Richard Nixon The New Federalism

Won 1968 –barely Won 1972 - a landslide

Richard Nixon 43. 4 %Hubert Humphrey 42. 7%George Wallace 13.5%

Nixon

• Decreased power of federal government• Dismantled a number of Great Society programs• Got U.S. out of Vietnam• Opened relations with China

New Federalism• Shifted power of federal gov’t to state/local gov’t.• Revenue sharing: state and local gov’t. could spend

their federal dollars however they saw fit (within

certain limitations)• Revenue sharing was

one of the largest overhauls

of federal spending since

the New Deal.

• Nixon TRIED to overhaul welfare, but Congress voted him down.

• Nixon advocated the Family Assistance Plan (FAP) CONGRESS VOTED NO (1970)

• FAP: Family of four gets $1600 a year, would have to take job training and accept reasonable work.

Congress was controlled by Democrat majority

Nixon compromised1. Increased Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid2. Made food stamps more accessible3. Expanded Job Corps4. Supported subsidized low-income housing

Spiro Agnew• Nixon’s vice-president• 1969, went on a public speaking tour to denounce anti-government, anti-war protesters, the media, etc.• Resigned as v.p. later in Oct 1973 (charged with accepting bribes and not reporting income on his taxes when he was governor of Maryland)

Timothy GeithnerUS Treasury Secretary (appointed by Pres. Obama)

• Didn’t pay Social Security taxes or Medicare for several years while he worked for the IMF

• These facts came up when he was before the Senate committee who was confirming him in 2009. Most information was discussed behind closed doors.

• “They (mistakes on his taxes) weren’t intentional. I should have known better.” - Timothy Geithner, the US Treasury Secretary

Neil Armstrong 1st man to walk on the moon

• July 29, 1969• Apollo 11“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Nixon’s “Enemies List”• Used the CIA to investigate and compile documents on

thousands of American dissidents• Used IRS to audit tax returns of anti-war activists

and civil rights activists.• Took it personally when

people opposed him

IRS Targeting Groups Today

• Lois Lerner publicly apologized in May 2013 for targeting specific conservative groups that were critical of the Obama Administration• FDR also had the IRS go after groups that opposed him

Southern Strategy

How did Nixon win with a

landslide in 1972?

- He attracted white

Southern democrats

disillusioned with their

party (over desegregation

and a liberal Supreme

Court)

“There are those who

want instant integration

and those who want

segregation forever. I

believe we need to have a

middle course between

those two extremes.” - Nixon

Swann v Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education

- Busing to desegregate schools in 1971 - The Supreme Court ruled that school districts

may

bus students to other schools to end

the pattern of all-black or

all-white schools

Stagflation

• Rising unemployment + rising inflation• Troubled economy: 1967-1973

1. unemployment rate rose from 4% to 6%

2. inflation rate doubled

OPECOrganization of Petroleum Exporting

Countries (created in 1960) A cartel of 12 member countries organization

Five founding members: 1. Iran 2. Iraq 3. Kuwait 4. Saudi Arabia 5. Venezuela. Cartel- controls the

means of production – so they can set the price!

Nixon had FOUR Supreme Court Appointees

• During his presidency, there were four openings on the Supreme Court (very rare)

• All conservative, so the court will swing to conservative rulings during the years to come (after the very liberal Earl Warren Court of the 1950s and 60s)

• Realpolitik- “realistic politics”; dealing with other nations in a practical and flexible manner

Example of realpolitik: Nixon got friendly with Communist China (1/5 of the world’s population) to keep the Soviet Union off-balance (The Soviets could only guess what kind of alliance that we made with Communist China)

• Détente – an easing or relaxing of Cold War tensions Example of Détente: Nixon, a strong anti-Communist, visited and opened up relations with Communist China

Henry Kissinger

Secretary of State for both Presidents Nixon AND Ford

His reputation was not

tarnished by the Watergate scandal.

Nixon Visited China

• Feb. 1972 – Nixon visited China for 7 days.

• Great publicity• American public/media

really liked this.

“Ping-Pong Diplomacy” April 1971• China invited America’s Ping Pong team to China.• 1st time since WWII that an American sports

delegation visited China.

Nixon traveled to Moscow

• May 1972• 1st time a U.S. president ever visited the Soviet Union• Met with Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet Premier• Agreed over West Germany and East Germany• SALT I Treaty

SALT I Treaty

Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty-Nixon and Brezhnev-5 year agreement limited ICBMS (to 1972 levels.)

Election 0f 1972

Nixon won with 60% because of1. His triumphs in China and

Soviet Union2. In October, Kissinger had

announced that peace in Vietnam was imminent