United States History

E

The Impact of Vietnam

The Vietnam War affected the United States in many ways. Most immediately, it spurred policy changes. The United States ended the military draft and switched to an all-volunteer army. Congress passed the War Powers Resolution over Nixon’s veto in November 1973. The resolution limited the president’s ability to send troops into combat without congressional consent. Its passage reflected legislators’ desire to restrain presidential power and to prevent U.S. involvement in a war like that in Vietnam.

Beyond policy changes, the war in Vietnam changed the attitudes of a generation. First, the war increased caution about involvement in foreign affairs. After Vietnam, Americans more carefully weighed the risks of intruding in another nation’s problems. Second, defeat in the war diminished American confidence in U.S. superiority, both moral and military. Defeat in Vietnam was a humiliating national experience.

Finally, the war increased mistrust of government and its officials. A chain of events beginning in the 1960s—such as the way Johnson obtained the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, revelations of secret bombings of Cambodia under Nixon, and the Kent State tragedy—shattered a faith in the state that had prevailed since World War II. These events left citizens with a sense of cynicism: Government leaders were no longer credible. The abrupt end of Nixon’s presidency only confirmed this sentiment.

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The Nixon Administration

Since the 1930s presidential powers had grown as presidents struggled to overcome the depression, win a world war, and avoid defeat in the Cold War. These powers continued to grow under Kennedy and Johnson. Kennedy, for instance, launched covert operations at the Bay of Pigs, and Johnson engaged the nation in war without congressional approval. President Richard Nixon wielded more power than any peacetime president, and in the early 1970s the term Imperial Presidency became linked to his administration. The term referred to a tendency to disregard the Constitution, to view politics as warfare, to act in secret, to claim executive privilege, to subvert Congress, and to rely excessively on White House aides.

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1

The Imperial Presidency

Long a controversial figure, Nixon served as vice president for eight years under Eisenhower, lost a bid for president in 1960 and a run for governor of California in 1962, and then worked as a corporate lawyer. Elected in 1968 and again, resoundingly, in 1972, Nixon claimed to represent a new majority that included former Democrats—ethnic minorities, working-class people, and Southern whites—who were disgusted with liberal policies. Nixon promised voters that he would restore law and order and end the unpopular war in Vietnam.

During Nixon’s presidency, the economy ran into trouble with inflation. In 1971 inflation leaped to 5 percent, the stock market fell, and for the first time since the 19th century, the United States had an overall trade deficit, which meant that it imported more goods than it exported. To fight inflation, Nixon briefly imposed wage and price controls. His cautious efforts succeeded and prevented inflation from getting worse. Nixon also urged welfare reform. In 1969 he proposed the Family Assistance Plan, which would have provided a minimum income for poor families and supplements for the working poor. The bill died in a Senate committee, but one of its provisions, a food stamp program, became federal policy.

Nixon’s strength was foreign policy. His Vietnamization program reduced American casualties and diminished American involvement in the Vietnam War, although he widened the war by extending it to Cambodia. Meanwhile, Henry Kissinger, whom Nixon appointed as secretary of state in 1973, followed a new brand of diplomacy. Kissinger saw world power as divided among the United States, the USSR, Japan, China, and Europe, and he attempted to achieve first place for the United States among these major powers. In 1969 Nixon advanced the Nixon doctrine, which held that the United States would continue to help Asian nations combat Communism but would no longer commit troops to land wars in Asia.

Most important, Nixon opened relations with China. In 1972 he made an official visit to China. Nixon’s trip was the first time that the United States and China had renewed relations since 1949, when Communists took control in China. Nixon also traveled to Moscow to sign the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) in 1972. The treaty reduced stockpiles of nuclear weapons and froze deployment of intercontinental missiles. Nixon, however, undercut his own achievements by abuses of power that came to light in his second term.

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2

Watergate

On June 17, 1972, with a presidential campaign in progress, police officers in Washington, D.C., arrested five men caught breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, located in a residence complex called the Watergate. The incident initially attracted little attention, but two Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, began investigating the break-in. From their articles and from Senate hearings, Americans learned that the president, his aides, and campaign officials had conspired to sabotage Nixon’s political foes. Nixon initially denied involvement in the scheme. But a series of special prosecutors, whom the president was forced to appoint, investigated the scandal. They soon determined that Nixon and his aides tried to cover up the president’s link with the Watergate break-in and to obstruct the Watergate investigation.

In July 1974 the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to produce tape recordings that he made of conversations in the White House. The transcripts contained evidence that Nixon had broken the law and knew about the cover-up. At the end of the month, the House Judiciary Committee adopted three articles of impeachment that charged Nixon with abusing power, obstructing justice, and defying Judiciary Committee subpoenas. Before the House could vote on Nixon’s impeachment, the president resigned, on August 9, 1974. Vice President Gerald Ford assumed the presidency and pardoned Nixon in September.

Watergate undermined presidential authority and made citizens fear excessive state power, such as Nixon’s secret bombings of Cambodia and his wiretapping of public officials and journalists. Nixon’s resignation ended an era of turmoil and animosity. Two presidents in succession, elected by vast majorities, had left office either diminished, in Johnson’s case, or disgraced, in Nixon’s case. The Vietnam War eroded the nation's self-confidence and left a legacy of skepticism. Watergate further enlarged citizens’ suspicions of government. In the next few elections, voters sought heads of state untainted by overexposure to power in Washington, D.C.

XXVI

End of the 20th Century

Since the mid-1970s, American domestic politics have been affected by several major trends—the end of the Cold War, a declining industrial sector, and the rise of a global economy. Meanwhile, increased immigration changed the population, and life in a multicultural society generated new conflicts. At the end of the 20th century, Americans faced a major challenge: How to preserve national unity while respecting social diversity.