Presidency Chart - Richard M. Nixon 37th 1969-1974

Wounded Knee Incident (1973)

The Wounded Knee incident began February 27, 1973 when about 200 Oglala Lakota and followers of the American Indian Movement (AIM) seized and occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The grassroots protest followed the failure of their effort to impeach the elected tribal president Richard Wilson, whom they accused of corruption and abuse of opponents; they also protested the United States government's failure to fulfill treaties with Indian peoples and demanded the reopening of treaty negotiations

Election of 1968

The election in which Nixon won; conservative republican victory; demonstrated that the majority of the American electorate turned their back on liberal reform and activist governments

Watergate

The events and scandal surrounding a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 and the subsequent cover-up of White House involvement, leading to the eventual resignation of President Nixon under the threat of impeachment.

Impeachment Hearings Begin (1973)

The grand jury indicted Nixon's three staffers and named Nixon "unindicted co-conspirator." Then they demanded the tapes. He gave the tapes to them- full of holes- then eventually gave up the smoking gun tape. The House Judiciary Committee charged Nixon with three impeachable crimes: obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and defying subpoenas. Before he could be impeached, he resigned. Ford pardoned him once he stepped down.

Christmas Bombings

To re-convince North Vietnam when they called off talking, Nixon launched a 3 week bombing on Vietnam in late december.

War Powers Act

Act that grants emergency executive powers to president to run war effort

Yom Kippur War

Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in October 1973 (on Yom Kippur)

Roe v Wade (1973)

Legalized abortion on the basis of a woman's right to privacy Established national abortion guidelines; trimester guidelines; no state interference in 1st; state may regulate to protect health of mother in 2nd; state may regulate to protect health or unborn child in 3rd. inferred from right of privacy established in griswald v. connecticut

Election of 1972

Placed Nixon against Democrat George McGovern, with the former being the embodiment of the radical movements Nixon's "silent majority" of middle-class Americans opposed, resulting in a landslide victory for Nixon

Vietnamization

President Richard Nixons strategy for ending U.S involvement in the vietnam war, involving a gradual withdrawl of American troops and replacement of them with South Vietnamese forces

Appoints Warren Burger Chief Justice

nixon nominated with little nomination

Resignation of Agnew

resigned due to being caught with thousands of dollars in bribes

US v. New York Times

use of prior restraints by the U.S. government to prevent information about the Vietnam War was prohibited

Energy Crisis

when Carter entered office inflation soared, due to toe the increases in energy prices by OPEC. In the summer of 1979, instability in the Middle East produced a major fuel shortage in the US, and OPEC announced a major price increase. Facing pressure to act, Carter retreated to Camp David, the presidential retreat in the Maryland Mountains. Ten days later, Carter emerged with a speech including a series of proposals for resolving the energy crisis.

My Lai

1968, in which American troops had brutally massacred innocent women and children in the village of My Lai, also led to more opposition to the war.

US v. Richard Nixon

1974--The court rejected Richard Nixon's claim to an absolutely unqualified privilege against any judicial process.

Apollo 11

1st successful moon mission by the US in 1969

Woodstock

3 day rock concert in upstate N.Y. August 1969, exemplified the counterculture of the late 1960s, nearly 1/2M gather in a 600 acre field

Detente Policy Announced

Detente="to lessen or relax tension". China and the USSR would not agree about the definition of Marxism. Henry Kissinger was U.S.'s national security adviser. Nixon went to China to relieve tension and when we withdrew troops from Vietnam, we gained China's support. Nixon signed SALT with Brezhnev, which meant we had to limit our intercontinental missiles. Nixon was "checkmating and co-opting the 2 great communist powers--China and the USSR".

Saturday Night Massacre (1973)

During the watergate scandal it was revealed that all the white house meetings had been tape recorded. Nixon refused to reveal the tapes. Archibald Cox was the speacial prosecutor who took Nixon to court to get the tapes. Nixon still refused and ordered Richardson to fire Cox. Richardson refused to order and resigned. (saturday night scandal.) General Robert Bork finally fired Cox.

War on Inflation wage and price controls

Economy was stagflated at the time so Nixon instituted price control but this just led to a shaky economy

26th amendment

Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18

Peace protests at home

People didn't like the war anymore

Cease fire agreement

Nixon launched the heaviest assault of the war when he ordered a 2 week bombing of N. Vietnam in an attempt to force the N. Vietnamese to the conference table. Eventually, they agreed to a cease fire, shaky peace= american retreat

Nixon Visits Communist China (1972)

Nixon to Peking; Nixon visits communist china. His visit marked the beginning of Co-operation

Repeal of Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Nixon's decision to invade Cambodia angered Congress, resulting in

Kent State

Ohio college where an anti-war protest got way out of hand, the Nat'l Guard was called in and killed 3 students (innocent & unarmed,wounded 9) in idiscriminate fire of M-1 rifles

Nixon Doctrine (1969)

United States expected its allies to assume primary responsibility for the

President Nixon Resigns (1973)

Watergate Affair; Resigned to avoid impeachment; 25th Amendment exercised

Clean Air Act and EPA Established

focus on environmentalism begins, reduced emissions and protected environment

kissingers shuttle diplomacy 1974

international negotiations conducted by a mediator who frequently flies back and forth between the negotiating parties