The 1970's In The United States

The 1950s and the 1960s had many similarities, though they had many differences as well. Their similarities and differences include: the politics, the economy, the society, and the culture of both decades. In the 1950s, North Korea moved into South Korea and began a civil war between the two parallel countries. The reason for this dispute was the border lines as well as guerrilla fighting in the South, which created a greater tension on the issue. The reason why the U.S entered the Korean War was so that the Soviet Union would not gain another nation and, in turn, more power. Like the 50s, our country was also at war with another country in the 60s. This time, the U.S was at war with Vietnam. The U.S entered the war because the

For almost 200 years the American public viewed their government and its chief executive with virtual reverence. Presidents like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were the embodiment of every principle and value set forth in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. The events that occurred in Vietnam coupled with the Watergate scandal shocked the nation and irreparably damaged the publics’ view of politics and government activities. The release of the Pentagon papers

Richard Nixon had lost the election against John F Kennedy in 1960. In 1968 Nixon ran again and won on the promise of returning law and order to the country, thus starting the push-back that created the “hangover” of the 70s. Nixon’s definition of “law and order” fell in line with that of the working class or as Nixon had called them “forgotten

Moreover, this paper hopes to justify that the Watergate break in was directly caused by the pressure on Nixon from his advisers in relation to the Pentagon papers and the papers' appearance to the citizens. In addition, this essay hopes to prove that Nixon unknowingly sabotaged his own presidency in response to New York Times's publication and court case, Daniel Ellsberg's trial, and Watergate. Also, this Extended Essay hopes to demonstrate how the Pentagon Papers established a credibility gap between the citizens and the presidency. Furthermore, the credibility gap is a different perception of events between the government and its citizens. Thus meaning that when any national crisis arose it could significantly affect a president's approval ratings and destroy any relationship forming with in the public. Finally, the Pentagon Papers established a credibility gap in the later years of Nixon's presidency specifically with the Watergate break in and his claims of innocence. This research question is worthy of investigation because the effects of the Pentagon Papers are still felt in the United States with the recent events of Edward Snowden, WikiLeaks, and the revelation of the NSA spying on American citizens. That is concurrent to the feelings of the citizens in the 1970s with the government lying to its own

The children of the baby boomers became more immoral than ever before with drugs and sex. Massive protests happened against the war in Vietnam. Major distrust in the government was at an all-time high when Richard Nixon resigned a mist the Watergate Scandal. Liberalism was at its height and conservative was the minority. Critchlow mentions that conservatives have been on their heels since the New Deal, set in place by the Democratic Socialist Franklin D Roosevelt. Which increased the federal government to a whole new level. Critchlow argues that the resurgence of the conservative movement was the result of conservative morals being injected into political power. And how the conservative revival changed America. During the 60’s-70 the Democratic and Republican parties were flip flopping their normal stances. Before this time Democrats were the Conservative party and the Republicans were the liberal party. During this time Critchlow talks about how the conservatives started to take over the Republican Party. By implementing conservative politicians through grassroots organizing. Pushing out the

President Richard M. Nixon’s administration had to face many international and domestic challenges in the United States between 1968 and 1974, some positive and some negative. His achievements in expanding peaceful relationships with both China and the Soviet Union are contrastingly different with his continuation of the Vietnam War. In the end, Nixon’s scandals and abuse of presidential power caught up to him, and his administration did much to corrode America’s faith in the government.

Question: Explain how events such as the Vietnam War and Watergate affected the American public’s opinion of the U.S government.

Throughout history, political leaders of the United States were, at one time, thought of as vital pioneers of our progressive society. As president, they vow to take the responsibility to represent America and its people with integrity. Unfortunately, over the years, our trust in our executive legislatures has radically deteriorated. This shift within public and governmental assurance has echoed all throughout history, but peaks at the height of an unexpected scandal. The 1970’s began on a path of disparity and hesitation due to the radical events and assassinations that shaped America’s mentality in the 1960’s. In a nation divided, Richard M. Nixon stepped in as 37th president in 1969 with a mission to resolve the trailing aftermath of the

On November 22nd, 1963 America lost its innocence. It also perhaps lost its trust, trust in the American Government. In a gallop pole in 1960, 89% of the American population trusted the government. Since then it has dropped to less than to . That means that since the early 1960's over 70% of the population lost its trust in the Federal Government. While there may be different reasons why many people lost their trust, the most major one was probably the assassination and investigation of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. In 1963 and 1964 the US government told the American public about what happened that fateful day in Dallas Texas. They said that one crazy man, Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone killed the

The United States paid a high cost politically for the Vietnam War. The war weakened many American’s faith in our government, and the public also doubted the honesty and competence of its leaders. Americans were skeptical, if not cynical and held a high degree distrust and suspicion towards authority of any kind. This pretty much described the views of an increasing number of Americans following the Vietnam War (Chambers II, 1999).

The unexpected occurrences of the late 1960 's through the 1970’s led to a broad form of skepticism and distrust toward the countries ' leaders in a number of ways. The occurrences that impacted how Americans looked at the nation’s leader was complete disillusionment. They felt this way because of hidden secrets, corrupt scandals in the white house, continuous social and economic problems that seemed to never change and the ongoing Vietnam war which Americans were opposed too. Most Americans blamed the government for many of the issues the that were going on and that should have ended but instead funded, ignored, and made other things important on their agenda. Political leaders had proclaimed intentions on ending the cold war, racial discrimination, fixing social and economic problems and creating reforms that would begin to make a difference.Americans did not see a change of these significant issues through these years.They only saw the nation getting worse which made them unhappy, doubtful and even worried about a new civil war. Some of the events that contributed to Americans cynicism was the watergate scandal, the ongoing Vietnam war, social and economic catastrophes and inequality.

The above quote, by Richard Nixon, best captures the mass hysteria and paranoia that dominated the American people during the Cold War Era. It would only be 15 years till an article by a New York Times reporter by the name of Seymour Hersh accusing the CIA of targeting antiwar protestors as well as many others whom they believed where foreign agents and had conducted everything from break-ins to wiretaps and even placement of informants within groups to monitor their actions. Later in the article Hesrh would state that the concept of the program was developed by a presidential aid and was in fact encouraged by members of the executive branch. He also revealed heavy involvement by the FBI on the behest of CIA director Helms who had been known to believe that the KGB had infiltrated the United States government.

The seventies is often seen as a lost decade, merged between the optimistic sixties and the opportunistic eighties. Bruce J. Schulman argues, in his book titled, “The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture”, that this period ignores changes brought by the 1970s. This period brought changes in the economy, shifts in culture, politics, race, family and religious values. The United States faced many transformations that helped shape our country to this day. Schulman begins to explain his thesis, “The Seventies transformed American economic and cultural life as much as, if not more than, the revolutions in manners and morals of the 1920s and the 1960s.” The information that I will present will summarize the changes that affected the United

The 1960’s was a very influential time in the United States of America. The United States began to explore a new culture of people known as hippies. The USA endured a great scare of nuclear war from the Cuban Missile Crisis. This country lost two famous leaders from that era; John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., who were assassinated. The United States also began the move towards equality by passing the Civil Rights Act. The final major accomplishment from 1960’s was when Neil Armstrong was the first astronaut to land on the moon.

The 1970s can be best understood as a transitional period in America. Starting in the 1950s, the power of the youth was on the rise, through civil rights activism and anti-war protests. This decade’s ideal citizen seemed to be the person helping others. Then the 1980s are more financially centered and individualistic. This decade’s ideal citizen is the one who measured success by how much money they made. The 1970s proved to be a time of bitterness, cynicism, and increased interest in one’s self for most of the people in America. Some of the events that contributed to this were the Kent State Massacre, Roe v. Wade, and the economic stagflation that happened in the latter part of the decade.