Paper 2 Theme 3 Flashcards
Social and political change 1973-80
1
Q
How did the Watergate scandal show there was a crisis in political leadership?
A
events: CREEP (Committee to re-elect the President) broke into Watergate hotel- Democrat headquarters
- planted listening devices and went through files (arrested the second time they did it)
- one of the burglars, McCord, wrote a letter to the judge before the trial saying that White House officials knew about the break-in and paid defendants to keep quiet in the trial
- Nixon taped all his White House conversations and was forced to release the tapes in 1974- 18.5 minutes were missing which suggested Nixon was involved
- tapes discussed using the CIA to stop the FBI’s investigation of the break-ins
- House of Representatives voted to impeach him but Nixon resigned to avoid impeachment
impact:
- Nixon resigned which was the end of his political career BUT he received a full pardon from Ford
- Presidents after Nixon distanced themselves from him, his approval rating sank to 17% and he narrowly avoided impeachment
- Republicans and Democrats began to drift apart- polarisation, Republicans became more right wing, Nixon was less right wing
- increased political disillusionment- people began to not trust govt
- 1973 War powers act- limited Presidential power to take the nation into war or to use military action abroad
- 1978 Ethics in Government act- made it easier to investigate alleged presidential wrongdoings- govt officials had to disclose their finances
- 1975 Hughes-Ryan Amendment to the Privacy Act- required the President to report to Congress on all undercover operations by intelligence agencies
2
Q
How did Ford and Carter offer a new style of leadership?
A
Ford: he was appointed Vice President after Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973 and was appointed President after Nixon resigned in 1974- he was never elected
- during Ford’s presidency the USA faced the humiliation of the fall of South Vietnam to communist forces and the country also faced serious stagflation
- Ford had to restore reputation of the President, he developed a reputation for honesty HOWEVER he gave Nixon a full pardon so he wouldn’t go to prison- caused reputation of the president to fall further
Carter: was a peanut farmer who was the governor of Georgia- wasn’t ‘tainted’ by links to Washington politics
- when Carter was elected, Democrats also strengthened their control of both the House and the Senate
- broke tradition by walking back from the Congress building to the White House in stead of going by limousine, he preferred barbecues instead of formal dinners and was often seen wearing casual clothes
- attended town council meetings and engaged with ordinary citizens and said he was “an ordinary guy”
3
Q
Why was there growing political disillusionment with Ford and Carter?
A
evidence: in the 1950s and 60s presidential election turnout was always above 60% but in 1976 it fell to 54% and 53% in 1980, Congressional turnout was just 38% in 1978
- biggest fall was in young people- 1969 voting age was lowered from 21 to 18, young people were the least likely group to vote
- turnout also dropped in low income areas- South Bronx turnout for Congressional elections was 21.8% and in Bedford-Stuyvesant 18.8%
Ford: was never elected when he first became President in 1974, he barely won his own party’s election for Presidential candidate in 1976, narrowly beat Ronald Reagan, Ford was also controversial for pardoning Nixon, faced economic and environmental problems
Carter: lack of experience- wasn’t from Congress so didn’t have links to federal politics like Nixon
- adopted an aloof style and surrounded himself with advisors from his own state, called the ‘Georgia Mafia’ and didn’t understand problems in other states
- he tried to micromanage govt- speaker of the House said Carter found it difficult to work with Congress
- economic problems- as a result of the Yom Kippur War, global oil prices rose greatly- USA was badly hit by rising prices as they were the top oil consumer in the world, caused stagflation- politicians were accused of allowing stagflation to happen, unemployment rose from 7% in 1977 to 13% in 1980
- foreign affairs- USA’s allies Iran were overthrown and replaced , a mob surrounded the US embassy and 66 Americans were taken hostage
- 1980 Carter authorised a military mission to free the hostages- failed when US military planes and helicopters crashes in the desert- images of this shown on TV caused people to not trust Carter
- Carter’s popularity was affected in 1979 when the USSR invaded Afghanistan- USA’s response was controversial, they boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics, 64 nations joined the boycott
- Carter’s inability to work with Congress and failure in foreign affairs caused him to lose the next election
4
Q
How did environmentalism and environmental issues have a political impact?
A
- ever since Rachel Carson’s book ‘Silent Spring’ discussed the effects of pollution and insecticides, the environment became a national issues, especially attracted young voters
- Environmental Protection agency set up in 1970, passed the 1970 Clean Air act, 1973 Endangered Species act and 1976 Toxic Substances Control act - shows a commitment to improving environment and as a result, pollution was reduced considerably in cities
- Ralph Nader wanted govt to be more accountable for environmental issues and campaigned on issues like produce safety, corporate accountability and environment, Edward Abbey wrote a book ‘the Monkey Wrench Gang’ which highlighted tactics such as activists chaining themselves to trees to prevent forest destruction
- 1978 the Love Canal near Niagra Falls was full of foul-smelling industrial waste, residents near it suffered chromosomal damage- led to Senate outcry and New York state spent $30 million to clean up the canal- state govt pressured to act
- 1979 most serious nuclear accident in American history took place at Three Mile island, Pennsylvania- nuclear reactor nearly exploded and 10,000 people fled their homes- no new nuclear power stations built as a result- environment was becoming a big issue
- a plan to build Tellico Dam in Tennessee was opposed by environmentalists who argued its construction would endanger wildlife such as the extinction of the snail darter fish, used the 1973 Endangered Species act to get Supreme Court to declare against the proposed dam in 1978, the dam was built anyway- Congress voted for a rider to the Energy and Water Development Appropriation Act which authorised the dam’s construction- govt overpowered environmentalists, they weren’t as impactful on govt policy
- 1980 environmentalists doubled the land set for national parks, $1 billion a year spent on cleaning toxic sites- environment was important for govt and influenced govt policy
5
Q
What was the effect of inflation on US society?
A
- when Carter became president in 1977, inflation was at 5%, it doubled to 10% within a year
- cost of living doubled between 1968 and 1978 and continued to rise until 1982, cost of a stamp was 8 cents in 1974 and rose to 20 cents in 1981, a McDonalds burger rose from 15 cents in 1967 to 50 cents in 1981
- interest rates (cost of borrowing money from banks) reached record highs of 20%- led to huge drop in investment and a drop in house-buying
- federal minimum wage rose from $2.10 in 1975 to $3.35 in 1981 but this failed to keep up with inflation- people still couldn’t afford goods
- economy didn’t experience much growth- 1972 to 1978 industrial productivity only went up 1% compared to the average 3.2%- USA’s major economic rivals, West Germany and Japan, had productivity levels of around 4-5%- economy was affected by stagflation
- real incomes in the USA fell by 2% each year from 1973 to 1981, also had stagflation from 1975- inflation stood at 11% while unemployment was at 9%, in the mid-1970s the US standard of living fell to 5th in the world
- traditional industries like steel and car-manufacturing faced foreign competition, industrial plants closed or relocated to other parts of the US where labour costs were cheaper- 1967 2/3 of all manufacturing jobs were in the Northeast and Midwest, by 1992 this fell to 50%, these areas became known as the ‘Rust Belt’ as businesses relocated to the ‘Sun Belt’ in the South and West- distribution of wealth changed in the USA
6
Q
How did the growth of homelessness affect US society?
A
- due to inflation and rising unemployment, household debt rose rapidly- led to foreclosure (banks take possession of homes when people consistently fail to pay mortgage) which then led to homelessness
- stagflation brought increasing poverty levels- according to statistics, poverty remained at a stable 12% but immigration in the 1970s caused a rise in population to over 25 million so there were more people living in poverty
- in some areas certain industries increased unemployment to try and increase productivity- areas such as Mississippi Delta and Appalachia, who were dependent on textiles and coal mining, suffered badly
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania- 46% of its jobs were provided by manufacturing in 1951, fell to 24% in 1977, the number of Philadelphians receiving welfare jumped from 200,000 in 1970 to nearly 340,000 in 1980 (more than 20% of the population)- fewer jobs and limited welfare provision meant many Philadelphians were driven to homelessness
- homelessness increased everywhere but increased most dramatically in states with less welfare provision such as Mississippi
- proposition 13- in California 1978, a state-wide referendum agreed to reduce state taxes by 57%, this was followed by other states where the population faced serious financial problems due to the poor state of the economy- saved taxpayers money but had serious impact on state services liked welfare
7
Q
How did the Oil Crisis have an effect on US society?
A
- 1973 the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur war in the Middle East created uncertainty about the future availability of oil as the war took place in a major oil-producing region
- as a result of the war, global oil-producing cartel the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting countries decided to quadruple the international price of oil
- in 1979 the Islamic revolution in Iran and the fall of the Shah led to global oil prices being doubled
- oil prices rose from $3 a barrel in 1973 to $34 a barrel by summer 1979, June 1979 58% of the USA’s petrol stations closed due to lack of petrol- many Americans felt they were no longer in control of their own economy
- USA was most vulnerable country to rising oil prices because it was the top consumer of oil, in 1970 they imported $4 billion worth and by 1980 this figure rose to $80 billion
- oil crises damaged the US economy- the GDP dropped by 2.5% in the first three quarters of 1973, after the oil price rise, it fell another 3.2% in the winter of 1974 to 1975 - by 1979 55% of Americans believed “next year will be worse than this year” and nearly 90% believed that inflation was a permanent feature of the US economy
8
Q
How did foreign competition impact US society?
A
- US economy was heavily dependent on petrol-driven transport, up to 1970s with the relatively cheap price of oil the US had produced cars with poor petrol consumption- known as ‘gas guzzlers’ which were very susceptible to rising oil costs
- imported cars from West Germany and Japan had far better oil consumption- car imports rose by 33%
- 1974 the USA’s three biggest car manufacturers General Motors, Ford and Chrysler laid of 224,000 workers- by 1980 Chrysler faced bankruptcy and only survived through a federal bailout of $1.3 billion (govt gave them money)
- more foreign competition with the EEC (European Economic Community), had 9 European countries by 1973 including the UK- was a very important trading bloc that rivaled the US in foreign trade- not only car production the US faced foreign competition from
- in electronics the USA faced strong competition form Japanese companies such as Hitachi, Sony and Toshiba, from European companies like Philips and Siemens, also faced competition in aerospace technology from Sud Aviation
- foreign competition increased pressure on US manufacturing, resulting in factory closures and restructuring- usually involved ‘downsizing’ and worker redundancies
9
Q
How successfully did Ford respond to economic problems?
A
- attempted a policy called WIN (Whip Inflation Now)- aimed to encourage businesses to refrain from inflation but was voluntary, Ford wore a WIN badge which suggests he was confident in his policy
- cut federal spending to try and curb rising prices
- his policies failed to deal with severe economic problems- WIN was voluntary not compulsory and problems of the oil crisis and foreign competition required a much more radical response from govt
- a recession occurred in 1974-75, unemployment rose to 11% and Ford lost the election in 1976 to Carter BUT it was by a narrow margin (49.9% compared to 47.9%)
10
Q
How successfully did Carter respond to economic problems?
A
successful:
- in his first year he cut taxes and used public works programmes to get the USA out of economic recession
- 1977 Public Works Act- Carter introduced what he thought would be a stimulus package to get the economy back on track- had a $4 billion public works programme, included the 1975 Earned Income Tax Credit which was a programme of tax credits for low income working families with children, in late 1970s Congress expanded the means-tested food stamps programme
- by 1980 these programmes supported 21 million people on welfare
- created Department of Energy in 1977 which promoted conservation of domestic oil reserves and promoted speed limits on car use to reduce oil consumption, also promoted alternative sources of energy like solar power and a form of tax credit to manufacturers who made more fuel-efficient products
unsuccessful:
- Carter would not support the Humphrey-Hawkins bill which was supported by the AFL-CIO (trade union for worker’s rights), the bill aimed to allow federal govt to protect worker’s rights in times of recession by becoming the employer- passed in Congress in 1978 but had little effect on problems facing US society
but had little effect on problems facing US society
- National Energy Plan announced in 1977- outlined deregulation of natural gas prices HOWEVER not implemented until 1978
- 1978 Airline Deregulation act- abolished the Civil Aeronautics Board in a bid to create greater competition in the airline industry, introduced similar legislation for the lorry and communications industries- he hoped more competition would lead to lower prices for consumers and encourage economic growth- did stimulate the economy in the 1980s but did little to help Carter’s problems in the 1970s
- by 1978 unemployment dropped to 5% but Carter did little to help inflation- rose from 6% in 1977 to 10% in 1978, after the 1978 midterms Carter’s approval rating was 26%, lower than Nixon in the Watergate scandal- announced a new energy policy after ten day summit at Camp David, aimed to research other sources of synthetic fuel to limit US dependence on oil- did not offer an immediate answer to US economy or energy problems
- Carter cut public works programmes and delayed tax reductions- by 1980 the economy reverted to stagflation, unemployment at 7.5%, interest rates at a all time high of 20% and inflation averaging 12-13%
- by 1979 the American public saw inflation as the major economic problem rather than unemployment, Democrats were defeated in the next election, Reagan won by a landslide and Democrats lost 33 seats in the House of Representatives and 9 in the Senate
11
Q
How far did Sports change 1973-1980?
A
- the national sport until the 1960s was baseball, most major cities had a major league baseball team and baseball players were household names and their reputation was made by TV and radio
- sports like basketball, boxing, motor racing and golf attracted new audiences through being broadcast on television
- American football benefited the most- up to the 1960s the most popular American football competitions were between universities- some had large followings e.g University of Nebraska in Lincoln had sell-out home games from 1962 onwards with a stadium that could hold 86,000 spectators- in the 1970s professional American football became the national game, mainly because of TV
- Pete Rozelle was appointed commissioner of the NFL (National Football League) in 1960 and in 1962 he negotiated a $9.3 million TV deal with CBS to broadcast NFL games, Rozelle negotiated a weekly Monday night game, advertising during NFL games because an extremely important marketing platform for businesses- TV had a big impact on NFL success, in 1960 their main source of revenue was ticket sales, in 1980 it was television revenue
- American football was more suited to TV because it had regular stoppages which allowed for advertisements, 1973 Super Bowl had 53 million people watching and advertising during the match was $88,000 for 30 seconds, by the 1980 Super Bowl it was $222,000 per 30 second ad, NFL players’ salaries rose from $23,000 per year in 1970 to $56,000 by 1975 and $75,000 by 1980
- Basketball also benefited- in 1979 the NBA (National Basketball Association) signed a contract with ESPN- showed the highlights of all major sports and aided the popularity of the NBA with TV audiences
- NBA also signed a contract with a cable company USA Network which showed NBA matches on Thursday nights- pumped millions of dollars into the sport- by 1980 two NBA players became household names, Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics and Magic Johnson of the LA Lakers, in only his second season Magic Johnson was offered a contract of $25 million a year
- soft drinks giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi became major sponsors of sport, Coca-Cola sponsored the 1978 FIFA World Cup, they also sponsored NASCAR, basketball and American football, Pepsi also sponsored these, beer companies also sponsored some sports- Coors sponsored the National Hockey League stadium, Anheuser-Buch, who brew Budweiser, sponsored the NFL- the link between products like beer and sports, traditionally marketed to men, became an enduring feature of US professional sport- companies saw sports sponsorship as an effective way to market their products, shows the importance of sport
12
Q
How did music change 1973-80? (fragmentation)
A
- ballad singing by individual artists like Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley gave rise of groups or bands in 1960s- British bands like the Beatles and Rolling Stones achieved phenomenal success in the USA, their success was matched by American bands the Beach Boys, the Grateful and the Doors
- changes in popular music were encapsulated in the Woodstock Festival of 1969- was a massive festival in New York state that attracted tens of thousands to watch some of the world’s top stars- caused music festivals to become popular across the USA
- between 1973-1980 popular music fragmented into many different styles- dance music became popular with the development of disco and club music, progressive rock developed from the rock bads of the 1960s, Motown and black music developed into soul and funk, there were also rebellious genres like punk and new wave, in 1979 hip hop emerged
- disco and dance music were played at increasingly popular discotheques which replaced dance halls , highpoint of the disco craze came with the release of film ‘Saturday Night Fever’ in 1977- made John Travolta an overnight star and helped the Bee Gees become international stars
- rock bands of the 1960s evolved and progressive rock grew-it took rock music and experimented with elements of classical music and opera- genre heavily influenced by British bands like Pink Floyd, Queen and the ELO (Electric Light Orchestra), American bands such as Grand Funk Railroad and Kansas offered a similar blend of rock, jazz, classical and blues in their music
- appearance of punk rock in the 1970s- the main thrust came from Britain with bands like the Sex Pistols, one of their best known tracks was a punk version of ‘God Save the Queen’- offered a new rebellious style of rock music, took drugs and consumed excessive amounts of alcohol- they aimed to shock and contrasted to other popular music at the time
- rise of northern-based black American music- took inspiration from 1960s artists like James Brown, was a new ‘funky’ form of soul music with groups like Earth, Wind and Fire and Kool, funk used electronic psychedelic sounds associated with drugs, more family-friendly groups emerged in the 1970s like the Jackson 5, a more rebellious form of black American music, hip hop, developed in the rundown area of South Bronx in 1979
- folk-pop music was popular in the 1970s, associated with singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, many songs had links to protest movements of the 1960s and 70s- Neil Young wrote songs about environmentalism and the Kent State University shooting
13
Q
How did film and TV change 1973-80?
A
- important political and social issues received significant attention and films about the Mafia and the Vietnam War provided powerful themes
- however several of the most popular films offered escapism to the problems facing the USA- in 1975 the film that dominated the ‘Oscars was One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, a comedy set in a mental hospital, Rocky featured the debut of Sylvester Stallone which showed a part-time boxer who is given a shot at the World Heavyweight title which he almost wins- encapsulated the America dream of a rags-to-riches story a spawned a whole series of sequels
- towards the end of the 1970s Hollywood began to deal with the most controversial and divisive issue in US politics, the Vietnam War- The Deer Hunter won Best Picture in 1978 and dealt with experiences of Pennsylvania steelworkers during and after the war, Jon Voight won Best Actor for his role in Coming Home which was about a paralysed ex-serviceman from Vietnam, in 1979 Apocalypse Now gave a very graphic, realistic depiction of the Vietnam War- contrasted with themes of traditional family values of the silent majority
- TV introduced the theme of nostalgia- the series The Waltons was about life in the mountains of Appalachia in the Depression and War years, following a close-knit white family the Waltons, Little House on the Prairie was set in the latter 19th Century West and gave a nostalgic view of idyllic family life on the western plains, a popular soap opera General Hospital started in 1963 and dealt with daily traumas and crises in an urban hospital, a contrast was the soap opera Dallas, which portrayed the opulent lifestyle of an oil-rich family the Edwigs, the main character J.R Edwig became a national hate figure
- TV did deal with some serious issues- M.A.S.H was the most-watched comedy of the 1970s and dealt with the lives of personnel in a military field hospital in the Korean War- also had a strong message about US involvement in Vietnam, Roots was shown in 1977 and dealt with the highly controversial issue of slavery, tracing the lives of a black American family from enslavement in the late 18th century to the end of the Civil War- Roots appeared in the history curriculum in many US states
14
Q
How did news media change 1973-80?
A
- US had no national newspaper from 1973 to 1980 but had a wide-ranging newspaper industry which was mainly local and regional news- daily circulation of newspapers was 26 million in 1973 and 32 million in 1980
- the newspaper most associated with national events was The Washington Post- received national recognition in 1972 to 1974 when two of its journalists, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, helped uncover the Watergate scandal
- many Americans got news from national TV networks such as CBS with Evening News, NBC with Nightly News and ABC with World News Tonight- also produced morning and evening news programmes which covered significant events such as the fall of Saigon I n 1975 and the Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979, in-depth news coverage came with programmes like CBS’ 60 minutes which first went on air in 1968
- dominance of national networks was broken in 1980 when Ted Turner set up the Cable News Network (CNN)- offered constant up-to-the-minute news coverage on the ever-increasing cable network
15
Q
To what extent did Roe v Wade improve individual rights?
A
did improve rights:
- NOW pushed for the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution in 1972
- NOW had a breakthrough in January 1973- the Supreme Court ruled that laws which prevented abortion were unconstitutional- the Court claimed that women had constitutional rights to privacy and to control their own bodies
- allowed abortion to take place in the first 3 months of pregnancy
- number of abortions increased dramatically- 1.7 million legal abortions in 1977
- regarded as a triumph for feminists and the women’s movement
didn’t improve rights:
- backlash by conservative groups- growth of the ‘new right’ who helped the success of the Republicans and the Silent Majority who helped Nixon get elected
- the Religious Right- Christian groups opposed Roe v Wade e.g the Right to Life organisation, Protestant ad Catholic Churches- put pressure on govt
- religious right successfully lobbied Congress to pass a Human Life Amendment which attempted to negate the Supreme Court decision on Roe v Wade
- Senator Jesse Helms was able to amend the Foreign Assistance act in order to ban use of federal funds on abortion services- 1974 Hyde amendment to the Health, Education and Welfare department budget outlawed use of federal funds for abortion unless the mother’s life was at risk- number of abortions began to fall due to this
- pro-life groups opposed pro-abortion candidates in the 1976 elections which caused some to lose e.g Senator Frank Church of Utah
- 1979 Francis Schaeffer and Dr Everett Koop made a four hour film costing $1 million called ‘What Happened to the Human Race?’- urged voters to oppose abortion and was screened in 20 US cities
- Jerry Falwell founded the Moral Majority, a new right pressure group, who supported Reagan as candidate for presidency
OVERALL: Roe v Wade was successful at giving many women more rights but it faced strong opposition which weakened it
