Transcript 1971

February 8 – A forty-four day raid into Laos by South
Vietnamese soldiers is begun with the aid of United States air
and artillery.
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May 10, 1971- The Senate approves a Constitutional
Amendment, the
26th, that would lower the voting age from
21 to 18. House approval came on March 23. It was ratified by
the states by June 30 and received certification by President
Richard Nixon.
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June 30, 1971- the United States Supreme Court supports the
privilege of the Washington Post and the New York Times to
publish classified Pentagon papers about the Vietnam War,
supported by the articles of the First Amendment in the
Constitution. The New York Times had begun the publication of
the Pentagon papers on June 13.
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This Amendment was passed during the Vietnam War at a time when
there was national anti- war protest and social unrest. America was
solely divided over the war.
There were lots of protests over the draft or ,being called up for
military service. All males over the age of 18 were eligible for the
draft, but the minimum voting age was 21. It was widely considered
unfair that these 18-year-olds were eligible for military service, and
therefore old enough to fight and die for their country, but didn’t
have the right to vote.
After lots of political debate and a Supreme Court case (in which the
justices’ opinions were divided), Congress had at last lowered the
national voting age from 21 to 18. In the 26th Amendment, the
minimum age was set at 18 for both state and national elections. It
was ratified in July 1971.
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Daniel Ellsberg is a former U.S. Marine and military analyst who start
and constitutional crisis when he released the Pentagon Papers. The
papers consisted of the U.S. military's account of theater activities in
the Vietnam War. Ellsberg released top secret documents to The New
York Times. His release of the Pentagon Papers succeeded in
substantially eliminating public support for the Vietnam War. A
succession of related events, including Watergate, eventually led to
President Richard M. Nixon's resignation.
The Pentagon Papers were mostly an indictment of the Democratic
administration of Lyndon B. Johnson , but they fed the Nixon
administration's actions with finding information and document
leakers. They eventually led to the secret White House "Plumbers"
group and then to Watergate. In its turn, Watergate led to the first
resignation of an American president, Richard M. Nixon. The
Pentagon Papers contained plans to invade Vietnam, even though
President Johnson had told the public that he had no intention to
stage an invasion.
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The releasing of those papers not only was politically embarrassing
to the Nixon Administration but also to the Johnson and Kennedy
administration before him.
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February 21 - The “journey for peace” trip of the U.S. President
to Peking, China begins. The eight day journey by Richard M.
Nixon and meetings with Mao Zedong, unprecedented at the
time, began the process for normalization of relations with
China.
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March 30 - The biggest assault by North Vietnam troops
though the demilitarized zone in four years creates bombing
raids to start again by United States forces against Hanoi and
Haiphong on April 15, ending a four year cessation of those
raids.
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June 17 – The Watergate crisis starts when four men are
arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee
headquarters in the Watergate office building in Washington,
D.C. on the same day that Okinawa is returned from U.S.
control back to Japan.
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President Richard M. Nixon beat his Democratic challenger George S.
McGovern, winning 520 Electoral College votes to 17, and taking
over 60% of the popular vote.
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achievement of a peaceful relationship with communist China after
its 25 years of isolation by free-world nations.
Richard Nixon as President began to view communist nations not as
a unified ideology, but as individual entities, each with unique roles
in world affairs. He was convinced that communism would eventually
fail and felt that beyond the cold-war years, the world needed a
structure for peace in which free and communist nations would
coexist in a world of friendly and fair trade. He felt that peace with
communist China would weaken its ties with the Soviets, improve his
chances of ending the war in Vietnam, and contribute to world peace
and stability. His "Journey for Peace" was successful and
accomplished these goals.
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January 22 – the US Supreme Court claimed in Roe vs. Wade that a
women can not be restricted by a state in having an abortion in the
first six months of pregnancy.
January 27 – four part Vietnam peace pacts, the Paris Peace Accords,
were signed in Paris, France. The announcement of the military draft
ending also occurred on that date. The last U.S. military troops
would leave the war zone on March 29.
January 30 – two defendants in the Watergate break-in trial are
convicted. The remaining five defendants had pleaded guilty to the
crime two weeks before.
October 10 – Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigns amid charges of
tax evasion and is replaced by the appointment of Gerald R. Ford on
October 12.
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October 19 – the Arab Oil Embargo: Oil imports form Arab oilproducing nations are banned to the United States after the start of
the Arab-Israeli war, created the 1973 energy crisis. They would not
resume until March 18, 1974
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Roe vs. Wade is the historic Supreme Court decision overturning a
Texas interpretation of abortion law and making abortion legal in
the United States. The Roe v. Wade decision held that a woman, with
her doctor, could choose abortion in earlier months of pregnancy
without legal restriction, and with restrictions in later months, based
on the right to privacy.
The lower court's decision in this case was based on the Ninth
Amendment, a part of the Bill of Rights, stating that "the
enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be
construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people,"
protected a person's right to privacy. The Supreme Court chose to
base its decision on the Fourteenth Amendment. Roe vs. Wade was
decided primarily on the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution. A criminal statute that
did not take into account the stage of pregnancy or other interests
than the life of the mother was deemed a violation of Due Process.
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March 7 – legislation is signed by President Nixon creating the Big
South Fork National River and Recreation Area along the Cumberland
River in Kentucky and Tennessee
May 7 – impeachment hearing are began by the House Judiciary
Committee against President Richard M. Nixon in the Watergate
affair. On July 24, the United States Supreme Court rules that
President Nixon must turn over the sixty-four tapes of White House
conversations concerning the Watergate break-in.
July 27 – the first of three articles of impeachment against President
Richard M. Nixon is recommended in a 27-11 vote of the House
Judiciary Committee, charging that Nixon had been part of a
criminal conspiracy to obstruct justice in the Watergate affair
August 9 – President Richard M. Nixon resigns the office of the
presidency, avoiding the impeaching process and admitting his role
in the Watergate affair. He was replaced by Vice President Gerald R.
Ford, who, on September 8, 1974, pardoned Nixon for his role.
Nixon was the first president to ever resign from office.
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January 1 - The Watergate cover up trials of Mitchell, Haldeman, and
Ehrlichman are completed; all are found guilty of charge
April 29-30 – Communist forces complete their takeover of South
Vietnam, forcing the evacuation from Saigon of civilians from the
United States and the unconditional surrender of South Vietnam.
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November 2 - Challenger Jimmy Carter, a relatively unknown
performer Democratic governor form Georgia, best Gerald Ford in a
closely contested election. Carter received a slight majority of the
popular vote, as well as an Electoral College victory of 297 to 240
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January 21 - The majority of Vietnam War draft evaders, ten
thousand in number, are pardoned by President Jimmy Carter.
August 4 – the cabinet level Energy Department is created by Jimmy
Carter
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April 18 – the United States Senate votes to return the Panama Canal
back to Panama on December 31, 1999. A treaty for the return had
been signed on September 7 of the previous yesr, pending approval
by the U.S. Congress.
September 17 - the Camp David Peace Agreement between Israel
and Egypt is formulated in twelve days of secret negotiations at the
Camp avid retreat of the President. President Jimmy Carter witnessed
the sighing of the agreement between Israeli Prime Minister
Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at the White
House. Camp David Peace Accord private meeting between President
CARter, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Cyrus Vance, and Harold Brown,
September 15, 1978, Camp David, Maryland
October 16 – Pope John Paul II, Korol Wojtyla of Poland, is elected
Pope at Vatican City
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November 4 – the Iran Hostage Crisis begins when sixty- three
Americans are among ninety hostages taken at the American
embassy in Tehran by three thousand militant student followers of
Ayatollah Khomeini, who demand that the former shah return to Iran
to stand trial