Richard M Nixon - Answer-President after Johnson.
Richard Nixon was elected the 37th President of the United States () after previously serving as a U.S. representative.
Impeached for his role in the Watergate scandal.
Before Congress could take further action he resigned.
This was the first re...
Watergate History Test Exam Questions
and Answers
Richard M Nixon - Answer-President after Johnson.
Richard Nixon was elected the 37th President of the United States (1969-1974) after
previously serving as a U.S. representative.
Impeached for his role in the Watergate scandal.
Before Congress could take further action he resigned.
This was the first resignation by a US president that led to the imprisonment of 25
government officials and caused the most serious constitutional crisis in the US since
the impeachment of Andrew Johnson in 1868.
When Richard Nixon took office, the executive branch—as a result of the Great
Depression, World War II, and the Cold War— had become the most powerful branch of
government.
New Federalism - Answer-Was to decrease the size and influence of the federal
government.
Nixon believed that Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs, by promoting greater
federal involvement with social problems, had given the federal government too much
responsibility.
Nixon's plan, known as New Federalism, was to distribute a portion of federal power to
state and local governments.
Revenue sharing - Answer-Gave more financial freedom to local governments.
The state and local governments could spend their federal dollars however they wanted
with a few regulations.
Family Assistance Plan - Answer-Nixon approached welfare reform in the US by
advocating for this plan in 1969.
Every family of four with no outside income would receive a basic federal payment of
$1,600 a year ($500 for each parent, $300 for each child) with a provision to earn up to
$4,000 a year in supplemental income.
Anyone with the plan would have to take job training and accept any reasonable work
offered to them. The bill did not get passed.When it was brought to the Senate,
lawmakers from both parties attacked it saying minimum payments were too low and
work requirements too stiff.
Nixon's "law and order" policies - Answer-Targeted towards his "silent majority" who
wanted order to be restored.
His plan was to use the full resources of his office, sometimes illegally.
Nixon and his staff ordered wiretaps of left-wing individuals and the Democratic Party
offices at the Watergate office building in Washington, D.C. Also, the CIA investigated
people who objected to the government's policies.
, They also used the Internal Revenue Service to audit the tax returns of antiwar and civil
rights activists. He even used his vice-president, Spiro T. Agnew to target people on
social media.
Southern strategy - Answer-Nixon appealed to the Southern Democrats because he
appealed with their unhappiness with federal desegregation policies and a liberal
Supreme Court.
He also promised to name a Southerner to the Supreme Court.
This was called the Southern Strategy and he appealed to them because many of them
were fed up with members of their own party because they were becoming to liberal, so
when they saw Nixon's conservative moves, they liked that.
Stagflation - Answer-The economic situation when there is high inflation and high
unemployment. Issue facing Nixon between 1967 and 1973.
The economic factors that caused stagflation were high inflation and high
unemployment.
High inflation was a result of Lyndon Johnson's policy to fund the war and social
programs through deficit spending, increased competition in international trade, and a
flood of new workers (baby boomers and women).
Also, a heavy dependence on foreign oil was hurting the economy.
This is because of the Yom Kippur war between Israel and Egypt and Syria. Syria and
Egypt invaded Israel in 1973 on that day. The US supplied massive amounts of arms to
Israel to drive them off. After the US sent massive aid to Israel, the Arab OPEC
(Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries - Syria and Egypt are a part of OPEC)
cut off all oil sales.
To battle stagflation:
Raising taxes and cutting the budget, but Congress refused this plan.
Reduce the amount of money in circulation by urging that interest rates be raised, but
this only drove the country into a slowdown of economy.
In August 1971 Nixon tried to turn to price and wage controls by freezing workers wages
and businesses prices and fees for 90 days to ease inflation. It worked for a short time
but then the recession continued.
OPEC - Answer-Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
Supplied the US with a lot of oil.
The US' oil supply was cut off because the US supplied massive amounts of arms to
Israel.
After the US sent massive aid to Israel, the Arab OPEC cut off all oil sales to the US.
Realpolitik - Answer-Realpolitik was a German term meaning "political realism."
According to this philosophy promoted by Henry Kissinger, foreign policy should be
based solely on consideration of power and not ideals or moral principles.
He said people should evaluate based on a nation's power, not its philosophy or beliefs.
If a country was weak, it should be ignored, even if Communist.
This changed the US foreign policy because Nixon adopted this and called it détente
that aimed to ease Cold War tensions.
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