1 – NIXON & WATERGATE

ECONOMY NIXON

STAGNANT ECONOMY By 1973 Inflation rate doubled Unemployment rate was up 50% Due to: Vietnam war Growing foreign competition Difficulty of finding jobs for new workers Nixon faced economic dilemma of Stagflation = Combination of high inflation with high unemployment Nixon decided to focus on controlling inflation Had little success

OIL AND GASOLINE - OPEC US depended on Middle East for petroleum oil Many of Middle Eastern countries belonged to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

OPEC PLACES EMBARGO OPEC as an oil cartel used oil as economic and political weapon 1973 – Yom Kippur War (Israel against Egypt and Syria) US sent aid to Israel (was longtime ally to US) Arab OPEC nations responded with an Embargo = cut off all oil sales to US 1974 – OPEC resumes selling oil to US but price quadrupled Worsened problem of inflation in US

FOREIGN POLICY NIXON

DÉTENTE Nixon’s and Kissinger’s (adviser for national security affairs) create Détente policy = Policy aimed at easing Cold War tensions between Soviet Union, China, and US Was all in interest of World Peace Bipolar World vs Multipolar World Bipolar = two super powers (US and Soviet Union) Multipolar = growing role of other countries (China, Japan, and Western Europe) Nixon and Kissinger wanted to move away from pressures between two superpowers and create world peace in a “multipolar” world

NIXON VISITS CHINA Start détente with China US lifted trade and travel restrictions US withdrew fleets defending Taiwan FEB 1972 = Nixon met with Mao Zedong “Let us start a long march together, not in lockstep, but on different roads leading to the same goal of building a world structure of peace and justice” - NIXON Nixon hoped strengthening ties with China = would encourage Soviets to pursue diplomacy WORKED!

NIXON VISITS SOVIET UNION Three months later, Nixon visits Soviet Union Soviet Summit = Nixon met with Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev Together signed Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty (SALT) = plan to limit nuclear arms the two nations had been working on for years

DOMESTIC NIXON

ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT Earth Day - April 22, 1970 Became grassroots for environmental effort Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Enforced pollution standards Prompted environmental research Coordinated anti-pollution activities with state and local gov’ts Endangered Species Act Est. measure for saving threatened animal species Vetoed by Nixon but still passed by Congress Clean Air Act = emission standards for factories & automobiles Clean Water Act = restricted pollutants into lakes and rivers

WATERGATE NIXON - DOMESTIC

WATERGATE SCANDAL Watergate scandal = an illegal break-in and attempts to block the investigation of it Showed that no one, not even the president, is above the law

WHAT HAPPENED Nixon campaign aides were determined to win his re-election by any means necessary Hired 5 men to raid & wiretap the Democratic party offices in a Washington, D.C., complex called Watergate

WIRETAPS Hoping to photograph files and place taps on phones, the men were caught by security guard Rather than forcing those involved to resign, the administration tried to hide the link to the White House

COVER-UP UNRAVELS After Nixon’s re-election  the cover-up began to unravel One of the burglars said that the White House was involved Soon 3 of Nixon’s top aides, who had been involved, resigned In Senate hearings, televised live, one of them said that Nixon had known of the cover-up

WHITE HOUSE TAPES Aide testified that there was taping system to record all conversations of Nixon in White House Nixon installed to help write memoirs When it was revealed that White House meetings had been tape recorded, the Senate committee demanded the tapes Nixon refused to turn them over Court battles over the tapes lasted a year

WHILE ALL THIS WAS HAPPENING… - SPIRO AGNEW Spiro Agnew = Nixon’s Vice President Forced to resign Took bribes from state contractors while governor of MD Continued to take bribes while at D.C.

TAPES CONT. In March 1974, a grand jury charged 7 Nixon aides with obstruction of justice perjury/lying under oath Nixon released more than 1,250 pages of taped conversations but withheld conversations on some key dates.

IMPEACHMENT In July 1974, the Supreme Court ordered the White House to release the tapes Three days later a House committee voted to impeach President Nixon If the full House of Representatives approved, Nixon would go to trial in the Senate If judged guilty = he would be removed from office

NIXON RESIGNS When tapes finally released = clear that Nixon knew of cover-up August 8, 1974 – Nixon resigned before being impeached He refused to admit guilt