Nixon- Domestic and Foreign Policies
End of the Great SocietyBeginning of the New Federalism
Did not believe in big-government (government helping the people) Divert $$ from federal government to state and local governments $$ spent at the local level would be more responsive to local needs Believed in self-help
Nixon and Civil Rights
Proposed federal funds to build new community schools
Newer form of separate but equal: emphasis on equal Courts denied this, desegregation to continue Nixon then used this to his advantage: he told the Southern Senators/Republicans that his hands were tied Showed the nation that he supported the civil rights movement
Nixon and Environment
Created the National Environment Policy Act (1969)
Led to the Clean Air Act (1970): addressed auto emissions; Water Pollution Act (1972)
Environment Protection Agency (1970): still around today
Protecting human health and the environment Writes regulations
Consumer Product Safety Commission Legacy of Parks program: gives land to the states to create parks
Nixon and the Economy
1968- faced major inflation; imposed temporary wage and price controls to slow it Moved to Keynesian economics Greater role for central banks and the government in monetary policy New Economic Policy: wage and price controls; abandonment of the gold standard, and; deficit spending Public approved this plan; helps Nixon get re-elected
Henry Kissinger
National Security Adviser, 1968-1973 Secretary of State, 1973-1977 German Jew, fought in WWII Believed in realpolitik: foreign policy which dealt with other nations in a practical manner rather than on the basis of political doctrine or ethics
Nixon Doctrine
Nixon Doctrine: US must put its own interests first; other nations had to take responsibility for their own defense Nixon thought the US had done too much; overreached in the past
Nixon Foreign Policy- USSR
Dtente: relaxation of tension between the USSR and the US in the late 1960s to 1979
Also saw improvements with Communist China USSR had caught up with the US in terms of nuclear missiles Neither wanted nuclear war; but both kept increasing time and $
SALT
SALT 1: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (1972)
Try to limit the stockpiles of long-range nuclear weapons Placed a ceiling on the future build-up of ICBMs for 5 years Restrict deployment of anti-ballistic missiles Did not take away any ICBMs already in place
US and Communist China
US-China relations: cold, tense
China- turned Communist (1949), supported N. Korea in Korean War, supported N. Vietnam in Vietnam War
Sino-Soviet Split: tensions between USSR and China grew
Fighting along the borders
China did not want to move away from USSR and have bad relations with USA
Nixon sends Kissinger on secret diplomatic mission to China (1971) Drops embargo with China; allows China into UN
Nixon went to China
1972- Nixon becomes the first President to visit China If not for Watergate, Nixon should have been remembered as the President who opened up Communist China
Things didnt change right away- but it was a start
