The Triumph of Conservatism1969-1988

Richard Nixon’s Foreign Policy

• Promises to bring Americans together– Begins to isolate himself

• First interest is realistic foreign policy, not domestic

• Reduces cold war tensions with help of Henry Kissinger

Vietnamization

• Finding a way to reduce U.S. involvement while avoiding defeat

• Looking for “Peace with Honor”

Opposition to Nixon’s War Policies

• Withdrawal of troops = less war protest• Move to Cambodia?• Protest at Kent State– Leaves 4 dead– 2 dead at Jackson State

• Senate will repeal Gulf of Tonkin Resolution• My Lai Massacre

Rolling Thunder

Vietnamization (hidden) & Peace Talk

• Nixon is escalating the war by sending b-52 bombers to Vietnam.

• There is an armistice, but the war does not end.

• US leaves war.

Détente with China and the Soviet Union

• détente = reduction in Cold War tensions

• Visit to China– Nixon astonished the world

with visit to China– Initiated diplomatic

exchanges• Arms control with the USSR

– Treaty limiting antiballistic missiles (ABMs)

– Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT I)

Détente with China

The New Federalism

Nixon’s Domestic/Economic Policy

• New Federalism– $30 Billion in block grants to states– Nixon attempts to bypass congress

• Stagflation– Rise in unemployment / economic slowdown– High inflation

• Increases balance of trade• Adopts Keynesian economics and deficit

spending

Nixon’s Southern Strategy• Only has 43% of vote in 1968• Wants to create a Republican majority by

appealing to those disaffected by:– Antiwar protest– Black militants– School busing to achieve racial balance– Youth counterculture

• Many of these people were Democrats:– Southern whites– Catholic ethnics– Blue-collar workers– Recent suburbanites

• To win over the South:– Delay integration plans– Nominated two southern conservatives to

Supreme Courts

1972 Election

• Success on many levels• Nixon indicated a major political realignment

Watergate

Gerald Ford and White House

• Pardoning of Nixon– “Corrupt Bargain” with Nixon– Appointed George H. Bush to CIA

• Failure of US Policy in Southeast Asia– Fall of Saigon (Video)– Genocide in Cambodia– Future of Southeast Asia

• Economy– Bicentennial celebration

Jimmy Carter

• Foreign Policy– Human Rights Diplomacy– Panama Canal– Camp David Accords– Iran Hostage Crisis– Cold War

• Domestic Policy– Dealing with inflation– Adjustment after WWII