende did take office, millions of dollars where given to
opposing political parties. As a part of Track II, the CIA was
directed to instigate a coup to prevent Allende from taking
office.
Slide 19
+ CIA Involvement with Chile As documents released years later
reveal, CIA officials were aware that as part of Title II, one of
the groups that they supported would kidnap Chilean Army Commander
Rene Schneider, who would later be killed. The CIA did not directly
plan the coup that ended President Allendes government in 1973, but
they did have knowledge of it taking place, and in fact encouraged
it. The CIA claims no responsibility in terms of the way Allende
was brought down, and says they had no part in him refusing help
and ultimately killing himself.
Slide 20
+ Watergate Scandal On June 17, 1972, several robbers were
caught and arrested inside the office of the Democratic National
Committee. They had been trying to wiretap phones and steal secret
documents. The worst thing is that the burglars were connected to
President Nixons reelection campaign. In August of 1972, President
Nixon gave a speech in which he said that neither he, nor his staff
were involved in any way with the break in. Washing Post writers
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are credited with uncovering the
details of the Watergate scandal, with a secret informant known as
Deep Throat. It was later revealed Deep Throat was W. Mark Felt, a
former associate director of the FBI
Slide 21
+ Watergate Scandal It later came to light that Nixon was
indeed involved with the break-in. He gave hundreds of thousands of
dollars to the burglars. This was known as hush-money. Began a plan
to instruct the CIA to stop the FBIs investigation of the crime.
Seven conspirators were indicted on charged relating to the
scandal. Many of Nixons aides testified before a grand jury that
Nixon had secretly taped every conversation that took place in the
Oval Office.
Slide 22
+ Watergate Scandal The Supreme Court eventually ordered Nixon
to turn over all of the tapes. Before he did, the House of
Representatives voted to impeach him. On August 5, 1974, President
Nixon finally released the tapes, which undeniably showed that he
was involved in the Watergate crimes. Rather than get impeached by
the Senate, President Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. Six weeks
after President Ford took office, he pardoned Nixon for any crimes
he committed or might have committed while in office.
Slide 23
+ Other Domestic Issues President Nixon advocated what he
called New Federalism in which he wanted to return power to the
state and local governments. Faced many issues with the economy
because of President Johnson and his Great Society. President Nixon
tried to fix the problem by implementing wage and price controls,
although they ultimately hurt the economy. He also created the
Environmental Protection Agency, and became the most
environmentally friendly president, after President Theodore
Roosevelt.
Slide 24
+ Works Cited History.com Staff. "Detente." History.com. A+E
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II." ColdWar.org. The Cold War Museum. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.. "SALT
I." U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State. Web. 22
Apr. 2014. "Interim Agreement Between The United States of America
and The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on Certain Measures
With Respect to the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms." U.S.
Department of State. U.S. Department of State, n.d. Web. 23 Apr.
2014.. Trueman, Chris. "Leonid Brezhnev." Leonid Brezhnev. History
Learning Site, Web. 23 Apr. 2014.. "IB Guides." IB History Notes.
Web. 24 Apr. 2014.. "Warsaw Pact - Definition of the Warsaw Pact."
About.com European History. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.. The
Warsaw Pact is formed. 2014. The History Channel website. Apr 24
2014, 11:08 "Nixon and Brezhnev Partners in Detente." The New
Nixon. Nixon Foundation, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.. Nixon visits
China. 2014. The History Channel website. Apr 25 2014, 12:09
http:// "CIA Activities in Chile." Central Intelligence Agency.
Central Intelligence Agency, 19 June 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.. The
Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica. "Salvador Allende (president of
Chile)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica,
n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.. History.com Staff. "Watergate Scandal."
History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 22 Apr. 2014..
"Richard Nixon: Domestic Policy." Examiner.com Web. 24 Apr.
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