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Nixon's Political Strategies: Impact, Legacy, and Lessons Learned

Explore Nixon's political strategies, including the Southern Strategy, Silent Majority appeal, and Vietnam policies, and their consequences such as Watergate. Analyze the foreign policies, deceitful practices, and societal impacts during Nixon's presidency.

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Nixon's Political Strategies: Impact, Legacy, and Lessons Learned

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  1. The Nixon Years Politics, War, and Watergate

  2. Democratic Weaknesses • Lessons from ‘Weather Underground’ film:

  3. Political Strategies: Campaign Ads? • Blame Dems for war – he’d be more effective at fighting the war • Blame Dems for instability, domestic violence, protests, riots, negatives in Vietnam – provide stability, law and order • Correct mistakes of the past

  4. Political Strategies • Appealing to ‘Taxi Driver’ America?

  5. Views of City? • Scum • Sewer • Anti-urban • Problems

  6. Views on Politics?

  7. Views on Politics? • Apathetic • Angry • Frustrated • Non-idealistic • Interested himself • Individualistic

  8. Views on Power and Justice?

  9. Views on Power and Justice?

  10. Nixon’s Political Strategies • Kevin Phillips’, ‘Emerging Republican Majority’: Republicans could win (and did) from 1968-1992 • Southern Strategy – use “hostility to blacks and browns” as political strategy (like George Wallace) • Get white Catholics, ethnic whites, and white southerners to permanently switch to GOP • Appeal to ‘Silent Majority’ of Americans: patriotic, anti-protester, anti-urban • Law and Order campaign: used images of riots, protests, and fear to sway voters • Silent Majority of Americans were the real victims (of protests, draft, taxes, civil rights, economy)

  11. Foreign Policies and Actions • Focus on Big Fish – wanted to open up trade, talks with China and USSR, decrease Cold War tension • Vietnam - Policy of Vietnamization – turn over war to South Vietnamese army • Secrecy - secret bombings of N.V., Cambodia, Laos; secret negotiations w/ N.V. • U.S. detachment from Vietnam conflict – use rhetoric of peace and withdrawal, while continuing bombings to force N.V. to accept split Vietnam • Heightened rhetoric against protesters = protesters were anti-American, helping North Vietnam

  12. Vietnamization

  13. Secrecy

  14. Secret Wars: Cambodia & Laos

  15. Vietnam Policies, 1968-1974

  16. Watergate • Connections to Vietnam War • Nixon’s insecurity and fear of political opposition • Use of FBI to spy on and undermine antiwar and civil rights movements • Political dirty tricks to hurt political rivals • Covered up instead of coming clean

  17. Conclusions • Nixon’s foreign policies towards China and USSR were fairly successful, opened up lines of communication • Deceitful policies in Vietnam: rhetoric of peace, while bombing and prolonging war • U.S. involvement in Vietnam War dragged on for 6 more years as he used it as pawn in larger foreign policy • Nixon’s southern strategy and appeals to ‘silent majority’ widened political and social rifts in U.S. • Watergate and corruption further weakened people’s trust in government • Republicans benefited in long run from increasing distrust of government

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