U6L6 The Nixon Years Flashcards
During Nixon’s presidential campaign, he said that he wanted to help the silent majority. What is the silent majority?
These Americans were disturbed by the unrest of the 1960s but did not protest publicly. They were, Nixon explained, the “great majority of Americans, the non-shouters, the non-demonstrators.”
What was Nixon’s “law-and-order” program?
Federal funds were used to help local police departments. Nixon also named four conservative justices to the Supreme Court. They tended to favor dealing harshly with lawbreakers.
During the beginning of Nixon’s presidency, what happened in space?
Nixon inherited the space program from Kennedy and Johnson. Its greatest triumph came in 1969 just as Nixon took office. In 1969, two astronauts landed a small craft on the moon’s surface. With millions of television viewers around the world watching, Neil A. Armstrong became the first person to step onto the moon. “That’s one small step for a man—one giant leap for mankind,” he radioed back to Earth. American astronauts visited the moon five more times.
What is stagflation?
A combination of rising prices, high unemployment, and slow economic growth.
What did Nixon do to halt inflation?
Nixon froze wages and prices. To stimulate economic growth, he increased federal spending.
Nixon raised federal spending to halt inflation. What did increasing federal prices cause?
Increased federal spending caused federal budget deficits; that is, the government spent more than it received in revenues.
Early in Nixon’s second term, an oil embargo put added pressure on the economy. How?
Higher energy prices caused the price of goods to rise even more.
At the beginning of Nixon’s presidency, what did he do about Vietnam?
At first President Nixon widened the war in Vietnam, hoping to weaken the enemy. For years, North Vietnam had used trails in nearby Cambodia to supply Vietcong soldiers in South Vietnam. The Vietcong also escaped to Cambodia when American and South Vietnamese units attacked.
Because Vietnam constantly used Cambodia as a safe place, what did Nixon order to be done to Cambodia?
In 1969, Nixon ordered the bombing of communist bases in Cambodia. Then, American and South Vietnamese forces invaded by land.
What affect did the bombing of Cambodia have on its countries government?
These moves helped plunge Cambodia into its own civil war between communist and noncommunist forces.
Why did Nixon withdraw American troops?
Pressure at home
What agreement did North and America reach?
In January 1973, the two sides reached a cease-fire agreement.
How did South Vietnam do against North Vietnam after America left the battle field?
The United States continued to send large amounts of aid to South Vietnam. Even so, the South Vietnamese were unable to stop a North Vietnamese advance. In April 1975, communist forces captured Saigon. They renamed it Ho Chi Minh City. Soon after, Vietnam was united under a communist government.
Who were the Khmer Rouge?
The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea and by extension to the regime through which the CPK ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979.
(Got this from the Wiki)
Describe the Khmer Rouge rule in Cambodia.
The Khmer Rouge imposed a brutal reign of terror on their own people. More than one million Cambodians starved to death or were killed.
How did the Khmer Rouge come in power?
Idk if they actually came into power but…
That year, the communist Khmer Rouge (kuh MER ROOZH) won the civil war in Cambodia.
In 1979, Vietnam invaded Cambodia. What effect did this have on Cambodia?
In 1979, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and set up a new communist government. It was less harsh than the Khmer Rouge, but it could not end the fighting. Not until the 1990s would a shaky peace be restored in Cambodia.
How many America soldiers lost their life in the Vietnam War?
More than 58,000
…
Over 150,000 American soldiers were wounded, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers suffered lingering effects from the psychological stress of the war.
How many Vietnamese soldiers and citizens died during the Vietnam war?
More than one million Vietnamese soldiers and perhaps half a million civilians died. The war shattered the Vietnamese economy.
After 1975, hundreds of thousands of people fled Vietnam and Cambodia. How did these people leave?
Refugees from Vietnam escaped in small boats. They were called boat people.
People who fled Vietnam and Cambodia fled on boat. How did their journeys go?
Many of these boat people drowned or died of hunger and thirst. Others made it to safety. Eventually, many were allowed to settle in the United States.
How were American soldiers who fought in the Vietnam war treated?
Some returning soldiers faced protests, and many others came home without a welcome, a much different experience than soldiers who had returned from previous wars to the admiration of the American people.
What did the Vietnam war leave Americans thinking?
Vietnam left Americans wondering about how far the nation should go to fight communism.
What is a federal budget deficit?
when the government spends more than it receives in revenue
