59AIM: What Problems did President Nixon Face?

Richard Nixon was narrowly elected President in 1968. He wanted to reduce government spending & vetoed many spending bills passed by a largely Democratic Senate. An unprecedented crime wave was happening in the US as more illegal drugs became available & the “crack” epidemic was hitting the major cities. Nixon campaigned on a “law and order” program where he promised to crack down on lawbreakers. He appointed more conservative federal judges who would hand out stiffer penalties. He also created an “enemies list” of political opponents, entertainers, and media people who he did not trust. He had the FBI investigate these people; however he was severely ridiculed when this list was made public.

Nixon faced severe economic problems. As the economy slowed into a recession, unemployment increased, as did inflation. The nation was given a huge jolt in 1973 when the OPEC nations drastically cut its petroleum shipments to the US. This action was to protest the US’s support for Israel in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. Gasoline prices skyrocketed & Americans had to wait on long lines to buy gasoline on either odd or even days determined by their license plate numbers. Since petroleum is a basic item in the manufacture of many industrial products and of course the shipment of goods, inflation & prices increased & the economy slowed. Things began to return to normal when OPEC resumed their petroleum shipments. However gasoline prices dropped but still remained higher than in pre-boycott days.

One of Nixon’s campaign promises was to end the war in Vietnam. However he actually further escalated the war by bombing Hanoi, the North Vietnamese capital, and by bombing portions of the Ho Chi Minh Trail which ran through Cambodia.

Though Nixon had always been fiercely anti-Communist, he realized that the US would have to engage China at some point. At that time China & the USSR, the world’s two most important communist nations, were almost on the brink of war. Nixon saw an opportunity to create a wedge between the two communist giants. Nixon also wanted to create a trade agreement with China & to get their assistance to help extricate the US from Vietnam.

Nixon also improved US relations with the USSR which would lead to the momentous SALT Agreement, which reduced the fear of a nuclear war by reducing nuclear testing and the number of weapons each nation could produce.

HOMEWORK: Read pgs. 859 – 861. Do pg. 858 ques. 3B & pg. 868 ques. 4. Do pg. 869 interpreting graphs, ques a-c.