Nixon–Ford–Carter Years
KEY THEMES & ISSUES
1. Nixon & Race
2. Watergate
3. Carter & the New New South
4. Republicans & the Religious Right
America’s “Crisis of Confidence”
Nixon & Race, 1
Schools
Green & Alexander decisions, ’68 & ’69
Busing:
Swann decision, 1971
white resistance (Charlotte; Boston)
Busing opposed by RN;
Initially supported by S. Crt, ‘69-’73.
Undermined by more
conservative court, ’73-4
Millikan vs Bradley, 1974
Nixon & Race, 2
Urban Crisis
Kerner Commission Report, 1967 – 2 Americas
2 Black Americas?
black Republicanism
black Capitalism
New Black Politics
Jesse Jackson & PUSH
“Benign Neglect”
Affirmative Action
Philadelphia Plan
American Mosaic, 1980
Watergate
1972 Elections - RN wins easily vs George McGovern
CREEP: June 1972, botched break-in Democratic Party HQ
RN resigns August 9 1974, facing impeachment
Honeydrippers,
Impeach the President
Replaced & Pardoned
by Gerald Ford
The South & National Politics, 1
Jimmy Carter
Governor, Ga, ‘70-74;
President, ’76-80
racial liberal
fiscal conservative
Born Again Christian
Morality in (some) Foreign Policy
Camp David Accords, ’78
Moscow Olympic Boycott, ‘80
Iranian Hostage Crisis,
Nov ’79-Jan ‘81
The South & National Politics, 2
Southern Conservatives
Strom Thurmond [r from ’64]
Jesse Helms [r from ‘70]
Ultra-Conservatives
David Duke, La.
1970s KKK revival
Greensboro Massacre, ’79
economic depression
white status anxieties
Conservatives link to Reagan & religious right…
Religious Right
Roots in early 20th C
Links to Wallace/Thurmond
Jimmy Carter
TV & Radio evangelists:
Pat Robertson
Jim & Tammy Bakker’s PTL
Jerry Falwell, Old Time Gospel Hour
Moral Majority, Inc. 1979
Search for Community; stability…
Waiting for Reagan…1
Anxious America’s “Crisis of Confidence,” ’74-’80
Carter’s “Malaise Speech,’ 1979
Economic trends
recession; stagflation; depression
de-industrialization
Sunbelt and new technologies partly immune
Psychological blows
disaffection with “failed” social crusading of ‘60s
defeat in Vietnam
Watergate
perceived “threat” of affirmative action policies on whites
Bakke decision, 1978, restricts affirmative action
Waiting for Reagan…2
Individualism
“The Me Decade,” Tom Wolfe
rabid pursuit of personal satisfaction & individual wealth
partial rejection of commitment to shared social causes
The Search for Community
quest for shared moral certainties (Moral Majority)
intolerance of difference; hunt for scapegoats (blacks, hispanics, illegal immigrants, gays, single mothers, welfare recipients, tv, movies, gangsta rap, communism…)
quick fixes to revive economy (tax cuts – esp. for “entrepreneurial” rich)
Reagonomics (supply-side; trickle-down theories)
Trickling down….?
Changes in Real Family Income, 1980-1990
Conclusions
1. In the ‘70s, African Americans & other minorities continued to build upon the legal and political gains of the ’60s, but felt the first major attacks on affirmative action.
2. From Watergate to the election of Reagan, the US underwent a “Crisis of Confidence” at home & abroad: Post-Vietnam syndrome…
3. This crisis produced 2 main responses: fierce individualism & a desperate search for community. The New Right appealed to both types of response.
4. With ‘60s style liberalism in retreat, the New Right appeared to have the clearest, most compelling vision of the future for many Americans, heralding one of the most conservative eras in American history.