Dr. Robbins’ Lecture PowerPoint for Ch 39 (American Pageant, 13th ed)

1. The Stalemated
Seventies
1968-1980
Guiding Questions & Lecture
Chapter 39
The American Pageant, 13th edition

2. Economic Stagnation
 How did the US economy change during
the 1970s?
 What were some of the factors leading to
economic stagnation?

3. Limited Growth + High Inflation
 The post-WWII economic boom ended in 1970s;
productivity slowed and inflation increased
 Main causes of slow-down and stagnation:
 Increased numbers of lower-skilled, lower-
paid women and teens in the work force
 Business faced costs of new machinery and
compliance with new government regulations
 Shift from manufacturing to services (harder
to measure)

4. More Causes
 Vietnam drained tax dollars and manpower.
 Inflation caused by high oil prices, & by war
and social program spending (which
increased money flow) without increased
taxes—too many dollars + too few goods to
buy.
 Other countries increased productivity and
therefore competition.

5. Nixon and Vietnam
 What was Nixon’s policy of Vietnamization?
 How was Nixon’s reaction to US concerns
divisive?
 What increased widespread US disgust with the
Vietnam War?
 Why did Nixon attack Cambodia, and what was
the result?
 Why did anti-Communist Nixon seek détente with
China and the USSR?

6.  “Vietnamization”: withdrawal of US troops from Vietnam
over time
 continued provision of US money, weapons, training & advice to
South Vietnam
 SV to fight their own war
 The Nixon Doctrine: the US would honor standing
commitments in Asia, but in future, no US troops would
fight on the ground
 Reacting to 1969 Vietnam Moratorium, Nixon went on
TV to speak to the “silent majority” in favor of the war
 increased divisions in US population
 Concerns over draft inequities, soldiers’ disaffection, My
Lai Massacre, etc.

7.  Nixon ordered US soldiers into Cambodia to root
out Vietcong…without consulting Congress.
 Reactions:
 National protests: Kent State (4 dead), Mississippi (2 dead)
 Congress repealed Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
 26th Amendment: voting age to 18
 Pentagon Papers (Daniel Ellsberg of NYT):
revealed the full story on Vietnam to national
disgust

8. Kent State University, Ohio, 1970

9. Napalm Attack, South Vietnam, 1972

10.  In 1972, anti-communist Nixon sought
détente with China, then with USSR.
 Led to:
 Renewal of nuclear arms control talks: ABM, SALT
 At same time, renewal of missile defense race
 De-iced the Cold War
 Soviets and Chinese later stand by when bombing
in Vietnam increases in 1973

11. Nixon at Home
 How did the Supreme Court express liberal
social ideas?
 How did Nixon try to conservatize the
Court?
 How did Nixon expand government social
services and help the environment?
 Why did Nixon take the U.S. of the gold
standard?

12. Liberal Court
 Liberal court under Chief Justice Earl Warren:
 Since 1953
 Griswold v. Connecticut—right of privacy (birth control)
 Gideon v. Wainwright—right of criminal defendants to legal
counsel
 Escobedo and Miranda—right to remain silent, etc.
 New York Times v. Sullivan—libel suits only if malice
 Engel v. Vitale, etc.—against required prayers in public
schools

13. Nixon at Home
 Sought to conservatize the Supreme Court.
 Warren Burger named chief justice, not as
conservative as Nixon expected
 Expansion of social services
 AFDC (Aid to families with dependent children)
 SSI (Supplemental Security Income—old, disabled)
 Expanded affirmative action (Philadelphia Plan),
perhaps unintentionally
 EPA (influence from Rachel Carson), OSHA

14. More Nixon at Home
 Took US off the gold standard and
devalued the dollar in reaction to inflation
 With promise of peace in Vietnam, won with
landslide in 1972
 Peace with honor was a farce
 Heavy bombing of NV brought them back to
table
 Cease-fire: US to withdraw troops, get POWs,
SV would get some US support; election
planned; NV could keep some troops in SV

15. Crisis After Crisis
 What was the truth behind the lies on
Cambodia?
 Why did Congress pass the War Powers
Act, and what did it achieve?
 What caused the Arab Oil Embargo, and
what were the results for the U.S.?
 How did Watergate lead to Nixon’s
downfall?

16. Crisis After Crisis
 Outright lies on Cambodia revealed at the same
time as tapes
 War Powers Act of 1973
 Arab Oil Embargo of 1974—reaction to US’s
Israel policy
 Oil pipeline, 55 speed limit, alternative sources, nuclear
power, fuel efficiency

17. Watergate
 CREEP—Republican re-election committee
 engaged in dirty-tricks campaigning
 caught burgling the Democratic headquarters at Watergate
 VP Spiro Agnew removed for kickbacks
 Congress replaces him with Gerald Ford
 Cover-up and intimidation followed at the highest
levels (Nixon’s aides, FBI, CIA)
 1973-1974 hearings—John Dean reveals all
 including Nixon’s prior knowledge which he had denied
 corroborated by tapes from Oval Office

18. After Nixon
 Why was Gerald Ford the first unelected
president?
 How did the Vietnam War finally end?
 How were women’s rights supported in the
1970’s?
 What happened to school integration and
affirmative-action in the courts?

19. An Unelected President
 Ford selected, never elected
 When Nixon’s VP Agnew was forced to resign for
bribe-taking, Congress selected Congressman
Gerald Ford to replace him
 When Nixon himself resigned during Watergate
scandal, Ford became president
 Ford quickly pardoned Nixon of all crimes

20. Foreign Affairs
 Helsinki Accords of July 1975
 Ford continued policy of détente w/Soviet Union
 US & 34 other nations confirmed Soviet-dictated
boundaries in Eastern Europe and officially
ended WW2
 USSR soon ignored human rights promises
made as part of deal & Cold War resumed

21. More foreign affairs
 Vietnam Collapses
 Ford’s attempts to maintain weapons shipments to SV
rejected by Congress
 South Vietnam quickly fell to Vietcong
 Remaining Americans & 140,000 South Vietnamese
were dramatically airlifted out of Saigon, April 29, 1975
 Costs to U.S.
 $118 billion; 56,000 dead & 300,000 wounded
 Dealt severe blow to American standing in the world &
weakened U.S. economy

22. The Women’s Movement
 Title IX of Education Amendments passed by
Congress in 1972
 Outlawed sex discrimination in any federally assisted
education program, including sports
 Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
 passed by Congress but died after 10 year fight,
 failed to gain state support necessary for constitutional
amendment
 fought by anti-feminists such as Phyllis Schlafly, the
Catholic Church & the religious right

23. Court Cases
 Anti-discrimination cases favoring women
 Reed v. Reed (1971)
 Frontiero v. Richardson (1973)
 Abortion Rights
 Roe v. Wade (1973): woman’s decision to
end a pregnancy protected by the
constitutional right of privacy

24. Racial Issues
 Limits on forced busing for desegregation
 Millikin v. Bradley (1974)
 Desegregation plans could not require movement of
students across school district lines
 Controversies over “affirmative action”
 Regents of U.C. v. Bakke (1978): suit brought by
white student rejected by U.C. Davis
 Admissions preferences could not be given on basis
of race alone, tho’ race could play a role in creating a
diverse student body

25. Carter’s Presidency
 What was accomplished at the Camp David
Accords in 1978?
 What contributed to high inflation during
Carter’s presidency?
 How did Carter respond to the oil crisis?
 Describe Soviet-U.S. relations under Carter.
 How was the U.S. involved with events in
Iran, and what was the result?

26. Jimmy Carter
 Democrat elected as an outsider to “clean
up” Washington D.C. after Watergate
 Born-again Baptist & former governor of Georgia
 Remained an outsider & had trouble with a
Democratic Congress

27. Carter’s Successes
 Camp David Accords (1978)
 Carter brokered a successful agreement between Israel’s
Begin and Egypt’s Sadat
 Israel to withdraw territory won in 1967 & Egypt to respect
Israel’s borders
 Diplomatic relations with China resumed
 Treaties to turn over Panama Canal to Panama
 Set up Department of Energy; cut taxes

28. Carter’s Challenges
 Soviets & Cubans supporting revolutionary
groups in Africa
 Arms control deals stalled
 U.S. inflation above 13% by 1979
 Increasing reliance on imported oil
 Shrinking dollar hurt those on fixed incomes
 Growing budget deficits
 High interest rates (“prime rate” went to 20%!!)

29. Carter’s Crises
 Iranian revolution disrupts oil supplies
 OPEC raises oil prices: long gas lines & inflation
 Carter’s “program” during Oil Crisis
 Criticized Americans and “cleaned out” his Cabinet
 SALT II fails without Senate’s support
 Iranian hostage crisis
 American Embassy staff taken hostage & held for 444
days; demands for Shah’s return; failed rescue attempt
 Soviets invade Afghanistan
 US embargo of USSR & boycott of Moscow Olympics