63-72 Nixon Flashcards
(52 cards)
context of the 1968 election
-LBJ not running for another term
-1968 convention where activists attacked the interior and exterior of the hall
-Vietnam war
-DNC convention 1968- riots
-assination of MLK and Bobby Kennedy
-riots in most cities- troops were deployed
-Nixons previous election campaigns and VP for eisenhower
-Democrat Hubert Humphrey seend as LBJs partner in Vietnam war
-Democrats divided- nominating a pig called Pigasus
Canidates for the 1968 election and percent of vote they got
Richard Nixon- 43.4%
Hubert Humphrey- 42.7%
George Wallace- 13.5%
What was nixons priority in 1968
Peace with honour- end vietnam war
Law and order - stop riots
New federalism
What was hubert humphreys priorities
Continue to expand thecgreat society
What was georg3 Wallace priority
Hates the Democrats and oppos3d desegregation and the great society
Overturn the voting rights act
States rights
Who voted for nixon
The silent majority
He blew the dog whistle
Who voted for hubert humphrey
Diverse voting base- students,women, African-Americans
Democrats and people happy with the way the country was going
Who voted for George wallace
Women’s in the southern states
Appeals to segregation8sts
Won a proportion of the working class votes
Southern strategy
Opposed the busing of school children to enforce desegregation.
Promised to appoint a southerner to the supreme court
Law and order
Mobilised the fbi and cia to infiltrate and disrupt protectors, even infiltrating their tax returns
Silent majority
Appealed to 55% of Americans who wanted law and order and return to traditional value
New federalism
Decrease the influence and size of the federal government.
Greater federal involvement with social problems had given the federal government too much responsibility and should be redistributed back to state and local governments
How did Nixon successfuly implement new federalism
Nixon proposed a plan to give local governments more freedom over thier money.
Under the revenue sharing, state and local governments could spend their money however they saw fit, with certain limitations.
in 1972 this became law and was passed as the Revenue-sharing bill.
Revenue Sharing Bill
gave state and local authoritys greater control over how they spend their federal money with certain limitations
Failures at in implicating New Federalism
Nixon found it difficult to overhaul welfare, in 1969 he advocated for the Family Assistance Plan. Nixon presented the plan through a conservative view point where it would reduce the supervisory roles of the federal government in personal lives. However the plan was attacked from both sides, with liberals thinking it was to little and conservatives thinking it was too much.
The bill went down in defeat.
How did Nixon go against New Federalism?
He supported a number of congressional measures to increase federal spending in some social programmes.
Without fanfare the Nixon Adminstration increased social security, medicare, medicaid and made food stamps more accesible.
Family Assistance Plan (FAP)
Under the FAP every family of four with no outside income would recieve a basic federal payment of $1,600 a year.
Unemployed participants, excluding mothers of preschool children would have to do job training and take any reasonable job which was offered to them.
The house approved of the plan on both sides in 1970, however in the senate it was attacked from both sides.(Liberals thought the minimum payments were too low and Conservatives rejected the notion of guranteed income)
How did Nixon implement Law and Order:
-he faced opposition from both houses of congress and liberal elements of society like the anti war movements. (1971 Kent State Massacre)
-Nixon used the full resources of his office, sometimes illegally, like ordering wire traps in left wing individual places like the Watergate building
-The CIA investigated and compiled documents of thousands of Americans dissidents and those who objected to government policies. Even investigating civil rights and anti war protestors tax returns
-Nixon created an “enimies list” prominent individuals who his administration woul harrass
-In 1969 he minimised the Black Panthers as a threat, with 28 party memebrs being killed by the police with more imprisoned
What were Nixons views on civil rights? (Southern strategy)
in 1969 he made hiw view clear, “There are those who want instant intergration and those who want segregation forever. I believe we need to have a middle course between the two extremes.”
Throughout his first term Nixon tried to reverse several civil rights policies. In 1969 he ordered the department of health, education and welfare to delay plans for desegregation in schools in Mississippi and Southern Carolina. This violated Brown vs Board of education. Due nothing the high court ordered Nixon ti abide by this law, he did although reluctantly.
He opposed the extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Despite this Congress voted to extend the act.
Sch
Desegregation in schools
1972 nearly 90% of children in the south attended desegregated schools. This was an increase from about 20% in 1969.
Southern strategy: Busing
In 1971 the supreme court ruled in favour of busing to end the pattern of all white of all black institutions. White students and parents in Boston and Detroit angrily protested this.
Southern strategy: supreme court
Nixon placed 3 justices on the supreme court to make it more conservative.in 1969 Warren Burger was accepted onto the court.
However the newly shaped court did not always go in 5he conservative direction, for example it ruled in favour of busing in 1971
In the water gate scandal the supreme court ordered Nixon to reveal his tapes, this shows their strained relationship
Why did Nixon struggle to fulfil his electoral promise?
Congress and the supreme court
