Chapter 39: The Stalemated Seventies, 1968-1980 Flashcards
- Could any of Nixon’s achievements in office compensate for his Watergate crimes? What should history say about the Nixon presidency?
Richard Nixon made many achievements in office, including revenue sharing, the end of the draft, an environmental program, attempts to reduce tensions with the USSR, and the end of American involvement in Vietnam. When the Watergate scandal occurred, Nixon was found guilty of attempting to divert the investigation and facing impeachment, he resigned from the presidency. I wouldn’t necessarily say that his achievements “compensate” for his Watergate crimes; as justice does not allow good deeds to cancel out bad ones. He should be remembered in history for the good and the bad, in order to be true to all aspects of his presidency.
- What were the short-term and long-term consequences of the communists’ victory in Vietnam? How do these affect an assessment of the war? What could America have done differently to win the war in Vietnam?
The immediate effects of the Vietnam war was the deaths of millions of citizens and troops. Also, America’s use of Agent Orange caused many health issues and destroyed the country’s natural environment. The Communists’ victory resulted in a general lack of confidence in America’s military in the US and an even greater dislike of war. Though some countries in Indochina did become communist and Vietnam remains communist today, it has one of the fastest developing economies in South East Asia. It’s impossible to really know if, given another chance, America could have won the war, but there are some things that they could have done differently. For example, the US could have successfully cut off the Ho Chi Minh trail inside Laos. Also, the US used tactics intended for conventional warfare, not guerilla warfare. Ultimately, however, the US probably shouldn’t have joined the war at all.
- How was the civil rights movement affected by federal policies in the 1970s, especially affirmative action?
Affirmative Action was an Executive Order of 1961 that was directed at government contractors, telling them to take “affirmative action” to make sure that employment happened regardless of race, color, or other discriminatory factors. Brown vs. Board of Education ruled in favor of the desegregation of schools. After Brown and Brown II, desegregation with “all deliberate speed” was called for. By the 1970s, the South became America’s most integrated region. Affirmative Action programs were extremely controversial in the 1970s. White workers who were not promoted or hired in the job force or who were not accepted to university cried out that it was because of “reverse discrimination.” In one ruling, a white Californian took his case to court, claiming that his application to medical school was turned down because the admissions department favored minorities. The Court ordered the university to admit him, saying that no preference of any kind should be given. Thurgood Marshall was afraid that denying racial preference in some situations would take back civil rights progress.
- What were the consequences of America’s new economic vulnerability? How did it affect politics at home and abroad during the 1970s?
Not long after Jimmy Carter was inaugurated, prices inflated rapidly. The high cost of importing oil caused America to owe massive amounts of money. These oil shocks brought about the realization that the traditional American policy of isolationism could never again work; Americans were too dependent on other countries for oil. By the end of the 70s, 27% of the US’s gross national product depended on foreign trade. Deficits in the federal budget climbed, making the economy even worse.
