President Richard Nixon Flashcards
who did Nixon talk about during his nomination of presidency in 1968?
the “silent majority” those who didn’t support the counterculture and whom were tired of continuous protests.
why was their a form of the silent majority?
- feelings of exasperation to do with multiple riots and protests in 1968 which included the assassination of MLK, the tet offensive and riots that followed the miss america pagent
when was the vietnam war?
1967 500,000 us troops stormed into Vietnam - johnson convinced the public that America was winning however the Vietnamise communists launched a Tet offensive and media suggested that USA was loosing.
what did the assassinations of King and Kennedy cause?
- provoked major riots in over 100 cities 41 died
- $45 million worth of damages
- America had become a divided country.
what happened at the Democratic national convention in Chicago /
- 1968 yippies called on youth to disrupt the convention to show discontent for the political system.
- they presented their candidate for president which was a squealing pig that they called “pigaus”
- the media reported kids having sex in public and throwing urine and provoking the police by calling them pigs.
how many people approved of the police action who beat the youths with clubs?
56%
why did nixon appeal to people in 1968 ?
- appealed to the silent majority who wanted law and order
- moderate republican who attracted voters tired of radicalism
- narrow victory in 1968 however.
what fears spread over the counterculture at Woodstock?
- fears over youth role models such as; Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrisson and Janis Joplin all of whom died of drug overdose.
- fears that Woodstock rock n roll encouraged student violence and radicalism.
what examples of student radicalism occured between 1969 and 70?
- 2,000 bombings 56% were by students
- e.g. in Colorado uni - it was bombed over frozen scholarship funds for black students.
what provoked the student protests at Kent state?
- Nixon extended bombing to the communist supply trail in Cambodia 1970.
how many anti-war protests occurred in universities?
- 80% of American universities had anti-war protests.
what happened at Kent state?
- students fire bombed the ROTC building
- some held a peaceful rally
- anxious guards killed 4 students and wounded 22
how did the American public feel about the police action at Kent state?
- over half of Americans blamed the students for what happened at Kent State.
how did Nixon reduce the number of student protests?
- took away scholarships from radical students
- monitored disruptive groups.
what was the reasons for Nixon’s appeal in 1972?
- republicans played on conservative fears and suggested that George Macgovern stood for the 3 A’s:
1. abortion
2. acid
3. amnesty - Nixon won a landslide victory of 60.7% of popular vote
