Transcript Nixon, Ford and Carter

Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan
Nixon Domestic Policy
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"New Federalism” - returning power to the
states, reversing the flow of power and
resources from states and communities to
Washington, and start power and resources
flowing back to people all over America.
Involved a 5-year plan to distribute $30 billion
of federal revenues to states
Nixon Domestic Policy
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Stagflation
Removing the U.S. currency from the Gold
Standard
AFDC
Burger Court
Health and Safety issues
Nixon Domestic Policy
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Wage and price controls - 1971 - To curb inflation, President
Nixon froze prices, wages, and revenues for 90 days.
Watergate
Committee for the Reelection of the President (CREEP)
White House "Plumbers“
Watergate tapes
H. R. Haldeman, John D. Ehrlichman, John W. Dean and
John Mitchell
Impeachment proceedings
Nixon resigned on August 9.1974
Nixon’s Foreign Policy
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Henry Hissinger
The Nixon Doctrine – Vietnamization, Yom Kippur
War, India and Pakistan, Chile
Ping Pong Diplomacy
Détente
SALT
Arab oil embargo - Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Gerald Ford
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Whip Inflation Now (WIN) Unemployment and
inflation climbing
Vetoes Congress 39 times over spending
1975- S. Vietnam falls, Khmer Rouge takes over
Cambodia, Mayaquez incident
25th amendment
1976 election – Reagan vs. Ford – Rep. primary
The Helsinki Accord
Jimmy Carter
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Outsider, former governor of Georgia,
graduate of U.S. Naval Academy
Devout Christian, Promised never to lie to the
American people
Economic policy
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Cut domestic programs
Deregulated airlines and trucking industry
Raised interest rates and another oil crisis
Truth Hurts
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Amnesty for draft dodgers
Nuclear power ( Three Mile Island)
Love Canal
The “Malaise Speech”
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A “crisis of confidence”
Pointed the finger at the American people for
being self-indulgent and vapid consumers
Carter and Foreign Policy
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SALT II
Panama Canal Treaty
Camp David Accords -Menachem Begin, Anwar Sadat
Iranian Crisis, the Shah, the Ayatollah Khomeini
(444 Days)
Afghanistan, 1979 - Olympic Boycott, 1980
Ties foreign policy with human rights
Carter’s presidency is considered a disaster
The Rise of Conservatism
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Neo-cons – the atmosphere of the 1960’s had
eroded moral standards and the respect for
authority.
Hard core anti-communist (forget détente)
Lower taxes, less government interference
Tough on criminals
Rise of the religious right (The Moral Majority)
Anti-ERA (Phyllis Schlafly)
The Tax Revolt
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Anti environmental regulations
Government regulations raised business cost
and eliminates jobs
California’s Prop 13 – ban on increase
property taxes
Sagebrush revolution (Western States over
control of Federal lands)
Ronald Reagan
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Carter’s popularity down to 20% in 1980
“Let’s Make America Great Again” and ”The
era of self-doubt is over”
Called for states’ rights, end of welfare
cheats, anti-ERA, and family values
Received 91% of the electoral vote and 51%
of the vote
Reagan Revolution
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Brought together many groups
Excellent public speaker
U.S. a beacon of liberty and freedom
Wanted to free the government from special
interest
“Economic freedom “ Reaganomics – Trickle
down economics
Supply side economics
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Reaganomics policy based on the theory that
allowing companies the opportunity to make profits,
and encouraging investment, will stimulate the
economy and lead to higher standards of living for
everyone.
Argued that tax cuts can be used stimulate
economic growth.
Move money into the hands of the people and they
will invest, thus creating prosperity.
Reaganomics
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Reduced top tax from 70% to 50%, by 1986 had
dropped the tax rate to 28%
Cutback on government regulatory enforcement at
the workplace and the environment
Trickle down – Higher interest rates with lower taxes
on the wealthy
Anti-labor – air traffic controllers, shifting of
manufacturing jobs overseas
A Second Gilded Age?
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Merging and downsizing of companies
“Greed is healthy” – Ivan Boesky
Yuppies – young urban professionals high
income conspicuous consumers
DINKs
Savings and Loan collapse
Increased military spending and lower taxes?
Debt tripled during the Reagan years
Foreign Affairs
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The Evil Empire
SDI (strategic defense initiative)
NATO – short range missiles
Granada
Libya
Lebanon bombing of the Marines barracks
Support of totalitarian 3rd world governments
if anti-communist
Iran-Contra Scandal
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1984 Congress banned aid to the Contras
1985 Iraq and Iran at war
U.S. sells weapons secretly to Iran to free
American hostages
Reagan agrees to skim parts of the sells to
arm and supply the Contras. They do this for
2 years
Reagan and Gorbachev
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Gorbachev works to reform Soviet Union and
its economy
Glasnost (political openness) and perestroika
(economic reform)
Work on arms reduction, convinces the
Russians to pull out of Afghanistan