Transcript Turbulent Times

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Country becomes enveloped in one crisis
after another.
President Nixon must resign in 1974 because
of the Watergate scandal.
President Ford is ill - equipped to handle
America’s problems.
Nation turns to small town America for it’s
next President… Jimmy Carter.
Energy Crisis, Hostage Crisis, unemployment,
chemical disasters and nuclear accidents
grip the country.
Richard Nixon, 1972
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37th President of the United
States.
Elected in 1968 on a promise
to end the Vietnam War.
A Shy, remote man, he had
struggled through a 20 year
political career with mixed
success.
Nixon chose a secretive and
closed style for his
administration.
He filled his staff up with
people that he trusted and
wanted to keep within the
circle.
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Inflation had doubled in the United States largely
because of the cost of the Vietnam War.
› Nixon began to consider deficit spending as a way to
counter the effects the inflation had on the country.
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OPEC - they announced in 1973 that they were
raising oil prices by 50% per barrel on oil shipped to
the USA.
› Gas prices go from 25 cents per gallon to 65 cents per gallon
› Cost of other goods goes up as well, bread, meat, etc.,…
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Violence - Nixon had campaigned with promise to
stop violence in America.
› Gave speeches in which he called demonstrators “bums”
› He discouraged any and all protests against the United
States.
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Vice President - resigned because of a scandal in
which he was convicted of tax evasion and
coercion.
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June 17, 1972 - Five men who broke into the Democratic
National Headquarters.
Their arrest eventually uncovered a White House-sponsored
plan of espionage against political opponents
Attorney General John Mitchell, White House Counsel John
Dean, White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman, White House
Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs John Ehrlichman, and
President Nixon himself all resigned because of the scandal
The “Burglars”
•April 30, 1973, Nixon accepted the resignation of
Haldeman and Ehrlichman and announced the dismissal
of Dean.
•U.S. Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resigned as
well.
•The new attorney general, Elliot Richardson, appointed
a special prosecutor, Harvard Law School professor
Archibald Cox, to conduct a full-scale investigation of the
Watergate break-in.
•May 1973, the Senate Select Committee on
Presidential Activities opened hearings, with Senator
Sam Ervin of North Carolina as chairman.
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Dean testified that Mitchell had ordered the break-in
and that a major attempt was under way to hide
White House involvement.
› He claimed that the president had authorized payments to
the burglars to keep them quiet.
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The Nixon White House denied the accusations.
› Testimony before Congress revealed the existence of Tapes
made in the Oval Office which recorded all of the
conversations that Nixon had while President.
› Congress immediately subpoenaed the Tapes and Nixon
refused to release them claiming “National Security”.
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Nixon responds by dismissing the special prosecutor
and trying to shield the tapes from release.
Nixon tried to appeal the
release of the tapes, but
eventually gave them to a
Federal Judge.
 Most of the conversations
that were needed were
missing from the tapes and
there was a mysterious 18 1/2
minute gap in one of them.
 March 1974 - Erhlichman,
Haldeman Mitchell and
others were indicted and
Nixon was name as an “unindicted co-conspirator”
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April 1974 - Nixon releases edited transcripts, but
Congress says that it does not comply with the request!
› 64 separate Presidential conversations were subpoenaed.
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July 1974 - Supreme Court rules that Nixon must release
the tapes!
› Congress authorizes three articles of Impeachment against Nixon
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August 9, 1974 - Nixon
resigns the Presidency.
› First President to ever do
so!
Gerald R. Ford becomes
the President of the United
States.
› He had replaced Spiro
Agnew in in 1972.
› He is the only President
to hold Office as VP and
President without being
elected to the office.
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38th President of the United States.
› From Michigan, had been a College
football star,
› Congressmen and Senator prior to
appointment as VP in 1972.
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He chose Nelson Rockefeller as VP
› First time in history that both of the top
offices were held by people not
elected to those posts!
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Ford pardoned Nixon for “any
crimes he may have committed” in
Sept of 1974.
Public outcry went up across
America.
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39th President of the USA.
› Defeated Gerald Ford in the
election of 1976.
› America was making a choice
for old fashioned American
values.
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Carter had no previous
National political
experience.
He was a one term
Governor from the state of
Georgia.
Took Office during a difficult
time in history of America.
Had been a peanut farmer
prior to entering politics.
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Inflation - Country is gripped by inflation that hovers
around 9%.
› Average people could not afford to live in America.
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Outsider - Carter did not have a grip on the role of
the Presidency. He tried to portray himself as a
poor country boy unsure about the ways of the
world.
› He often appeared to be unsure of himself and was
uncomfortable dealing with Congressional procedures.
› His staff was composed of people with no experience in
the Federal Government in many cases and that hurt him.
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Family - his brother Billy Carter was a drunken,
moronic and self serving idiot who had no problem
going on national talk shows and embarrassing
himself!
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Human Rights - he supported hunger, medical and
humanitarian efforts throughout the world. He
made this the cornerstone of his foreign policy.
Middle East - Carter negotiated the Camp David
Accords which settled a long standing conflict
between Egypt and Israel in 1978.
Panama Canal - Carter fought for the Senate to
ratify treaties which would turn over control of this
to the Govt. of Panama in the year 2000.
China - built on success of Nixon and opened up
Chinese markets to American businesses.
Salt II - Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty with the
USSR. It limited the number of nuclear warheads
that each country could have and deploy around
the World.
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Jan 1979 - Revolution breaks
out in the country of Iran.
People of Iran overthrow the
Govt. led by the Shah of Iran.
Radical leader named
Ayatollah Khomeini returns
from exile in France and
becomes the new leader.
Anti-American protests are
everywhere.
Oct. 1979 - Carter lets the
Shah enter the US for
medical treatment!
Nov 1979 - Radical Islamic
students overrun the US
embassy to protest the
Shah’s exile in the USA.
 Sixty Six Americans were
taken hostage.
 They released a few that
were sick and needed
medical attention, but held
52 of them for 444 days.
 It was a disaster for the
Carter administration.
 Many hostages were
abused and tied up for
days at a time.
 Some went through mock
executions!
 Carter refused to negotiate!
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Carter tried to force the release of the hostages by
freezing Iranian assets in the United States.
Khomeini and his followers said that they would
release the hostages if the Shah were returned to
them to face charges.
Operation Eagle claw -Carter authorized a rescue
mission. It failed miserably when two helicopters
crashed in the desert outside of Tehran killing 8
servicemen.
It appeared to most Americans that we had a
wimp for a President!
They were finally released in January of 1981 on
the day of inauguration of the new President.
Habitat for
Humanity
 Nobel Peace Prize
winner 2002
 World diplomat
involved in various
charitable
organizations
around the world
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