Main Themes 1. How movements by youth, ethnic minorities, and women challenged social norms. 2. How Richard Nixon gradually reduced the American ground forces in Vietnam but increased the air war as he and Henry Kissinger sought "peace with honor," which turned out to be nothing more than a way for the United States to leave the war with a decent interval before North Vietnam's victory. 3. That Nixon and Kissinger believed that stability in a "multipolar" world could be achieved only by having the United States forge a bold new relationship with China and, at the same time, seek a détente with the Soviet Union through grain sales and arms reductions. 4. That Nixon's efforts to build a policy of less federal dominance of the states and more respect for traditional values reaped more political gain than practical result. 5. That Nixon's inconsistent economic policies failed to solve "stagflation," which was as much international as domestic in origin. 6. How Nixon's fear of opposition and arrogant assumption that his own fortunes were identical to those of the nation led to his downfall (through the collection of scandals collectively known as Watergate).
| Learning Objectives A thorough study of Chapter Thirty-Two should enable the student to understand: |
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The reasons for the rise of the New Left and the counterculture. |
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The problems of American Indians and Hispanics, and the nature of their protest movements. |
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The meaning of the New Feminism. |
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The Nixon-Kissinger policy for terminating the Vietnam War, and the subsequent Paris peace settlement. |
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The changes in American foreign policy necessitated by the new perception of the world as multipolar. |
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The ways in which the Supreme Court issued several liberal rulings and then in the Nixon years began a change to a more conservative posture. |
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The reasons for the decline in the American economy in the early 1970s and President Nixon's reaction to the decline. |
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The significance of Watergate as an indication of the abuse of executive power. |