Unit IV: End of the Cold War and Contemporary America The Americans
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- Richard Nixon détente
- An Unexpected Presidency
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| Unit IV: End of the Cold War and Contemporary America
The Americans: Chapters 24 & 25, plus Issues for 21st Century (p. 792-916) History Alive! Chapters 54-60 (p. 695-795) Richard Nixon & détente 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. http://www.history.com/topics/richard-m-nixon Détente Détente (a French word meaning release from tension) is the name given to a period of improved relations between the United States and the Soviet Union that began tentatively in 1971 and took decisive form when President Richard M. Nixon visited the secretary-general of the Soviet Communist party, Leonid I. Brezhnev, in Moscow, May 1972. Both countries stood to gain if trade could be increased and the danger of nuclear warfare reduced. In addition, Nixon--a candidate for reelection--was under fire at home from those demanding social change, racial equality, and an end to the Vietnam War. The trip to Russia, like his historic trip to China a few months earlier, permitted him to keep public attention focused on his foreign policy achievements rather than his domestic problems. Nixon's trip to China had also heightened the Soviets' interest in détente; given the growing antagonism between Russia and China, Brezhnev had no wish to see his most potent rivals close ranks against him. On May 22 Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit Moscow. He and Brezhnev signed seven agreements covering the prevention of accidental military clashes; arms control, as recommended by the recent Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (salt); cooperative research in a variety of areas, including space exploration; and expanded commerce. The salt treaty was approved by Congress later that summer, as was a three-year agreement on the sale of grain to the Soviets. In June 1973, Brezhnev visited the United States for Summit II; this meeting added few new agreements, but did symbolize the two countries' continuing commitment to peace. Summit III, in June 1974, was the least productive; by then, the salt talks had ground to a halt, several commercial agreements had been blocked in Congress because of Soviet treatment of Jews, and the Watergate investigation was approaching a climax. Nixon's successor in the talks, President Jimmy Carter, supported salt ii, but also pressed a military buildup and a human rights campaign, which cooled relations between the countries. With the election of Ronald Reagan, who emphasized military preparedness as the key to Soviet-American relations, détente as Nixon had envisioned it came to an end. The Reader's Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors. Copyright © 1991 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.  
Gerald Ford America's 38th president, Gerald Ford (1913-2006) took office on August 9, 1974, following the resignation of President Richard Nixon (1913-1994), who left the White House in disgrace over the Watergate scandal. Ford became the first unelected president in the nation's history. A longtime Republican congressman from Michigan, Ford had been appointed vice president less than a year earlier by President Nixon. He is credited with helping to restore public confidence in government after the disillusionment of the Watergate era. An Unexpected Presidency The unusual chain of events that lifted Ford to the Oval Office began in 1972 when operatives connected to President Richard Nixon's (1913-1994) re-election campaign broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. A number of high-ranking Nixon administration officials knew about the break-in, and the president himself took part in efforts to cover up the illegal activities that became known as the Watergate scandal. As the scandal came to light, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew (1918-1996) resigned from office in October 1973 over unrelated charges of accepting bribes and evading taxes. Nixon used his power under the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to appoint Ford as his new vice president. The well-liked and respected Ford was easily confirmed by Congress and took office on December 6, 1973. For the next eight months, as the Watergate investigation heated up, Ford defended Nixon and represented the administration. On August 9, 1974, however, Nixon chose to resign from office rather than face an impeachment trial over his role in the scandal. Ford assumed the presidency and immediately took up the task of reassuring a shaken and demoralized American public. "Our long national nightmare is over," he declared in his inaugural address. "Our Constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws and not men." The Nixon Pardon Shortly after taking office, Ford pardoned Nixon for any crimes he may have committed as president. The presidential pardon meant that Nixon would never have to face criminal charges over his involvement in the Watergate scandal. Ford's decision generated a swirl of controversy. Millions of Americans wanted to see the disgraced former president brought to justice. Some critics charged that Ford issued the pardon as part of a pre-arranged deal to reach the Oval Office. But Ford insisted that the nation's future hinged on ending the ordeal of Watergate and beginning the process of healing. During the remaining two years of his presidency, Ford faced a domestic energy crisis and a weak economy marked by high inflation and unemployment. He also struggled to work effectively with a heavily Democratic Congress. In fact, Ford vetoed 66 pieces of legislation that conflicted with his basic philosophy of fiscal conservatism. Ford's foreign policy generated both successes and failures. Unable to convince Congress to approve further military aid to South Vietnam, he could only watch as the country fell to North Vietnamese Communist forces in 1975. Later that year, however, Ford helped reduce tensions with the Soviet Union by signing the Helsinki Accords, which were meant to strengthen the relationship between Western nations and the communist countries of Europe. Post-White House Years Ford understood that his decision to pardon Nixon could have political consequences, and it probably cost him the presidency in 1976. That year, he lost a close election to Democrat Jimmy Carter (1924-). Ford took the loss in stride, however, telling friends that he had planned to retire from Congress that year anyway. He viewed his brief tenure in the Oval Office as an unexpected bonus at the end of a long career in politics. Ford often said that he was pleased to have had the opportunity to help the nation emerge from the shadow of Watergate. The former president remained active in his retirement. He gave speeches, served on the boards of major corporations and indulged his passions for golf and downhill skiing. He and his wife, who battled alcoholism at a time when the disease was not publicly discussed, also opened the Betty Ford Clinic in California to support research, treatment and rehabilitation for alcohol addiction. In 1999, Ford received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor "awarded to individuals who make an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." Ford died on December 26, 2006, at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, at the age of 93. At the time of his death, he was America's oldest ex-president. http://www.history.com/topics/gerald-r-ford 
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recession A recession is defined by two consecutive quarters of decline in a nation's gross domestic product. Read more: Video: What Is a Recession? | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/video_4997865_recession_.html#ixzz1wIOQL4rU 
From wiki: In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction, a general slowdown in economic activity.[1][2] Macroeconomic indicators such as GDP, employment, investment spending, capacity utilization, household income, business profits, and inflation fall, while bankruptcies and the unemployment rate rise. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending, often following an adverse supply shock or the bursting of an economic bubble. Governments usually respond to recessions by adopting expansionary macroeconomic policies, such as increasing money supply, increasing government spending and decreasing taxation. http://www.ask.com/wiki/Recession stagflation http://www.history.com/videos/ask-steve-1960s-economy 
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