The Nixon Era: Rebellion and Reaction in the 1960s and 1970s - Essay Example

The Nixon Era: Rebellion and Reaction in the 1960s and 1970s The Roots of Rebellion The 1960s are commonlyknown as a turbulent decade. The assassinations of John F. Kennedy in 1963 and Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy in 1968, the Vietnam War and its accompaniment of antiwar protests and political and social upheaval contributed to a social climate of "despair, disenchantment, conflict, and frustration" (Genovese, 1990, p6). It was in this America that Richard Nixon was elected president. Nixon and Middle America Richard Nixon grew up in the kind of America that later came to be called Middle America, or the silent majority. These were "hard-working, church-going people, farmers, shop keepers, people with an inbred respect for authority and an unyielding belief in the American Dream" (Richard M. Nixon). This was a group of people who felt excluded and unheard in the 1960s, and Nixon recognized the importance of having this previously silent but influential group on his side. His 1968 presidential campaign promised "an honorable end" (Richard M. Nixon) to the Vietnam War, and he further endeared himself to Middle America by promising a return law and order in the wake of chaotic anti-war protests. Together with his strongly anti-communist stance, this was enough to allow him to scrape a small majority and win the election, winning the popular vote by a narrow margin of just 0.9% on November 5 1968. At the start of his presidency and throughout 1969 Nixon scored in the low 60s in Gallup Poll approval surveys (Roper Center), and maintained 50-60% approval until April of 1973. Nixon remained reasonably popular with the silent majority until the rumors of his involvement in Watergate became too impossible to ignore. However, he still lost ground as America remained involved in the Vietnam War until 1973. Nixon and Vietnam By the time Nixon assumed the role of president, America had been involved in the Vietnam War for four long years, more than 30,000 Americans had died fighting, and over half a million were still stationed in Vietnam. Having vowed to end the war honorably, Nixon intended to gradually withdraw US forces from Vietnam while building up the South Vietnamese Army so that it could fight the war without US involvement. Nixon was confident that this strategy would end America's involvement in Vietnam by the end of 1970 (Richard M. Nixon), and in the summer of 1969 announced the first of withdrawal of American troops. To those who were critical of America's involvement in Vietnam, this gradual withdrawal was unacceptable - anti-war protests and demonstrations continued, Nixon's disapproval rating increased from 5% at the start of 1969 to 23% at the close (Roper Center), and the country remained divided. However, at the end of April 1970, American troops moved into Cambodia, a country which had remained neutral throughout the war (Genovese, 1990, p117). Invasion of Laos in 1971 and extensive bombing of North Vietnam followed, and disillusioned Americans again took to the streets in protest. However, as Nixon's plans to end America's involvement peacefully unraveled and the war dragged on, protest marches became increasingly filled with the middle class Americans who had previously been staunch Nixon supporters. It was not until January 27, 1973 that US involvement in the Vietnam War officially ended with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords. This significantly increased his popularity with the American voter and his approval rating was higher than it had ever been before (Roper Center). Nixon Triumphant As the war continued, and as unemployment and inflation rose, Nixon's popularity fell and at the start of 1972 he feared losing the coming election (Richard M. Nixon). However by May of that year he had negotiated a treaty between China and the Soviet Union in which these two countries agreed to slow the nuclear arms race which had been ongoing for over 25 years. On May 22 he became the first American president to enter the Kremlin, and he returned to America triumphant over what is generally regarded as his greatest achievement. Nixon won the November election in a landslide victory, and at the end of January 1973 finally negotiated the end of America's involvement in the Vietnam War. His popularity soared, however it was all too brief; support for the president plummeted as the Watergate scandal unfolded. Watergate The activities that culminated in Nixon's downfall included break-ins, illegal wiretapping, extortion and laundering of election funds, and a criminal conspiracy "designed to mislead law enforcement officers and protect the reelection bid of the president" (Genovese, 1990, p172) after the events surrounding and preceding Watergate were uncovered. The discovery of these actions and the subsequent attempts at cover-up ensured that Watergate would quickly become synonymous with scandal and conspiracy. On May 27, 1972, G. Gordon Liddy, a former White House aide and current member of the Committee for the Reelection of the President (CREEP), and several accomplices broke into the Watergate headquarters of the Democratic National Committee and installed wiretaps (Genovese, 1990, p186). They returned on the night of June 16 after it became evident that the first attempt had been unsuccessful, however this time they were noticed by a security guard. In the early hours of the following morning, they were arrested for illegal entry into the Watergate offices. These events occurred just five months before the 1972 election (Genovese, 1990, p189), and cover-up began immediately. Evidence linking the White House to those involved was quickly destroyed. While it is not certain that Nixon was involved in planning the break-ins, he was involved in the cover-up from the beginning. It was Nixon himself who on June 23 ordered that CIA director Richard Helms tell the FBI that proceeding with the Watergate investigation would jeopardize CIA operations. Meanwhile, Liddy and his accomplices were quietly paid off. On January 30 1973 Liddy and his associates were found guilty as charged (Genovese, 1990, p203), and it looked as though the danger was over. However, cracks were beginning to appear in the wall of silence. On March 23, the judge who had presided over the Watergate trials revealed the substance of a letter written by one of the convicted burglars (Genovese, 1990, p204). James McCord, a CREEP official, stated that there had been a cover-up, that perjury had been committed, and that higher-ups were involved. In April, the president's top aides were implicated and resigned. In May the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities began (Genovese, 1990, p208) and it became known that the president had secretly taped conversations in the Oval Office and other key locations. A battle over the tapes ensued which lasted for several months, in which Nixon initially refused to hand them over, and later provided edited tapes and transcripts. The battle dragged on into 1974 as the committee insisted on having access to the original tapes and Nixon continued to refuse. Gallup Poll results for this period indicate that from May to August, the proportion of the public who believed in Nixon's complicity in the Watergate conspiracy climbed from 56% to 76% (Genovese, 1990, p218). Nixon finally released the incriminating tapes on August 5 (Genovese, 1990, p217) on order of the Supreme Court. The tapes contained irrefutable evidence that Nixon had committed crimes, lied, and obstructed justice in attempting to cover up the events surrounding Watergate. Impeachment and conviction was inevitable, and there was only one thing Nixon could do to avoid it. The Unelected President Richard Nixon resigned on August 9 1974, and Vice-President Gerald Ford became the first American president to assume this office without having been elected (having been nominated by Nixon to replace Spiro Agnew as Vice-President, he had not been elected to this office either). For the first month, Ford enjoyed a 'presidential honeymoon' (Renka, 2005) with substantial approval ratings shown on Gallup Poll results - 66% approval and 13% disapproval on a poll taken September 6-9. However, less than one month later on September 8, he officially granted to Nixon a full pardon of any crimes associated with Watergate. On the next Gallup Poll, Ford's approval ratings plummeted 16 points, and disapproval reached 28%. Following this incident, economic problems further decreased Ford's popularity (Renka, 2005). The term "stagflation" was coined during this time in which both inflation and unemployment were on the increase. By December of 1974, Gerald Ford rated 42% approval and 41% disapproval, a rating which increased only temporarily in the following year after a period of economic recovery and a skirmish with Cambodia. In 1976 pre-election polls, Ford achieved only a 50% approval rating (Renka, 2005), and the public's negative views were exacerbated by his poor performance in debate with Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter. The Carter Interregnum Jimmy Carter won the 1976 election and was inaugurated on January 20 1977. His honeymoon lasted considerably longer than Ford's - Carter maintained a solid 70% approval (Renka, 2005) for the first three months of the presidency, and 60% until August. Carter's stance on issues such as a national energy shortage and the Panama Canal Treaty were unpopular and by the end of 1977 approval was in the mid-50s. Carter was committed to promoting reconciliation between the chronically warring nations of Israel and Egypt (Renka, 2005), and in 1978 was instrumental in bringing the leaders of these countries together in an agreement to cease hostilities. However the slight gain in popularity he achieved as a result was only temporary and by June 1979 had plummeted to an all-time low of 29% approval versus 56% disapproval. The lingering bitter aftertaste of Watergate certainly didn't help - the nation's confidence in its government was slow to recover (Renka, 2005). Post-Watergate National Election Study results show that people were very much less inclined to believe the government was trustworthy. Results of such polls indicate that public confidence in government has never again been as high as it was prior to the Watergate scandal. Works Cited Genovese, Michael A. The Nixon Presidency: Power and Politics in Turbulent Times. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1990. Renka, R. D. Nixon's Fall and the Ford and Carter Interregnum. April 5, 2006. July 8, 2006. Read More