Lecture 12 – Disorder and Discontent, 1969-1980

Decline of Liberalism

• With the victory of the Republican party, the liberal social movements of the 1960s went into decline
• Still: The Great Society had some lasting elements, including Medicare and Medicaid
• Federal aid for education and housing became permanent parts of domestic federal policy
• Schools were desegregated in the South
• Women especially benefited from the decline of discrimination
• Minority groups began to enter the middle class

Richard Nixon

• Nixon moves the politics mostly rightward towards conservatism and away from liberalism
• Nixon suggested “let each of us ask  – not just what will government do for me, but what can I do for myself” demonstrating the new spirit of politics

Rise of Republicanism

• New conservatives promoted anticommunism, a strong national defense, and a limited role in domestic affairs
• Also promoted what they considered more traditional values
  • Presence of Christianity
  • Opposing sex education, feminism, abortion, homosexuality, and sexual permissiveness
  • These values are largely still a part of the modern Republican party

The Republican Agenda

• Believed that government intervention in economic life actually hurt prosperity of Americans
• Fought big government in domestic affairs
• Still demanded a strong military to fight off Communism

Vietnam Continued

• Under Nixon’s presidency the Vietnam War seemed to be unwinnable
• By 1968, the North Vietnamese would not back down
• The goal still remained to keep a non communist South Vietnam despite the harshness of this war, literally fought in the jungles of Southeast Asia

Vietnamization

• The idea was to equip the South Vietnamese to fight off communist without as many American soldiers
• Nixon aims to end the war and creates a four-pronged attack on North Vietnam
• US forces begin to withdraw as the South Vietnamese military is strengthened
• Nixon extends fighting to Cambodia as well
• Fighting continues until 1972, and the US intensely bombs their enemy
• Combat was especially brutal
• Terrors of war were multiplied
• Many US soldiers and Vietnamese soldiers committed atrocities against each other
• Most veterans came home to public neglect, suffering from what we now know was post traumatic stress disorder

The Use of Agent Orange

• One of the greatest atrocities was the use of a chemical warfare called agent orange
• Agent orange was used to ruin Vietnamese agriculture, but the effects actually ending up causing a major health hazard for both American soldiers and the Vietnamese
• Caused cancer in veterans and also many birth defects in unborn Vietnamese babies

Effects of Agent Orange

Napalm

• A chemical agent mixed with gasoline used in warfare
• Causes severe burns to the skin and body, and even death from breathing the chemical
• Sticks well to naked skin and cannot be removed easily from the burning victim
• Demoralizes the enemy
• Used widely in Vietnam

The End of the Vietnam War

• Vietnam ends up being America’s longest war (though perhaps the war in the Middle East will change this fact)
• US spent more than $150 million
• 2.6 million men and women were sent to Vietnam to fight
• 58,200 died and 150,000 suffered serious injuries
• War shattered domestic peace
• And the US did not attain their goal of containing communism
• In 1973, the war officially is over

Watergate Scandal

• A 1970s political scandal when Nixon’s men broke into the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters at the Watergate offices in DC
• Effects of the scandal led to the resignation of Nixon
• Also led to trials of several of Nixon administration officials

Nixon Resigns

• On August 9, 1974, Nixon resigned on national television because of his involvement with the breaking and entering of five men in the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters

Gerald Ford: Nixon’s successor and the only appointed President

• He had been appointed Vice President after Nixon resigned by Nixon’s own VP (who also was forced out of office due to scandal)
• He was neither elected President nor Vice President
• During his presidency US involvement in Vietnam ended
• Ford presided over the worst economic depression since the Great Depression

President Ford

Election of 1976

• Democrat Jimmy Carter became president, following the Watergate scandal and the slow economy
• Carter serves as president from 1977 to 1981, when he is replaced by Reagan
• Economy continues to remain weak during his presidency (stagflation)

Election of 1976

Jimmy Carter

• Establishes a national energy policy
• Gets involved in negotiating to reduce nuclear arms
• Strongly emphasized human rights
• During his presidency the American embassy in Iran is taken hold by Iranian students and the hostages were not rescued
• Soviets invaded Afghanistan

Gay and Lesbian Rights

• Gay and lesbian rights movement gains some momentum, carrying over from the 1960s
• Campaign for social acceptance of sexual and gender minorities
• Attempts to build gay and lesbian communities
• Eventually includes bisexual and transsexual movements
• Movement gains momentum after 1969 during the Stonewall riots, when a group of LGBT patrons at a bar in New York resist arrest and provide a rallying point for the liberation movement