One of Nixon’s foreign policy breakthroughs was a trip to China. China had turned communist in 1949. Initially, there was cooperation between China and the Soviety Union which necessarily meant that relations with the U.S. were poor. Nixon had a reputation as being strong against communism which led to the expression, “only Nixon could go to China.” (In other words, if someone who hadn’t made a career out of red-baiting had gone to China, Nixon’s supporters would have raised hell.) Improved relations with China, in turn, led to improved relations with the Soviet Union — the Soviets were concerned about being entirely frozen out if the U.S. and China became too friendly.
The war in Vietnam wore on, and Nixon was convinced it could not be won. Protests were widespread in the United States and sometimes violent. However, there was some increased activity – including massive bombing and ground wars in Laos and Cambodia during the Nixon administration. By 1973, however, conscription ended and the Paris Peace Accords were signed. The U.S. pulled out, and in 1975, North Vietnam conquered South Vietnam.
In 1973, the Yom Kippur War triggered an international crisis and an oil shortage in the U.S. An Arab coalition with Soviet arms invaded Israel. Israel initially suffered losses, but with U.S. assistance reversed the situation and began to rout the Egyptians and Syrians. The changing balance of the war made peace negotiations volatile. Nixon ordered the U.S. military to DEFCON 3, pulling the world as close as it had been to nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Arab OPEC nations retaliated against the U.S. support of Israel with an oil embargo. The resulting spike in the price of oil set off recessions and inflation that persisted until the early 80s. Oil prices would remain elevated until 1986. Oil producing nations in the Middle East began to accumulate great wealth. This helped fund Saudi Arabia’s export of its fundamentalist version of Islam, Wahabbism and fund extremist organizations such as al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Domestically, at 4.7%, inflation was as high as it had been since the Korean War in the 50s. This was in part due to government expenditures connected with Johnson’s Great Society program and the Vietnam War. Nixon imposed wage and price controls and took the U.S. off the gold standard. These policies dampened inflation in the short term but probably exacerbated it over the long term. The controls produced food shortages and “farmers drowned chickens rather than sell them at a loss.” Price controls were not the only way in which Nixon was far away from what serves as conservative orthodoxy today. His initiatives helped create the Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Air Act, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). “In 1974, Nixon proposed more comprehensive health insurance reform—a private health insurance employer mandate and replacement of Medicaid by state-run health insurance plans available to all, with income-based premiums and cost-sharing.” While nothing like a full-throated supporter, Nixon also expressed support for the Equal Rights Amendment and made some efforts to enforce school desegregation orders issued by the courts. However, at the same time, Nixon was mindful of his intent to pursue a Southern Strategy that would cater to white southerners and attempt to bring them into the Republican fold. White Southerners had been solidly Democratic since the Civil War. But the passage of the Civil Rights Act and support for civil rights by northern Democrats had alienated them from the Democratic Party.
During the Nixon administration, on July 20, 1969, humans — specifically Americans — set foot on the moon. We had met Kennedy’s goal of landing on the moon by the end of the decade. As the centuries or millennia pass, if the United States should cease to exist (and assuming humans continue to exist), this is the achievement that seems most likely to be remembered by future generations. We were the first to set foot on land beyond the Earth. As Neil Armstrong said, “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
But that historic event is not the one for which Nixon will be most remembered. Instead it is his resignation in advance of impeachment. In 1972, Nixon beat George McGovern in a historic landslide victory. McGovern had a variety of problems. He was behind most of the election, was painted as soft on war and drugs, and he ditched his vice-presidential running mate, Thomas Eagleton, when it turned out he had mental health issues. During the election, the Committee to Re-Elect President Nixon was involved in a variety of unsavory activities, among which was breaking into the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C.
In 1973, his vice-president, Spiro Agnew resigned and took a plea deal related to accepting over $100,000 in bribes while he was governor of Maryland. Nixon chose Gerald Ford, the House Minority Leader from Michigan to be appointed as Vice-President. Throughout that year, a series of revelations brought the Watergate scandals to light. “The scandal grew to involve a slew of additional allegations against the President, ranging from the improper use of government agencies to accepting gifts in office and his personal finances and taxes; Nixon repeatedly stated his willingness to pay any outstanding taxes due, and paid $465,000 in back taxes in 1974.” Nixon’s efforts to cover up his and the White House’s involvement hurt him as much as the underlying crimes and misdeeds. A tape came to light showing that he had been informed of the misdeeds and was involved in plans to thwart the investigation. Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. Gerald Ford who had been elected neither as President or Vice-President became the new President following Nixon’s resignation.
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