The Presidencies of Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter - Assignment Example

History April 28 How were the presidencies of Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter shaped by the legacies of Watergate and Vietnam War? It cannot be denied that the Watergate Scandal and the Vietnam War influenced quite significantly the presidencies of Gerald Ford (1974-1977) and James Earl (Jimmy) Carter (1977-1981). Both issues indeed occurred and lasted mostly before the eras of their presidencies, but the aftermath of the issues became a large hurdle for both Ford and Carter since they had to attempt leading a country whereas the faith to its government was still shaken by the two events. The condition led the political policies of both presidents into several failures. Thus, it generated a great amount of dissatisfaction and criticism. Gerald Ford, who became a president after Nixon resigned as the result of Watergate, granted pardon to the former president Nixon in September 1974. This action proved to be an unpopular move since Nixon was suspected to be involved in Watergate Scandal. He got another fame point reduction from the fact that his WIN (Whip Inflation Now) program failed to stop stagflation, the conditions from the era of Nixon’s presidency where prices and unemployment kept rising. Related to Vietnam Wars, Ford planned a renewal of U.S. military support in South Vietnam, but it failed due to the antiwar mood in the states and the battlefield conditions in Vietnam. Within the era of Ford’s presidency, in 1975, North Vietnamese captured South Vietnam capital Saigon, and in the same year the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia drove the U.S supported government from the capital of Phnom Penh and boarded a U.S. ship, the Mayaguez to seize the ship and its crew. Ford’s effort to send a rescue mission and bombing strikes led to short burst of approval from the U.S. citizens. However, during the rescue, U.S. lost more men than it saved. During Jimmy Carter’s era of presidency, the influence of Watergate and Vietnam Wars legacies was not as great. However, the shaken faith to the government was still suffered and the stagflation which damaged the economy condition during Nixon and Ford’s eras of presidencies was still unsolved. The rise of oil price and hostage crisis added more problems during Carter’s term in office. Related to Vietnam Wars, Carter’s first policy after he obtained his presidential seat was to grant amnesty to most Vietnam-era draft resisters. Declaring that he would not be afflicted by “inordinate fear of communism”, Carter avoided getting involved by direct war like what happened in Vietnam Wars, and focused on diplomatic negotiations and attempts which emphasized human rights. Camp David peace talk between Egypt and Israel, diplomatic ties with China, and his nonmilitary ways in responding Soviet’s invasion of Afghanistan were some of his attempts to use diplomatic negotiation instead of brute force. 2. What conservative agenda in both domestic and foreign policy did Ronald Reagan’s Republican administration construct? Ronald Reagan, the president of U.S. (1981-1989) after Jimmy Carter, was a Republican president who brought the national policy to conservative direction. In this direction, the agenda his administration constructed involved: tax cut, reduction in government welfare programs, anti-union strategy, conservative federal court, relaxation of federal safety and environmental laws enforcement, “cheap oil” policy, and military build up. Reagan’s administration justified the idea of cutting taxes by referring to supply side economic theory which stated that tax reduction for investors and producers would stimulate financial growth and eventually create jobs. Thereby, the economic stagnation of the 1970s would be cured. Indeed, after a severe economic downturn for two years, Reagan’s tax cut program showed its result in the form of rapid non-inflationary economic growth and reduction of unemployment rate. Unfortunately, on the down side, the nation suffered huge deficit of national budget and heavy foreign debt. To lessen deficit of national budget, Reagan’s administration reduced the funding of government welfare programs. Contrary to the previous program, this act increased the poverty rates and it fell disproportionately on the disadvantaged, female headed families, and children. Consequently, it led to the widened gap between the rich and the poor. Another conservative agenda held by Reagan’s government was the implementation of anti-union strategies. In 1981, Reagan immediately fired the nation’s air traffic controllers when their union turned down the request to halt their nationwide strike. The action, which was followed by similar aggressive anti-union acts, forced workers to recognize that the balance of power turned against them. As a result, workers started to turn away from strike as an economic weapon and the percentage of unionized workers decreased drastically. On judicial issues, Reagan’s presidency was marked with the appointment of conservative judges to federal courts. The arrival of conservative judges in federal courts reinforced the judicial laws, especially against claims from labor unions, criminal defendants, and political dissenters. On the contrary, related to energy and environmental issues, Reagan’s administration relaxed the enforcement of federal safety and environmental laws. In addition, ignoring environmentalists’ calls to decrease the nation reliance on fossil fuels by promoting renewable sources, Reagan’s government followed a “cheap oil” policy by tapping new supplies of oil at home and abroad. In military and foreign affair context, Reagan’s era was marked by the application of the strategy “peace through strength”. Based on this strategy, he used up an enormous increase of military spending, delivered firm foreign policy against the Soviet Union, supported anti-communist rebel movement in other countries (Afghanistan, Angola, Nicaragua, etc), and also authorized military movement in Lebanon, Grenada and Libya. Reagan’s greatest achievement in maintaining peace was probably his negotiation with Soviet General Secretary Michael Gorbachev which contributed greatly in the peaceful end of Cold War. However, later on, Reagan’s administration was found to get involved in the scandal of Iran-Contra Affair, whereas they secretly sold weapons to Iran and diverted the money to support the Contra forces who tried to bring down the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. 3. What forces and events contributed to the end of the Cold War? The Cold War between United States of America and Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, had been started since the end of the World War II. The nervous competition and rigid interactions between West and West continued for decades. In the late 1960s to the 1970s, a period of eased tension called détente occurred. However, due to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and Ronald Reagan’s strict anti-communist stance, the eased tension deteriorated rapidly and the Cold War was renewed. After several years of renewed Cold War, the realization that the rivalry between the two nations burdened the economic conditions of both countries could not be denied anymore. In USSR, after he rose into power, the General Secretary Michael Gorbachev applied a policy of openness (glasnost) and economic liberation (perestroika) to remedy the economical crisis that threaten the country. In response to Gorbachev’s new policies, Reagan agreed to renew the relationship between the two nations. Therefore, in 1986, at the meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, Reagan proposed the wholesale ban of nuclear weapon, but the negotiation failed because Reagan refused Gorbachev’s insistence for U.S. to abandon its Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). A year later, after Gorbachev dropped the SDI conditions, both leaders agreed to sign major arms treaty to reduce each nation’s supply of missiles and to allow the on-site verification. Later on, Gorbachev deactivated Soviet’s previous policy that prohibited the nations under Soviet Union influence to renounce communism. This ultimately led the breakdown of Soviet Union several years later. That dissolution of Soviet Union, which symbolized the end of the Cold War, was marked by some notable event such as the winning of Poland’s anticommunist labor party over the pro-Soviet regime in 1989, the fall of pro-Moscow government in East Germany in the same year which led the people to tear down Berlin Wall, the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the re-creation of separate states in Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia, the declaration of independence of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, and finally the declaration of self governance from Russia in 1991 followed directly by the abolishment of Soviet Union. In the end, The Cold War ended and Soviet Union was replaced by eleven independent republics which were voluntarily joined in a commonwealth. 4. How did President Bill Clinton reorient the Democratic Party’s domestic appeal, and what was Clinton’s post-Cold War agenda in Foreign policy? Bill Clinton, the democratic president of U.S. (1993-2001), reoriented the Democratic Party’s domestic appeal in several ways. By appointing competent minorities and women to important posts in his government, he tried to reorient domestic appeal as well as to improve race and gender relations. Then, in financial affair, he attempted to increase the appeal in efficiency by reducing the size of the government, balancing the budget, eliminating deficit, and supporting economic globalization. In addition, related to law enhancement, he developed more domestic charm by fighting crimes with federal support for police, prisons and gun control laws. Other than that, cooperating with the Republicans to move people from welfare to work by providing incentives added the party’s domestic value. Even though he made many new attempts to reorient the Democratic Party domestic appeal, Clinton did not abandon the traditional commitments of his democratic party. He still tried to accomplish the commitments to health care reform, environmental protection, and tax credits for the poor. By preserving traditional commitments and attempting new ideas of reorientation, Clinton accomplished much progress in his era of presidency. Despite his personal scandal, Clinton managed to make the Democrats associated with economic growth, full employment, fiscal responsibility, and low inflation. Clinton delivered internationalist vision for his post-Cold War agenda in Foreign policy. Including in this vision were: global environmental and health concerns, free market policies, improved relation with the UN, expansion of NATO, improvement of human rights and democracy, and reduction of nuclear threats. Other than the general vision, the U.S. post-Cold War agenda involved some specific consideration. When to employ the U.S. military power in localized conflict became one of the main concerns of the agenda. The U.S. had sent its troop as a member of the UN force to assist a humanitarian effort in providing food and supplies in Somalia, to keep peace in Rwanda, to reinstall the ousted elected president in Haiti, to stop Bosnian Serbs from massacring Bosnian Muslims in Yugoslavia, and to protect Albanian Muslims. In addition to the act under the UN flag, Clinton’s post-Cold War agenda for foreign affair included some other priorities like the mediation of conflict in Northern Ireland, the attempt to mediate Israel and Palestine, the support of nonproliferation of nuclear weapon, the dismantling of nuclear arsenal in the U.S., Ukraine, and North Korea, the attempts to maintain international inspections of Saddam Hussein, and the attempts to overcome international terrorism acts. Other than military affair, Clinton’s post-Cold War agenda also involved economic trade in global market. In this global trade affair, Clinton enthusiastically backed the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), extended Mexico’s loan, supported IMF (International Monetary Fund) decision to provide emergency credits from Korea to Indonesia, and backed China’s entry to WTO (World Trading Organization). Read More