Nixon, Ford, and Carter Presidencies

Kennedy-Nixon Debates Televised debates between candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960. Kennedy won the debate and the election because he looked better on camera and was more charismatic

Rise of Conservatism Many Americans were shocked by the growing radicalism of the counterculture and this led to growth of conservatism in the late 1960s Why did Goldwater lose in 1964? He advocated using nuclear weapons and opposed the government trying to correct social and economic problems Why did Nixon win in 1968? By the late 1960s, reaction against radicalism led to growth of conservative movement that pushed him into office

Nixon’s Opening of China Nixon reversed U.S. policy of not recognizing the Chinese communist government by visiting China in 1971 Significance: Opened up diplomatic and economic relations with the Chinese and was a huge success with the American public Nixon’s Opening of China

Watergate Scandal Nixon and his administration tried to cover up their involvement in the burglary of the Democratic National Headquarters Extent and Impact: Nixon and his advisors worked to cover up their involvement. As more evidence came out, his advisors resigned and Nixon tried to continue to hide his involvement

Why does Nixon resign? When one of his aides testified that Nixon had tapes of all of his conversations and they proved his involvement the House approved 3 charges of impeachment Effects of Watergate: American public and media developed a general distrust of public officials that still exists today

Why did Ford have such a hard task ahead of him? The economy was bad and he lost the public’s trust when he pardoned Nixon Events during his presidency: Economic policies triggered a recession Pardoned Nixon South Vietnam surrendered to North Helsinki Accords (promised better cooperation between East and West Europe)

Carter’s Presidency Carter is elected President in 1976 over Gerald Ford

Camp David Accords Carter arranged a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt Significance: Israel and Egypt were long-time enemies and Carter managed to get Israel to sign its’ first peace agreement with an Arab nation

What does Carter do to upset the revolutionaries of the Iranian Revolution? He supported the Shah and allowed him to enter the U.S. to receive cancer treatment What does this lead to? Iranian Hostage Crisis

Iranian Hostage Crisis Revolutionaries seize U.S. embassy and took 52 Americans hostage. They demanded Carter return the Shah to Iran and he refused. U.S. worked to free the hostages but they were held 444 days Significance: Demonstrated the limits America faced in the 1970s and Americans also realized the limits on their resources