1972 ELECTION

1. 1972 ELECTION • Nixon ran for re-election against George McGovern (senator from South Dakota) in 1972 • McGovern was an anti-war liberal who proved inept at running a presidential campaign • Lost by a huge margin • Nixon won southern and blue-collar voters away from Democrats • During campaign, Nixon targeted radicals, hippies, African-American activists, and welfare mothers as the cause of all America’s problems

2. TRICKY DICK • Nixon campaign made use of illegal surveillance and “dirty tricks” during election • Nixon also had an “enemies list” • Included African-American and anti-war activists, liberal journalists, Democrats, and even Republicans who didn’t support war in Vietnam • Were subjected to illegal wiretaps and other forms of harassment and spying

3. WATERGATE • Agents working for White House attempted to break in and bug phones of Democratic headquarters at Watergate hotel and office complex • June 1972 • Security guard caught intruders and found that two of them worked as security consultants for the White House

4. COVER-UP • Nixon at first denied all knowledge of the break-in • Claimed men had been acting on their own • Also tried to cover-up the fact that he had ordered the break-in • This lying got them through the 1972 election in good shape

5. THE PLOT THICKENS • Several members of the press kept on investigating the episode • Gradually became clear that Nixon and his staff had been involved in the break-in • Congressional investigation was ordered • Revealed the role of White House in a web of political deceit and unconstitutional behavior Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post

6. END OF THE ROAD • Nixon resigns presidency on August 7, 1974 • Faced with certain impeachment for “high crimes and misdemeanors” and a constitutional crisis • Later pardoned by President Gerald Ford • But former vice-president Spiro Agnew and many top staff members would serve prison time for their involvement in Watergate

7. GERALD FORD • New president Gerald Ford inherited a complete mess • Economy was in a shambles • Due to Oil Crisis of 1973 • Sparked by oil producing nations of the Middle East cutting off oil shipments to US to punish us for supporting Israel • When shipments resumed, the price per barrel of oil dramatically increased, provoking horrible inflation

8. BIRTH OF THE RUST BELT • American manufacturers had lost their competitive edge • Undersold by higher quality products from Europe and Asia • To remain competitive, northern manufacturers closed their factories and relocated in the South • Were wages were lower, unions weaker, and workforce too stupid to know they were being screwed • Also relocated factories in foreign countries • Taiwan, Mexico, and Southeast Asia

9. FALL OF SAIGON • U.S had been gradually pulling troops out of Vietnam for several years and turning most ground fighting over to the South Vietnamese • South Vietnamese soldiers were incompetent, corrupt, and unmotivated and were continually defeated by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong • U.S. forced to evacuate remaining soldiers and CIA agents from Saigon in 1975 • Shortly before North Vietnamese took over the city • U.S. was finally out of Vietnam but it had also lost the war

10. PUBLIC DISENCHANTMENT • American public had lost its faith in and respect for the government • After being lied to about Vietnam for years and witnessing the criminal behavior of Nixon and his staff • We were a demoralized and depressed country plagued with deep economic problems • Even if Ford had been an intelligent leader, these problems would have been difficult to overcome

11. 1976 ELECTION • Ford lost presidential election of 1976 to Jimmy Carter, former governor of Georgia • Carter won by appealing to the anti-Washington, anti-incumbent mood that permeated the country

12. CARTER’S STRENGTHS • Made human rights an important element in American foreign policy • Convinced long time enemies, Israel and Egypt, to drop their differences • Camp David Accords (1978) • Rigorously enforced civil rights laws • Unlike Nixon and Ford

13. CARTER’S WEAKNESSES • Economy continued to stagnate and inflation and unemployment continued to be high • In fact, both got worse • Many Americans remained disenchanted with government and politics • U.S. was embarrassed when Islamic fundamentalists captured U.S. embassy in Iran and took its employees hostage • All were held prisoner for over a year despite Carter’s efforts to get them released • Made U.S. look like a big, helpless giant

14. ELECTION OF 1980 • Carter defeated for re-election in 1980 by Ronald Reagan • Former governor of California • Former second-rate actor • Reagan was complete “image” • Owned by various corporations and wealthy New Right conservatives who used him as a front man to promote their interests

15. REAGAN AGENDA • Make the rich richer • Build up the military at the expense of domestic reform programs • Weaken unions • Undo as much of the social legislation of the 1960s as possible • Put forward New Right program • Such as school prayer and anti-abortion

16. SUPPLY-SIDE ECONOMICS • Cut taxes so that the rich could keep more of their money • They then would use this money to invest in their businesses and thereby provide more jobs and benefit the entire country • The problem was that the rich did not use the money they saved through tax cuts to create more jobs • They wasted it instead on conspicuous consumption, speculated in the stock market, bought out other companies, and invested it in overseas interests • Very little “trickled down” to benefit working Americans

17. THE REAL REAGAN LEGACY • Permanent loss of millions of well-paying manufacturing jobs • Bloated military budget that tripled the national debt in 8 years • Dramatic rise in homelessness and poverty • Dramatic cuts in welfare programs • Even wanted to do away with Social Security • A series of serious scandals • During second term

18. IRAN-CONTRA (1) • Communist-inspired Sandinista overthrew Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua in late 1970s • US responded with economic boycott of Nicaragua • Reagan’s CIA director, William Casey, wanted to also create a guerilla army made up of former Somoza thugs (Contras) to destabilize country and bring the Sandinista down

19. IRAN-CONTRA (2) • Congress refused to fund Contras when it was revealed that they had committed a number of horrible atrocities against innocent people • At about the same time Congress also branded Iran a “terrorist nation” and prohibited all American companies from selling it military equipment • Casey secretly sold weapons to Iran and used the profits to secretly fund the Contras

20. IRAN-CONTRA (3) • Reagan and vice-president George Bush approved Casey’s plan • But they lied and denied any knowledge of it when it became public • No one pushed the issue because it would have resulted in another Watergate • Administration’s lies were therefore not challenged and the government satisfied itself by prosecuting a few lower-level idiots involved in the scandal • Colonel Oliver North

21. END OF THE COLD WAR • Reforms launched by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev unintentionally led to the internal collapse of the Soviet Union and its abandonment of its hold over Eastern Europe • Reagan and Bush took credit for these events and announced they had “won the Cold War”

22. A NEW ERA? • Many hoped the end of the Cold War would reduce the chance for nuclear holocaust, lead to a reduction to our bloated military budget, and cause the redirection of resources to domestic programs • Did not happen • US found new enemies to justify huge military expenditures • Too many powerful corporations, big research universities, and jobs depend on the continuation of tremendous military spending for it ever to be reduced in any significant manner