The Decline of the Liberal State

NIXON

(1969 - 1974)

A. Style - New Federalism and the Imperial Presidency

• 1. What do we know about Nixon?
  • 1. House Un-American Activities Committee
  • 2. VP - Ike
  • 3. lost race for governor of California
• 2. Believed Congress could run domestic policy without a President
  • a. Distrusted Democratic Congress and wanted POWER concentrated in the Presidency
  • b. OR handed over to the states
• 3. The New Nixon - stress Silent Majority support
  • a. not as confrontational as earlier
  • b. bring us together - actually an attempt to win the moderates away from liberal Democrats
• 4. distrusted everyone - media, own party
  • a. bitter, hurt, sensitive to criticism
  • b. scars - tough veneer - a loner - tried to rule alone - remote from Congress - isolated
  • c. paranoia led to wiretapping, surveillance
  • d. Power handed over to White House Staff which required no Senate approval
    • 1. H.R. Haldeman - Chief of Staff
    • 2. John Ehrlichman - Chief of Domestic Policy
    • 3. limited access as Sherman Adams had under Ike that too led to corruption
  • e. secrecy led to abuse of exec privilege, spending policies and campaign money
  • f. Congress reaction
    • 1. increase checks and balances
    • 2. congress block SST and def. spending
• 5. A Conservative Republican - difficulty with Democratic Congress
  • could not get his policies passed anyway
  • a. Ike's style of accommodation - accept Great Society
  • b. while attempting to improve efficiency through laissez-faire and states' rights
• 6. Goals conflicted
  • a. New Federalism - laissez-faire Republican philosophy stressing
    • a balanced budget through reduced government spending and states' rights
    • Efficiency - reduced government spending
  • b. Imperial Presidency - increase Presidential POWER
    • and build a Republican Majority to maintain control of it

1. Conditions - inflation caused by Vietnam

• a. LBJ paid for war by printing $ and debt instead of taxes
• b. Goal - "Peace with Prosperity"
• c. Results - mixed success

2. Nixonomics or Gradualism (1969-70)

3. Milton Friedman Chicago economist - Republican model

• a. Social programs of the Great Society + the Vietnam War hurt the federal budget
• b. food prices increased worldwide due to crop failures worldwide (supply side shock)
• c. increase taxes through tax reform - 1969
• d. cut spending/tighten $ supply to control prices
• e. Results - Stagflation - high unemployment and inflation at the same time - impossible
  • 1. prices up
  • 2. salaries down
  • 3. standard of living down worst decline since 1900
  • 4. led to high unemployment - recession
  • 5. cities hurt
  • 6. home mortgages difficult
  • 7. factories closed
  • 8. Penn-Central RR - worst bankruptcy in history
    • a. 1970 - Amtrak - bailout
    • b. Congress approved
    • c. Nixon did not have the votes to stop it so he signed
• e. 1970 Economic Stabilization Act
  • 1. Congress gave Pres. power to impose price and wage controls
  • 2. President opposed govt. interference...yet...

4. The Great Nixon Turnaround - 3 phase plan

• a. Nixon switched to Keynes philosophy $23.2 billion budget - largest ever to that point
• b. Phase 1 - 8/71
  • 1. 90 day wage and price freeze and aid to businesses
  • 2. lower taxes
  • 3. lower interest rates to increase spending
  • 4. public reaction
    • a. business and consumers supported
    • b. unions opposed - George Meany
  • 5. Results
    • a. lower inflation rate
    • b. 1971 - 1st trade deficit in 80 years
      • 1. New Sec. of Treasury - John Connally (D) devalued dollar
      • 2. raised tariffs
      • 3. gold crisis - 8/71 - 35$/ounce
        • Gold standard ended aid for purchasing power of US goods
    • c. inner city unemployment not helped
• c. Phase 2 - 11/71
  • 1. creates wage and price controls limiting prices, rents, and salary increases
  • 2. Cost of Living Council and Price Commission
    • created to set controls and guidelines
  • 3. Results - stagflation slowed inflation and unemployment down
  • 4. Goal
    • 2-5% - inflation
    • 6% - unemployment
  • 5. Problems
    • 3/72 - AFL-CIO strike
  • 6. Reelection led Nixon to return to Republican approach
• d. Phase 3 - 1/73
  • a. price and wage controls abolished
  • b. voluntary controls established - did not work
  • c. Stagflation returns
    • 1973-1974 Oil Crisis (supply side shock)
    • inflation at worst level since Truman - 10%

• give responsibility to state/local govt.

  1. Dismantling the Great Society

  • a. wanted to cut federal spending especially for social welfare
  • b. had difficulty due to Democratic Congress
  • c. Proposed cuts:
    • 1. education and special ed
    • 2. job training
    • 3. low-cost housing projects
    • 4. urban renewal
    • 5. day care support for working mothers
    • 6. veto HEW spending as inflationary - govt. workers upset
    • 7. Job Corps cut in 1/2
  • d. OMB superagencies - consolidate to save money
  • e. proposed cuts in over 100 programs after reelection in 1972
  • f. at the same time he proposed increases on military spending

  2. Revenue Sharing - 10/72 - $30.2 billion in aid - Over 5 years

  • a. reduce federal involvement
    • federal revenue - state administered increasing local responsibility
  • b. New Federalism cornerstone
    • (Ronald Reagan - decentralize without any Federal funds)
  • c. public works - vetoed as unnecessary and wasteful
  • d. Tricky Dick - states will not be able to handle the expense
    • 1. Either they will raise taxes to pay and they (not Nixon) will be blamed
    • 2. or they will cut the programs and Nixon will be able to claim that he did not actually dismantle the Great Society himself

1. Goals and Methods

• a. power of purse - refusing to spend
• b. keep everyone happy and win reelection

2. Environment - Congressional proposal signed by Nixon

• a. Rachel Carson - Silent Spring - 1962
  • raised the issue of pesticide use
  • industries use of new chemicals without understanding the impact first
• b. National Environmental Policy Act - 1969
• c. cigarette ad ban
• d. April 1970 - first Earth Day
  • nationwide cleanup
  • rallies and demonstrations
  • Sierra Club concern for development of wild
  • result - water/air pollution acts in 1970 strengthened acts passed under LBJ
• e. EPA - created 1970 - cornerstone of enforcement
  • 1. liberals forced him to sign
    • made a big production out of supporting something he actually opposed
  • 2. William Ruckelshaus - appointed head of EPA
    • the man Nixon chose to run the EPA did not even support it
  • 3. dozens of suits - only filed when public outcry demanded
• f. Don't enforce - refused to spend money given by Congress
• g. The Closing Circle - 1971 - Barry Commoner
  • found evidence that pollution was rising 10x faster than either
    • the population or
    • the economy
  • Major sources of pollution
    • new products
    • new methods of production
    • packaging that didn't deteriorate over time
    • throw away society

3a. OSHA(1970) Occupational Safety and Health Administration

• 1. Inspect and maintain safe conditions in the workplace
• 2. Benign Neglect

3b. Ralph Nadar -Consumer Protection Safety Act -test and suits

• 1. Unsafe At Any Speed - targeted the auto industry
• 2. Nadar's example led hundreds to take up public interest law
• 3. ran under the Green Party label for President in 1996
• 4. Nixon refused to spend money given by Congress - don't enforce - appear to support

4. Family Assistance Plan - Welfare change

• written by Daniel Moynihan (D) - head of Council on Urban Affairs
• a. consolidated aid instead of piecemeal
  • family of 4 - $1600/ yr.+ $860 food stamps - unemployed
• b. Working poor could get welfare till total = $3920 if capable then required to work
  • Both 1 + 2 were desired by liberals
• c. would have been a big increase for the South
• d. give responsibility to state - desired by conservatives
• e. (House - yes / Senate - no) conservatives and liberals opposed it

5. Support given to programs with public support even if liberal

• a. soc sec benefits increased so did social security taxes
• b. low income housing increased
• c. minimum wage went up

6. 26th Amendment - lowered voting age to 18

• a. ratified 6/71
• b. 25 million new voters
• c. attempt to gain new Republican voters failed to take into account Vietnam

• III. Efficiency

1. Southern Strategy - must win southern votes to stay President

• a. cater to Southern interests without losing Northern vote
• b. Agnew role in the Southern Strategy was to
  • attack liberals, commies, and hippies
  • while defending traditional American values
• c. Nixon focused on social tension and violence created by
  • civil rights protesters
  • Vietnam war protesters
  • the women's movement
  • (based on poll of key issues in the South)
• d. areas to criticize liberals especially the Supreme Court, while doing little himself
• e. blamed liberals, drug using hippies and commies for
  • the decline in patriotism, traditional values and the American family
  • as well as the rising crime rate

2. Supreme Court - key evil

• a. Criticized the Warren Ct. as too liberal towards criminals and in civil rights
• b. 1969 appointed Warren Burger as chief justice
  • attempted to make the court conservative
• c. goal - strict interpretation of the Constitution
  • 1. Haynesworth and Carswell rejected as too racist among other issues
    • looked good to white southerners
  • 2. Blackmun, Powell, and William Rehnquist also appointed
• d. Succeeded in making the court more conservative while winning Southern support
• e. Court does not become truly conservative until R. Reagan

3. Civil Rights Goal - win South through benign neglect

• a. accused Supreme Court of being too liberal and overreacting to segregation
• b. Secretary of HEW - Robert Finch
  • was withholding funds when token integration existed as in Mississippi
  • 1968 - South - 80% of blacks still attended all black schools
  • 1969 - Nixon refused to withhold funds in an attempt to win white southern support
    • Robert Finch resigned
    • 10/69 Alexander v. Holmes - forced Miss. to integrate
      • Nixon lost
      • still helped his image with some southern whites
      • they figured he at least tried
• c. 1970 - Voting Rights Act of 1965 - renewal vetoed / overridden
  • said problem no longer existed
• d. 1970 - US Commission on Civil Rights reports major breakdown in enforcement
• e. US Sup Ct. - Swann v. Charlotte - 1971 - forced busing - Nixon opposed lost
  • 1. North and South protested
  • 2. busing required if necessary for integration
    • Nixon defined "if" as never
  • 3. Nixon blocked enforcement
    • handed the problem to Congress who delayed till after election - hot
  • 4. Congress agreed with Nixon - liberal filibuster killed law to block busing
  • 5. thus leaving it to the Courts who have no ability to enforce their decisions
  • 6. 9/74 - violence in Boston and across the North
  • 7. Miligan v. Bradley - busing inner city to suburbs not mandatory
    • partial victory for Nixon
• f. Results
  • halt the gains of the civil rights movement
  • begin to slowly erode gains of the 60s
  • Some gains still made despite Nixon
  • 1972 - South - 20% of blacks attended all black schools
  • federal employment of blacks increased
  • construction jobs to minorities increased

4. Law and Order and Crime

• a. Nixon declared war on the supreme court for being soft on criminals
• b. Warren Court - Nixon defines the problem
  • 1. Gideon v. Wainwright - 1963 - right to lawyer during trial
  • 2. Escobido v. Illinois - 1964 - right to lawyer during questioning (murder)
  • 3. Miranda v. Arizona - 1966 - right to have rights read (rape)
  • 4. Furman v. Georgia - 1972 - death penalty
    • 600- prisoners overturned
    • cruel and unusual punishment as applied (unevenly) was unconstitutional
    • this decision came even after Nixon changes court
• c. Omnibus Crime Bill - 1970
  • 1. $1 billion to fight crime
  • 2. fastest growing part of govt.
  • 3. new laws - drugs, anti-organized crime, preventive detention
    • increase in wiretaps for search warrant situations
  • 4. Result - failure - crime rate increased
• d. two cases showed conservative influence of Nixon on court
  • 1. 1972 sup ct unanimous decision only req. in fed cases except death penalty
  • 2. Gregg v. Georgia - 1976
    • stated that death penalty itself was acceptable
    • two stage (conviction / punishment) trial approved bringing
    • back the death penalty

5. Family and Patriotism

• a. Prayer, Patriotism and the family popular issues in south
• b. Engel v. Vitale - 1962 - compulsory prayer in schools
  • 1. Nixon supported prayer in schools quietly
  • 2. promoted patriotism - flag pins etc
    • while opposing court decisions which supported symbolic speech
• c. Nixon opposed NOW and its goals as a threat to the traditional family structure

6. Nixon's Appeal to Middle America

• a. Disturbed by the attitudes of young people
  • believed the antiwar protests and the ideals of the counterculture posed a threat to society
• b. sought support of the Silent Majority
  • most came from the middle class
  • Agnew led the cheerleading for this group

F. Miscellaneous Culture - I have this material covered in detail in the civil rights material it is here for my on-level students

1. Indian Movement

• a. Most deprived minority
  • unemployment rate 10x the national average
  • life expectancy low
  • suicide rate 100x normal
  • alcoholism rate high
• b. 1953 Termination Policy (Ike/Nixon)
  • cut federal aid to Indian reservations
    • designed to make them more self-sufficient
    • forced them into the inner city slums (1/3 - 1961)
  • confiscated valuable Indian lands
• c. 1969 - Alcatraz occupied
  • Indians turned to militant protests
  • protest government seisure of Indian lands and other issues
• d. 1970 - AIM - American Indian Movement
  • organized by young urban Indians
  • demanded a role in forming federal Indian Policy
    • argued that the Bureau of Indian Affairs created dependency
  • organized protests - using tactics of the civil rights movement
  • especially the black power movement (Red Power)
• e. Wounded Knee, South Dakota taken over
  • standoff with police gained national attention - little support
  • Sioux Reservation
• f. Lawsuits - won huge settlements against the government
  • land returned in some cases
  • reparations paid in others - cases continue today
• g. Nixon canceled the termination policy of the 1950's
  • which had aimed at forcing the Indians to assimilate
  • Make Nixon appear more moderate

2. The Hispanic Movement

• a. fastest growing minority group in the 1970s
• b. most are of Mexican descent
• c. Hispanice Movement strongest in the barrios
• d. Cesar Chavez - 1962 - United Farm Workers (1973)
• e. Chicano Renaissance - art, music, literature
• f. La Raza Unida - 1970 - new political party

3. Youth in the 1960s

• baby boomers - grew up in the prosperous 50s
  • not worried about jobs
  • security gave them the freedom to search for alternate lifestyles
• challenged the dominant values of the 1950s
  • money
  • status
  • power
  • criticized their parents for
    • war
    • poverty
    • racism
• New Left Historians
  • reflect cynicism of the baby boomer generation
  • blamed us for the Cold War
  • questioned the use of the Bomb by Truman
• Rock and Roll music played a key role in the protest

4. The Counterculture

• Counterculture - a culture with values opposed to those of the established culture
  • love and freedom
  • dress - long hair, minshirts, bell bottoms, love beads, peace symbols, etc.
  • Woodstock - 1969 - 500,000 - Rock concert
  • Dropping Out
  • Drugs

A. BACKGROUND - PHILOSOPHY - GOALS

1. How would we expect him to run his foreign policy?

• a. William P. Rogers - Sec. of State (1969-1973) an administrator
• b. Henry Kissinger
  • 1. National Security Advisor (1969-1973)
  • 2. Sec. of State (1973-1977)
    • a. Nazi Germany escapee
    • b. Harvard Professor - hero - Prince Metternich - balance of power
    • c. Containment was out of date
      • Since world has more than two superpowers
      • Hoped that the five centers of power could maintain the balance
      • 1. Japan
      • 2. Western Europe
      • 3. China
      • 4.USSR
      • 5. US

2. Philosophy

• a. Realpolitik
  • a. practicality, reality, what benefits the US the most?
    • base decisions soley on issues of power
  • b. ignore ideology, morality, anti-communism
• b. Machiavelli - the end justifies the means
  • How does Vietnam fit as an example of this?
• c. Critics - leading critic - Ronald Reagan
  • a. called for Kissinger's resignation - selling US out
  • b. Liberal critics pointed to lack of morality

3. Goals - foreign policy would make him great President

• a. Reverse militant anti-communism
• b. Military preparedness combined with reduced risk of nuclear war
• c. Limit nuclear arms
• d. Ease tensions - China and the USSR
• e. Reduce global commitments - save money avoid another Vietnam

1. Background

• a. 1949 - Mao Zedong - Chairman - People's Republic of China
  • Chiang Kai-shek - Taiwan - Nationalist China
• b. US recognition of Chiang as ruler despite dictatorship and corruption
• c. Taiwan in UN - PRC does not exist - no American had been there since
• d. 1969 - Border war - USSR vs. China - pushed China toward US
  • 1. Fear of monolithic communism had faded
    • China and Russia began to compete with each other
  • 2. PRC - 1 billion population = largest market in the world = 1/4 of world total
  • 3. China was a nuclear power in its own right
• e. Critics - Ronald Reagan
  • 1. PRC = illegal, undemocratic, immoral
  • 2. to change policy betrays Chiang
  • (evil sellout deserving impeachment)

2. Policy

• a. 1969 - relaxed embargo on imported goods from China
• b. 4/71 - Ping Pong Diplomacy
  • Kissinger and Premier Chou En-lai - secret meeting
• c. 7/71 - Kissinger to China (secret)
  • 1. discussed Vietnam
  • 2. arranged Nixon trip
  • 3. 10/71 - Secret agreement
    • gradually withdraw US troops from Taiwan
    • US dropped opposition to UN and China replaced Taiwan
• d. 1971 - Export non-strategic goods begins with a signup, security check and clearance
• e. 2/72 - Nixon to China - 1st US President to go
  • Image as Peacekeeper
• Shanghai Communique - trade, scientific and cultural exchanges
  • 1st company to go to China - Coca Cola
• f. Early 1973 - Diplomatic relations established liaison offices
• g. Taiwan still US ally, still in UN - unhappy
• h. Counterbalance to USSR - play two sides against each other

1. Background

• a. reduction in tensions between superpowers
  • 1. Outer Space Treaty - banned weapons and military bases in space
  • 2. 3/69 - Nuclear Non - Proliferation Treaty ratified (signed 7/68)
• b. Apollo XI - 7/69
  • 1. Total Cost - $25 Billion
  • 2. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin - Eagle
  • 3. critics - expensive - hurt domestic programs
  • 4. 3200 new products - info acquired
  • 5. Cold War victory
• c. 7/69 - Nixon visited Romania 1st President to go behind the Iron Curtain
• d. Detente depended on arms negotiations - position of strength
  • 1. ABM - $8 billion (US) - 2nd strike capability as a deterrent to a 1st strike
  • 2. 10/69 - passed by 1 vote
• e. MIRV - (multiple independent reentry vehicle) tested secretly by both countries
• f. 2/72 - Reaction to improved Sino-American relations opened window of opportunity

2. Salt I

• a. 4/70 - negotiations began in Helsinki, Finland
• b. 5/72 - Moscow Summit- 2 accords signed by Brezhnev and Nixon
  • 1. limit each nation to 2 (200 missiles) ABM sites verified by satellites
  • 2. 5 year freeze on the number of missiles regardless of location
    • limited ICBMs not warheads
    • it did not limit the development of nuclear weapons other than missiles
      • such as bombers
  • 3. Ratified by the Senate - Who was "ahead"?
  • 4. Symbolic first step
• c. USSR and US hoped this would ease economic trouble which both were experiencing
• d. Instead a new and much more expensive arms race began
• e. Image during an election year - Nixon the Peacekeeper

3. Moscow Summit - 5/72

• a. increased trade, science, culture, sold Russia corn and wheat
• b. Pepsi 1st company in Russia

4. Washington Summit - 6/73

• a. relations continued to be friendly - Watergate slowed progress

1. 6 Day War - 6/67 - LBJ - preemptive attack by Israel

• a. Israeli preemptive attack against Egypt, Syria, Jordan - quick victory - gained territory
  • 1. West Bank - Jordan
  • 2. Gaza Strip - Egypt
  • 3. Golan Heights - Syria
  • 4. Sinai Peninsula - Egypt
• b. PLO - Arafat - trained terrorists began attacks against Israel
  • trained, equipped, and hidden by the Arab nations
• c. Egypt aligned closer to USSR - advisors sent to Egypt
• d. 1970 - Egyptian army feared Soviet takeover - Anwar el-Sadat assassinated Nasser
• e. 7/72 - Sadat dismissed Soviet advisers began to move closer to US
  • (USSR - refused to give advanced weapons)
• f. 8/73 - Egypt received $600 million in aid from Saudi Arabia
• g. US relations improving in Middle East - surprise awaited

2. 10/73 - Yom Kippur War

• a. Egypt - Syria attack Israel by surprise seeking return of lost lands
• b. Israel near defeat was saved by new shipments of US weapons - heavy loses
• c. Israel drove within 60 mi. of Cairo
• d. Egypt turned to USSR - they threatened to send troops and we went on alert
  • USSR sent new weapons, however they were not as quick to arrive as US aid
• e. Hot Line used to avert confrontation - Detente tested and survived
  • no cooperation occurred until we started winning
• f. 1/74 - Cease - fire - Kissinger used Shuttle Diplomacy
  • and USSR cooperation to bring in a UN peacekeeping force
• g. 5/74 - troop withdrawal agreement

3. OPEC Oil Embargo 10/73 - 3/74

• a. Punished US for its support of Israel's refusal to return the occupied territories
  • Oil prices increased from $3/barrel to $12/barrel
• b. US got 40% of its oil from OPEC - only 6% from Middle East
  • (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries founded in 1960)
  • in 1973 (they controlled 2/3 of the world's oil)
  • Libyan leader - Muammar Qaddafi - "The time has come for us to deal America a strong slap in its cool, arrogant face."
• c. impact in US immediate
  • caused long lines for gas - increased prices
  • helped fuel double-digit inflation and trade imbalance
• c. Energy Crisis occurred at home - Nixon took various actions - little impact short-term
  • 1. lower thermostat
  • 2. speed limits - 55
  • 3. car pools
  • 4. Alaskan pipeline
  • 5. loosened stripmining restrictions
  • 6. suggested need for plan to achieve energy independence
  • 7. daylight savings time

1. 69 - Nelson Rockefeller visit to LA led to riot

• Vietnam had eroded aid and popularity

2. Chile and Containment

• 1. 1970 - Salvador Allende - Socialist elected in Chile
• 2. 1970 - Bolivia and Peru - nationalized US property
  • Anaconda Copper
  • ITT
• 3. 1973
  • cut off all aid to Chile
  • CIA sent $10 million to anti-Allende forces in the military
  • CIA ordered destabilization of Chile
    • strikes
    • sabotage
    • disorder
  • CIA sponsored assassination of Allende
  • replacement - Augusto Pinochet
    • soon the most repressive dictator in LA
    • (pro-US)
• 4. uncovered by Congress (CIA activities were illegal)
  • led to Civilian Oversight Board to watch CIA
  • investigation exposed our prior activities in Guatemala, Iran, Cuba and elsewhere
  • worldwide anti-American protests followed

3. Angola - 1974

• US supported violent civil war instead of peace to prevent spread of communism
• a. Portuguese colony since 1574
• b. Civil war broke out in Feb. 1961 - guerrilla war aided by USSR
  • 1. Portugal sent 80,000 troops
  • 2. South Africa wanted a buffer from other African states
  • 3. US was ignoring Africa while USSR was trying to dominate
• c. 4/74 Portugal gave up Mozambique and Angola 11/74
  • despite $436 million in US aid to maintain white rule
• d. Angola had oil and diamonds - US wanted influence - domino theory
• e. South Africa invaded - 10/74
• f. Marxist guerrillas got Soviet aid and Cuban troops - balance of power
• g. CIA sided with South Africa and their guerrilla allies
• h. 1/76 - Congress cut off aid and South Africa withdrew
  • the Marxists then won - compared to Vietnam
• i. They eventually became neutral in the cold war dealing with both sides

A. represents the most serious political scandal in the history of the U.S.

B. Imperial Presidency

• this scandal involves Nixon's attempts to use the power of the President in an attempt to bypass the Constitution in order to assure his own reelection in 1972
• endangering the Constitution
  • 1. checks and balances
  • 2. democracy

C. Nixon was caught and forced to resign - Did he receive fair treatment?

A. 1960 Election

• 1. JFK had aid infiltrate Nixon camp - close election - could have made a difference
• 2. Nixon views this and similar events by other Presidents as justification for his behavior
• 3. Paranoia led him to be secretive towards the press

* B. LEAKS - caused the plumbers to be created

• 1. 5/69 - Cambodian invasion leaked
• 2. Plumbers created to wiretap Nixon's own staff and newspapers
• 3. Huston Plan - increase US intelligence
  • a. John Mitchell - atty gen
  • b. H. Hoover - FBI
  • c. CIA
• 4. 9/71 - Ellsberg leak of Pentagon Papers discovered by illegal breakin (Hunt and Liddy)
  • public discovers during 1973 trial
• 5. Is this type of behavior by law enforcement officials legal? moral?

* C. DIRTY TRICKS - CREEP

• * 1. John Mitchell - former Attorney General
  • CRP campaign manager
  • brought plumbers with him - no longer working in law enforcement
  • new atty gen - Kleindienst
• 2. H.R. Haldeman helped to plan and finance plumbers
  • most powerful man in the White House after Nixon
  • Money came from campaign donations to CRP ($60 million)
• 3. Nixon was trailing in the polls prior to 1972 - attempted to catchup using plumbers
• * 4. Enemies List
  • A list of 200 politicians, writers and others who had been critical of the Nixon Admin.
    • a. Kennedy
    • b. Muskie Campaign crippled
      • 1. phony statements issues in his name - including racist comments
      • 2. false rumors about him in the press
    • c. McGovern
  • IRS conducted audits on them
  • Undercover agents sought damaging information on them
  • They were illegally wiretapped (so were some of Nixon's own employees)
• 5. Put together by Charles Colson and John Dean
• 6. The plumbers were given orders to harass this group - give examples
• 7. Is this type of behavior by private citizens moral? legal?

* A. Committee to Reelect the President - CRP

• 1. Break-in ordered by John Mitchell
• * 2. Goal - Steal political strategy and bug the office
• 3. prevent a repeat of the 1960 election when JFK stole the election
• 4. Polls showed Nixon with a 19 point lead - did not need to cheat any longer - habit formed
• * 5. Location - 6th floor of the Watergate Building (Democratic National HQ) on June 17, 1972
• * 6. Howard Hunt (CIA) and Gordon Liddy (FBI) arranged the break-in
• 7. May breakin failed
• 8. Security Guard - Frank Wills spotted taped door and called police
• * 9. 5 intruders led by James McCord
  • (CRP security chief - former CIA/FBI)
  • had led the Bay of Pigs Invasion - 1961
• Police found $2300, cameras, bugs and notebooks containing the name of Howard Hunt with White House written beside it. They quickly established his link with Charles Colson - link $

B. Nixon's role remains unclear today

• * 1. There is no evidence that Nixon knew of the break-in
• 2. Other Presidents had used similar tactics including JFK in the 1960 election
• 3. Democratic Party Chairman - Lawrence O'Brien filed a $1 million civil law suit
• 4. Watergate 7 identified - however no direct ties to the White House or CRP discovered
• 5. Would exposure of dirty tricks, plumbers and Watergate ties to CRP have defeated Nixon?

* A. Nixon decided that the press was out to get him therefore coverup

• the connection between the Watergate 7 and CRP till after the election
• 1. Denial of connection - June 19, 1972 - Ron Ziegler - Press Secretary called it a 3rd rate burglary
• 2. June 22, 1972 - Nixon denied that any of his staff was involved
• 3. June 23, 1972 - H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, Nixon met and planned the coverup
  • * Obstruction of Justice - Had the CIA interfere with the FBI investigation to coverup the connection between the break-in and CRP claiming national security threats
  • Dean and Mitchell recommended (2 week delay in the investigation)
  • * CRP paid $1/2 million in hush money to buy silence
  • * These are crimes
• 4. July 1 - John Mitchell resigned as head of CRP citing personal reasons (Martha Mitchell)

B. Coverup worked -everyone dropped the story except for the

Washington Post

• 1. July 22 - Washington Post Reporters
  • Robert Woodward
  • Carl Bernstein
  • released a story revealing the connection between the burglars, G. Gordon Liddy and CRP
• 2. August 29 - Nixon announces that White House Counsel - John Dean had investigated
  • concluded that there was no connection between the coverup and any current employees of the White House
  • "What really hurts is if you try to cover it up"
  • John Dean had not investigated
• 3. Sept. - Watergate 7 indicted
• 4. October 10 - Washington Post announced that Watergate was part of a massive spying campaign
• and that a slush fund run by H.R. Haldeman had been created to keep the coverup quiet
• Secret Source - Deep Throat
• 5. Late October - Henry Kissinger had announced that the end of the war was eminent
• 6. November - Nixon defeats McGovern 400+ to 17
• * The election was unaffected by Watergate
• George Wallace shot by Walter Bremmer in Md.
• McGovern-Shriver (Eagleton withdrew)
• 7. While it was obvious that the Watergate 7 were involved in something big few believed that Nixon was involved
• 8. Jan. '73 - Nixon 68% popularity - announces end of the war for U.S. troops
  • V.P. Agnew attacks the press - President above criticism?
  • Power of the President increases - Balance of Power?

* A. WATERGATE 7 TRIAL

• 1. all of them found guilty
• 2. only the Washington Post had kept alive accusations of a coverup
• * 3. Judge Sirica became suspicious based on these stories
• 4. He threatened maximum sentences (35 - 40 years) if they would not tell who they were protecting
• * 5. March 19-23, 1973 - James McCord sends a letter to Judge Sirica alleging
  • that high administration figures knew about the burglary
  • that they paid hush money to keep it quiet
  • and that he had committed perjury.
  • The judge read the letter at the sentencing and asked for more information
• 6. Ties to Mitchell, Haldeman, and Ehrlichman will eventually be revealed

* B. FBI re-enters investigation

• * 1. In March, John Dean began talking to the FBI (later Senate) he had covered up hush $ in Feb.
• 2. They will eventually begin to substantiate Washington Post accusations and more trials will begin

C. Congressional Investigation begins

• 1. The Senate considered this information and decided to investigate the bugging stories
  • (vote 77-0)
• 2. May 17, 1973 - The Senate Select Committee has its first live TV hearings
  • * Sam Ervin (D) N.C.- Chairman
  • The end begins as the hearings last 3 months
  • Howard Baker (R) - "What did the President know and when did he know it?"
• 3. May '73 - John Dean - "Cancer on the Presidency"
  • He states that the President knew of the connection before March of '73
  • and had ordered Dean to keep a lid on it
  • His word v. Nixon - most people believed President
  • Nixon considered clemency to end the issue
• 4. Evidence discovered by investigations in 1973-74 - most tried to protect the president
  • a. Jeb Stuart McGruder supported McCord's story on the Plumbers as did others
  • b. The CIA was involved in illegalities
  • c. FBI director L.Patrick Grey had destroyed Watergate documents - resigned
  • d. Money had been paid by the White House to silence burglars - money drops
  • e. Plumbers had broken several laws including breaking into Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office
  • f. Creep had illegally disrupted Democratic campaigning
  • g. Large Corporations had made large ($100,000)
    • illegal campaign contribution often under duress
  • h. The White House had conducted a widescale illegal wiretapping program
  • i. IRS had been used to harass Nixon critics illegally
  • j. tampered with the judge in the Ellsberg trial
• * 5. July 13, 73 - Alexander Butterfield reveals that the tapes existed. Tapes can support Dean

* D. Special Prosecutor - Archibald Cox

• 1. Nixon creates "special investigator" to check thoroughly
• 2. April 17, 1973 - Nixon announced that a new investigation would be launched and that he had not learned of the cover-up until March 21, 1973
• 3. April 30 - Dean, Haldeman, Ehrlichman resigned
• Attorney General - Richard Kleindienst resigned rather than be associated with the scandal
• 4. His replacement was Elliot Richardson and Nixon ordered him to appoint a special prosecutor
• * Archibald Cox to investigate the coverup and clear the President
• 5. This made Nixon appear innocent to much of the public - how could he be guilty?
• 6. continues to block his investigation

* A. Tapes Controversy

• 1. The Committee requested the tapes as did Cox - Nixon declined - Executive Privilege
• * 2. Nixon claimed that the acts done by the plumbers were legal if the President does them
  • Executive Privilege - forcing the President to testify before Congress would violate the separation of powers
  • Nixon refused to appear
• * 3. He denied knowing about these acts in advance and refused to hand over White House Documents claiming Executive Privilege
• * 4. Cox sued Nixon to obtain the tapes
• 5. October 12, 1973 - U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against Nixon's claim of Executive Privilege (5-2)
• 6. Nixon appealed to the Supreme Court

B. Spiro Agnew resignation

• * 1. October 10, 1973 - Spiro Agnew resigns as V.P. plea bargain no contest to charges of tax evasion
• 2. He also accepted kickbacks as governor of Md. and as V.P. and was accused of bribery and extortion
• 3. (Law and Order label spoiled) no jail time other charges were dropped
• 4. Gerald Ford - the House Minority Leader was appointed V.P.

* C. October 21, 1973 - Saturday Night Massacre

• 1. Cox insisted on the Tapes - Nixon refused
• 2. Friday - Nixon offered an edited transcript to Cox instead of the tapes and ordered Cox to stop asking for the tapes
• 3. Cox told Nixon no
• 4. Nixon told Attorney General - Elliot Richardson to fire Cox, he refused and resigned
• 5. Nixon told Deputy Attorney General - William Ruckelshaus to fire Cox and he resigned
• * 6. Nixon told Solicitor General Robert Bork to fire Cox and he did
• * 7. The public was convinced by this that Nixon was guilty and the outcry forced
• * 8. the President to name a new Special Prosecutor - Leon Jaworski
  • who was promised some of the tapes
• 9. The House began Impeachment hearings

D. The Tapes

• 1. Nixon released some of the tapes which substantiated Dean's claims contained no smoking gun
• 2. leading Jaworski to ask for more tapes
  • The long court battle over the tapes continued
• 3. March 1974 - All of the main players were tried, convicted, and served time - (25 total)
  • they then made big bucks on the lecture tour
  • * Grand Jury named Nixon an unindicted coconspirator
• 4. April 29, 1974 partial transcripts handed over with some of the tapes
• * 5. The critical tape had an 18 1/2 minute "accidental" erasure by Rosemary Woods
  • a. actually erased several times; other tapes were still missing
  • b. Alexander Haig said that the erasure might have been caused by sinister forces
• 6. Jaworski was not satisfied and continued the court battle
• * 7. Destruction of evidence is a crime
• * 8. July 24, 1974 - United States v. Nixon
  • decided that Nixon must hand over the tapes - unanimous
• "I am not a Crook" - Nixon refuses to resign

* E. Recommendation of Impeachment - 7/27/74 - by the House Committee

• * 1) Obstruction of Justice (27-11)
  • cover-up of the Watergate affair
• * 2) Abuse of Power - Executive Privilege and the Imperial Presidency
  • (Use of FBI/CIA/Plumbers)
  • Dirty Tricks Campaign
• * 3) Ignoring subpoenas by the Senate Committee (21-17)
  • Executive Priviledge
• Two charges were rejected
• 4) Cambodia/Laos bombings
• 5) Use of government funds to improve his home - tax evasion
• 6. Polls in Congress showed the result might be a near thing

F. Resignation - evidence from the tapes

• * 1. Aug. 5 - New tapes showed that Nixon approved the coverup 6 days after the breakin
• 2. Conversation between Nixon and Haldeman
• "I don't give a sh__ what happens I want you all to stonewall it, let them plead the 5th amendment, cover-up, or anything else, if it'll save it, save the plan."
  • evidence also showed he had approved the hush money
  • he ordered the cover-up
• * 3. Unofficial poll of House - 421 - 3 in favor of impeachment
• * 4. Finally when it became clear that Nixon had lied to his own supporters
  • they abandoned him
  • he realized that he would lose in a Senate trial
• 5. Popularity 27%
• 6. August 6, 1974 - Secretary of Defense - James Schlesinger told the army not to take orders from
• the President unless countersigned by him
• * 7. Nixon resigned August 8, 1974 - admitted only bad judgment
• * August 9 at noon Ford became President and appointed Nelson Rockefeller as V.P.
• * 8. Sept. '74 Ford pardoned Nixon cost Ford popularity
• Should Ford have pardoned Nixon? Pros? Cons?

G. RESULTS

• 1. Pro
  • a. The Constitutional System of Checks and Balances worked
  • b. Civilian Oversight Board created to monitor FBI/CIA - 1974
    • notification on covert actions
    • Reagan loosened controls
    • War Powers Act - also designed to limit power of the President
  • c. Freedom of Information Act - designed to prevent secrecy
  • d. Election Reform Act
    • a) public tax money for campaigns
    • b) limits on amounts of money that can be given
    • c) givers must be made public
  • e. Ethics Committees formed
    • Michael Deaver first indicted
    • 1978 - special prosecutors created
  • f. Proved to cynical hippies of the 60's that the system works
  • g. No President is above the law
  • Nixon has since maintained that "When the President does it, that means its not illegal"
• 2. Con
  • a. Demoralization
  • b. Credibility Gap
  • c. Profits by most participants since $2000-$5000 / speaking engagement
  • d. Political participation - voters and candidates who fear press
  • e. World Image - Nixon was a hero to Europe
    • USSR thought it was an attempt to destroy detente
    • Fr.-G.B. thought that it was normal politics
  • f. Negative view of the Press as the enemy of government
  • g. 1974 produced reform oriented Democrats - Hart, Dukakis, etc.
    • lost traditional Democratic focus
  • h. 1972 - Republican trend began interrupted by Watergate
    • 1. Carter offshoot
    • 2. Ronald Reagan = new republican = negative reaction to the 1960s started by Nixon
  • i. Imperial Presidency
    • public began to increase its complaints about the power of national government
    • complaints about abuse of power go back to FDR - court packing scheme

H. Federal Election Reform Act - 1972 - vetoed / overridden

• 1. limit the amount / person that could be donated
• 2. campaign reporting required if more than $100 donated
• 3. Republican Party
  • party of wealth had fewer members wanted their supporters to be able to continue to give
• 4. wide violations were a part of Watergate

I. Results

• 1. Since 1968 Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, Southern Democrats, the only non-Republican Presidents elected.
• 2. Solid South gone
• 3. State and Local elections have been slower to change however Republicans
• have become much stronger at these levels also
• 4. Republicans refined Nixon's approach

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