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Anti-War Demonstrations

Anti-War Demonstrations. May 4, 1970 4 students shot dead. 11 students wounded. Jackson State University May 10, 1970 2 dead; 12 wounded. Kent State University. Nixon on Vietnam. Nixon ’ s 1968 Campaign promised an end to the war: Peace with Honor

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Anti-War Demonstrations

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  1. Anti-War Demonstrations • May 4, 1970 • 4 students shot dead. • 11 students wounded • Jackson StateUniversity • May 10, 1970 • 2 dead; 12 wounded Kent State University

  2. Nixon on Vietnam • Nixon’s 1968 Campaign promised an end to the war: Peace with Honor • Appealed to the great “Silent Majority” • Vietnamization • Expansion of the conflict  The “Secret War” • Cambodia • Laos • Agent Orange(chemical defoliant)

  3. “Pentagon Papers,”1971 • Former defense analyst Daniel Ellsbergleaked govt. docs. regarding war efforts during Johnson’s administration to the New York Times. • Docs. Govt. misled Congress & Amer. People regarding its intentions in Vietnam during mid-1960s. • Primary reason for fighting not to eliminate communism, but to avoid humiliating defeat. • New York Times v. United States (1971) *

  4. The Ceasefire, 1973 • Peace is at hand Kissinger, 1972 • North Vietnam attacks South • Most Massive U.S. bombing commences • 1973: Ceasefire signed between • U.S., South Vietnam, & North Vietnam • Peace with honor (President Nixon)

  5. The Ceasefire, 1973 • Conditions: • U.S. to remove all troops • North Vietnam could leave troops already in S.V. • North Vietnam would resume war • No provision for POWs or MIAs • Last American troops left South Vietnam on March 29, 1973 • 1975: North Vietnam defeats South Vietnam • Saigon renamed Ho Chi Minh City

  6. The Fall of Saigon April 30, 1975 America Abandons Its Embassy

  7. The Impact • 26th Amendment: 18-year-olds vote • Nixon abolished the draftall-volunteer army • War Powers Act, 1973٭ • President must notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying military force • President must withdraw forces unless he gains Congressional approval within 90 days • Disregard for Veterans  seen as “baby killers” • POW/MIA issue lingered

  8. Economic Slow Down Stagflation – Lower GDP WITH inflation (cause: Oil Shortage) 1973 Yom Kippur War (Egypt & Syria attack Israel). OPEC is created and “shuts off” supply of oil to US. Increase in unskilled work force New Safety Regulations (costs businesses money) Shift from Manufacturing to Services Vietnam War – Gov’t spending => Inflation Germany and Japan emerge with industrialization (Thanks to US $)

  9. Nixon’s Détente with Beijing(Peking) and Moscow • 1972 – Nixon made 3 important agreements with China and USSR • The Great Grain Deal • 3-year agreement to sell USSR $750 million worth of grain • Anti-ballistic missile (ABM) treaty • Limited each side to 2 clusters of defensive missiles • Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALTI) • Freezing of number of nuclear missiles for 5 years • Limit # of antiballistic missiles to 200

  10. A New Team on theSupreme Bench • The Warren Court • Warren (Gov of CA) made chief justice in 1953 by Eisenhower • Made series of decisions that drastically increased rights of individual freedom • Escobedo v. Illinois (1964) • Required police to inform an arrested person of right to remain silent • Miranda v. Arizona (1966) • Extended Escobedo decision to include right to a lawyer being present during questioning by police

  11. A New Team on theSupreme Bench • Engel v. Vitale (1962) and School District of Abington Township v. Schempp (1963) • Court used First Amendment to prohibit required prayers (Engel) and Bible reading (Schempp) in public schools

  12. A New Team on theSupreme Bench • Conservatives had criticized the Court since 1954 (Brown decision) • Critics thought they ignored the Constitution in favor of social values • Nixon undertook to change Court’s philosophical makeup • Strict interpretation of Constitution • Stop “meddling” in social and political questions • “Southern strategy” – tried to nominate 2 judges from South – opposed busing • End of 1971 – Nixon had appointed 4 (of 9) conservative members, including new chief justice Warren Burger • The Burger Court • Reluctant to undo the “liberal” rulings of Warren Court • Issued most controversial decision of modern times, legalizing abortion

  13. A New Team on theSupreme Bench • Roe v. Wade • State laws restricted abortion except to protect life of mother • 1973 – court agreed that women had right to abortion (right to privacy in her own body) • Fetus had to be “viable” (able to live outside of the womb) before it could receive protection of the state “Everybody should have a birthday!”

  14. Nixon on the Home Front • Nixon as a “liberal” – “New Federalism” – Fed $ given to state/local governments. • EPA, OSHA • Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act • Consumer Products Safety Commission • Greatly expanded existing social welfare programs • Food Stamps, Medicaid, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) • Affirmative action • Philadelphia Plan- Required federal construction contracts to have “goals” for hiring minorities. Soon applied to all federal contracts. • Supreme Court in Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971) • Strongly suggested that the only sure protection against charges of discrimination was to establish quotas for minorities in proportion to their numbers in the population • Effects of policy of affirmative action • Opened job and educational opportunities for minorities and women • Opened storm of criticism from critics who called it “reverse discrimination”

  15. The Nixon Landslide of 1972 • Foreign policy dominated the campaign of 1972 • 4 years since Nixon had promised to end the war • Democrats nominated George McGovern • Promised to pull all US troops out in 90 days • Appealed to antiwar people, racial minorities, feminists, leftists, youth • Alienated Democratic base: working-class • VP Candidate T. Eagleton was mentally unstable and was replaced.

  16. The Nixon Landslide of 1972 • Nixon’s campaign • He had wound down the “Democratic” war • Troop levels went from 540,000 to 30,000 • 12 days before the election • Kissinger announced that a peace agreement would come within a few days – “Peace is at hand” • Nixon won the election in a landslide • McGovern had counted on large numbers of young people • Fewer than 1/2 even registered to vote

  17. The Nixon Landslide of 1972 “Don’t blame me, I’m from Massachusetts”

  18. Watergate Woes • June 17, 1972 – 5 men arrested in Watergate apartment-office complex • Trying to bug the Democratic headquarters • Revealed they were working for Committee for the Re-election of the President (CREEP) • Other “dirty tricks” Nixon carried out against enemies • Forging documents to discredit Democrats • Used IRS to harass people on “enemies list” • Using FBI and CIA to prevent investigations

  19. Great Tape Controversy • 1973 – 1974 – Senate committee conducted televised hearings about Watergate • Nixon denied any prior knowledge of the break-in or any involvement in legal proceedings against the burglars • John Dean accused president and others in White House of trying to cover up Watergate and silence the burglars • Another aid revealed existence of secret taping system in White House (that could verify Dean’s testimony) • Nixon refused to produce the tapes • Bernstein & Woodward of Washington D.C. “break” the story – Deep Throat informant – FBI W. Mark Felt (2005)

  20. Great Tape Controversy • Vice President Spiro Agnew • October 1973 – forced to resign for taking bribes • Congress used 25th amendment (president nominated a successor and both houses confirmed him) • Replaced Agnew with Gerald Ford, congressman from Michigan

  21. Great Tape Controversy • October 20, 1973 – “Saturday Night Massacre” • Nixon fired his own special prosecutor appointed to investigate Watergate • He also accepted the resignation of his attorney general and deputy attorney general because they refused to go along with the firing

  22. The Unmaking of a President • Spring 1974 –House Judiciary demanded Watergate tapes • Nixon finally agreed to publication of “relevant” parts of the tapes, with many parts missing • July 24, 1974 – Supreme Court unanimously ruled that “executive privilege” gave president no right to withhold evidence relating to possible criminal activity

  23. The Unmaking of a President • Nixon made 3 tapes public of conversations with an aide on June 23, 1972 (was forced to) • One contained Nixon ordering the aide to use the CIA to impede an inquiry by the FBI • Convicted Nixon of being active part of the cover-up • House Judiciary Drew up articles of impeachment • Obstruction of justice, abuse of power as president, contempt of Congress • Nixon resigns • Republican leaders in Congress informed Nixon that impeachment was inevitable • August 8, 1974 – Nixon announced his resignation on TV • Admitted some “judgments” that “were wrong” • But claimed he had always acted “in what I believed at that time to be the best interests of the nation”

  24. “Our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men.”—Gerald R. Ford

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