Name Class Date

CHAPTER Section Summary 18 NIXON AND THE WATERGATE SCANDAL SECTION 1

In 1968, Richard Nixon narrowly defeated Democrat Hubert READING CHECK Humphrey to win the presidency. During the campaign, Nixon claimed to represent the silent majority, the working men and What was Nixon’s southern women who made up Middle America. He believed that they were strategy? tired of “big” government. However, he also believed that they wanted the government to address social problems like crime and pollution. He proposed revenue sharing, in which the federal gov- ernment gave money to the states to run social programs. He also sponsored programs to regulate workplace safety, to administer the federal war on illegal drugs, and to enforce environmental stan- dards. Nixon’s presidency was plagued by a combination of recession and inflation that came to be known as stagflation. When the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) placed an oil embargo on Israel’s allies, oil prices skyrocketed. Nixon set out to expand his base of support. His southern VOCABULARY STRATEGY strategy targeted southern whites, who had traditionally voted for Democrats. He appointed conservative southern judges and criti- What does the word pollution cized the court-ordered busing of school children to achieve mean in the underlined sen- desegregation. However, he also supported new affirmative action tence? Look for context clues in plans in employment and education. Nixon won the 1972 election the surrounding words, phrases, easily, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to and sentences. Circle the word sweep the entire South. below that is a synonym for pollution. In June 1972, burglars broke into the Democratic Party headquar- ters at the Watergate complex in Washington. After their conviction, • contamination one of them charged that administration officials had been involved. • purification Nixon denied any wrongdoing in what came to be known as the Watergate scandal. In the fall of 1973, Vice President Agnew resigned in the face of an unrelated corruption scandal. Under the Twenty-fifth Amendment, Nixon nominated Gerald Ford to become his new Vice President. Nixon refused to turn over secret tapes of Oval Office conversations. He claimed executive privilege, which is the principle that the President has the right to keep certain informa- tion confidential. However, the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to READING SKILL turn over the tapes. These tapes provided evidence of Nixon’s Identify Main Ideas In what involvement in the coverup. In order to avoid impeachment and areas did Nixon expand the fed- conviction, Nixon resigned in August 1974. eral government’s role? Review Questions 1. What was Richard Nixon’s attitude toward “big” government?

2. How did Watergate lead to a showdown between the President and the Supreme Court?

© Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Prentice Hall. All rights reserved. 149 Name Class Date

CHAPTER Section Summary 18 THE FORD AND CARTER YEARS SECTION 2

Gerald Ford had a long record of public service. When he became READING CHECK President after Nixon’s resignation, he had the support of Democrats as well as Republicans. However, he lost support when he Why were the 1970s called the announced that he had pardoned, or officially forgiven, Nixon for “me decade”? any crimes he might have committed as President. The pardon was meant to heal the nation’s wounds, but Ford’s critics accused him of having made a secret deal. The 1974 congressional elections showed the public’s disapproval of the pardon and the impact of Watergate. The Republicans lost 48 seats in the House of Representatives. Former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter won the presidency in the 1976 election. He was a born-again Christian who won the sup- port of many Christian fundamentalists. He also was a Washington outsider who had no close ties with the Democratic leadership in Congress. Most of the bills he submitted to Congress did not pass VOCABULARY STRATEGY without major changes by his own party. A day after his inaugura- What does the word contended tion, he granted amnesty to Americans who had evaded the draft, in mean in the underlined sen- the hope of moving the nation beyond the Vietnam War. Severe tence? Note that the word is a inflation continued, fueled by the ongoing energy crisis. Carter verb. Ask yourself what kind of contended with the oil crisis by calling on Americans to action President Carter was tak- conserve energy. ing in relation to the oil crisis. The migration of Americans to the Sunbelt and the growth of the Use this strategy to help you fig- suburbs continued during the 1970s. The Sunbelt’s political power ure out what contended means. also grew. An influx of immigrants from Latin America and Asia also occured. The divorce rate more than doubled between 1965 and 1979, and the number of children born out of wedlock nearly tripled. The 1970s are sometimes called the “me decade” because many Americans appeared to be absorbed with self-improvement. This included an increased interest in fitness and health. Millions began to jog and eat natural foods. The 1970s also witnessed a resurgence of fundamental Christianity. Televangelists such as Jerry Falwell preached to mil- lions on television. Religious conservatives opposed many of the READING SKILL social changes begun in the 1960s that had gone mainstream in the Identify Main Ideas How did 1970s. They began to form alliances with other conservatives to forge being an outsider in Washington a new political majority. hurt Carter’s presidency? Review Questions 1. What events cast a shadow over Gerald Ford’s presidency?

2. How did Jimmy Carter deal with the energy crisis?

© Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Prentice Hall. All rights reserved. 151 Name Class Date

CHAPTER Section Summary 18 FOREIGN POLICY TROUBLES SECTION 3

Relations with the Soviet Union were central to U.S. foreign policy READING CHECK during the Ford and Carter administrations. President Gerald Ford and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev met twice and endorsed the Why did the United States boy- Helsinki Accords. In this document, the nations of Europe cott the 1980 Summer Olympic Games? expressed their support of human rights. However, Ford chose to put arms control ahead of human rights. The United States contin- ued disarmament talks with the Soviets. When South Vietnam fell to the communists, hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese tried to escape in rickety boats. These boat people represented the largest mass migration by sea in modern history. Early in his presidency, Jimmy Carter announced that his foreign policy would be guided by a concern for human rights. He tried to use his foreign policy to end acts of politicial repression, such as torture. Carter also worked to achieve détente, and in 1979, he VOCABULARY STRATEGY signed the SALT II treaty to limit nuclear arms production. How- What does the word repression ever, relations between the two superpowers took a frosty turn after mean in the underlined sen- the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979. Carter tence? Look for context clues in responded by imposing sanctions on the Soviets, including a boycott the surrounding sentences to of the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. Carter also hoped help you figure out the meaning to change the way the United States dealt with the developing of repression. world. His emphasis on human rights led him to alter the U.S. rela- tionship with a number of dictators. Carter’s greatest foreign policy success and setback were both in the Middle East. Egypt and Israel had been enemies since Israel’s founding in 1948. In 1977, Carter invited the leaders of the two nations to the presidential retreat. The result was the Camp David Accords, which led to a peace treaty in which Egypt recognized Israel. In January 1979, the U.S.-backed Shah of Iran was forced to flee. Fundamentalist Islamic clerics, led by the Ayatollah Khomeini, took power. Iranian radicals invaded the U.S. Embassy and took 66 READING SKILL Americans hostage. The Khomeini government took control of both Identify Supporting Details List the embassy and the hostages to defy the United States. The hostage two details that support the fol- crisis consumed Carter’s attention during his last year in office. His lowing statement: Carter’s failure to win the release of the hostages was viewed as evidence of greatest foreign policy chal- American weakness. lenges were in the Middle East. Review Questions 1. Compare the foreign policies of Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.

2. How did the Iran hostage crisis affect the last year of Carter’s presidency?

© Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Prentice Hall. All rights reserved. 153