Gerald Ford & James Carter - Domestic Policy Flashcards
Loss of national self-confidence - social divisions
Nixon’s imperial presidency in the Cold War led to congress threatening to cut funds off to South-East Asia and student protests.
Johnson’s information regarding the Gulf of Tonkin crisis was misleading, and started a secret air war in Cambodia without congressional authorisation.
- Went against treaty ratification, that diplomatic agreements had to receive consent of 2/3 of senate.
Failures of Nixon’s and Johnson’s presidency’s created a loss of national self-confidence.
Women’s Rights amendments
Equal Rights Amendment passed by congress 1972, but was never ratified by 75% of states.
Roe Vs. Wade Supreme Court ruling 1973 legalised abortion. Before, it was illegal in 30 / 50 states.
Betty Ford described it as a ‘great, great decision’, but Ford and Carter remained silent.
Planned Parenthood was an organisation est. in 1916 promoted reproductive health and care.
Conservative opposition to abortion - social divisions
Phyllis Schlafly opposed the ERA as women would have to work 2 full time jobs at work, and home.
- Criticised Betty Friedan and radical feminists for calling marriage a ‘comfortable conc. camp’ and putting down homemakers - Believed in family values.
National Right to Life Committee set up by Catholic Church, campaigned against Roe vs. Wade ruling (abortion), through mass mailing and fundraisers.
1979, Beverly LaHaye set up the Concerned Women for American (CWA) - 500,000 members by mid-80s.
- wanted women to stay at home & look after the family, and not to deprive men of employment.
Worked closely with the Republican Party, who passed a law banning federal funds for abortion, which was extended to military and Peace Corps personnel.
Poverty - social divisions
In the 1970s, between 200,000 and 1 million people were homeless. This was much owed to…
*Institutions for mentally ill people declined, and a 1973 ruling said patients had to pay for their labour.
*‘Skid Row’ were hotels demolished in urban areas, and drug abuse, of crack cocaine, was rising.
*Rising unemployment due to the 1973-75 recession.
- Budget cuts and lower welfare benefits fueled this.
Carter made little progress, as taxpayers were not willing to subsidise the poor. Although, he allocated $4 billion to public works and federal aid to the poor.
Ford’s Pardon of Nixon
In September 1974, Ford Pardoned Nixon.
Reasons for this were…
*Ford said this was the best way to end the ‘American Tragedy’ - national trauma would be prolonged if Nixon went on trial.
*Antagonism was so great it would be difficult for Nixon to find an unbiased jury in Supreme Court.
*Ford advisor said Nixon was the ‘most depressed person in the world’ - threat to his health.
*It was Christian to show mercy.
How did the public respond to Nixon’s Pardon?
Within an hour of the statement, Ford’s public approval fell from 66% to 50%, and the Whitehouse Switchboard received 8 to 1 phone calls..
Ford’s Whitehouse Press Secretary, Jerald Terhorst, resigned in protest. Called it a “Betrayal of Justice”.
The New York Times ran five editorials from the 9th-12th September criticising the pardon.
- Described the ‘blundering intervention’ as an ‘inappropriate and premature act”.
Republican congressman blamed the pardon for the loss of 43 House Seats in 1974.
Busing in Boston
June 1974, a federal court found Boston guilty of unconstitutional segregation of schools.
- federal court ordered busing of black students from Roxbury to the white, South High School.
Anti-busing groups such as Restore Our Alienated Rights (ROAR) were made, smashing Edward Kennedy’s office windows who supported busing.
On Boston’s first desegregated day, white parents surrounded the school throwing objects & monkeys, injuring nine children and damaging 18 buses.
Schools installed metal detectors to prevent knife crime, after riots erupted in 1974 when an AA student was stabbed.
Although violent occurred, it fell when white students enrolled into schools outside of Boston.
Carter’s Affirmative Action programme
Under Carter’s affirmative action programme…
*Insisted one minority candidate had to be considered for each cabinet post
*Chose Patricia Harris as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and appointed 38 federal judges.
*Chose MLK’s associate, Andrew Young, US ambassador to the United Nations.
*Strengthened the EEOC, and channelled government contracts towards minority firms.
But, created social divisions through the Bakke Case - white male claimed he had been discriminated against when the Uni of Cali Medical School accepted minority students with Lower grades. However, Affirmative action programmes remained unchanged.
African American Dissatisfaction
AA’s complaint about Carter’s failed commitments to..
*Busing
*a 1977 bill encouraging lenders to assist minorities
*Humphrey-Hawkins bill to increase employment opportunity, but was an ineffective bill
*Expansion of social welfare programmes
Blacks suffered during the recession of Carter’s years.
1979, AAs looted shops in Washington DC after being denied snow-shovelling work, and blamed Carter for not helping the poor and unemployed.
In Liberty City, Miami, a white jury pardoned 4 whites of murdering a black insurance salesman to death.
- 3 days of shootings and burnings followed, with 16 deaths and 400 injured. NAACP leader, Hooks, said “Black folks ain’t worth a damn in this country”.
African American Social Status 1974-1980
In the southern states, the Civil Right Act sped up school desegregation and closed the education gap.
– In 1970, 31% of AA over age of 25 completed 4 years of high school. Rose to 51% in 1980.
– In 1970, 4% of AA completed 4 years of college. This rose to 8% in 1980.
– % of AA attending integrated schools fell from 68% to 8% during Nixon’s presidency.
However, in the North, 1974 Milliken Vs Bradley ruling halted busing in the Detroit area. 1974-75 congress approved of anti-busing legislation - conservatives criticised ‘limousine liberals’ such as Edward Kennedy.
KKK bombed and destroyed school buses in Michigan, and opposition to integration led to a rise in the number of white students attending private schools.
African American Economic Status
Affirmative Action & the EEOC increased educational opportunities and accelerated the growth of an AA middle class. By 1980, 1/3 AA were middle-class.
However, a 1975 ruling against Detroit PD’s ‘last hired, first fired’ principle led to cops attacking a black one.
1980, black household income was only 60% of white, and poverty remained at 33%. Black life expectancy was 68, compared to a white one of 74.
Mayors struggled to solve black poverty and crime, thus the AA crime rate remained high.
eg. 55% of US pop. convicted of murder were AA
African American Political Status
VRA ensured southern blacks could vote.
*Maynard Jackson elected Mayor of Atlanta, and even Birmingham elected a black mayor in 1979.
*Detroit LA, and Washington DC elected black mayors.
Over 20 blacks sat in US House of Representatives.
But, only 1% of elected officials were black in 1980, and the Supreme Court weakened the VRA when the ‘Mobile Vs Bolden’ Case when it made it harder to challenge discriminatory voting laws.
Change in Atlanta under Maynard Jackson
*Reinforced black involvement in Atlanta City business - Jesse Hill became Chamber of Commerce, and it’s president in 1977.
*Increased contracts to black firms by 25% and set minority hiring targets.
*Black employees in public departments increased to 42% in 1978, and black managers more than doubled.
Economic Crisis
Manufacturing industries in the Rust Belt declined after the Vietnam War, thus unemployment increased to 9% in 1975, also due to mechanisation.
Government Budget deficit led to rising inflation.
Cost of living rose 8% yearly from 1973-83, and July 1974, prices rose by 4%. A poll showed that inflation was Americans greatest concerns. Motorists queuing for petrol after Carter’s Department of Energy failed.
Service industry employees were low paid, and falling minimum wage failed to keep up with rising prices.
Many mothers worked to maintain family income
