The 1970s

Chapter 23 and 24

Women’s Rights Movement

Feminism of the 1960s and early 1970s To challenge the cult of domesticity. National Organization for Women (NOW-1966) Goals: to end job discrimination, legalize abortion, obtain federal and

state support for child-care center. Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972 Support for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) (1972) Roe v. Wade (1973)

Legalized abortion

Becomes more radical by late 1970s. Divisions between moderate and radical feminists. Gloria Steinham attacks men and homemakers; alienates most

women: public backlash and “right to life”

Gerald Ford

Ford inherited a presidential office badly diminished by the Watergate scandals. As the first unelected president, he

had no popular mandate and was not well known outside of Washington.

Yet his easy manner and modest approach to government helped restore at least some degree of confidence in the office of president.

Ford’s Domestic Agenda

Social and Fiscal Conservative Believed the federal government

exercised too much power over domestic affairs.

Resisted congressional pressure to reduce taxes and increase Federal spending.

Along with an energy crisis, this helped plunge the economy into a deep recession.

Ford’s Foreign Policy: Extending Détente

SALT II Ford met with Brezhnev in

1974 and accepted the framework for another arms-control agreement that was to serve as the basis for SALT II.

Helsinki Summit Ford and Brezhnev met in

Finland in August 1975 with other European leaders.

Agreed to recognize the political boundaries that had divided Eastern and Western Europe since 1945.

1976 Election

Jimmy Carter (Democrat) Peanut farmer &1 term governor of Georgia Washington outsider

Gerald Ford (Republican) Nixon pardon Recession

Carter narrowly with 50.1% of popular vote Carried 90% of black voters Looked to bring a new simplicity and directness to

the White House.

Jimmy Carter

Carter and his staff had very little experience in Washington and did not know how to push forward an agenda.

Could not maneuver his proposals through Congress.

Criticism Builds at Home

Offered amnesty to the thousands of young men who had fled the country rather than serve in Vietnam.

Negotiated a treaty to turn over the Panama Canal Zone by 1999.

The Economy Inherited a bad economy and left it much worse. Stagflation – double digit inflation and increased

unemployment. Problems with the Oil Supply

Problems with Oil SupplyYom Kippur War (1973)

Syria and Egypt launched a surprise attack against Israel

Soviet Union supplied the Arabs and the U.S. supplied the Israeli allies

The seven Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposed a boycott of oil sales to countries seen as friendly to Israel. (October 1973 to March 1974)

Fighting Inflation

OPEC continued to raise prices. Energy costs rose Inflation rose Interest rates shot to 20%.

Carter called only for voluntary restraints on prices and wages and conservation of energy.

Problems with Oil Supply

Motorists were forced to wait in long lines for limited supplies of gasoline that they regarded as excessively expensive.

Many Americans saw nuclear energy as the only alternative. Three Mile Island (1979)

Nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania ruptured and released radioactive gas. 100,000 people fled their homes.

Carter’s approval rating dropped to 26%. Lower than Nixon’s during Watergate

Camp David Accords

In 1978, Carter invited Egypt’s President Anwar el-Sadat and Israel’s Prime Minister Menachem Begin to Camp David.

Peace Agreement Israel would return the Sinai to Egypt in exchange for

recognition. Israel had to negotiate a resolution of the Palestinian

refugee dilemma. (Never happened)

Made an all-out war between Israel and the Arab world less likely.

Mounting Troubles

SALT II signed in 1979. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979.

Iran Hostage Crisis (1979-80) Ayatollah Khomeini ousts Shaw of Iran in 1979. Carter allowed the ousted Shaw to come to U.S. Radicals captured U.S. embassy to trade for Shaw and

wealth. U.S. rescue mission ended with fatal helicopter crash. 53 Americans were held hostage until the day Reagan

took office. (444 days) Carter finally released several billion dollars of Iranian assets to

ransom the kidnapped hostages.

End of Postwar Liberalism

Carter’s failure was largely symbolic. The uneasiness of the late 1970s reflected a widespread disillusionment with liberal social programs. Americans lose faith in government Vietnam puts into question the containment

doctrine Government could not manage the economy Decline in race relations

Triumph of Conservatism

By 1980 rising prices, energy shortages, and similar economic uncertainties fed a growing resistance to a liberal agenda.

Hard-pressed workers resented increased competition from minorities, especially those supported by affirmative action quotas and government programs.

Citizens resisted the demands for higher taxes to support social welfare spending.

Triumph of Conservatism:The Moral Majority

A major revival of evangelical religion in late 1970s.

The traditional family seemed under siege, as divorce rates and births to single mothers soared. Sexually explicit media, an outspoken gay rights movement,

and the availability of legal abortions struck many religious conservatives as part of a wholesale assault on decency.

Increasingly the political agenda was determined by those who wanted to restore a strong family, traditional religious values, patriotism, and limited government.

Triumph of Conservatism: Ronald Reagan

Unleash the capitalist spirit. (limited government) Dismantle the “bloated” federal

bureaucracy. Reduce taxes and regulations. Undo the welfare state.

Restore national pride and regain international respect. Increase military spending. Outlaw abortions and reinstitute

school prayer. Emphasis is on what is right

instead of what’s wrong – patriotism and religion.

The Election of 1980:The Reagan Revolution

1962 Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring published

Significant Events

1966 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act

1969 Apollo 11 moon mission 1970 First Earth Day, EPA created 1971 Nixon adopts wage and price controls

Pentagon Paper published 1972 Woodward and Bernstein investigate

Watergate burglary 1973 Saturday Night Massacre 1974 United States v. Nixon

Nixon resigns 1975 New York City faces bankruptcy

1978 Revolution in Iran