Sixth Party System [1972–Present] I Flashcards
Review - Timeline: Political Storms at Home and Abroad, 1968-1980
1968: Vietnamese massacred at My Lai; Richard Nixon elected president. 1969: Woodstock festival held. 1970: National Guard fires on students at Kent State University. 1972: Nixon goes to China. 1973: ‘Roe vs. Wade’ legalizes abortion nationally; Paris Peace Accords end U.S. role in Vietnam; OAPEC proclaims oil embargo. 1974: Nixon resigns due to Watergate scandal. 1976: Jimmy Carter elected president. 1978: ‘Camp David Accords’ signed. 1979: Iranian protesters storm U.S. Embassy in Tehran and take hostages.
Review - Evolution of the Two-Party System Timeline
Political scientists and historians have divided the development of America’s two-party system into roughly six eras: (1) First Party System [1789–1824] between the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party; (2) Second Party System [1828–1854] between the Whig Party and Democratic Party; (3) Third Party System [1854–1890s] between the anti-slavery/discrimination Republican Party and pro-slavery/discrimination Democrats; (4) Fourth Party System [1896–1932] Republican and Democrats with Progressive Era and limited government; (5) Fifth Party System [1933–1972] Domination of New Deal Democrats; and (6) Sixth Party System [1972-Present] Liberal-Democrat and Conservative-Republican realignment.
Evolution of the Two-Party System Timeline: Sixth Party System (1972-2016)
The Sixth Party System, also known as the Reagan Era, was a period of American politics which began in 1972 and ended in 2016. The era was marked by the United States’ abandonment of government intervention in the economy and both the Republican and Democratic parties’ embracing of laissez-faire capitalism. The era continued until 2016, when the 2016 presidential election led to a rise in populism on both sides and a collapse of the establishment formed under Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
Vietnam: The Downward Spiral
As the war in Vietnam raged on, Americans were horrified to hear of atrocities committed by U.S. soldiers, such as the 1968 massacre of villagers at My Lai. To try to end the conflict, Nixon escalated it by bombing Hanoi and invading Cambodia; his actions provoked massive antiwar demonstrations in the United States that often ended in violence, such as the tragic shooting of unarmed student protestors at Kent State University in 1970. The 1971 release of the Pentagon Papers revealed the true nature of the war to an increasingly disapproving and disenchanted public. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger eventually drafted a peace treaty with North Vietnam, and, after handing over responsibility for the war to South Vietnam, the United States withdrew its troops in 1973. South Vietnam surrendered to the North two years later.
Nixon Administration - Richard Nixon (R)
Richard Nixon (1913-94), the 37th U.S. president, is best remembered as the only president ever to resign from office. Nixon stepped down in 1974, halfway through his second term, rather than face impeachment over his efforts to cover up illegal activities by members of his administration in the Watergate scandal. A former Republican congressman and U.S. senator from California, he served two terms as vice president under Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969) in the 1950s. In 1960, Nixon lost his bid for the presidency in a close race with Democrat John F. Kennedy (1917-63). He ran for the White House again in 1968 and won. As president, Nixon’s achievements included forging diplomatic ties with China and the Soviet Union and withdrawing U.S. troops from an unpopular war in Vietnam. However, Nixon’s involvement in Watergate tarnished his legacy and deepened American cynicism about government.
Nixon Administration - Henry Alfred Kissinger
In January 1969, Nixon appointed Harvard political science professor Henry Kissinger as National Security Adviser; Kissinger eventually became Secretary of State in 1973. Henry Kissinger became the main diplomat between Nixon, the People’s Republic of China, the Soviet Union, and North Vietnam.
Nixon Administration - Triangular Diplomacy and Linkage
In political science, triangular diplomacy is a foreign policy of the United States, developed during the Vietnam War (1955–1975) by Henry Kissinger, as a means to manage relations between contesting Communist powers, the Soviet Union and China. This policy connected heavily with the correlating policy of linkage, which, as a policy, was to connect political and military issues, thereby establishing a relationship making progress in area “A” dependent on progress in area “B”. Triangular diplomacy was intended to exploit the ongoing rivalry between the two Communist powers (following the Sino-Soviet split from 1956 to 1966), as a means to strengthen American hegemony and diplomatic interest.
Nixon Administration - Détente
The Nixon administration sough a Détente, or rapprochement, or easing of relations, between the U.S., the Soviet Union, and China so they would reduce support for their communist North Vietnam ally. This, in turn, would lead to an expedited American withdrawal from the war. During this period, important events occurred including the signing of the SALT I (1972) agreement with the USSR (and later SALT II in 1979), which were intended to restrain the arms race in strategic ballistic missiles (long-range or intercontinental) armed with nuclear weapons, and Nixon visiting China (1972).
Nixon Administration - Nixon Doctrine and Vietnamization
The ‘Nixon Doctrine’ was a foreign policy that maintained that while the United States would continue to provide economic and military assistance to anti-communist governments under threat, it was the responsibility of the nation to provide its own manpower to fight the enemy. This became applicable during the Vietnam War and was the beginning of ‘Vietnamization’ which referred to the United States turning the war effort over to the people of South Vietnam.
Nixon Administration - ‘Madman Theory’
Nixon wanted the North Vietnamese to believe that he was an unstable and unpredictable leader, thus ‘Madman Theory’, who would stop at nothing short of nuclear war to end the conflict in Vietnam.
Nixon Administration - Cambodian Incursion and Operation Lam Son 719
Nixon engaged in a secret war in Cambodia in 1970, the ‘Cambodian Incursion’, to replace the communist government with a democratic one. Also, an unsuccessful secret invasion in Laos known as ‘Operation Lam Son 719’ sought to limit North Vietnam’s war-making ability. Public outcry against the expansion of the war reached heightened levels, but Nixon knew he needed to continue buying time for Vietnamization.
Nixon Administration - Nixon goes to China
U.S. President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to the People’s Republic of China was an important strategic and diplomatic overture that marked the culmination of the Nixon administration’s resumption of harmonious relations between the United States and mainland China after years of diplomatic isolation. The seven-day official visit to three Chinese cities was the first time a U.S. president had visited the PRC; Nixon’s arrival in Beijing ended 25 years of no communication or diplomatic ties between the two countries and was the key step in normalizing relations between the U.S. and China. Nixon visited China to gain more leverage over relations with the Soviet Union.
Nixon Administration - Eastertide Offensive and Operation Linebacker I and II
The South Vietnamese were tested in a significant way in 1972 when the North Vietnamese launched the ‘Eastertide Offensive’. However, the South Vietnamese were able to repel the attack. Nixon then countered with Operation Linebacker I and II, which bombed the North Vietnamese into a temporary submission.
Nixon Administration - Vietnam War Ends
On January 27, 1973, the United States, North Vietnam, and South Vietnam signed the ‘Paris Peace Accords’. This officially marked the end of the war for the United States in Vietnam. Unfortunately, the North Vietnamese defied the agreements in 1975 and captured the South Vietnamese capital Saigon. Handcuffed by Congressional legislation, the United States could not respond. After two decades of effort in Vietnam by the United States, the war came to a disappointing conclusion.
Nixon Administration - Congressional legislation limiting executive power to wage war.
Congressional legislation limiting executive power to wage war included the repeal of the ‘Gulf of Tonkin Resolution’ in June 1970, the ‘Cooper-Church Amendment in 1971’, which forced American missions to be conducted in South Vietnam only, the ‘Case-Church Amendment’ in 1973, which prohibited further operations in Southeast Asia, and the ‘War Powers Resolution’ of 1973, which turned war-making decisions over to Congress.
Nixon Administration - End of the Bretton Woods System
The Bretton Woods Agreement and System created a collective international currency exchange regime that lasted from the mid-1940s to the early 1970s. It required a currency peg to the U.S. dollar which was in turn pegged to the price of gold. It ended in the 1970s, when Nixon devalued the U.S. dollar relative to gold and, after a run on gold reserve, he declared a temporary suspension of the dollar’s convertibility into gold. This system created a lasting influence on international currency exchange and trade through its development of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
1973 Oil Embargo - Background
The U.S. had reached its peak of domestic oil production around 1970. The decade that followed witnessed a dramatic decrease in domestic oil production, yet oil consumption continued to rise. The U.S. was able to offset its own limited production by importing oil from the Middle East due to an agreement with OPEC. Unfortunately, this meant that OPEC controlled the fate of the U.S.s’ energy consumption and, essentially, a part of the American economy.
1973 Oil Embargo - The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
‘The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) is a group consisting of 14 of the world’s major oil-exporting nations. OPEC was founded in 1960 to coordinate the petroleum policies of its members and to provide member states with technical and economic aid. OPEC is a cartel that aims to manage the supply of oil in an effort to set the price of oil on the world market, in order to avoid fluctuations that might affect the economies of both producing and purchasing countries. Countries that belong to OPEC include Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela (the five founders), plus the United Arab Republic, Libya, Algeria, Nigeria, and five other countries.
1973 Oil Embargo
The 1970s were mired by a period of economic uncertainty, which stemmed largely from the international energy market. Beginning in 1973, OPEC issued an embargo on Middle Eastern oil. This was done in response to President Nixon removing the American dollar from the gold standard, which impacted the price of a barrel of oil and subsequently lowered OPEC profits, as well as the United States’ intervention in the Yom Kippur War (1973), in which the U.S. supported Israel over Syria and Egypt.
1973 Oil Embargo - Effects
The price for a barrel of oil skyrocketed, eventually reaching $12 a barrel in 1974. Americans were forced to ration gasoline by only purchasing the product on specific days, as well as monitoring their general consumption of the limited good. Unfortunately, while the embargo ended in 1974, inflation and unemployment steadily rose through the rest of the decade. Many historians agree that the period of economic instability from 1970 to 1973 represented the worst financial distress the United States had seen since the Great Depression.
Understand why the 1976 oil embargo was short-lived.
In 1976, irritated by the fluctuation of the American dollar, OPEC once again issued an embargo of oil. Fortunately, this embargo did not last long as President Carter threatened to remove America from the international oil standard and begin the process of finding new forms of energy.
1979 Oil Crisis
The year 1979 marked the beginning of the Iranian Revolution and, ultimately, an international energy crisis. A barrel of oil reached over $40 dollars during the year and Americans were forced once again to ration gasoline. President Carter attempted to curb the energy and economic crisis, but it was not until President Reagan took office in 1981 that America resolved the oil monopoly of OPEC, while reducing inflation. This was done by reducing the United States’ reliance on OPEC, finding new sources of energy domestically and abroad, and forming rivalries between OPEC nations. Energy costs were reduced in the 1980s, as were inflation and unemployment.
Roe vs. Wade - Background
In 1969, Norma McCorvey (who adopted the pseudonym ‘Roe’) became pregnant and moved to Dallas, Texas, in order to seek an abortion. The state refused to grant McCorvey the right to an abortion because state law claimed that abortion was only legal if incest, rape, or life-threatening harm to the woman had occurred. However, the court ruled in favor of ‘Roe’. The case was immediately appealed to the United States Supreme Court under the contestation of Dallas County district attorney Henry Wade.
Roe vs. Wade
The case of Roe v. Wade was heard in 1972, and on January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to an abortion was legal under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees privacy in personal decision-making. The Court did, however, rule that the state had the right to intervene if the abortion caused harm to the mother or if the child had passed a specific pregnancy trimester threshold. The timing of the abortion was later reversed and replaced with a clause which maintained that the mother could abort until the child reached ‘viability’; that is, the ability to live on its own outside of the mother’s womb. Advocates for and against abortion have contested the issue for decades.
