The Stalemated Seventies
I. Sources of Stagnation
a. Economic Situation in the 1970s
i. The entire decade of the 1970s did not have another productivity advance equivalent to even one year’s progress in the preceding two decades
ii. The median income of the average American family stagnated in the two decades after 1970
iii. The 70s generation faced the prospect of a living standard that would be lower than that of their parents
b. What Caused the Slump In Productivity?
i. Women and Teenagers
1. Increasing presence in the work force, who had fewer skills than adult male workers and were less likely to take the full-time, long-term jobs where skills might be developed
ii. New Machinery
1. Declining investment in new machinery
iii. Compliance With Government Laws
1. Industries had to comply with safety and health regulations
iv. Shift From Manufacturing To Services
1. Productivity is more difficult to measure in services than manufacturing
v. Vietnam War
1. Drained tax money needed for improvements in education, science, and manufacturing
vi. Inflation
1. Caused by rising oil prices
2. Caused
by Johnson’s insistence on
3. Printing money for those things without collecting more taxes increased the money supply. When too much money chases too few goods, prices rise
vii. Old Factories
1. The competitive advantage of many major American businesses after WWII had small incentive to modernize plants and seek more efficient methods of production
2. The defeated German and Japanese people had meanwhile built new factories with the most up-to-date technology and management techniques. By the 1970s, their efforts made them dominate industries like steel, automobiles, and consumer electronics
II. Nixon “Vietnamizes” the War
a. Nixon’s Characteristics
i. Was solitary and suspicious by nature
ii. Harbored bitter resentments against liberals, who he believed had cast him into political darkness for much of the preceding decade
iii. Had a broad knowledge and thoughtful expertise in foreign affairs
b. Vietnamization
i.
Plan was to withdraw the 540,000
ii. The South Vietnamese, with American money, weapons, training, and advice, could then gradually take over the burden of fighting their own war
iii. Nixon Doctrine – the U.S. would honor its existing defense commitments, but that in the future, Asians and others would have to fight their own wars without the support of large amounts of American ground troops
iv. Between 1968 and 1972, American troop strength dropped from 543,000 to 39,000
c. Dove Reaction To Vietnamization
i. Most demanded a prompt and complete withdrawal
ii. They staged a massive protest on the Boston Common in October 1969 with 100,000 people and 50,000 next to the White House
d. Nixon’s Reaction To Protests
i. Tried to appeal to the “silent majority” who he believed supported the war
ii. Unleashed the vice-president to attack the “nattering nabobs of negativism” (doves)
iii. Called student antiwar demonstrators “bums”
e. Reality of the Vietnam War
i. By January 1970, the Vietnam War:
1. Was the longest in American history
2. 40,000 killed
3. 250,000 wounded
4. 3rd most costly war
5. Became very unpopular
ii. Soldier fought against:
1. Vietnamese enemy
2. Booby traps
3. Hot jungles
4. Couldn’t tell friend from foe among the Vietnamese peasants
iii. Drug abuse, mutiny, and sabotage dulled the army’s fighting edge. Morale was low
f. My Lai Massacre
i.
In March 1968, a
ii. Lieutenant William L. Calley, Jr. was in charge. He and his troops had already taken heavy losses and were worn down by the tensions, terrors, and frustrations of fighting a guerilla war. He ordered other soldiers to round up civilians and shoot them. Anywhere from 200-400 died
iii. It only stopped when a helicopter pilot, Hugh Thompson, saw what was going on and intervened. He told his door gunner to shoot the American troops if the attack on the civilians continued
iv. Originally their superiors covered up the story. When it became public in 1969, it shocked Americans at home. Calley was given a life sentence - scapegoat, 20-year sentence, out after 3 years on good behavior. Thompson was given the Soldier’s Medal – the highest military honor for bravery unrelated to fighting an enemy
III.
a. Invasion
of
i.
Nixon expanded the war when he bombed and invaded
ii.
His goal was to clear out Communist camps there, from
which the enemy was mounting attacks on
iii.
Nixon’s actions brought chaos and civil war in
b.
i.
After the invasion of
ii.
In response, the governor of
iii. 4 died while 9 others were wounded
c.
i.
At
ii. A confrontation between students and police left two students dead and 11 wounded
iii. The outbreaks of violence against students shocked the nation
d. More Antiwar Discontent
i. Antiwar protestors were partly please when:
1. Congress
repealed the
2. 26th Amendment was passed in 1971 – lowering the voting age to 18
ii.
In June 1971, The
New York Times publishing articles based on a classified government study
of the
iii. They revealed that government officials had lied to Congress and the American people about the war. Such revelations shocked the public and gave a boost to the growing antiwar movement
iv.
By then, most of the public began turning against the
war. They were shocked at the violence
that went on in
e. End
of the Conflict in
i.
In 1975,
ii. In total, 1.5 million Cambodians (1/4 of the population) were shot, while the rest died of starvation, disease, or mistreatment in labor camps
IV.
Nixon’s Détente With Beijing and
a. Chinese-Soviet Dispute
i.
The Soviet Union and
ii.
Nixon believed that the Chinese-Soviet tension gave the
b. Henry Kissinger
i. Kissinger came from a Jewish family that fled Nazi Germany in 1938, when he was 15. In 1969, after becoming a college professor at Harvard, Nixon gave him a job as his national security advisor
ii. They got along very well and had similar personalities. Both liked to keep information secret and make decisions by themselves
iii.
Four years later, Nixon appointed Henry Kissinger to
Secretary of State. By that time,
Kissinger had become one of the most admired people in
c. The
i. Timeline To Nixon’s Visit With China
1. January 1970 - Chinese and American ambassadors met for the first time in years
2. October
1970 – In a first by an American President, Nixon referred to
3. March
1971 - The U.S. gov’t lifted restrictions on travel
to
4. April 1971 – The American table-tennis team accepted a Chinese invitation to visit the mainland, beginning what was called “ping-pong diplomacy”
5. June
1971 – The U.S. ended its 21-year embargo on trade with
6. February
1972 – For the first time, a President visited communist
ii.
Why
1. Nixon
wanted have good relations with
a. Although
the
b. Most
other major countries by then had recognized
c. Press coverage of the trip would give him a boost at home
iii.
1. Enjoyed toasts
2. Visited
the
3. The two nations agreed to “normalize” their relationship (détente)
4.
5. Much of this was kept secret from Congress
d. The
i.
Nixon traveled to the
ii. The Soviets were ready to talk because:
1. They needed American foodstuffs
2. Were
alarmed over an intensified rivalry with an American-backed
iii. He and the Soviet leader, Brezhnev:
1. Made
a 3-year agreement in which the food-rich
2. Agreed to work together to explore space and eased longstanding trade limits
3. Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty I (SALT I) –
a. It included a five-year agreement that held the number of ICBMs and SLBMs at 1972 levels
b. Although SALT I was an important step forward in eliminating nuclear arms, it did little to limit the number of warheads the 2 nations already possessed or stopped them from improving nuclear weapons systems in other ways
c. Both started developing MIRVs (multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles – designed to overcome any defense by “saturating” it with large numbers of warheads, several to a rocket)
d. However, just the notion that the two nations were talking was a step in the right direction
iv. Nixon’s actions helped to lead to an end of the Cold War and increased détente
e. The
i.
Nixon opposed the election of Marxist Salvador Allende to the presidency of
ii. His administration put an embargo on Allende and the CIA worked covertly to undermine the legitimately elected president
iii.
Allende died during a Chilean
army attack on his headquarters in 1973, causing many people to believed that the
V. The Supreme Court
a. Chief Justice Earl Warren
i.
Was appointed Chief Justice of the
ii.
Under
b. Baker v. Carr (1962)
i.
ii.
Charles Baker, a
iii. Baker claimed that his vote had been diluted
iv. The Supreme Court held that the political question would be heard, opening the way for numerous voting suits
c. Engel v. Vitale (1962)
i. Held that a prayer created by the New York State Board of Regents was unconstitutional
ii. Even though this prayer was “non-denominational,” the Court held that state-sponsored prayer of any type went against the First Amendment’s separation of church and State
d. Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
i. Supreme Court held that all persons charged with a felony (later expanded to other charges) must be provided legal counsel
e. School
District of
i. Over whether a State pass a law requiring each public school day to begin with readings from the Bible
ii. The Supreme Court said no because public schools cannot sponsor religious exercises
f.
Heart of Atlanta Motel v.
i. A motel operator refused to serve an African American customer
ii. The Supreme Court upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination in schools, places of work, voting sites, public accommodations, and public areas
g. Escobedo
v.
i. Supreme Court held that the police must honor a person’s request to have an attorney present during interrogation
h. New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
i. The Supreme Court ruled that public figures could sue for libel only if they could prove that “malice” had motivated their defamers
ii. This opened the door for freewheeling criticism of the public actions as well as the private lives of politicians and other officials
i. Reynolds v. Sims (1964)
i. Ruled that the State legislatures, both upper and lower houses, would have to be reapportioned according to the human population, not cows or anything else
ii. States’ righters were very upset at the decision
j.
Griswold v.
i. The Supreme Court struck down a State law that prohibited the use of contraceptives, even among married couples
ii. The Court proclaimed a “right of privacy” that soon provided the basis for decisions protecting women’s abortion rights (some critics say this “right to privacy” was invented and is not in the 14th Amendment or anywhere else in the Constitution)
k. Miranda
v.
i. The Supreme Court provided an arrested person with the right to:
1. Remain silent
2. Be told that whatever he said could be used against him
3. To be represented by an attorney
4. To have a lawyer even if he could not afford one
5. To one phone call to obtain a lawyer
l.
Furman v.
i. The Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional unless fairly applied (judges and juries were given too much discretion in deciding the death penalty)
ii. To apply the death penalty fairly, there must first be a trial to settle the issue of guilt or innocence and a second hearing to decide whether the circumstances justify a sentence of death
m. President Nixon’s Supreme Court Appointments
i. The Court had several vacancies by the end of the 1960s
ii. Nixon sought appointees who would:
1. Strictly interpret the Constitution
2. Cease “meddling” in social and political questions
3. Not cadre to radicals or criminals
iii.
Nixon appointed conservative Warren E. Burger of
iv.
Once seated on the bench, Burger continued the
“liberal” rulings of the
VI. Nixon On the Home Front
a. Welfare Programs
i. Expanded welfare programs like:
1. Food Stamps
2. Medicaid
3. Aid to families with Dependent Children (AFDC)
ii. Added Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to assist the indigent () aged, blind, and disabled
iii. Guaranteed automatic Social Security cost-of-living increases to protect the elderly against inflation
b.
i. Required construction-trade unions to establish “goals and timetables” for the hiring of blacks
ii. It required thousands of employers to meet hiring quotas or to establish “set-asides” for minority subcontractors
c. Affirmative Action and Reverse Discrimination
i. Lyndon Johnson had intended affirmative action to protect individuals against discrimination. Nixon now transformed and escalated affirmative action into a program that conferred privileges on certain groups
ii. Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971) – prohibited intelligence tests or other devices that had the effect of excluding minorities or women from certain jobs. The Court’s ruling strongly suggested to employers that the only sure protection against charges of discrimination was to hire minority workers or admit minority students in proportion to their presence in the population
iii. These actions opened employment and educational opportunities for minorities and women
iv. Others charged that this new affirmative action acted as “reverse discrimination” imposed by executive order and judicial decision, not by democratically elected representatives
d. Environmental Actions
i. In 1970, created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA)
ii. Author Rachel Carson gave the environmental movement a huge boost in 1962 when she published Silent Spring, an effective piece that exposed the poisonous effect of pesticides. This helped initiate the environmental movement
iii. Clean Air Act of 1970 and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 were passed
iv. All made notable progress on reducing automobile emissions and cleaning up waterways and toxic waster sites
v. After 1972, Congress refused to pay for any more irrigation projects
e. Inflation
i. Afraid of creeping inflation, Nixon imposed a 90-day price freeze in 1971
ii.
He took the
VII. The Election of 1972
a. Southern Strategy
i. To achieve a solid majority in 1972, he:
1. Appointed conservative Supreme Court justices
2. Softly applied civil rights
3. Opposed school busing to achieve racial balance
ii.
The Southern Strategy worked, as the only issue was
b. Nixon
and
i. Four years had passed since Nixon had promised to end the war
ii. Fighting escalated to alarming levels –
1. North Vietnamese were armed with foreign tanks
2. Nixon
launched massive bombing attacks on strategic centers (like
3. Ordered
the dropping of contact mines to blockade the major harbors of
c. Democratic Nomination
i.
Nominated
ii.
He promised to pull the remaining American troops out
of
iii. His appeal to racial minorities, feminists, leftists, and youth alienated the most powerful voters, the working class
iv.
The discovery that running mate and
d. Results of the Election of 1972
i. Nixon won:
1. 47.2 million-29.2 million
2. 520-17
ii. McGovern had counted on a large number of young people’s votes, but less than half the 18-21 group even bothered to register to vote
e. Peace
In
i.
After the election, Nixon escalated bombing of
ii. This forced the North Vietnamese to agree to cease-fire arrangements on January 23, 1973
iii. Nixon said the cease-fire agreements amounted to “peace with honor”
iv.
VIII.
The Secret Bombing of
a. Revelations
About
i.
In July 1973,
ii. American officials, including the president, had sworn that Cambodian neutrality was being respected. As a result, people began to have doubts in their government
iii.
After the
b. What
Happened To
i.
In 1975,
ii. In total, 2 million Cambodians (1/4 of the population) were shot, while the rest died of starvation, disease, or mistreatment in labor camps
iii. He was forced from power after a Vietnamese invasion in 1978, followed by a military occupation that lasted for a decade
c. War Powers Act of 1973
i. Passed over Nixon’s veto, it required the president to:
1. Within 48 hours after committing American forces to combat abroad, the President must report to Congress what he is doing and why
2. In 60 days, if Congress doesn’t approve or extend the time, then the troops must be withdrawn. 30 more days are allowed for the safe withdrawal of troops
3. Congress may end combat commitment at any time by passing a concurrent resolution – a statement of a position by both houses of Congress (doesn’t have force of law)
ii. New Isolationism – the War Powers Act was the manifestation of what came to be called “New Isolationism,” a mood of caution and restraint in the conduct of the nation’s foreign affairs after the Vietnam War
iii. Draft Ended – In January 1973, the draft was retained on a standby basis; future members were to be volunteers
IX. The Arab Oil Embargo and the Energy Crisis
a. Attack
In the
i.
In October 1973, the Syrians and Egyptians surprise
attacked
ii.
Kissinger, the new Secretary of State, flew to
iii.
Thinking that the Soviets were poised to fly combat
troops to the
1. Nuclear readiness
2. $2 billion in war materials to the Israelis
iv.
This helped turn the tide in favor of
b. Oil Embargo
i.
In late October 1973, the Arab nations put an oil
embargo on the
ii. Results:
1. Had to travel less
2. Had to use less heat
3. Long lines at gas stations
4. Business recession
c. Congressional Response
i.
Created the
ii. Created a national 55 miles per hour speed limit to conserve fuel
d. Increasing Dependence On Foreign Oil
i.
The
ii. American oil production peaked in 1970, then began an irreversible decline
iii. Americans had tripled their oil consumption since the end of WWII
iv. The number of cars increased 250% between 1949 and 1972
e. Results of Being Dependent On Foreign Oil
i. Have played a major factor in foreign policy since the 1970s
ii.
The
iii. OPEC quadrupled their price for crude oil after lifting the embargo in 1974, creating more inflation
X. Watergate and the Unmaking of a President
a. President’s Secretiveness
i. The President’s secretive nature caused the White House to operate as if it were in a state of siege, surrounded by political enemies
ii. Nixon’s staff responded to the President’s attitude by trying to protect him at all costs from anything that might weaken his political position
iii. Nixon and his staff developed a list of prominent people unsympathetic to the administration. The administration would try to harass those people on the list. For example, officials would look into income tax reports
b. Wiretaps
i. In 1969, someone in the National Security Council appeared to have leaked secret information to The New York Times. In response, Nixon had wiretaps (listening devices) installed on the phones of several of his own staff
ii. Since the wiretaps were for national security reasons, they were legal. However, these wiretaps led to a flurry of illegal wiretapping, much of it done for political purposes
c. Plumbers
i. In the spring of 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, a former Defense Department official, handed The New York Times a huge, secret Pentagon study of the Vietnam War. The New York Times published the study, which became known as the Pentagon Papers
ii.
The documents showed that Kennedy and Johnson often had
deceived Congress and the American people about the real situation in
iii. Upset that information was being leaked to the public, Nixon created a special White House unit, called the Plumbers, to stop government leaks. They then broke into Ellsberg’s psychiatrist office to try to expose embarrassing information on him
d. CREEP or CRP
i. A group called the Committee to Reelect the President (CREEP) used questionable means to try to gain Nixon the presidency
ii. For example, this group leaked a letter to a newspaper trying to discredit Edmund Muskie. Muskie was a Democratic senator who was a leading presidential contender. He was campaigning in New Hamshire at the time. The letter stated that he had insulted French Canadians living in the state and claimed that his wife was an alcoholic. During a speech on TV he cried, which seriously damaged his candidacy
e. The Watergate Break-In
i. A group within the Committee to Reelect the President was formed to gather intelligence or secret political information
ii.
They decided to wiretap the phones at the Democratic
National Committee headquarters in the Watergate apartment complex in
iii. Nixon tried to authorize the CIA to persuade the FBI to stop its investigation on the grounds that the matter involved “national security”
iv. Although he had not been involved in the planning of the break-in, Nixon was now part of the illegal cover-up. However, the public didn’t learn what had happened
v. Members of CREEP had launched a scheme to bribe Watergate defendants by distributing hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal “hush money” to buy their silence. Their efforts paid off, as Nixon won the election 520 to 17
vi. However, Robert Woodward and Carl Bernstein, writers for The Washington Post, helped reveal the details behind the break-in
f. Watergate Scandal
i. January 1973 –
1. The trial of the Watergate burglars began. All the defendants either pleaded guilty or were found guilty
2. Nixon personally approved “hush money” to at least one of the defendants
3. To try to get the defendants to talk, the judge sentenced them to long 40-year prison terms, which he said would become shorter if they talked
ii. February 1973 –
1. A Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities had begun to investigate the Watergate Affair
2. One of the burglars responded to the lengthy prison sentence by testifying before the committee in secret session. He gave members a vague sense of what had gone on, and he suggested that Nixon staffers were involved
iii. May 1973 –
1. Hearings began to be put on TV
2. As the investigation went on, one aide (John Dean, a former White House lawyer) revealed that the President’s office had a system that recorded all meetings and telephone conversations. The system was set up to provide a historical record of Nixon’s presidency. Now those tapes could show whether or not Nixon had actually been in the cover-up
iv. June 1973 –
1. Nixon decided to prove his honesty by appointing a special Watergate prosecutor. A special prosecutor works for the Justice Department, but conduct an independent investigation of alleged wrongdoing by government officials
2. Archibald Cox took this position and immediately asked for the tapes. Nixon refused
v. October 1973 –
1. VP
Spiro Agnew stood accused of evading income taxes and taking bribes from
2. Ten days after Agnew resigned, Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Cox. Cox had constantly been asking Nixon for the tapes. When he didn’t, he resigned from his appointment and Nixon fired Cox himself. The firing of Cox set off a series of resignations and firings (who supported Cox) became known as the “Saturday Night Massacre”
vi. January 1974 –
1. Congress issued an order for Nixon to turn over the tapes. However, Nixon refused, citing the executive privilege – the power of the president to withhold information secret that is vital to the nation’s security
vii. July 1974 –
1. Supreme Court ruled that “executive privilege” gave Nixon no right to withhold evidence relevant to possible criminal activity; Nixon handed over the tapes
2. One tape recorded Nixon’s own words that ordered the CIA to hold back an inquiry by the FBI
3. The House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach the President on the following charges:
a. Obstruction of justice
b. Abuse of power
c. Refusal to obey a congressional order to turn over his tapes
4. To remove him from office, a majority of the H of R would have to vote for impeachment and the Senate would then have to hold a trial
viii. August 5, 1974 –
1. Nixon obeyed a Supreme Court ruling and released the tapes. The tapes gave clear evidence of Nixon’s involvement in the cover-up
ix. August 9, 1974 –
1. Nixon became the first President ever to resign (he still claimed he was acting in the nation’s best interest)
2. VP Gerald Ford was sworn in. A month later, Ford pardoned Nixon. He thought that a long, public trial might divide the country and draw the focus away from vital issues
g. Results of the Watergate Scandal
i. The Watergate scandal showed how government officials could abuse their power
ii.
Proved the strength of the
iii. Increased the public’s feelings that the government was corrupt
XI. The First Unelected President
a. Ford’s Critics
i. When Nixon resigned in August 1974, Ford became the first non-elected President. He appointed Nelson Rockefeller to be VP. Now, both the P and VP were appointed. People criticized him as being an illegitimate president
ii. Some people, including LBJ, believed Ford to be a dim-witted former college football player
iii. The new President took a lot of criticism from the public for pardoning Nixon. Some people had even suggested that a bargain had been made between Nixon and Ford before he had left office
b.
i. Ford generally followed Nixon’s approach, working for détente
ii.
In 1975, Ford, the
iii. In signing the agreement, the countries pledged to cooperate economically, respect existing national boundaries, and promote human rights
c. Critics of Détente
i.
Charged that détente was proving to be one-way;
American grain and technology went to the
ii.
iii. Eventually, criticism over détente led to the avoidance of the issue by the Ford administration
XII.
Defeat In
a. American Withdrawal
i.
In January 1973, the
1. The
2. All Prisoners of War (POWs) would be released
3. The
17th parallel would continue to divide North and
ii.
This did not end the war between North and
b. Defeat
of
i.
In the spring of 1975,
1. Two years before, Congress passed the War Powers Act, limiting the President’s war powers
2. Ford
asked for military aid for
ii. The last American troops were evacuated by helicopter on April 29, 1975
iii.
By early May, the South Vietnamese capital of
c. Legacy of the War
i. Longest war
ii.
Only war the
iii. 58,000 Americans dead; 300,000 wounded
iv. Spent $150 billion and produced a huge national debt and growing inflation
v. American troops were not welcomed home as that had been during WWII
vi.
The
vii.
More bombs fell on
viii. Landscape was marred
ix.
With the North Vietnamese victory,
x.
Millions of Vietnamese (500,000 went to the
xi.
d. Aftermath
of
i.
In 1982, a Vietnam Veterans Memorial was completed in
ii.
In 1994, the
iii.
In 1995, the
XIII. Feminist Victories and Defeats
a. Why Civil Rights For Women?
i. The women’s movement grew because of women’s frustration in being discriminated in the workplace. Mainstream society still expected women to put home and family first
ii. The movement began shifting women’s attitudes towards career goals. By the beginning of the 1960s, about half of all women held jobs. Other changes were occurring, such as:
1. More women went to college. Many more majored in such careers as business, law, engineering, and medicine
2. Women entered more into politics
3. Women were admitted to military academies and trained as officers
b. Title IX
i. Part of the Educational Amendments, which prohibited sex discrimination in any federally assisted educational program or activity
ii. Its biggest impact was to create opportunities for girl’s and women’s athletics at schools and colleges
iii. This would lead to the professionalizing of women’s sports in the 1980s and beyond
c. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)
i. In 1972, Congress passed this amendment which would make discrimination on account of sex illegal
ii. To become law 38 states had to ratify it. However, opposition surfaced and the proposed Amendment died
d. Arguments Against ERA and the Feminist Movement (led by Phyllis Schlafly)
i. Feminism is a word to describe the theory of political, economic, and social equality of women
ii. It will increase the divorce rate (it tripled between 1960 and 1976)
iii. It will take away the right of a wife to be supported by her husband
iv. The right of a woman to be exempted from military combat
v. Force women to take unpleasant paid labor jobs like their husbands had
vi. Children would grow up neglected if more women took jobs
e. Roe v. Wade
i. Many states outlawed or severely restricted access to abortion. Women who could afford to travel to another state or out of the country could usually find legal medical services, but poorer women often turned to abortion methods that were illegal and unsafe
ii. In 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortion. The justices based their decision on a constitutional right to personal privacy (in the 14th Amendment) and struck down state regulation of abortion in the first three months of pregnancy
XIV. Civil Rights
a. Milliken v. Bradley (1974)
i. The Supreme Court ruled that desegregation plans could not require students to move across school district lines
ii. The decision exempted suburban districts from shouldering any part of the burden of desegregating inner-city schools, thereby reinforcing “white flight” from cities to suburbs
b. Affirmative Action
i. White workers who were denied advancement and white students who were refused college admission continued to raise the cry of “reverse discrimination”
ii. They charged that employers were placing more weight on ethnic background than on ability or achievement
c. Regents
of the
i. Allan Bakke, a white male, had been denied admission to that university’s medical school. The school had set aside 16 of the 100 seats in each year’s entering class for nonwhite students
ii. He sued, charging the university with reverse discrimination and that they had violated the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause
iii. The Court ruled that Bakke had been denied equal protection and should be admitted to the medical school
iv. Race should be one among several factors in the making of affirmative action decisions; banned the use of racial quotas
d. Native American Movement (AIM)
i. An important part of the Native Americans’ way of life was their ties to the land and what it stood for. Yet, state and federal governments continued to take over traditional tribal lands. Protecting what was left became a major goal of Native Americans
ii. The AIM was a militant group, formed by Dennis Banks and George Mitchell (both Chippewa) whose purposes were:
1. To fight for Indian treaty rights
2. To obtain autonomy, or self-government within reservations
3. Sought the restoration of lands that had been illegally from them
4. Improve opportunities for Native Americans
e.
i. To call attention to issues long ignored, Native Americans staged several standoffs with the federal government
ii.
One of the most famous of these standoffs was the
occupation of
iii. They claimed the land under the terms of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, which allowed male Native Americans to file homestead claims on federal lands. They hoped to establish an educational and cultural center
iv. The occupation failed, as federal marshals removed the last Native Americans a year and a half later. It did, however, successfully bring national attention to the problems of Native Americans
f.
i.
Another confrontation took place in 1973 at
ii.
AIM took over the reservation and refused to leave
until the
iii. Federal marshals and FBI agents surrounded the reservation. A siege went on, with occasional violence breaking out. In the end, AIM agreed to surrender their weapons and leave the reservation. In exchange, the government consented to reexamine treaty rights
iv. 2 AIM members were killed and several more injured
XV. The Election of 1976
a. Republican Nomination
i. Went to Gerald Ford
b. Democratic Nomination
i.
Went to a peanut farmer and former
c. Carter’s Campaign
i. Ran against the memory of Nixon and Watergate, as much as Ford
ii. Promised that “I’ll never lie to you”
iii. Would clean the government
d. Results of the Election of 1976
i. Carter won:
1. Won 51% of the popular vote
2. 297-240
ii. African Americans cast 97% of their ballots for Carter
iii. Got hefty Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress
e. First Hundred Days
i. Created the Department of Energy in the cabinet
ii. Cut taxes
iii. Pardoned ten thousand draft evaders
f. Generating Discord
i.
Was a “
ii. Carter failed to consult adequately with Congressional leaders
iii.
Critics charged that he isolated himself with advisors
from
XVI. Carter’s Humanitarian Diplomacy
a. Human Rights
i.
Called for the end of black oppression in
b.
i.
In 1978, Carter invited the leaders of
ii.
While they were there,
c.
i.
Theodore Roosevelt had obtained the
ii.
Many Latin Americans resented the continuing
iii.
In 1978, Carter created a treaty that would return the
canal to
iv.
A second treaty was also signed that allowed the
d.
i.
In January 1979, the
ii.
Businesses in the
e.
i.
Détente was at a
ii.
In December 1979, relations were further strained when
the Soviet Union invaded
iii. Carter told Brezhnev, the Soviet leader, that the invasion was a “clear threat to the peace.” A United Nations resolution also called for Soviet withdrawal
iv.
Soviet backed Cuban troops helped support revolutionary
factions in
f. Carter’s Response To Soviet Aggression
i.
The
ii. He proposed the creation of a “Rapid Deployment Force” to respond to suddenly developing crises in faraway places
iii. Requested that young people (including women) be made to register for a possible military draft
iv.
Said he would use any means necessary to protect the
XVII. Economic and Energy Woes
a. Increasing Inflation
i. In 1979, the inflation rate was 13%
ii. The bill for imported oil was $40 billion
iii.
The
iv. The federal budget deficit reached $60 billion by 1980
v. Loans weren’t given, the interest rate rose to 20%, and people living on fixed incomes were hurt
b. Problems
In
i.
Mohammed Reza Pahlevi
installed as shah of
ii. His repressive regime was overthrown in January 1979. It was spearheaded by Muslim fundamentalists who resented the shah’s campaign to westernize and secularize his country
iii.
The Islamic leader, the Ayatollah (title given to a
Muslim religious leader) was now Ruholla
Khomeini. He and his advisors denounced
the
iv. This resulted in:
1. Oil shortages
2. High prices
3. Waiting in long lines
4. Waiting for gas on specified days
v.
President Carter deliberated with many advisors in the
seclusion of
vi. Critics wondered whether he was losing touch with the popular mood of the country
c. Nuclear
Energy and
i. Some people hoped that nuclear power would be an alternative to oil, but others worried about its safety
ii.
A nuclear accident occurred at Three Mile Island, near
iii. Afterwards, the nuclear industry fell on hard times. People weren’t willing to pay the high costs for new plants. Protesters blocked building sites for fear of public safety
XVIII. Foreign
Affairs and
a. SALT II
i. President Carter met with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in June 1979 to sign the SALT II agreement, limiting the levels of lethal strategic weapons in the Soviet and American arsenals
ii. However, the Senate, who still held the Soviets under suspicion, scaled down the treaty
iii. After the storming and kidnapping of American diplomats in November 1979, the treaty wasn’t ratified
b.
i.
In October, in what was intended as a humanitarian
gesture, Carter let the exiled shah enter the
ii.
In November 1979, angry followers of Khomeini seized
the American embassy in
iii. The prisoners were blindfolded and moved from place to place. Some were tied up and beaten. Others spent time in solitary confinement and faced mock executions intended to keep them constantly afraid. Nightly newscasts made the crisis a national issue
iv.
People expected the President to secure the hostages’
freedom. He tried many approaches. He broke diplomatic relations with
v. In April 1980, Carter authorized a risky commando rescue mission. It ended in disaster when several helicopters broke down in the desert sands and eight Americans were killed. The government was humiliated and Carter’s popularity dropped dramatically
vi. Finally, in early 1981, the hostages were released