“Nixon's first term was far more tranquil than
Johnson's had been. Nixon quickly reduced the U.S. military force in Vietnam to 50,000, which meant less men being drafted. Strongly anti-communist in his early years, he and his chief foreign policy advisor, Henry Kissinger, worked toward detente, a relaxing of tension, between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. He opened diplomatic relations with Red China and visited Chairman Mao in Peking. National pride ran high when the American flag was planted on the moon.
Richard Nixon
To the surprise of many, he pushed new
agencies for the environment (EPA) and job safety (OSHA) He approved increasing social security benefits, a reform of the tax system, and federal aid to low and middle income home buyers. When the economy became sluggish, he started spending more money; when inflation came, he put on price and wage controls.
Not everyone was happy though. Black leaders found him opposed to busing students to achieve integration. The anti-war movement was still strong, and it wanted all American troops out of Vietnam. Many did not trust Nixon, and reporters were unhappy over his
"palace guard," those devoted followers who surrounded the president.
The 1972 election was an easy victory for Nixon, who received over 60 percent of the popular vote and won 520-17 in electoral vote. Few had believed McGovern's charge that five burglars caught at Democratic headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington were in fact agents of the Committee to Reelect the President (CREEP). Judge John Sirica, who tried the men, sentenced them to twenty years in prison. Jim McCord, one of the defendants, told the judge that higher officials in CREEP were involved, and two Washington Post reporters, Woodward and Bernstein, were fed information about a coverup from a secret source. Then a Senate committee chaired by Sam Ervin began an investigation, and Attorney General Elliot Richardson appointed a special prosecutor, Archibald Cox, to look into charges.
John Dean, a lawyer for Nixon, said he had been at White House meetings where a cover-up was discussed, and he included dates and times. Nixon denied wrong-doing, and the matter might have stopped there, except that it was discovered there was a taping machine in the Oval Office; Cox tried without success to get the tapes. During this controversy, Vice President Agnew was forced to resign because of bribes he had taken while governor of Maryland. Agnew was replaced by Gerald Ford.
Cox went to court to get the tapes, and Nixon ordered Richardson to fire him. When the attorney general refused, he was fired, and so was the number-two man at the Justice Department. The number-three man fired Cox, but public outrage was so strong that a new prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, was appointed. After the Supreme Court ordered Nixon to turn over all the incriminating tapes, he was ruined. The House Judiciary Committee voted three charges of impeachment.”
from this passage use the information to find the answers to the questions
Questions:
1. What is detente?
2. What were the initials of the agency created to protect theenvironment?
3. Who benefited from Nixon's social security and housing programs?
4. Why were civil rights leaders unhappy with Nixon?
5. What nickname was given to the loyal followers who surrounded Nixon at the White House?
6. What charge was brought against the five men in Judge Sirica's court? What punishment did he hand out for their crime?
7. Who was Elliot Richardson, and why was he fired?
8. What happened to Vice President Agnew?
9. Who forced Nixon to turn over the Watergate tapes?
10. Who said: "Our long national nightmare is over."
