nixon era, 1968-1974 governing to the right. 1968 presidential election electoral vote
TRANSCRIPT
Nixon’s “Mandate”
Presidential Political
Candidate Party
Richard Nixon Republican 31,783,783 43.42% 301 55.95%
Hubert Humphrey Democratic 31,271,839 42.72% 191 35.50%
George Wallace American Ind. 9,901,118 13.53% 46 8.55%Other (+) - 243,258 0.33% 0 0.00%
> 30% > 40% > 50% > 60%
> 80%
Vice Presidential Popular Vote Electoral VoteCandidate
Spiro Agnew
Edmund Muskie
Curtis LeMay-
Map Key Turnout
Nixon’s 1968 “Mandate”
• A “Minority” President: 43% of Popular Vote
• George Wallace won 14% of popular vote and 5 Southern states on “states’ rights,” “anti civil rights” platform
• Nixon promised “peace with honor” in Vietnam
• But Congress was solidly Democratic
Nixon’s Political Challenge
• Extricating the United States from Vietnam• Working with the Democratic Congress• Addressing the emerging problems with the
slowing economy: unemployment, rising inflation and trade deficit caused by Johnson’s spending policies
• Defining a conservative domestic agenda on social welfare, civil rights, poverty, the environment, and law and order.
Securing A Republican Majority: Political Realignment
• The Republicans needed to draw voters away from the Democratic Party by identifying constituencies disaffected with the policies of the Kennedy/Johnson era.– The Southern Strategy to convert white
southern Democrats to the Republican Party– Working Class White Ethnics: convert labor
Democrats to Republicans– Suburbanites
The Demagogic Appeal to the “Silent Majority”
• Vice President Spiro Agnew attacked the “excesses” of sixties liberalism and radicalism, labeling opponents of Nixon’s policies: – "nattering nabobs of negativism," – "pusillanimous pussyfoots" – "hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of
history"– "effete corps of impudent snobs"
Political Divide according to Nixon• Pro Nixon Voters: “The Silent Majority”
– the middle class, – blue collar workers– Sunbelt residents, – ethnics (e.g., white ethnics)
• The Opposition: – Advocates of “forced busing”– Hippies– “Welfare chiselers” – People “soft on crime”– Antiwar activists– Drug users– Advocates of sexual permissiveness
Political Practice
• Vietnam War– Escalation of the conflict with May 1970
Cambodian invasion– Change the selective service system to a lottery
system– Vietnamization of the fighting: e.g., reduce
American casualties– Punish the North Vietnamese into negotiating– Ignore antiwar protests
Political Practice
• Domestic: New Federalism– Replace “welfare” with a work incentive program,
“workfare” - not implemented– Revenue sharing: distribute federal revenue to state and
local governments rather than through federal programs– War on drugs: create the DEA– Promote environmental improvement, creating the
Environmental Protection Agency and laws to promote clean air, clean water, recycling, protection of wilderness and natural resources
Political Practice
• Civil Rights:– Enforce affirmative action, including in blue
collar trade unions – Title IX guaranteeing equality in sports in
educational institutions– Used the Justice Department to oppose busing
to desegregate schools. Courts continued to support desegregation, including using busing.
Political Practice
Rhetoric: Nixon appealed to conservative rhetoric, and used Agnew to mobilize the Republican ‘base’
Reality: He governed closer to the center, and compromised and supported Democratic initiatives. In return, he dampened the liberal thrust of the Kennedy/Johnson initiatives
Clouds on the Economic Horizon
• From 1945-1970 the US economy had unprecedented prosperity
• By 1970, the European and Asian economies devastated by WWII had “caught” up with the American economy, and had newer, more advanced technologies or production in many cases
• Johnson’s deficit spending on the Vietnam war undermined the U.S. dollar which had supported the international monetary system since 1945
Clouds on the Economic Horizon
• 1945: Bretton Woods agreement made the US the guarantor of world monetary stability by pegging the dollar to gold at $35 an ounce.
• By 1971, US could not sustain the system and went off the gold standard, effectively devaluing the dollar