Nixon- Watergate
- Five men were caught breaking into Democratic party headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington DC on June 17, 1972 to find dirt on the Democratic Party
- Two Washington Post reporters, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, investigated the story
- Woodward and Bernstein relied on the FBI informant known as "Deep Throat" to link the men to the Nixon white house "follow the money"
- This became one of a series of scandalous acts involving the Committee to Re-Elect the President
- Nixon downplayed the scandal and denounced the story as biased and misleading
- FBI eventually confirmed that Nixon aides had attempted to sabotage the Democrats- many began resigning and faced prosecution
- Nixon was involved by trying to cover up the break-in (obstruction of justice) and eventually resign from the presidency
Gerald Ford(R)- 28th President 1974-1977
- Nixon's Vice President
- Took over when Nixon resigned
- only Vice President and President to never be elected
- "i am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your president by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your president with your prayers" -Ford
- Had two assassination attempts within 3 weeks
Accom
- Pardoned Nixon - a "corrupt bargain"?
- Offered conditional amnesty program for Vietnam War draft dodgers who had fled to countries such as Canada
- "Whip Inflation Now" called for Americans to reduce their spending and consumption in an attempt to stop inflation
- Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975) established special education in school throughout the US
- First president to lower national defecit
- Continued detente with the USSR
- Ford wanted to help South Vietnam when North Vietnam invaded in 1974 but Congress refused
- By April 1975, all of vietnam became communist
Vietnam Conflict
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