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My Lai, Kent State, and the Pentagon PapersRight after LBJ announces he will not run for president, Robby Kennedy is assassinated. Hubert Humphrey, the Democrats’ candidate says he won’t break from Johnson’s plans. Nixon announces a ‘secret plan to end the war.’ Nixon wins with 40% of the popular vote. After being elected, Nixon had three choices, he could be a hero, and bring all the troops home. He could continue war in the south, but stay out of the north. He could help the South Vietnamese fight with American supplies. He could extend the war into the North with bombings and ground troops. His last choice was to use Nuclear Weapons. His choice was ‘Vietnamization’, gradually removing American troops from Vietnam and increasing military supplies to ARVN. It prolonged the war by 4 years, created Double-digit inflation, caused bitterness and division among the American people. He also disregarded the constitution by extending the war into Cambodia and Laos. This gradually led to the Loss of the war.
Following the Tet Offensive, soldiers were ordered to destroy the village of My Lai. However, no insurgents were found. The Soldiers killed hundreds of civillians – old men, women, children, and babies. Some were tortured and raped. Dozens were herded into a ditch and executed with automatic firearms. Caley wanted to throw grenades into a trench filled with villagers. Lt. William Calley was Court Martialed. There was evidence that his commands caused hundreds of deaths. He was only sentenced to 3 years of house arrest, and massive protests countrywide. In Kent State, Students claimed Nixon was expanding the war. The students rioted and burned down an ROTC building. The governor of Ohio sends in the National Guard, which fires on the students killing 4 and wounding several others. The Secretary of State Robert McNamara tried to convince LBJ to stop the bombing, and orders a study American involvement in Vietnam to be conducted. The study, known as the Pentagon Papers, proved that the Johnson administration was lying to the American people, and proved the My Lai massacre happened. The Pentagon Papers were to be released by the NY Times. The US government attempted to censor the NY Times. The Supreme Court decided that since publication did not cause an inevitable, direct, and immediate event imperiling the safety of American forces. Nixon announces the Christmas Bombing of 1972, the Operation was called Linebacker. He was threatened with impeachment, and several Advisors abandoned support for him. He later stated that his greatest failure was to not bring Vietnam to a decisive ending. These events changed the way Americans saw war. The War Powers Act, passed in 1973. It made the President report to Congress any commitment of US troops or substantially increasing troops in foreign conflicts. Troops could only be used for at most 90 days, and then war would have to be declared for troops to be there. It was still enacted over Nixon’s veto. |
Richard NixonNixon won 43.5% of the popular vote. Richard Nixon had a focus on foreign policy. He wanted to drive forward a “Triangular Diplomacy” to drive a wedge between the USSR and China. Nixon offered China aid and eventually a spot in the UN. Nixon was the first president to ever visit China. He had various meetings with Mao Zedong. Détente is an easing of tensions. As the Cold War was winding down, tensions between the US and USSR are winding down. Nixon also travelled to Moscow to discuss nuclear disarmament. The Soviet leader in the 70’s was Leonid Brezhnev. Both he and Nixon agreed to light trade and a joint space exploration. Nixon was strongly anti-communist, so the American public really trusted him during these visits.
In 1972, five men are arrested for breaking into the Democrat political party headquarters at the Watergate hotel. They were installing wiretaps ad taking photos of documents. The leader of the five was on the committee to re-elect Nixon, which was called CREEP. Nixon initially hushes the event up, and ended up winning the election in 1972. After being re-elected, the story came back up and a Senate committee was set up to investigate. Spiro Agnew, the Vice President, resigned facing charges of bribery and tax evasion. Nixon’s personal counsel testifies to the Senate against Nixon. At this point, Nixon assures the public “I am not a crook”. Nixon recorded conversations in the Oval Office, and the Senate asked for these tapes. When Nixon refused, the public demanded justice. When he released the tapes, 17 minutes were missing. At that point, the Senate started the impeachment process. Nixon then resigned before the impeachment vote took place. Gerald Ford is the first president who was not elected to the office or to the VP position. Ford pardons Nixon to a major public outcry. Nixon’s legacy ends with men on the moon, China and the USSR, and Watergate. http://www.topsecretwriters.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/watergatescandal.jpg
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Modern FeminismDuring most of the 1950's and 1960's, women had been told that their duty was to care for their families. This pushed women to leave college early and to care for their husbands and children. Not every woman, however, wanted that same future. Betty Friedan's book 'The Feminine Mystique' asked the question 'is this really all women are capable of doing?' This book immediately took off, and sparked the rise of the new feminist movement.
The feminist movement demanded equal pay for equal work, and pressured the government to enforce legislation that prohibited gender discrimination. This feminist movement forced new vocabulary and concepts into American thinking, such as 'Sexism.' The feminist movement was an important part of the shift in thinking of the 1970's, and still influences society today. http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/articles/double_x/2013/02/130211_DX_FeminineMystiqueEd1.jpg/_jcr_content/renditions/cq5dam.web.1280.1280.jpeg
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The End of the Cold WarThe Cold War lasted from 1945 to 1991. Ronald Reagan was the President of the US during the 1980s. He oversaw the end of the Cold War. Reagan was famous for telling the USSR to ‘Tear Down this Wall!’ This speech was given to Mickail Gorbachev, and was one of the most memorable moments in his presidency. The wall was seen as a stark symbol of the decades old Cold War. The wall is torn down. The USSR collapsed by 1991, after it had given up most of Eastern Europe including East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and others. Gorbachev knew that the economy was in shambles after 70 years of communism. He introduced Glasnost, allowing Western ideas and goods into the country. Perestroika, also introduced by him, meant USSR citizens could have a share in the economy. Between 1989 and 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed one by one. Even today, Russia is still not stable. Corruption is still very prevalent in Russia.
Americans were shocked at the dissolution of the USSR. Americans had fought the Soviet Union for almost 50 years, built bomb shelters, and had the space race, missile crisis, and proxy wars. The US spent trillions of dollars during the time, but conflict never came. Many still question the effectiveness of the Proxy wars. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ETVbkYIrovo/Ukl5P2Dt5_I/AAAAAAAAPO4/nr7xuoCll3k/s1600/Pictures+of+The+Fall+of+the+Soviet+Union,+1991+(1).jpg
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