Richard Nixon

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Richard Nixon
Publicly, we say one thing.Actually, we do
another. -Richard Nixon
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Richard Nixon

• President of the U.S. from 1969-1974.
• Vice President under Eisenhower from 1953-1961.
• Served in the Congress from 1946-1952.
• Only President to resign from office (after
  Watergate Scandal).
• Strict Republican and Anti-Communist.

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Nixons Accomplishments
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Nixons Accomplishments
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Henry Kissinger

• National Security Advisor from 1969-1975, and
  Secretary of State from 1973-1977.
• Key contributor to the foreign policy decisions
  of the Nixon Administration.
• Created the concept of Shuttle Diplomacy. This
  involved travel between conflicting nations to
  settle disputes. It was best applied in the
  Arab-Israeli conflict.

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The Election of 1968

• The 1968 presidential election marked a shift to
  the right in American politics.
• The 1960's began as an era of optimism but the
  events of the decade led to public trust in the
  government and produced a backlash against
  liberal movements and the Democratic party.

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The Election of 1968
Nixon campaigned as a champion of the Silent
Majority"

The Silent Majority were Americans who paid
taxes, did not demonstrate, and desired a
restoration of "law and order.
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The Southern Strategy
An important reason for Nixons victory was the
support he received in the South
The effort to sway southern voters to the
Republicans was known as the Southern Strategy

• Nixon gained the Souths support by promising
  several things
• To oppose court-ordered busing of students to
  integrate schools
• To choose a vice-presidential candidate fr. the
  South
• To only appoint conservatives to federal courts
• To appoint a Southerner to the Supreme Court

Since the Election of 1968, the South has been a
Republican stronghold in elections
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New Federalism

• Nixons domestic policies became known as New
  Federalism
• It called for eliminating JFK LBJ social
  programs and giving more control to state and
  local governments
• Nixon planned to return more power and more tax
  money to the states.
• Nixon sent a plan for block grants to Congress.
  Under this plan Federal Gov. would give the
  state or local gov money for projects they can
  spend it however they want.

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Nixon and Foreign Affairs
President Nixon was hailed for his foreign
affairs savvy
One key reason for this was his Secretary of
State, Henry Kissinger
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Vietnam War
The biggest foreign policy issues Nixon had to
deal with during his presidency was dealing with
the Vietnam War
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Ending the Vietnam War

• Nixons main policy in Vietnam was the process of
  Vietnamization.
• It began right after he took office in 1969.
• The process sought to save American lives and
  expenses through gradual withdrawal of forces and
  support from the Vietnam war.
• It was the first troop withdrawal since President
  Johnson escalated troop presence. Withdrew
  70,000 in 1972.
• It also attempted to transfer military assumption
  to South Vietnam.
• Vietnam advisors insisted that South Vietnam
  could successfully defend against the North
  Vietnamese.

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Détente with Russia, China
One of Nixons foreign affairs goals was
friendlier relations with China and the Soviet
Union
Nixon and Kissinger developed a foreign affairs
policy known as détente, which means cooperation
President Nixon tours the Great Wall of China
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Nixon began to consider a reopening of
relations, or rapprochement, with the
PRC. Reasons for rapprochement Trade with China
huge market Main reason increase Sino-Soviet
tension
As part of Détente the US in 1971 agreed to
allow the Peoples Republic of China to take seat
reserved for China at the United Nations.
Kissinger had secretly visited the Peoples
Republic of China in July, 1971 to discuss a
possible Presidential visit
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Nixon Goes to China 1972
Nixon opened U.S. relations with China and became
the first U.S. president to visit China
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Easing Tensions with the Soviet Union

• Nixon hoped to improve relations with China his
  policy had another goal.
• By becoming friendly with China he hoped to
  force the Soviet Union to be less threatening.
• Unlike previous administrations, Nixon and
  Kissinger hoped to negotiate for the mutual
  benefit of both the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. as
  opposed to demanding that the U.S.S.R. give into
  U.S. demands.

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Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty or SALT I
Nixon also strengthened relations with the Soviet
Union, including holding a historic meeting --
SALT
Summit meeting between U.S. and Soviet Union when
the two countries agreed to limit nuclear arms
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Détente with Russia
From 1972 to 1974, tensions between the U.S. and
the Soviet Union eased
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The Pentagon Papers
In 1971, a former Defense Department worker
leaked what were known as the Pentagon Papers to
the New York Times
The documents showed how our leaders had
deceived Congress, the media, and the public
about how the war was going
The government had not been honest with the
American people
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Roots of Watergate
The release of the Pentagon Papers to the New
York Times angered Nixon
He thought others were out to sabotage his
presidency and undermine him, leading to
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The Watergate Scandal
The Downfall of a President
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What was Watergate?
Watergate was one of the largest political
scandals in the history of the United States
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What was Watergate?
The Watergate scandal occurred when the
Republicans were caught spying on the Democrats
at the Democratic Headquarters
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What was Watergate?
Watergate became a major scandal when President
Nixon lied about his role in the break-in and
tried to cover it up
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The Watergate Break-in

When initial polls showed Nixon only slightly
ahead in the Election of 1972, the Plumbers
turned their activities to political espionage.
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The White House Plumbers
After the release of the Pentagon Papers, the
White House created a unit to ensure internal
security.
Howard Hunt
G. Gordon Liddy
James McCord
Chuck Colson
This unit was called the Plumbers because they
were put in charge of stopping information
leaks.
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The Five Burgulars

• June 17, 1972, 5 men were arrested after breaking
  into the DNC headquarters in Washington DC. (3
  were Cuban exiles 1 Cuban American 1 former
  CIA Agent)
• They were eventually linked to CRP The
  Committee to Re-elect the President.
• What were they doing there?
• Placing listening devices (bugs) and gathering
  information on the Democrat National Committees
  election strategy

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1972 Presidential Election
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The Washington Post

Watergate came to public attention largely
through the work of Bob Woodward and Carl
Bernstein, investigative reporters from the
Washington Post.
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Did Nixon Know?

• January 1973
• Watergate burglars on trial
• All found guilty
• One claimed White House involved
• Nixon reacts
• Denied allegation
• Appointed Archibald Cox as special Watergate
  prosecutor
• Senate investigates
• May-Nov. 1973 Senator Sam Cox led televised
  independent Senate investigation
• Clear that senior White House officials involved
• Three of Nixons advisors resigned
• One, John Dean, claimed he discusses burglary at
  least 35 times w/ Nixon
• Nixon denied any involvement, fired Dean

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Battle for the Tapes

• Nixons tapes
• Senate Investigation revealed Nixon recorded all
  conversations in oval office since 1971
• Senate Cox wanted tapes
• Nixon refused, citing presidential privilege

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Saturday Night Massacre

• The deal broke down when Cox refused to accept
  the transcripts in place of the tapes.
• President Nixon wanted to dismiss/fire Special
  Prosecutor Archibald Cox from his office the next
  nighta Saturday.
• He contacted Attorney General Richardson and
  ordered him to fire the special prosecutor.
• Richardson refused, and instead resigned in
  protest. Nixon then ordered Deputy Attorney
  General Ruckelshaus to fire Cox he also refused
  and resigned in protest.
• Solicitor General Robert Bork eventually fired
  Cox, insisting that he believed the decision
  unwise but also that somebody had to obey the
  president's orders.

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Watergate Investigations
In March 1973, defendant James McCord informed
Judge John Sirica that Watergate was a
conspiracy.
Siricas investigation transformed Watergate from
a third-rate burglary to a major scandal.
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Congressional Hearings
Congress began hearings to investigate the
scandal and found that Nixons Attorney General,
John Mitchell, controlled a fund to pay for
espionage operations
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Congressional Hearings
In June 1973, former White House legal counsel
John Dean delivered testimony that implicated
Nixon from the earliest days of Watergate
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The Oval Office Tapes

• In an effort to discredit Deans testimony, the
  White House announced that Nixon had secretly
  been tape-recording conversations. These tapes
  would become the focus of the investigation.

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The Smoking Gun Tapes
When the Supreme Court forced Nixon to surrender
the tapes, he refused invoking executive
privilege
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The Oval Office Tapes
On October 23, 1973 Nixon agreed to turn over
White House tape recordings requested by the
Watergate special prosecutor to Judge Sirica.
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The Smoking Gun Tapes
Many of the conversations on the tapes indicate
Nixons knowledge of the Watergate break in and
the following cover-up. One tape had an 18½
-minute gap that people questioned.
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The Rosemary Stretch

• President Nixons Secretary Rose Mary Woods
  claimed she accidentally recorded over 5 minutes
  of one of the tapes by stepping on the record
  pedal of the machine.
• She does not know what happened to the other 13
  minutes.

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House Judiciary Committee

• The House Judiciary Committee (July 27, 1974)
  approved 3 articles of impeachment for Nixon
• obstruction of justice
• 2. abuse of power
• 3. contempt of Congress

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On August 5, 1974, when the smoking gun tape
became public, Nixon was told that he would not
survive the vote in the Senate
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Nixon Resigns
On August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon became the first
American president to resign
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• Official letter of resignation from President
  Nixon to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

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Aftermath of Watergate

• Gerald Ford became the nations 37th president.
• More than 30 government officials went to prison
  for their role in Watergate.
• Nixon was not one of them.
• There was a public distrust of the government
  that continues to this day.

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Controversial Pardon

• On September 8, 1974, President Ford issued
  Proclamation 4311, which gave Nixon a full and
  unconditional pardon for any crimes he may have
  committed against the United States while
  President.

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THE END