US+Domestic+Policy+in+the+1970's

The Watergate Scandalmedia type="custom" key="3817587" In the early 1970's America was still reeling from its turbulent time in the 1960's.One of the issues that carried itself over into the new decade was the Vietnam war. By this the opinions and thoughts of many concerning the war had to change Dan Ellsberg was one of these individuals. He was a former defense department analyst, his thoughts on war had turned and in 1971 he turned over a secret Pentagon report concerning the history of the war to the New York Times. They immediately began publishing these Pentagon Papers which greatly infuriated many of those in charge of the country, including President Nixon. When Nixon couldn't stop the publishing of the papers he turned in another direction for help. He turned to a secret unit called the Plumbers they were created and maintained by the White House their purpose was fixing leaks in the administration. The Plumbers were created by John Ehrlichman. These were burglars that broke in into the Watergate Hotel to repair wire taping equipment and taking pictures of documentation. Their most famous mission was to break in the home of the former Pentagon employee Dan Ellsberg where they unsuccessfully attempted to prevent further leaks of confidential information. Their names were Benard Barker, Virgilio Gonzalez, Eugenio Martinez, Frank Sturgis, and James W. Mccord Jr. They all got arrested and served time accept for President Nixon, President Gerald Ford relieved him of the charges. President Nixon was the only Watergate Conspirator who spent no time in jail. President Nixon was the first president to resign in U.S hisory. Richard Milhous Nixon Term(1969-1974) ([]) lndividual rights were expanded during Nixons term. The 26th ammendment was proposed on March 20, 1971 and it was established by June 30th. This ammendment made the voting population rise between ages 18 to 21. In 1971 President Nixon declared war on inflation for decades leading economists had looked at inflation as the enemy of the economy. The first phase of the New Economic Policy (NEP) lasted 90 days and upon the successful completion, Congress passed phase two, with the goal of decreasing the rate of inflation by two to three percent daily. In the end of Nixon's term an energy crisis hit the United States. After the Yom Kippur war, the oil producing countries decided to cut off the shipment of oil to the U.S. This was a huge crisis for the U.S some gas stations even ran out of gas. This was at the end of Nixon's term. Gerald Rudolph Ford Term(1974-1977) ([] There were not many domestic reforms passed during his Presidency. There was a few important Supreme Court decisions during his time. Their was a Utah law declaring that boys mature at 21 and girls at 18 was declared unconstitutional, a decision that made Georgia man liable for damage for refusing to accept a job apllication from a white man because he was married to a black woman was upheld. In 1976 Ford took action to relieve from bankruptcy the freight railroads of the United States he loaned the Northeastern U.S 2.1 billion of the government money to improve roadbeds and equipment. James Earl Carter Term(1977-1981) ([].) Some major events during the presidency of Jimmy Carter were with energy issues. On March 29th,1979 the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant overheated and low-level radioactive gases were released into the atmosphere. After the malfunction of the reactor, nuclear power plants became questionable as sources of energy. After this happened it swayed people against the use of nuclear power when more facts came out about nuclear power plants. Along with that they had brochures that said workers would have more chance of getting cancer with nuclear power plants. The United States also also experienced another oil crisis as gasoline shortage led to higher prices and long lines at gas stations.Carter annnounced a Six Point Energy Plan. The main points stated that never again would they import more oil than in 1977 when it averaged more than 8.5 million barrels a dayand a peacetime financial commitment would be given for the development of alternative energy sources.