Nixon. Key Concept 8.1: The United States responded to an uncertain and unstable postwar world by asserting and attempting to defend a position of global

Nixon

• Key Concept 8.1: The United States responded to an uncertain and unstable postwar world by asserting and attempting to defend a position of global leadership, with far-reaching domestic and international consequences.

• I.C. The Cold War fluctuated between periods of direct and indirect military confrontation and periods of mutual coexistence (or detente).

• II. As the United States focused on containing communism, it faced increasingly complex foreign policy issues, including decolonization, shifting international alignments and regional conflicts, and global economic and environmental changes. (ENV-5) (WOR-3) (WOR-7) (WOR-8)– A. Postwar decolonization and the emergence of powerful nationalist movements in

Asia, Africa, and the Middle East led both sides in the Cold War to seek allies among new nations, many of which remained nonaligned.

– B. Cold War competition extended to Latin America, where the United States supported non-Communist regimes with varying levels of commitment to democracy.

– C. Ideological, military, and economic concerns shaped U.S. involvement in the Middle East, with several oil crises in the region eventually sparking attempts at creating a national energy policy.

• - Suez Crisis, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

• III. Cold War policies led to continued public debates over the power of the federal government, acceptable means for pursuing international and domestic goals, and the proper balance between liberty and order. (ID-3) (POL-7) (WOR-4) (CUL-5)– A. Americans debated policies and methods designed to root out

Communists within the United States even as both parties tended to support the broader Cold War strategy of containing communism.

– B. Although the Korean conflict produced some minor domestic opposition, the Vietnam War saw the rise of sizable, passionate, and sometimes violent antiwar protests that became more numerous as the war escalated.

– C. Americans debated the merits of a large nuclear arsenal, the “military-industrial complex,” and the appropriate power of the executive branch in conducting foreign and military policy.

• Key Concept 8.2: Liberalism, based on anticommunism abroad and a firm belief in the efficacy of governmental and especially federal power to achieve social goals at home, reached its apex in the mid- 1960s and generated a variety of political and cultural responses.

• II. Stirred by a growing awareness of inequalities in American society and by the African American civil rights movement, activists also addressed issues of identity and social justice, such as gender/sexuality and ethnicity. (POL-3) (ID-8)– A. Activists began to question society’s assumptions about

gender and to call for social and economic equality for women and for gays and lesbians.

• - The Feminine Mystique, Gloria Steinem

• III. As many liberal principles came to dominate postwar politics and court decisions, liberalism came under attack from the left as well as from resurgent conservative movements. (POL-2) (POL-5) (POL-7)– B. Liberal ideals were realized in Supreme Court

decisions that expanded democracy and individual freedoms, Great Society social programs and policies, and the power of the federal government, yet these unintentionally helped energize a new conservative movement that mobilized to defend traditional visions of morality and the proper role of state authority.

• - Griswold v. Connecticut, Miranda v. Arizona

• Key Concept 8.3: Postwar economic, demographic, and technological changes had a far-reaching impact on American society, politics, and the environment.

• I. Rapid economic and social changes in American society fostered a sense of optimism in the postwar years as well as underlying concerns about how these changes were affecting American values. (WXT-3) (WXT-5) (CUL-5) (CUL-6) (CUL-7) (PEO-3)– A. A burgeoning private sector, continued federal spending, the baby boom, and

technological developments helped spur economic growth, middle-class suburbanization, social mobility, a rapid expansion of higher education, and the rise of the “Sun Belt” as a political and economic force.

– C. Conservatives, fearing juvenile delinquency, urban unrest, and challenges to the traditional family, increasingly promoted their own values and ideology.

• II. As federal programs expanded and economic growth reshaped American society, many sought greater access to prosperity even as critics began to question the burgeoning use of natural resources. (ID-6) (PEO-2) (PEO-3) (PEO-7) (ENV-5) (WXT-8)– A. Internal migrants as well as migrants from around the world sought access to the

economic boom and other benefits of the United States, especially after the passage of new immigration laws in 1965.

– B. Responding to the abuse of natural resources and the alarming environmental problems, activists and legislators began to call for conservation measures and a fight against pollution.

• - Rachel Carson, Clean Air Act

• III. New demographic and social issues led to significant political and moral debates that sharply divided the nation. (ID-7) (POL-5) (CUL-6) (CUL-7)– A. Although the image of the traditional nuclear family dominated

popular perceptions in the postwar era, the family structure of Americans was undergoing profound changes as the number of working women increased and many social attitudes changed.

– B. Young people who participated in the counterculture of the 1960s rejected many of the social, economic, and political values of their parents’ generation, initiated a sexual revolution, and introduced greater informality into U.S. culture.

– C. Conservatives and liberals clashed over many new social issues, the power of the presidency and the federal government, and movements for greater individual rights.

• - Watergate, Bakke v. University of California, Phyllis Schlafly

The Election of 1968

– Republican convention, Miami Beach • Richard M. Nixon became candidate acceptable to

Goldwater conservatives as well as party moderates• Tapped Maryland's Governor Spiro T. Agnew as running

mate to appeal to white southerners– Agnew tough on dissidents and black militants

• Platform called for victory in Vietnam and strong anticrime policy• “Spoiler” third party ticket—American Independent

party—headed by George C. Wallace– Gained fame with his opposition to Civil Rights Movement

– Between positions of Republicans and Democrats on Vietnam, there was little choice:• Both candidates committed to continue war until

enemy settled for “honorable peace” (i.e., U.S. win)• Millions of “doves” had no place to roost

– Many refused to vote at all

• Humphrey, scorched by LBJ brand, went down to defeat as loyal prisoner of his chief's policies

– Nixon won:• 301 electoral votes, 43.4 % of popular tally (31,785,480)• Humphrey: 191 electoral votes, 42.7 of popular votes

(31,275,166) (see Map 37.2)• However Nixon

– Faced Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress– Carried not a single major city– Received no clear mandate to do anything– A minority president who owed his election to divisions over

war and protest against unfair draft, crime, and rioting

Map 37-2 p895

– Wallace:• Won impressive 9,906,473 popular votes• 46 electoral votes, all from five states of Deep South

– four of which Goldwater had carried in 1964

• Wallace amassed largest third-party popular vote in U.S. history to that point• Last third-party candidate to win any electoral votes

– Ross Perot in 1992 enjoyed a greater popular vote margin but won no states (see Map 40.1)

• Wallace demonstrated continuing power of “populist” politics—appeal to voters' fears and resentments

Nixon “Vietnamizes” the War– Inaugurated on Jan. 20, 1969, Nixon was:• An unlikely conciliator of clashing forces ripping

American society apart– Solitary and suspicious– Brittle and testy in face of opposition– Bitterly resented “liberal establishment”

• Yet, he brought one huge valuable asset to White House:– Broad knowledge and thoughtful expertise in foreign affairs– Applied himself to put America's foreign-policy in order

• First goal: quiet uproar over Vietnam

Nixon “Vietnamizes” the War

• Vietnamization policy:• Withdraw the 540,000 troops in South Vietnam over an

extended period• Southern Vietnamese—with U.S. money, weapons,

training, and advice—would gradually take over war

• Nixon Doctrine thus evolved:• Proclaimed U.S.A. would honor its existing defense

commitments• In future, allies would have to fight their own wars

without support of large bodies of U.S. troops


• Nixon sought to win Vietnam war by other means– Without further spilling American blood

• Advocating immediate withdrawal, antiwar protesters staged big national Vietnam moratorium in Oct. 1969• Nixon launched counteroffensive by appealing to silent

majority who presumably supported war– His appeal deeply divisive– VP Agnew attacked “nattering nabobs of negativism” who

demanded quick end to war– In 1970, Nixon sneered at student protesters as “bums”


– By Jan. 1970, Vietnam had became very unpopular, even among U.S. troops in field

– Armed forces in Vietnam largely composed of least privileged young Americans

– Early in war, African Americans:• Disproportionately represented in army• Accounted for highest share of combat fatalities


– U.S. soldiers:• Fought Vietnamese as well as booby-trapped swamps

and steaming jungles• Unable to tell friend from foe among peasants• Drug abuse, mutiny, and sabotage dulled fighting edge• Morale plummeted further with rumors that soldiers

“fragged” their officers—murdered them with fragmentation grenades• Revelations in 1970 about 1968 slaughter in My Lai

deepened domestic disgust with war

Cambodianizing the Vietnam War

– On Apr. 29, 1970 Nixon, without consulting Congress, ordered U.S. troops to clean out enemy sanctuaries in officially neutral Cambodia

– Massive campus riots over this newest escalation: • At Kent State University in Ohio, jumpy National Guard

fired into noisy crowd, killing four and wounding many more• At historically black Jackson State College, Mississippi,

highway patrol discharged volleys, killing two students

p901

Cambodianizing the Vietnam War

– Nixon withdrew troops from Cambodia on June 29, 1970, after only two months

– Results of Cambodian invasion:• Amplified bitterness between “hawks” and “doves”• Disillusionment with “whitey's war” increased among

African Americans in armed forces• Senate (but not House) repealed Gulf of Tonkin blank

check that Congress gave Johnson in 1964• Youth only slightly mollified when government reduced

draft calls and shortened period of draftability– On a lottery basis, from eight years to one year

Cambodianizing the Vietnam

• Youth pleased, though not pacified, in 1971 when 26th Amendment lowered voting age to 18 (see Appendix)• New combustibles fueled fires of antiwar discontent

in June 1971:– Former Pentagon official leaked to New York Times the

Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study– Documented war's blunders and deceptions, especially

provoking of 1964 North Vietnamese attack in Gulf of Tonkin

Détente with Beijing and Moscow

• Dramatic initiatives in Beijing and Moscow:• Two major Communist powers clashed over interpretation

of Marxism as well as border between them• Nixon realized Chinese-Soviet tension afforded U.S.A.

opportunity to play one antagonist against the other• And enlist aid of both in pressuring North Vietnam into

peace• Henry Kissinger had been meeting secretly with North

Vietnamese officials in Paris to negotiate end to war• He was meanwhile preparing president's path to Beijing

and Moscow

Detente with Beijing and Moscow

– July 1971: Nixon announced he had accepted invitation to visit Communist China the following year

– Made his historic journey in February 1972– Capped visit with Shanghai Communique:

» In which two nations agreed to “normalize” relationship» Important part of accord was America's acceptance of

“one-China” policy» Implied lessened American commitment to

independence of Taiwan


– Nixon next traveled to Moscow in May 1972:» To play “China card” in game of high-stakes diplomacy

with Kremlin» Soviets ready to deal with United States

• Nixon's visit ushered in era of détente:– Relaxed tension—with major communist powers

• And produced several significant agreements in 1972– Most important, USA and USSR agreed to anti-ballistic

missile (ABM) treaty and to series of arms-reduction negotiations known as SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks)» Aimed at freezing numbers of long-range missiles for

five years


– ABM and SALT accords a first step toward slowing arms race

– Yet both forged ahead with development of “MIRVs” (multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles)» Put a number of warheads on a single missile

• Nixon's detente diplomacy did, to some extent, helped lower tensions during the Cold War


• Nixon remained staunchly anticommunist• Opposed election of Marxist Salvador

Allende to presidency of Chile in 1970• Allende died during an army attack on his

headquarters in 1973• Nixon warmly embraced Allende's successor,

military dictator General Augusto Pinochet

p902

The Supreme Court

• Court became more “activist”• Conservatives criticized Court’s decisions• Nixon and Supreme Court

• In 1968, Nixon lashed out against “permissiveness” and “judicial activism” of Warren Court

• Warren Court affected sexual freedom, criminal rights, practice of religion, civil rights, and representation

• Griswold v. Connecticut (1965): Court voided state law that banned use of contraceptives, even among married couples, because of “right of privacy”

• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963): Court held that all criminal defendants entitled to legal counsel, even if too poor to afford it

• Escobedo (1964) and Miranda (1966) ensured right of accused to remain silent and enjoy protections• Miranda warning –police must read to suspects

– Rulings sought to prevent abusive police tactics• To conservatives seemed to coddle criminals and

subvert law and order

– Conservatives also objected to Court's views on religion:

– In Engel v. Vitale (1962) and School District of Abingdon Township v. Schempp (1963):• Justices argued First Amendment's separation of church

and state meant public schools could not require prayer or Bible reading• Social conservatives raised anew battle cry “Impeach

Earl Warren” • From 1954, Court came under relentless criticism,

bitterest since New Deal days• Grappled with problems legislatures failed to address

• Fulfilling campaign promise, Nixon tried to change Court's philosophical complexion:

• Sought appointees who would:– Strictly interpret Constitution– Cease “meddling” in social and political questions – Not coddle radicals or criminals

• Appointed Warren E. Burger to succeed Earl Warren• Before end of 1971, Nixon had appointed four

conservatives to Court

• Nixon learned that once seated, justices decide according to conscience, not according to president's expectations

• Burger Court proved reluctant to dismantle “liberal” rulings of Warren Court

• Roe v. Wade– (1973) legalized abortion

p903

Domestic Policy

• Oversaw big expansion of welfare programs that conservative Republicans denounced:

• Increased appropriations for Food Stamps, Medicaid, and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)• Added new program: Supplemental Security Income

(SSI) to assist indigent, aged, blind, and disabled• Automatic Social Security cost-of-living increases• Implemented so-called Philadelphia Plan (1969):

– Required trade unions to establish “goals and time-tables” for hiring black apprentices

• Philadelphia Plan: • Required 1,000s of employers to meet hiring quotas or establish

“set-asides” for minority subcontractors• Altered meaning of “affirmative action”

– From protect individuals against discrimination– To program that conferred privileges on certain groups

• Supreme Court went along with Nixon's approach– Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971): Court banned intelligence tests or

other devices that had effect of excluding minorities or women from certain jobs

• Only sure protection against charge of discrimination was to hire minorities or admit minority students

– In proportion to their presence in population

• Nixon and Court opened new employment and educational opportunities for minorities and women

• Critics protested changes as “reverse discrimination”

The Environment

– Another Nixon legacy:• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-1970• Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1962) exposed poisonous

effects of pesticides

p904

Nixon on the Home Front

• April 22, 1970, millions around world celebrated first Earth Day:– To raise awareness and to encourage leaders to act– Congress passed Clean Air Act (1970) and Endangered Species

Act (1973)– EPA made progress in reducing automobile emissions and

cleaning up befouled waterways and toxic waste sites

• Federal government expanded regulatory reach on behalf of workers and consumers– 1970 Nixon signed Occupational Safety and Health

Administration (OSHA) into law

– Created agency dedicated to improving working conditions» Prevent work-related accidents and death » Issue safety standards

• Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC):– Held companies accountable for selling dangerous products

• Business critics decried “nanny state”

Economic Policy

– 1971: Nixon imposed 90-day wage and price freeze

– He then took U.S.A. off gold standard and devalued dollar

– Two actions ended “Bretton Woods” system of international currency stabilization that had functioned since end of WWII

Nixon on the Home Front

– Devised plan—called southern strategy—to gain reelection in 1972

– Appointed conservative Supreme Court justices– Soft-pedaled civil rights– Opposed school busing to achieve racial balance

– Goal: convert disillusioned white southern Democrats to Republicans

– Set in motion sweeping political realignment that eventually transformed party system

The Nixon Landslide of 1972

• Four years since Nixon promised to end Vietnam war and “win” peace

• 1972: when North Vietnam burst through demilitarized zone separating two Vietnams, Nixon launched massive bombing attacks• Continuing Vietnam conflict spurred rise of South

Dakota senator George McGovern to 1972 Democratic nomination• Helped by changes in nomination system that increased

importance of primary elections– New system emphasized media politicking and activist base


• McGovern used new populist process– Promised to pull remaining troops out of Vietnam

in ninety days:• Earned him backing of large antiwar element in party• His appeal to racial minorities, feminists, leftists, and

youth alienated traditional working-class Democrats

• Nixon emphasized he had wound down “Democratic war” in Vietnam – From 540,000 to about 30,000 troops


• His candidacy received added boost twelve days before election when Kissinger announced– “Peace is at hand” and an agreement would be reached in a

few days

• Nixon won landslide:– Won every state except Massachusetts and nonstate District

of Columbia (see Appendix)– Received 520 electoral votes to 17 for McGovern– Popular majority of 47,169,911 to 29,170,383 votes

• McGovern counted on young vote, but less than half 18-20 age group even bothered to register to vote

The Secret Bombing of Cambodia and the War Powers Act

– peace “at hand” just before balloting:• Nixon launched furious two-week bombing• North Vietnam agreed to cease-fire in Treaty of Paris (Jan.

23, 1973) nearly three months after peace prematurely proclaimed• Nixon hailed cease-fire as “peace with honor,” but boast

rang hallow as “peace” little more than U.S. retreat– United States would withdraw its remaining 27,000 troops and

reclaim 560 American prisoners of war– North Vietnam allowed to keep 145,000 troops in South Vietnam


• Constitutionality of U.S. war in Cambodia:– July 1973: public learned Air Force had secretly

bombed Cambodia 3,500 times since Mar. 1969• While forays going on, U.S. officials, including Nixon,

had sworn Cambodian neutrality being respected• Defiance followed secretiveness:

– Nixon continued bombing Cambodia even after Vietnam cease-fire

– Repeatedly vetoed congressional efforts to stop bombing


– Years of bombing wounded Cambodia:• Blasted its people• Shredded its economy• Revolutionized its politics

– Cambodians suffered sadistic heel of Pol Pot:• Two million died • Pot forced from office by 1978 Vietnamese invasion


• 1973 War Powers Act over Nixon's veto:• Required president report to Congress within 48 hours

after committing troops to foreign conflict or “substantially” enlarging combat units abroad• Such a limited authorization would end within 60 days

unless extended by Congress for 30 days• Act manifestation of “New Isolationism,” mood of

caution and restraint abroad• Draft ended in January 1973

– Future members of armed forces would be volunteers

The Arab Oil Embargo and the Energy Crisis

• Yom Kippur War erupted October 1973• Syria and Egypt attacked Israel to regain land lost during

Six-Day War (1967)• Kissinger flew to Moscow to restrain Soviets, who were

arming attackers• Nixon placed nuclear forces on alert and ordered airlift

of $2 billion in war materials to Israel• Israelis turned tide and threatened Cairo before U.S.A.

brokered uneasy cease-fire

p907


– U.S. policy of backing Israel against its oil-rich neighbors exacted heavy penalty:• Oct. 1973, OPEC announced oil embargo to U.S.A. and

those European allies supporting Israel• Oil-rich Arab states also cut oil production• Oil shortage triggered major economic recession, not

only in United States, but also France and Britain• In increasingly globalized, interconnected world, all

nations felt crunch of “energy crisis”

p907


– Five months of embargo ended era of cheap and abundant energy

– Since 1948, U.S.A. had been net oil importer• U.S. oil production peaked in 1970, than declined• Yet Americans tripled their oil usage since WWII• Automobiles increased 250% between 1949 and 1972• By 1974, America oil-addicted and vulnerable to any

interruption in supplies• Middle East attained new importance to U.S. interests


• OPEC quadrupled price for crude oil after lifting embargo in 1974– Results:• Huge oil bills disrupted U.S. balance of international

trade and further fueled raging fire of inflation• U.S. took lead to form International Energy Agency in

1974 as counterweight to OPEC• Various sectors of U.S. economy, including autos,

began to adjust to dawning age of energy dependency– E.g., national speed limit (55) to conserve fuel

Watergate and the Unmaking of a President

• Watergate scandal:• (June 17, 1972) 5 men arrested in Watergate

apartment-office complex in Washington:– Planned to plant electronic “bugs” in Democratic party's

headquarters– Soon revealed they worked for Republican Committee to Re-

Elect the President, “CREEP”

• Nixon administration's “dirty tricks”– Watergate break-in one of them– Forged documents to discredit Democrats– Used Internal Revenue Service to harass innocent citizens

named on White House “enemies list”

p912

– Burglarized office of psychiatrist who treated leaker of Pentagon Papers

– Perverted FBI and CIA to cover tricksters' tracks

• Agnew forced to resign (Oct. 1973) for taking bribes from contractors while governor and while VP• As investigations began, Nixon denied

– Any prior knowledge of break-in– Any involvement in legal proceedings against burglars

• Former White House aide revealed secret taping system had recorded most of Nixon's conversations• Nixon agreed to release “relevant” portions of tapes

• (July 24, 1974) Supreme Court unanimously ruled “executive privilege” gave Nixon no right to withhold evidence

• Nixon reluctantly complied• Three subpoenaed tapes of Nixon's conversations with

chief aide on June 23, 1972 proved fatal• “Smoking gun” tape revealed Nixon giving orders, six days

after Watergate break-in, to use CIA to hold back an inquiry by FBI

• Nixon's own words on tape convicted him of being involved• House Judiciary Committee drew up articles of

impeachment based on:» Obstruction of justice» Abuse of presidential power» Contempt of Congress

p912


– Public wrath proved to be overwhelming:• Republican leaders in Congress concluded he was guilty

– Informed Nixon his impeachment by full House and removal by Senate were foregone conclusions

– He would do best to resign

• Nixon announced resignation in dramatic television appearance on August 8, 1974• Nation survived wrenching constitutional crisis

– Confirmed impeachment machinery forged by Founding Fathers could serve its purpose when public demanded


• Principles, that no person above the law and that presidents must be held accountable for actions, strengthened• U.S.A. cleaned its own sullied house

– Impressive demonstration of self-discipline and self-government to rest of world

• Watergate weakened public's faith in government• Economic problems further deepened disillusionment

p913

Sources of Stagnation

• Massive post-WWII economic growth based on big increases in worker productivity:– because of productivity increases, workers doubled

their standard of living between 1945 and 1970– But productivity increases stalled in 1970s

• Result: median income of average family stagnated in decades after 1970 (see Figure 38.1)– Failed to decline only because many wives entered work force

– Economists still debate causes of productivity slump

p914


• Some causes of productivity slump:• Increase of women and teenagers in work force• Declining investment in new machinery• Heavy costs of compliance with government-imposed

safety and heath regulations• Shift of economy from manufacturing to services

• Vietnam War caused economic distortions:– Drained tax dollars from improvements in education– Deflected scientific skill and manufacturing capacity from

civilian sector– Contributed to inflation

Figure 38-1 p914


– Other causes of inflationary spiral:• Sharply rising oil prices in 1970s• Deepest roots lay in deficit spending of 1960s

– Especially Johnson's insistence on fighting war in Vietnam while funding Great Society programs at home without tax increases to finance these new expenditures

• Without tax increases, military spending and welfare spending inherently inflationary because:– Put money into people's hands without adding to supply of

civilian goods that those dollars can buy

Sources of Stagnation– Prices increased astonishingly throughout 1970s• Cost of living tripled in decade after Nixon's inauguration—

longest and steepest inflationary cycle in American history• U.S. economy laid bare by abrupt reversal of America's

financial fortunes• After WWII, companies had small incentives to modernize

plants and seek more efficient methods of production– Problem when challenged by rebuilt Japan and West Germany

• A stalemated war and a stagnant economy ended liberal dream that an affluent society could spend its way to social justice

The First Unelected President• Gerald R. Ford– First man made president solely by vote of Congress:– Entered White House (August 1974) with serious

handicaps:• Had been selected, not elected, vice president, following

Agnew's resignation in disgrace– Odor of illegitimacy hung about this president

• Odor increased when Ford pardoned Nixon for any crimes he may have committed as president, discovered or undiscovered

p916

Table 38-1 p917

The First Unelected President

• Ford sought to enhance detente with Soviet Union that Nixon had crafted– 1973: joined 34 world leaders at Helsinki, Finland,

to sign several historic accords:• One wrote an end to WWII by legitimizing USSR-

dictated boundaries of Poland and Eastern Europe• In return, Soviets signed “third basket” agreement:

– Guaranteed more liberal exchanges of people and information between East and West

– Promoted certain basic “human rights”

III. The First Unelected President(cont.)

• Reactions to Helsinki accords:– Small dissident movements in Eastern Europe and in USSR– West Germany cheered conference as milestone of detente

• American critics charged detente a one-way street– American grain and technology flowed to USSR, but little of

importance flowed back– Moscow's continued human rights violations, including

restrictions on Jewish emigration—prompted Congress to add punitive restrictions to U.S.-Soviet trade bill

III. The First Unelected President (cont.)

• Ford at first clung stubbornly to detente• Domestic fury over USSR's double-dealing grew

– Stoked by conservative hawks

• Eventually Ford refused even to pronounce word détente in public• Thaw in Cold War threatening to prove chillingly brief

p918

IV. Defeat in Vietnam

– Early 1975, North Vietnamese started long-expected drive south• Without U.S. aid, South Vietnam quickly collapsed• Last Americans frantically evacuated on April 29, 1975• Also rescued were 140,000 South Vietnamese:

– Ford compassionately admitted these refugees to U.S.A., where they added further seasoning to melting pot

– Eventually some 500,000 arrived (see Makers of America)

• America's long, frustrating war ended not with a bang but with a whimper

IV. Defeat in Vietnam(cont.)

– Technically U.S.A. did not lose; their client nation had– Estimated cost of war:• $118 billion in current outlays• 56,000 dead and 300,000 wounded

– U.S.A had provided everything that could be injected by outsiders

– America lost more than a war:– Lost face in eyes of foreigners– Lost self-esteem– Lost confidence in political leaders and military prowess– Lost much of the economic muscle behind global preeminence

V. Feminist Victories and Defeats

• While other protest movements splintered,• Feminists, although they had their differences, showed

vitality and momentum:– Won legislative and judicial victories– Provoked rethinking of gender roles (see Makers of America)– Thousands marched in Women's Stride for Equality on fiftieth

anniversary of woman suffrage in 1970– In 1972 Congress passed Title IX of the Education Amendments

» Prohibited sex discrimination in any federally assisted educational program or activity

– Created opportunities for girls' and women's athletics at schools and colleges

V. Feminist Victories and Defeats (cont.)

• Gave birth to “Title IX generation” that would mature by century's end• Helped professionalize women's sports

– Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to Constitution won congressional approval in 1972:• 28 of necessary 38 states quickly ratified amendment,

first proposed by suffragists in 1923• Presidents Nixon and Ford endorsed ERA• Hope rose that ERA might soon become law of land

p919


– Even Supreme Court seemed to be on movement's side:• In Reed v. Reed (1971) and Frontiero v. Richardson

(1973), Court challenged sex discrimination in legislation and employment• Landmark case of Roe v. Wade (1973)

– Court struck down laws prohibiting abortion, arguing a woman's decision to terminate a pregnancy was protected by constitutional right of privacy


– Feminist movement faced formidable backlash• 1972: Nixon vetoed proposal to set up nationwide

public day care– Nixon claimed it would weaken American family

• Antifeminists blamed women's movement for rising divorce rate, which tripled between 1960 and 1976• Catholic Church and evangelicals organized powerful

grassroots movement to oppose legalized abortions

p920

p921

p921

p922

p923

V. Feminist Victories andDefeats (cont.)

• For many feminists, most bitter defeat was death of ERA:– Antifeminists, led by conservative Phyllis Schlafly:• Argued ERA would remove protections women enjoyed

by forcing law to see them as men's equals• Believed amendment would threaten family structure

– Her STOP ERA campaign successful:• Antifeminist activists organized grassroots state-level

efforts to block ratification• ERA died in 1982, three states short of success

V. Feminist Victories andDefeats (cont.)

• Politics not whole story of second-wave feminism:– Women's labor force participation rate accelerated– Major professions opened doors to women– Feminist enterprises proliferated– Ongoing transformations in size and structure of

families ensured women's centrality to debates over life-style choices and “family values”

p924

VI. The Seventies in Black and White

• Race remained explosive issue in 1970s– Supreme Court in Milliken v. Bradley (1974)

blindsided school integrationists:• Ruled desegregation plans could not require students

to move across school-district lines• Effectively exempted suburbs from shouldering any

part of burden of desegregating inner-city schools:– Reinforced “white flight” from cities to suburbs– Pitted poorest, most disadvantaged elements of white and

black communities against one another

VI. The Seventies in Black and White (cont.)

• Affirmative-action programs remained highly controversial:– Whites cried “reverse discrimination,” charging their

rights had been violated:– Allan Bakke (1978): Supreme Court upheld claim that his

application to medical school had been rejected because of an admissions program that favored minority applicants

– University of California (Davis) medical school had to admit Bakke– Yet Court ruled race might be taken into account in admissions to

assemble diverse student body– Sharp dissent by Justice Marshall, but conservatives cheered

verdict

VI. The Seventies in Black and White (cont.)

– Inspired by civil rights movement, Native Americans:• Used courts and well-planned acts of civil disobedience to

assert status as separate semi-sovereign peoples• Seized island of Alcatraz (1970) and village of Wounded

Knee, South Dakota (1972)• United States v. Wheeler (1978): Supreme Court declared

tribes possessed “unique and limited” sovereignty, subject to Congress but not to individual states

p925

p909

Documents

Nixon. Key Concept 8.1: The United States responded to an uncertain and unstable postwar world by asserting and attempting to defend a position of global