Nixon's Legacy.

The legacy of Richard Nixon is complicated and controversial. He represented the reactionary counterrevolution. He was a President who made history in many respects and made horrible mistakes. He had paranoia, insecurities, jealousies, and a hatred of revolutionary progressive activism. Now, it is the time to outline the breadth of his presidency from the beginning to the end. He used the Southern Strategy for him to win the 1968 election. The Southern Strategy was about Nixon appealing to mostly white blue collar workers to gain votes in the Midwest and the South. Many of these people were former New Deal Democrats who switched to vote for Republicans by 1968. Richard Nixon was clear that he wanted law and order, opposed many policies of the civil rights movement, he tried to attack liberalism, and he supported the repression of progressive protesters. He promised to end the Vietnam War with the phrase of ‘peace with honor.” He made many changes regarding Cold War policies as well. Nixon constantly talked about the silent majority or those in middle American (mostly white Americans) who agreed with his plans. It is no secret that Nixon hated student activists, Black Power leaders, and media figures who questioned him. Vice President Spiro Agnew was known to attack the media and student leaders too.

His Presidency started in January of 1969. His inaugural address called for national unity in the midst of political divisions. He criticized the big government programs of Johnson but believed that most Americans wanted government involvement in combating pollution. He was obsessed with getting tough on crime rhetoric. Before the 1970’s, Americans profoundly believed in the us vs them mentality in dealing with Communism worldwide. Nixon allied with Henry Kissinger to formulate a new Cold War policy. Nixon was a conservative Republican. Progressives promoted a new politics with intellectuals, people of color, women, environmentalists, and activists plus feminists in supporting social justice causes (as explained by Newfield). Conservatives grew in power in the Sunbelt in the Southwest and the South. New industries dealing with technology, space exploration, and aerospace, in general, flourished (in Miami, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, San Diego, etc.). Many former liberals became neoconservatives or conservatives. They were more concerned with decentralization and war mongering foreign policy than progressive pro-general welfare policies. Many of these same neo-conservatives were complicit in the future disastrous Iraq War policy.
The resurgent Right was made up of conservative religious people, libertarians, former liberals, pro-Vietnam War activists, and hardcore Republicans. These human beings were increasingly Republican. Henry Kissinger is a moderate East Coast political figure.  Kissinger was educated at Harvard and was a Jewish émigré from Germany. They promoted the realpolitik philosophy. This view was that American interests must be developed in dealing with the Cold War beyond any ideological views. They wanted to use tactics to make China and the Soviet Union break against each other so American interests would dominate international affairs more thoroughly. They viewed foreign policy in complex terms instead of monolithic interpretations. Nixon and Kissinger didn’t believe in a monolithic communist conspiracy to rule the world as LBJ thought. They knew of the nuisance, different communist policies in North Korea, Yugoslavia, North Vietnam, and in other locations. That is why Nixon focused more on international affairs than domestic policy affairs during his Presidency.

Nixon, as early as 1969, wanted a different relationship with China. China back then wasn’t recognized by the United Nations. The Nationalist government of Taiwan was recognized by America more than China. Nixon wanted to reach out to China because of many nations. China is the most populous nation on Earth. Nixon felt that if they allied with U.S. markets, then U.S. markets would benefit economically with tons of consumers. Also, Nixon was known as an anti-communist radical, so many saw Nixon as having more credibility in following this new course. He also wanted to divide China and the Soviet Union. If China had normal relations with the Americans, then Nixon felt that the Soviet Union would be weakened. He also wanted China to pressure North Vietnam to establish a negotiated peace to end the Vietnam War. By April 1971, China publicly wanted American leaders to talk with them. Henry Kissinger worked with Premier Zhou Enlai on setting up a meeting. By February 1972, President Nixon visited China and the Great Wall. Later, Americans increasingly visited China and America normalized relations with China. That was a significant historical development. By 1979, full diplomatic ties were formed between America and China. The Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev feared that Nixon working with China would weaken his nation. So, he wanted a meeting with Nixon. Nixon came into Moscow in May 1972. Nixon and Brezhnev formed agreements on many issues. Nixon told Congress on June 1, 1972, said that he and the Soviets agreed to fight environmental pollution and fight cancer plus heart disease. Nixon considered a joint U.S./USSR space mission. He and the Soviets signed Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty of SALT I. This froze the deployment of ICBMs or intercontinental ballistic missiles. It gave limits to ABMs or anti-ballistic missiles. It didn’t alter dangerous multiple independent reentry vehicles or MIRVs. It was a step towards détente. This was a more pragmatic approach toward Cold War political engagement. Domestically, Richard Nixon believed in new federalism or stripping powers from the federal government and sending it to the states and local communities. He stated this goal in his 1971 State of the Union address. He ironically allowed the creation of new federal government programs like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in regulating workplaces to make them safer. He supported the War on Drugs and helped to form the DEA or the Drug Enforcement Administration. He saw the creation of EPA or the Environmental Protection Agency that enforced environmental standards. He signed the 1970 Clean Air Act. He also cut welfare by him decreasing of the power of the Office of Economic Opportunity. This was a crucial part of LBJ’s Great Society and the war on poverty agenda. He enacted a Family Assistance Plan to try to give a minimum income to every American family. The FAP didn’t become law. Federal spending on social programs like Medicare, public housing, etc. grew.


Richard Nixon executed the repressive programs of the FBI against progressive activism. Such FBI suppression efforts existed long before 1969 too. During Nixon’s time, the economy experienced struggles with stagflation or inflation and recession at the same time. Attorney General John Mitchell indicted tons of people from the antiwar, women's Chicano, Black Power, and Native American movements. Nixon in May of 1969 ordered the illegal monitoring of various reporters and 13 members of his own National Security Council. Nixon pressured the FCC and news companies to downplay the anti-war movements' protests. This was caused in part by the burden of the Vietnam War from LBJ’s time. It grew under Nixon’s Presidency. More spending on Vietnam grew inflation. More inflation means that prices on goods and services will increase which stagnates the economy.

Also, economic problems existed because of more competition for the economy by West Germany, Western Europe in general, and Japan (which flourished in part by the Marshall Plan and American investments). Their economics grew industries like steel and automobiles. Foreign competition increased the burden on the U.S. economy. Some Americans lost jobs. Also, the price of oil increased. During the 1973 Arabic war against Israel, Arabic members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) issued a boycott or embargo on Israel’s allies including America. They did this since America supported Israel in the Yom Kippur war. Oil prices increased by 400 percent. Gas lines existed by 1974. Nixon responded to stagflation by having a 90-day freeze on all wages and prices. It worked for a short time, and economic growth existed. Long-term, price control couldn’t stabilize the economy, and the economy became worse by the mid-1970’s. Domestically, busing was a big issue in the Nixon presidency. Busing was about making integration real by using busing to send students to various schools in making them heterogeneous ethnically. Supporters of busing believe that it promotes integration. Opponents of busing say that it violated parents’ rights, states’ rights, and community schooling. Some people who opposed busing were racists also. Nixon promoted conservative judges in the court system. Both Clement Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell failed to be in the Supreme Court since they supported segregation years prior. Nixon opposed court-ordered busing. He reached out to southern whites and urban blue collar workers. The federal court ordered school busing in 1971. Nixon wanted a freeze on it. He also believed in black capitalism and the Philadelphia Plan (which was about affirmative action with timetables to give federal contractors and labor unions to give consideration to women and minorities in employment and education). Black capitalism (or Nixon wanted investments in black corporations to help black people) was opposed by the Black Panthers since it benefits mostly the upper middle and wealthy of the black community. Also, the Black Panthers were socialistic.

Newly released tapes show that Richard Nixon didn't care about black people. He allocated few funds to black businesses. Nixon cut other federal programs that were helping people of color. He refused to support the extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and he lobbied Congress to try to defeat the fair housing enforcement program.  Richard Nixon opposed making Dr. King's birthday a national holiday. That is why civil rights leaders opposed Nixon for his evil record on civil rights. Nixon’s Southern Strategy caused him to have a significant victory in the 1972 election. His Democratic opponent was George McGovern. McGovern was a sincere liberal who opposed the Vietnam War and wanted social justice. By 1972, the Democratic Party moved into the left, and this was one of the few times when an unapologetic liberal ran for President. Nixon had immense popularity, and McGovern lost the election. Wallace ran for President and ended it when a gunman shot him. He was later paralyzed for the remainder of his life. Nixon tried to portray himself as moderate, and he condemned McGovern as an extremist when McGovern wasn’t. Spiro Agnew continued to be Nixon’s Vice President. Nearly every electoral vote came for Nixon, and 60.7 percent of the popular vote also went for Nixon while 37.5 percent of the popular vote came for McGovern. Richard Nixon was the first Republican President to sweep the South. Nixon ended mandatory wage, price, and rent ceiling regulations. This caused a hike in inflation since the price controls were stopped. With the Kent State disaster, the illegal bombing of Cambodia, the Pentagon Papers were released, and the other revelations, Nixon decided to be stubborn and maintain his views.

In the midst of his victory, storm clouds came his way. It was Watergate. Even in 1972, Watergate was discussed, but it wasn't the primary political discussion. Things would change. June 1972 was the time when right-wing extremists had a botched burglary at the Democratic Party headquarters (called Watergate in D.C.). The Watergate burglars were in trial by 1973. One burglar was named James McCord. He said that Nixon administration officials were involved in the break-in. James McCord was part of the Committee to Re-Elect the President as a security chief. This group was known as CREEP, and it was head by former attorney general John Mitchell. CREEP used intelligence monitoring of Democratic candidate drinking and sexual habits to try to discredit them. CREEP (one member of this group was G. Gordon Liddy) used false literature and other lies in trying to defeat Democratic opponents. The Senate investigated this charge. Hearings existed. Many witnesses said that President Nixon and his top aides were involved in the cover-up. Nixon denied any wrongdoing. As time went on, investigators found links between the burglars and top Nixon administration officials. Young Washington Post journalists named Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein helped to expose Watergate for the public. A source called “Deep Throat” gave them sources on the events. Deep Throat was later found to be an FBI official. Woodward and Bernstein reported that the men who tried to burglarize the Watergate hotel had total links to the Nixon reelection committee. Nixon proclaimed his innocence multiple times. Nixon said the famous “I am not a crook” in November 1973. Most Americans viewed Nixon as not honest about the Watergate scandal. Congress had to act. By the fall of 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned in the face of a corruption scandal. Agnew was caught accepting bribes and evading income taxes. He was a hypocrite. Nixon named Gerald Ford as the new Vice President as following the 25th Amendment. Nixon secretly taped his White House conversations. Some believed that those tapes would show his role in covering up the break-in. June 1973 was when former White House counsel John Dean would tell investigators that Nixon authorized a cover-up. Nixon refused to release the tapes citing executive privilege. This was in July 1973. By October of 1973, Nixon wanted to reveal summaries of the recordings.

Justice Department special prosecutor Archibald Cox refused to do this, so Nixon fired him. He fired other people that was known as the Saturday Night Massacre. People protested that decisions and newspapers called for Nixon to resign. Calls for impeachment grows loudly. Many people from the Nixon team are indicted by March 1974 for conspiracy in the Watergate break-in. Nixon was named as an unindicted co-conspirator. The Supreme Court in July 1974 (via the United States v. Nixon) unanimously voted that Nixon must release White House recordings as required by the new special prosecutor.  Chief Justice Warren Burger explicitly rejected Nixon’s claim of executive privilege. The House Judiciary Committee recommended impeachment. By August of 1974, transcripts of tapes show that Nixon ordered a cover-up of the Watergate break-in. The House Judiciary Committee approved the action to impeach Nixon for the crimes of obstructing justice in the cover-up of the Watergate break-in, misuse of power, refusing to comply with House subpoenas. Many Republicans wanted Nixon to be impeached too. By August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon became the first U.S. President to resign since he faced impeachment.  Nixon’s crimes weren’t just about Watergate. It was about him using dirty tricks to secure his election, forming an enemies list in allowing the federal government to harass his opponents, and using wiretaps against reporters plus others who disagreed with his administration. Watergate shocked the confidence of the American people in governmental institutions. It showed the world that no President is above the law. Trust in government went down. Nixon never saw prison. 25 Nixon Nixon administration officials would go prison including Ehrlichman, Haldeman, and Mitchell. Nixon who lectured others on "law and order" was one of the most lawless and corrupt Presidents of American history. The aftermath of Watergate made Congress pass many laws to promote government transparency and ethics like the Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments in 1974, the Freedom of Information Act in 1974, the Government in Sunshine Act of 1976, and the Ethics in Government Act in 1978. Watergate showed that we need checks and balances in any government. The nation weathered and survived and political storms, and later Gerald Ford would be President. Gerald Ford’s time as President was brief but critical in American history.

By Timothy