Nixon, Ford and Carter Administrations • Democratic candidate: Hubert H Humphrey (liberal) •Republican candidate: Richard M Nixon (more conservative) - Nixon won 302 electoral votes and the election • • • • • Nixon’s re-election Ran against George McGovern Nixon sabotaged his opponents This is now known as “dirty tricks” Nixon won by a landslide • He was -a lawyer -Naval officer in WWII -anti-communist -republican congressman -vice president under Eisenhower -He lost the 1960 Presidential election to JFK • Ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1962 • First Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty • year agreement that froze number of missiles made • It was between the United States and the Soviet Union • Former FBI agent apart of the “Plumbers” - Plumbers is Nixon’s approved organization group to stop government leaks • Involved in Watergate Scandal • List of prominent people who were seen as unsympathetic to the Nixon Administration • List includes - politicians, actors, comedians, etc • National Security Advisor and Secretary of State under Richard Nixon • He admired realpolitik – a policy to make decisions based on maintaining own strength rather than following moral principles • Impeachment is - to charge a public official with wrong doing in office • Congress had begun the process to determine if they should impeach Nixon because of the Watergate • Nixon resigned before being impeached CREEP • Committee to re-elect the president through legal and illegal methods • Nixon’s funding organization • Actively involved in the Watergate scandal Stagflation/ Inflation • Stagflation-Inflation and unemployment both rise, while the economy remained the same • Inflation- a rise in the level of prices in goods and services • Carter had trouble controlling inflation without hurting economic growth • Tried to stimulate economy by Government deficit spending to prevent a recession Carters Background • Southerner, family from rural south • No national political experience • Different from recent predecessors in White House • Graduate of U.S naval academy • Engineer officer on nuclear submarines • Took over family’s peanut farm and warehouse when his father died • Entered politics in 1962 Fall of Saigon • In 1973 President Nixon signed a cease fire agreement ending U.S military involvement in Vietnam • Without American Military aid Saigon was unable to fight off North Vietnamese attacks Carter’s Foreign Policy • Support for human rights • Relations with the Soviet Union • Solutions to problems in Middle East Carter’s Judicial appointments • Appointed a record number of women and minorities to government positions Draft amnesty programs • Carter granted amnesty (general pardon) to those who had evaded the draft during the Vietnam War Iran Hostage Crisis • Revolution that broke out in Iran on January 1979 • Led by Muslim fundamentalists • For 444 days, revolutionaries imprisoned 52 American hostages in different locations • Prisoners were blindfolded and moved from place to place • Carter send a rescue mission to retrieve the hostages National Energy Act • • Carter Established it in 1978 It affected oil and gas Included these directives: Tax sales of inefficient, “gas-guzzling,” cars Convert new utilities to fuels other then oil or natural gas Deregulate prices for domestic oil and natural gas Provide tax credits or loans to homeowners for using solar energy Fund research for alternative energy sources Leonid Brezhnev • Soviet Leader • Nixon and Brezhnev agreed to work together to explore space, eased longstanding trade limits, and complete negotiations on a weapons pact Love Canal • Located in Niagara Falls, New York • Chemical company dumped 21,000 tons of toxic waste • A school was built over the area despite the knowledge of the toxic waste • It spawned a huge controversy Malaise Days • Carter’s “Crisis of Confidence” and “Malaise” speech • Carter talked about the confidence loss in the American people, which basically means that the American people did not trust the government Panama Canal • Built in 1914 • Used transport goods from Atlantic to Pacific • Carter agreed to turn control over to the Panamanians at the end of the 20th century Regents of the University of California v Bakke • Court case involving Bakke and University of California • Slots were opened for disadvantaged minority groups There was no rule for disadvantaged Caucasians • The court ruled in favor of Bakke June 23, 1978 Salt II • Negotiations between Carter and Brezhnev • It was an agreement to limit nuclear weapons between US and Soviet Union • Never ratified- fell apart when Soviets invade Afghanistan Affirmative Action • It took race, ethnicity, and gender into consideration to promote equality • Benefits diversity in all levels of society • People were against it because they felt like people were chosen because of their ethnic background