Foreign and Domestic Policies of the 60s and 70s Presidents

John Kennedy

○ Kennedy articulated a “New Frontier” ● The new frontier was a goal for social

justice and Civil Rights improvements ● He wasn’t able to pass legislation to

meet the goal ○ Mostly due to Southern Democrats that

didn’t want the Civil Rights passed

“Ask not what your country can do for you… but what you can do for your country”

○ Kennedy in office in 1961 ● Young people were

engaged ● Public service became an

honor ○ Peace Corp

● American volunteers to 3rd world

● Increased Social Security and min. wage

The Space Race

○ JFK promised a man on the moon by 1970 ● Spurred by sputnik and Soviet

cosmonauts circling the Earth ● John Glenn orbited in 1962 ● Would occur under Nixon in 1969

○ Weapons Tech of the Space Race ● ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) ● Russians had IRBMs (intermediate

Range) by 1962

JFK and Foreign Affairs○ Bay of Pigs invasion

● Tried to overthrow Cuba through CIA

● Failed ● Angered other Latin Countries

and pushed Cuba toward USSR

○ The Berlin Wall ● West Berlin prospered within

Communist territories ! refugees leaving East Berlin

● USSR made a wall to keep them in

Remember it was JFK that steered us through the Cuban Missile Crisis

JFK’s assassination

○ Nov. 1963 ○ Assassinated by Oswald in Dallas ○ Bewilderment and grief ○ Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) sworn

in aboard Air Force One

LBJ in office

○ Wanted to continue JFK programs ● Met MLK Jr. about Civil Rights ● Pushed the Civil Rights Bill and the

Voting Rights Bill ○ Kept federal $ from segregated programs ○ Created Equal Employment Opportunity ○ Outlawed discrimination in public areas ○ Also no “sex” discrimination

LBJ in Office – Domestic Policy

○ “The Great Society” ● Programs designed to

fight a “War on Poverty” (somewhat effective) ○ Economic Opportunities

Act ○ Volunteers in Service to

America ○ Job Corps ○ Head Start

The Great Society

○ The greatest intervention of the government since the New Deal ● Would lead to Medicaid and Medicare

○ Increased effort to use the government to promote social welfare (protecting the people)

LBJ and Foreign Policy

○ Thought the US could fight and promote domestic programs at the same time ● Called “Guns and Butter”

○ This led to inflation ○ Also an inability to fully fund the Great

Society programs

○ Eventually lost public confidence through the escalation of Vietnam

National Tragedies in ‘68

○ Assassinations ● MLK Jr. ● Bobby Kennedy

○ 4 leaders killed by assassins since ’64 ● JFK and Malcolm X

○ Dem Convention riots in ‘68

Nixon elected in ‘68

○ In an era of liberal chaos Nixon claimed the ‘silent majority’ ● Worked hard, paid taxes,

went to church, obeyed the law, respected the flag

○ Promised a return to law and order

○ Also “Vietnamization” of the war ● US would train S.

Vietnamese troops to take their place.

Vietnam At Home○ Still Very Controversial ○ ’70, invasion of

Cambodia to root out NV along the “ho chi minh” trail

○ Brought back protest ○ Kent State – protests

● 4 dead ● More campus protests

Nixon on Civil Rights

○ Seemed to favor gradualism ○ Boldest initiatives involved business

and employment ● Office of minority business enterprise ● Philadelphia Plan – black construction

worker plan

Nixon Foreign Issues○ Kissinger and Nixon removed

containment policy ● Instead flexibility – talking,

find common ground, encourage balance of power

○ “Rapprochement with China” ● Trade possibilities, ● Drive a wedge between

China and SU ● give US better bargaining

with SU over nukes ○ Also isolate N. Vietnam

during peace negotiations

Detente○ Nixon to Moscow – met with Brezhnev ○ Arms control and increased trade ○ SALT treaty – limited ICBMs and anti-

ballistic missiles

Watergate○ Nixon implicated in a ‘seamless web’ of

criminal activity ● Plumbers (Nixon’s fix-it men) broke into

Democratic headquarters at the Watergate hotel to find information on Nixon’s opponent

● The plumbers were acting without Nixon’s knowledge

○ Nixon paid ‘hush money’ to arrested Watergate burglars

○ Nixon later took responsibility but no blame ● Said he was too busy running country

Nixon implicated in the scandal

○ Arrested men claimed that Nixon recorded the conversations ● Nixon refused to release any taped

conversations ○ Transcripts eventually released with

sections blanked out ● That made him look guilty and the

stuff that was left was racist and paranoid and didn’t help the cause

○ Tapes eventually subpoenaed (SC case), released and showed Nixon’s involvement

The Middle East

OPEC and the Embargo○ 10/6/73 – Yom Kippur War; US backs

Israel ○ The Organization of Petroleum Exporting

Countries (OPEC), mainly arab nations, responded by halting oil shipments

○ US forced to ration energy ○ Impact lingered (ended ’74)

● Costs increased dramatically (gas from 30 ! 75 cents); inflation; higher production costs; shook American Dream

Ford in Office / Watergate Legacy

○ ’73 War Powers Act – limited pres ability to use troops without declaration of war

○ Freedom of Information act ● Citizens could see all public/government

documents ○ Hearings on FBI and CIA activities

● To make sure there was no illegal activities ○ Ford controversially granted Nixon a

Pardon (crushed Fords approval rating) ○ Ford also offered amnesty to 350,000

draft dodgers (resisted on both sides)

Carter ○ Ford proved to be an

ineffective President ● The public didn’t trust

him after the Nixon pardoning

○ Carter represented a small town, virtuous man

○ Won a close race against Ford

Carter – Foreign Issues○ US needed to stress

democracy and human rights

○ Gave up Panama Canal ○ Middle East and Camp

David Accords ● Egypt recognized Israel;

Israel returned Sanai Peninsula

Economic Issues

○ High inflation and unemployment ○ Carter fought inflation

● Tight money supply and control of deficit

● Created high unemployment without helping inflation

Persian Gulf and Iranian issues○ Iran appeared to be a stable

nation in ’77 ○ Revolution led Ayatollah

Khomeini to set up an essentially Islamic nation

○ Khomeini ended shipments of oil to US

○ Allowing the former Shah into US for med. Treatment created a conflict in Iran

Iranian Hostage Crisis○ Iranian militants stormed US embassy

and took 179 Americans hostage ○ Wanted the Shah in exchange for the

hostages ● threatened execution

○ Sponsored by Ayatollah ○ US froze Iranian assets in US, but this

was ineffective ○ Carter ordered a secret mission to free

the hostages (disastrous) ○ Iranians displayed the corpses of the

failed mission

Carter’s Image Ruined

○ The Economic problems of the late 1970s and the Iranian Hostage Crisis hurt Carter’s Image

○ Carter will be defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980