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151-613: H.R. 234 was passed by the 92nd United States Congressional session and enacted into law by the 37th President of the United States Richard Nixon on September 25, 1971. The McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950 allowed for the detention of suspected subversives without the Constitutional steps required for imprisonment. The Non-Detention Act requires specific Congressional authorization for such detention. Passed as Public Law 92-128, 85 Stat. 347 (1971), it

302-687: A communist party . North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces and supplies were sent along the Ho Chi Minh trail . In 1964 the United States sent combat troops to South Vietnam to support the South Vietnamese government, but the U.S. had advisors there since 1950. Other nations, including Australia, the Republic of Korea , Thailand and New Zealand also contributed troops and military aid to South Vietnam's war effort. China, DPRK and

453-441: A South Vietnamese government document released in 1959, that Porter says is consistent with an estimate of around 1,500 executions. Economist Vo Nhan Tri reported uncovering a document in the central party archives which put the number of wrongful executions at 15,000. From discussions with party cadres, Vo Nhan Tri concluded that the overall number of deaths was considerably higher than this figure. Scholar Edwin E. Moise estimated

604-562: A choice which Nixon believed would unite the party by appealing to both Northern moderates and Southerners disaffected with the Democrats. The choice of Agnew was poorly received by many; a Washington Post editorial described Agnew as "the most eccentric political appointment since the Roman Emperor Caligula named his horse a consul . In his acceptance speech, Nixon articulated a message of hope, stating, "We extend

755-441: A compromise based on Nixon's plan, but gave up when unable to get more than a 13–12 majority of his committee to support his compromise. Environmentalism had emerged as a major movement during the 1960s, especially after the 1962 publication of Silent Spring . Between 1960 and 1969, membership in the twelve largest environmental groups had grown from 124,000 to 819,000, and polling showed that millions of voters shared many of

906-506: A loss—only fueled more inflation. Despite their failure to rein in inflation, controls were slowly ended, and on April 30, 1974, their statutory authorization lapsed. Between Nixon's accession to office and his resignation in August 1974, unemployment rates had risen from 3.5% to 5.6%, and the rate of inflation had grown from 4.7% to 8.7%. Observers coined a new term for the undesirable combination of unemployment and inflation: " stagflation ",

1057-752: A mistake. By the end of 1971, 156,000 U.S. soldiers remained in Vietnam; 276 American soldiers serving in Vietnam were killed in the last six months of that year. North Vietnam launched the Easter Offensive in March 1972, overwhelming the South Vietnamese army. In reaction to the Easter Offensive, Nixon ordered a massive bombing campaign in North Vietnam known as Operation Linebacker . As U.S. troop withdrawals continued, conscription

1208-685: A phenomenon that would worsen after Nixon left office. One of Nixon's major promises in the 1968 campaign was to address what he described as the " welfare mess". The number of individuals enrolled in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program had risen from 3 million in 1960 to 8.4 million in 1970, contributing to a drop in poverty . However, many Americans, particularly conservatives, believed that welfare programs discouraged individuals from finding employment ; conservatives also derided " welfare queens " who they alleged collected excessive amounts of welfare benefits. On taking office, Nixon established

1359-626: A prominent Democrat like Humphrey or Sargent Shriver into his administration, but was unsuccessful until early 1971, when former governor John Connally of Texas became Secretary of the Treasury. Connally would become one of the most powerful members of the cabinet and coordinated the administration's economic policies. In 1973, as the Watergate scandal came to light, Nixon accepted the resignations of Haldeman, Erlichman, and Mitchell's successor as attorney general, Richard Kleindienst . Haldeman

1510-523: A series of city riots in various cities, made 1968 the most tumultuous year of the decade. Throughout the year, Nixon portrayed himself as a figure of stability during a period of national unrest and upheaval. He appealed to what he later called the " silent majority " of socially conservative Americans who disliked the 1960s counterculture and the anti-war demonstrators. Nixon waged a prominent television advertising campaign, meeting with supporters in front of cameras. He promised " peace with honor " in

1661-551: A system of autonomous regions (Vietnamese: Khu tự trị ) similar to (and based on) the autonomous regions of China . In recognising the traditional separatism of tribal minorities, this policy of accommodationism gave them self-government in exchange for acceptance of Hanoi's control. These regions existed from 1955 but following the merger of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Republic of South Vietnam

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1812-460: Is my last press conference ." In the years after his defeat, Nixon established himself as an important party leader who appealed to both moderates and conservatives. Nixon entered the race for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination confident that, with the Democrats torn apart over the war in Vietnam, a Republican had a good chance of winning the presidency in November, although he expected

1963-472: The 1960 presidential election by John F. Kennedy . In 1962 , Nixon ran for governor of California against incumbent Pat Brown , and was defeated handily, leading the media to label him as a "loser". This defeat was widely believed to be the end of his career; in an impromptu concession speech the morning after the election, Nixon famously blamed the media for favoring his opponent, saying, "you won't have Nixon to kick around anymore because, gentlemen, this

2114-410: The 1968 presidential election . Four years later, in the 1972 presidential election , he defeated Democrat nominee George McGovern , to win re-election in a landslide. Although he had built his reputation as a very active Republican campaigner , Nixon downplayed partisanship in his 1972 landslide re-election. Nixon's primary focus while in office was on foreign affairs . He focused on détente with

2265-557: The AFL–CIO and UAW . The following month Nixon proposed the Comprehensive Health Insurance Act, consisting of an employer mandate to offer private health insurance if employees volunteered to pay 25 percent of premiums, replacement of Medicaid by state-run health insurance plans available to all with income-based premiums and cost sharing, and replacement of Medicare with a new federal program that eliminated

2416-719: The Chinese Communist Revolution (1946–50), Chinese communist forces arrived on the border in 1949. Chinese aid revived the fortunes of the Viet Minh and transformed it from a guerrilla militia into a standing army . The outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 transformed what had been an anti-colonial struggle into a Cold War battleground, with the U.S. providing financial support to the French. Following

2567-636: The Clean Water Act . He signed the Endangered Species Act of 1973 , the primary law for protecting imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation". Nixon also pursued environmental diplomacy, and Nixon administration official Russell E. Train opened a dialog on global environmental issues with Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin . Political scientists Byron Daines and Glenn Sussman rate Nixon as

2718-495: The Geneva Conference that year ended the war and recognized Vietnamese independence. The Geneva Accords provisionally divided the country into a northern zone and a southern zone along the 17th parallel , stipulating general elections scheduled for July 1956 to "bring about the unification of Viet-Nam". The northern zone was controlled by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and became commonly called North Vietnam, while

2869-512: The House of Representatives initiated impeachment proceedings. Facing removal by Congress, Nixon resigned from office. Though some scholars believe that Nixon "has been excessively maligned for his faults and inadequately recognised for his virtues", Nixon is generally ranked as a below average president in surveys of historians and political scientists . Richard Nixon had served as vice president from 1953 to 1961, and had been defeated in

3020-545: The Japan–Vietnam Trade Association was established. Meanwhile, in 1965 North Vietnamese Vietnam–Japan Friendship Association would be established to help maintain unofficial relations between the two countries. During the Vietnam War of the 1960s and 1970s, Japan consistently encouraged a negotiated settlement at the earliest possible date. Even before the hostilities ended, it had made contact with

3171-591: The Nguyễn dynasty , but the country became a French protectorate after 1883 and under Japanese occupation after 1940 during World War II . Soon after Japan surrendered on 2 September 1945 , the Việt Minh in the August Revolution entered Hanoi , and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was proclaimed on 2 September 1945 establishing independence and a new government for the entire country, replacing French rule and

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3322-912: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Other significant regulatory legislation enacted during Nixon's presidency included the Noise Control Act and the Consumer Product Safety Act . When Congress extended the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in 1970 it included a provision lowering the age qualification to vote in all elections—federal, state, and local—to 18. Later that year, in Oregon v. Mitchell (1970),

3473-659: The Office of Economic Opportunity , the Job Corps , and the Model Cities Program . Nixon advocated a " New Federalism ", which would devolve power to state and local elected officials, but Congress was hostile to these ideas and enacted only a few of them. During Nixon's tenure, spending on Social Security , Medicare , and Medicaid all increased dramatically. Total spending on social insurance programs grew from $ 27.3 billion in 1969 to $ 67.4 billion in 1975, while

3624-697: The Pathet Lao and the Khmer Rouge , respectively. These insurgencies were aided by the North Vietnamese government, which sent troops to fight alongside them. Despite there not being any official diplomatic ties between Japan and North Vietnam between 1954 and 1973, private exchanges were gradually being rebuilt. In March 1955 the Japanese Japan–Vietnam Friendship Association was created and in August of that year

3775-806: The People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union , easing Cold War tensions with both countries. As part of this policy, Nixon signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and SALT I, two landmark arms control treaties with the Soviet Union. Nixon promulgated the Nixon Doctrine , which called for indirect assistance by the United States rather than direct U.S. commitments as seen in the ongoing Vietnam War . After extensive negotiations with North Vietnam , Nixon withdrew

3926-593: The Soviet Union provided aid to and troops in support of North Vietnamese military activities. This was known as the Vietnam War , or the American War in Vietnam itself (1955–75). In addition to the Viet Cong in South Vietnam, other communist insurgencies also operated within neighboring Kingdom of Laos and Khmer Republic , both formerly part of the French colonial territory of Indochina . These were

4077-622: The United States Courts of Appeals , and 181 judges to the United States district courts . When Nixon took office in January 1969, the inflation rate had reached 4.7%, the highest rate since the Korean War . Johnson's Great Society programs and the Vietnam War effort had resulted in large budget deficits. There was little unemployment, but interest rates were at their highest in a century. Nixon's major economic goal

4228-627: The Việt Minh Front, declared independence on 2 September 1945 and proclaimed the creation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The Việt Minh (formally the "League for the Independence of Vietnam"), led by communists, socialists, nationalists and even progressive elements of the landowning class was created in 1941 and designed to appeal to a wider population than the Indochinese Communist Party could command. From

4379-692: The War on Cancer , resulted in passage that December of the National Cancer Act, which injected nearly $ 1.6 billion (equivalent to $ 9 billion in 2016) in federal funding to cancer research over a three-year period. It also provided for establishment of medical centers dedicated to clinical research and cancer treatment, 15 of them initially, whose work is coordinated by the National Cancer Institute . The second initiative, focused on Sickle-cell disease (SCD), resulted in passage of

4530-420: The " noise-polluting " Supersonic transport (SST), which Congress dropped funding for in 1971. Additionally, he vetoed the Clean Water Act of 1972, and after Congress overrode the veto, Nixon impounded the funds Congress had authorized to implement it. While not opposed to the goals of the legislation, Nixon objected to the amount of money to be spent on reaching them, which he deemed excessive. Faced as he

4681-698: The "Autonomous Republic of Cochinchina" in June 1946, Vietnamese nationalists reacted with fury. In November, the National Assembly adopted the first Constitution of the Republic. In the wake of the Hai Phong incident and the deterioration of the Fontainebleau Agreements , the French reoccupied Hanoi and the First Indochina War (1946–54) followed, during which many urban areas fell under French control. Following

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4832-523: The 1953–1956 land reform were the encouragement by the government of labor exchanges in which farmers would unite to exchange labor; secondly in 1958 and 1959 was the formation of "low level cooperatives" in which farmers cooperated in production. By 1961, 86 percent of farmers were members of low-level cooperatives. The third step beginning in 1961 was to organize "high level cooperatives", true collective farming in which land and resources were utilized collectively without individual ownership of land. By 1971,

4983-549: The 1970s, such as the government of Australia under Gough Whitlam . By December 1972, 49 countries had established diplomatic relations with North Vietnam, and in 1973 more countries such as France established or reestablished their relations with the DRV. From 1960, the North Vietnamese government went to war with the Republic of Vietnam via its proxy the Viet Cong , in an attempt to annex South Vietnam and reunify Vietnam under

5134-519: The 20th century in 1971. Bowles points out, "by identifying himself with a policy whose purpose was inflation's defeat, Nixon made it difficult for Democratic opponents ... to criticize him. His opponents could offer no alternative policy that was either plausible or believable since the one they favored was one they had designed but which the president had appropriated for himself." Nixon's policies dampened inflation in 1972, but their aftereffects contributed to inflation during his second term and into

5285-539: The Cambodian government of Lon Nol , which was then battling a Khmer Rouge insurgency in the Cambodian Civil War , as part of Operation Freedom Deal . In 1971, Nixon ordered incursions into Laos to attack North Vietnamese bases, provoking further domestic unrest. That same year, excerpts from the " Pentagon Papers " were published by The New York Times and The Washington Post . When news of

5436-614: The Chinese presence had forced Hồ Chí Minh and the Việt Minh to accommodate Chinese-supported Viet Nationalists. In June 1946, Chinese Nationalist troops evacuated Hanoi, and on 15 June, the last detachments embarked at Haiphong. After the departure of the British in 1946, the French controlled a part of Cochinchina , South Central Coast , Central Highlands since the end to the Southern Resistance War . In January 1946,

5587-473: The Council of Urban Affairs, under the leadership of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, to develop a welfare reform proposal. Moynihan's proposed plan centered on replacing welfare programs with a negative income tax , which would provide a guaranteed minimum income to all Americans. Nixon became closely involved in the proposal and, despite opposition from Arthur Burns and other conservatives, adopted Moynihan's plan as

5738-654: The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) government and had reached an agreement to establish diplomatic relations in September 1973. On 21 September 1973, Japan and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) signed the "Exchange of Notes Concerning the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Between Japan and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam" in Paris , this document was in the French language and restored

5889-569: The District of Columbia Crime Control Bill, which included no-knock warrants and other provisions that concerned many civil libertarians. In response to growing drug-related crime, Nixon became the first president to emphasize drug control, and he presided over the establishment of the Drug Enforcement Administration . After a nearly decade-long national effort , the United States won the race to land astronauts on

6040-526: The ERA or their cause after his election. Nevertheless, he appointed more women to administration positions than Lyndon Johnson had. Upon taking office, Nixon pronounced the " Nixon Doctrine ", a general statement of foreign policy under which the United States would not "undertake all the defense of the free nations." While existing commitments would be upheld, potential new commitments would be sharply scrutinized. Rather than becoming directly involved in conflicts,

6191-614: The Ford administration. As Nixon began his second term, the economy was plagued by a stock market crash , a surge in inflation, and the 1973 oil crisis . With the legislation authorizing price controls set to expire on April 30, the Senate Democratic Caucus recommended a 90-day freeze on all profits, interest rates, and prices. Nixon re-imposed price controls in June 1973, echoing his 1971 plan, as food prices rose; this time, he focused on agricultural exports and limited

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6342-564: The French-supported State of Vietnam and later the Western-allied Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). The DRV emerged victorious over South Vietnam in 1975 and ceased to exist the following year when it unified with the south to become the current Socialist Republic of Vietnam . During the August Revolution following World War II , Vietnamese communist revolutionary Hồ Chí Minh , leader of

6493-467: The Geneva Accords and was therefore not bound by it, and raising concerns that an unfair election would occur under the Việt Minh governance in North Vietnam. In October 1955, Diệm's government held its own referendum , which was widely marred by electoral fraud , to depose Chief of State Bảo Đại and established the Republic of Vietnam with Diệm as its first president . Failure to unify

6644-634: The Geneva Accords, stated that it "shall continue to seek to achieve unity through free elections supervised by the United Nations to ensure that they are conducted fairly". Meanwhile, the State of Vietnam strongly opposed the partition of the country, with its prime minister Ngô Đình Diệm announcing in July 1955 that the State of Vietnam would not participate in elections, claiming that it had not signed

6795-892: The House or the Senate in the concurrent congressional elections . For the major decisions of his presidency, Nixon relied on the Executive Office of the President rather than his Cabinet. Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman and adviser John Ehrlichman emerged as his two most influential staffers regarding domestic affairs, and much of Nixon's interaction with other staff members was conducted through Haldeman. Early in Nixon's tenure, conservative economist Arthur F. Burns and liberal former Johnson administration official Daniel Patrick Moynihan served as important advisers, but both had left

6946-573: The Japanese would provide the North Vietnamese with an endowment worth 13.5 billion yen . Of this money, 8.5 billion yen would be used to purchase heavy farmland cultivation machinery as well as public works provided by Japanese-owned corporations. After diplomatic relations were re-established, in 1975, Japan would open an embassy in Hanoi and North Vietnam would open an embassy in Tokyo. Land reform

7097-399: The Liberation of Vietnam, which later became the Provisional Revolutionary Government led by Hồ Chí Minh. On 12 September 1945, the first British troops arrived in Saigon, and on 23 September 1945, French troops occupied the police stations, the post office, and other public buildings. The salient political fact of life in Northern Vietnam was that the Chinese Nationalist Army occupied it, and

7248-483: The Medicare Part A payroll tax. In December 1973, he signed the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 , establishing a trial federal program to promote and encourage the development of HMOs. There was a renewed push for health insurance reform in 1974. In January, representatives Martha Griffiths and James C. Corman introduced the Health Security Act, a universal national health insurance program providing comprehensive benefits without any cost sharing backed by

7399-445: The Moon on July 20, 1969, with the flight of Apollo 11 . Nixon spoke with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during their moonwalk, calling the conversation "the most historic phone call ever made from the White House". Nixon, however, was unwilling to keep funding for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the high level seen through the 1960s, and rejected NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine 's ambitious plans for

7550-509: The National Assembly in an effort to establish an inclusive government. On 6 January 1946, President Hồ Chí Minh held the nationwide General Election which voted for the first time and passed the Constitution . The two other parties in the government were the Vietnamese Nationalist Party (Việt Quốc) and the Vietnam Revolutionary League (Việt Cách) which did not participate in the elections. Former Prime Minister Trần Trọng Kim claimed there were places where people were forced to vote for

7701-458: The National Sickle Cell Anemia Control Act in May 1972. Long ignored, the lifting of SCD from obscurity to high visibility reflected the changing dynamics of electoral politics and race relations in America during the early 1970s. Under this legislation, the National Institutes of Health established several sickle cell research and treatment centers and the Health Services Administration established sickle cell screening and education clinics around

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7852-442: The Nguyễn dynasty. Hồ Chí Minh became leader of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was opposed to a return to French rule in Indochina, and the U.S. was supportive of the Viet Minh at this time. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam claimed all of Vietnam, but during this time Southern Vietnam was in profound political disorder. The successive collapse of French, then Japanese power, followed by

8003-453: The Nixon campaign interfered with any ongoing negotiations between the Johnson administration and the South Vietnamese by engaging Anna Chennault , a prominent Chinese-American fundraiser for the Republican party. Whether or not Nixon had any involvement, the peace talks collapsed shortly before the election, blunting Humphrey's momentum. On election day, Nixon defeated Humphrey by about 500,000 votes, 43.4% to 42.7%; Wallace received 13.5% of

8154-416: The North Vietnamese state was the "Democratic Republic of Vietnam" (Vietnamese: Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa ). The South was known as the " Republic of Vietnam ". Việt Nam ( Vietnamese pronunciation: [vjə̀tnam] ) was the name adopted by Emperor Gia Long in 1804. It is a variation of " Nam Việt " ( 南 越 , Southern Việt ), a name used in ancient times. In 1839, Emperor Minh Mạng renamed

8305-413: The North Vietnamese, but negotiators were unable to reach an agreement. With the failure of the peace talks, Nixon implemented a strategy of " Vietnamization ," which consisted of increased U.S. aid and Vietnamese troops taking on a greater combat role in the war. To great public approval, he began phased troop withdrawals by the end of 1969, sapping the strength of the domestic anti-war movement. Despite

8456-452: The President to detain a U.S. citizen, but did not give an answer, instead ruling that the case had been improperly filed. This United States federal legislation article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Presidency of Richard Nixon Richard Nixon 's tenure as the 37th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974, in

8607-602: The Saigon government of the President Ngo Dinh Diem . The CIA ran a propaganda campaign to get Catholics to come to the south. However Colonel Edward Lansdale , the man credited with the campaign, rejected the notion that his campaign had much effect on popular sentiment. The Viet Minh sought to detain or otherwise prevent would-be refugees from leaving, such as through intimidation through military presence, shutting down ferry services and water traffic, or prohibiting mass gatherings. Concurrently, between 14,000 and 45,000 civilians and approximately 100,000 Viet Minh fighters moved in

8758-675: The Senate had rejected President Johnson's nomination of Associate Justice Abe Fortas to succeed retiring Chief Justice Earl Warren . Months after taking office, Nixon nominated federal appellate judge Warren E. Burger to succeed Warren, and the U.S. Senate quickly confirmed him. Another vacancy arose in 1969 after Fortas resigned from the Court, partially due to pressure from Attorney General Mitchell and other Republicans who criticized him for accepting compensation from financier Louis Wolfson . To replace Fortas, Nixon successively nominated two Southern federal appellate judges, Clement Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell , but both were rejected by

8909-468: The Senate. Nixon then nominated federal appellate judge Harry Blackmun , who was confirmed by the Senate in 1970. The retirements of Hugo Black and John Marshall Harlan II created two Supreme Court vacancies in late 1971. One of Nixon's nominees, corporate attorney Lewis F. Powell Jr. , was easily confirmed. Nixon's other 1971 Supreme Court nominee, Assistant Attorney General William Rehnquist , faced significant resistance from liberal senators, but he

9060-416: The Supreme Court handed down its decision in the 1971 case of Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education , cross-district school busing it emerged as a major issue in both the North and the South. Swann permitted lower federal courts to mandate busing in order to remedy racial imbalance in schools. Though he enforced the court orders, Nixon believed that "forced integration of housing or education"

9211-440: The Supreme Court held that Congress had the authority to lower the voting age qualification in federal elections, but not the authority to do so in state and local elections. Nixon sent a letter to Congress supporting a constitutional amendment to lower the voting age, and Congress quickly moved forward with a proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing the 18 year-old vote. Sent to the states for ratification on March 23, 1971,

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9362-424: The US, as well as Nixon's Vietnamization policy retrospectively. North Vietnam North Vietnam , officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam ( DRV ; Vietnamese : Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa ; VNDCCH , chữ Nôm : 越南民主共和), was a socialist state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1945 to 1976, with formal sovereignty being fully recognized in 1954 . A member of the Eastern Bloc , it opposed

9513-432: The United States would provide military and economic aid to nations that were subject to insurgency or aggression, or that were otherwise vital to U.S. strategic interests. As part of the Nixon Doctrine, the U.S. greatly increased arms sales to the Middle East , especially Israel , Iran , and Saudi Arabia . Another major beneficiary of aid was Pakistan , which the U.S. backed during the Bangladesh Liberation War . At

9664-471: The Vietnam War clashed violently with police. The mayhem, which had been broadcast to the world in television, crippled the Humphrey campaign. Post-convention Labor Day surveys had Humphrey trailing Nixon by more than 20 percentage points. In addition to Nixon and Humphrey, the race was joined by former Democratic governor George Wallace of Alabama, a vocal segregationist who ran on the American Independent Party ticket. Wallace held little hope of winning

9815-414: The Vietnam War but did not release specifics of how he would accomplish this goal, resulting in media intimations that he must have a "secret plan". Humphrey's polling position improved in the final weeks of the campaign as he distanced himself from Johnson's Vietnam policies. Johnson sought to conclude a peace agreement with North Vietnam in the week before the election; controversy remains over whether

9966-613: The Vietnam War could not be won and he was determined to end the war quickly. Conversely, Black argues that Nixon sincerely believed he could intimidate North Vietnam through the Madman theory . Regardless of his opinion of the war, Nixon wanted to end the American role in it without the appearance of an American defeat, which he feared would badly damage his presidency and precipitate a return to isolationism . He sought some arrangement which would permit American forces to withdraw, while leaving South Vietnam secure against attack. In mid-1969, Nixon began efforts to negotiate peace with

10117-417: The Việt Minh held an nationwide election across all the provinces to establish a National Assembly. Public enthusiasm for this event suggests that the Việt Minh league enjoyed a great deal of popularity at this time, although there were few competitive races and the party makeup of the Assembly was determined in advance of the vote. Despite not joining the election, Việt Cách and Việt Quốc were given 70 seats in

10268-412: The Việt Minh with the help of the French authorities. He also used soldiers, Japanese officers who had volunteered to stay in Vietnam and some of the supplies provided by France (in Hòn Gai French troops provided the Việt Minh with cannons to kill some of the positions commanded by the Great Occupation) in this campaign. When France declared Cochinchina, the southern third of Vietnam, a separate state as

10419-403: The Việt Minh. The Vietnamese Nationalist Party and the Việt Cách Revolutionary Party were significantly less popular than Hồ Chí Minh , Võ Nguyên Giáp , and the Việt Minh. When the Chinese nationalist army withdrew from Vietnam on 15 June 1946, in one way or another, Võ Nguyễn Giáp decided that the Việt Minh had to completely control the government. Võ Nguyễn Giáp is in immediate action with

10570-424: The White House by the end of 1970. Conservative attorney Charles Colson also emerged as an important adviser after he joined the administration in late 1969. Unlike many of his fellow Cabinet members, Attorney General John N. Mitchell held sway within the White House, and Mitchell led the search for Supreme Court nominees. In foreign affairs, Nixon enhanced the importance of the National Security Council , which

10721-449: The White House. He also created the Domestic Council , an organization charged with coordinating and formulating domestic policy. Nixon attempted to centralize control over the intelligence agencies, but he was generally unsuccessful, in part due to pushback from FBI director J. Edgar Hoover . Despite his centralization of power in the White House, Nixon allowed his cabinet officials great leeway in setting domestic policy in subjects he

10872-503: The army to keep the postal system going. In the end, the government met the postal workers' wage demands, undoing some of the desired budget-balancing. In December 1969, Nixon somewhat reluctantly signed the Tax Reform Act of 1969 despite its inflationary provisions; the act established the alternative minimum tax , which applied to wealthy individuals who used deductions to limit their tax liabilities. In 1970, Congress granted

11023-499: The beginning, the communist-led Việt Minh sought to consolidate power by purging other nationalist groups. Meanwhile, France moved in to reassert its colonial dominance over Vietnam in the aftermath of WW2 , eventually prompting the First Indochina War in December 1946. During this guerrilla war , the Việt Minh captured and controlled most of the rural areas in Vietnam, which led to French defeat in 1954 . The negotiations in

11174-472: The budgets of their respective departments. Nixon did not appoint any female or African American cabinet officials, although Nixon did offer a cabinet position to civil rights leader Whitney Young . Nixon's initial cabinet also contained an unusually small number of Ivy League graduates, with the notable exceptions of George P. Shultz and Elliot Richardson , who each held three different cabinet positions during Nixon's presidency. Nixon attempted to recruit

11325-614: The case of Algeria however, relations between the DRV and Algeria were much closer as a result of clandestine weapon transfers from the former to the latter during the Algerian War , with Algeria placing a draft resolution in the 1973 summit of the Non-Aligned Movement calling on its members to support the DRV and PRG. In 1969, Sweden became the first Western country to extend full diplomatic recognition to North Vietnam. Many other Western countries followed suit in

11476-581: The central legislative proposal of his first year in office. In an August 1969 televised address, Nixon proposed the Family Assistance Plan (FAP), which would establish a national income floor of $ 1600 per year for a family of four. Public response to the FAP was highly favorable, but it faced strong opposition in Congress, partly due to the lack of congressional involvement in the drafting of

11627-567: The conflict along with Western Bloc forces from South Korea , Australia and Thailand , who heavily supported South Vietnam militarily. The conflict spread to neighboring countries and North Vietnam supported the Lao People's Liberation Army in Laos and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia against their respective US-supported governments. By 1973, the United States and its allies withdrew from

11778-516: The country Đại Nam ("Great South"). In 1945, the nation's official name was changed back to "Vietnam". The name is also sometimes rendered as "Viet Nam" in English. The term "North Vietnam" became common usage in 1954, when the Geneva Conference provisionally partitioned Vietnam into communist and non-communist parts. After about 300 years of partition by feudal dynasties, Vietnam was again under one single authority in 1802 when Gia Long founded

11929-549: The country by referendum led to the Vietnam War in 1955. Supported by their communist allies, mainly China and the Soviet Union , the northern People's Army of Vietnam and the southern National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Việt Cộng) guerrillas fought against the Military Forces of South Vietnam . To prevent other countries from becoming communist in Southeast Asia, the United States intervened in

12080-418: The country. Nixon proposed reducing the number of government departments to eight. Under his plan, the existing departments of State , Justice , Treasury , and Defense would be retained, while the remaining departments would be folded into the new departments of Economic Affairs, Natural Resources, Human Resources, and Community Development. Although Nixon did not succeed in this major reorganization, he

12231-660: The diplomatic relations between Japan and North Vietnam. On the Japanese side the document was signed by Yoshihiro Nakayama , the Japanese Ambassador to France, while for the North Vietnamese side the document was signed by the Charge d'Affaires ad interim of North Vietnam to France Võ Văn Sung . Implementation, however, was delayed by North Vietnamese demands that Japan pay the equivalent of US$ 45 million in World War II reparations in two yearly installments, in

12382-773: The disputes among the political factions in Saigon, had been accompanied by widespread violence in the countryside. On 16 August 1945, Hồ Chí Minh organized the National Congress in Tân Trào. The Congress adopted 10 major policies of the Việt Minh , passing the General Uprising Order, selecting the national flag of Vietnam , choosing the national anthem and selecting the National Committee for

12533-497: The dollar to float against other currencies, and ended the convertibility of the dollar into gold. Nixon's monetary policies effectively took the United States off the gold standard and brought an end to the Bretton Woods system , a post-war international fixed exchange-rate system . Nixon believed that this system negatively affected the U.S. balance of trade ; the U.S. had experienced its first negative balance of trade of

12684-574: The draft between 1970 and 1973. A wave of protests swept the country in reaction to the invasion of Cambodia. In what is known as the Kent State shootings , a protest at Kent State University ended in the deaths of four students after the Ohio Army National Guard opened fire on an unarmed crowd. The shootings increased tensions on other college campuses, and more than 75 colleges and universities were forced to shut down until

12835-629: The election outright, but he hoped to deny either major party candidate a majority of the electoral vote , thus sending the election to the House of Representatives , where segregationist congressmen could extract concessions for their support. The assassinations of Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. , combined with disaffection towards the Vietnam War, the disturbances at the Democratic National Convention, and

12986-462: The election to be as close as in 1960. One year prior to the 1968 Republican National Convention the early favorite for the party's presidential nomination was Michigan governor George Romney , but Romney's campaign foundered on the issue of the Vietnam War . Nixon established himself as the clear front-runner after a series of early primary victories. His chief rivals for the nomination were Governor Ronald Reagan of California, who commanded

13137-731: The establishment of a permanent base on the Moon by the end of the 1970s and the launch of a crewed expedition to Mars in the 1980s. On May 24, 1972, Nixon approved a five-year cooperative program between NASA and the Soviet space program , culminating in the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project , a joint mission of an American Apollo and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft in 1975. Nixon submitted two significant medical research initiatives to Congress in February 1971. The first, popularly referred to as

13288-685: The face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office, the only U.S. president ever to do so. He was succeeded by Gerald Ford , whom he had appointed vice president after Spiro Agnew became embroiled in a separate corruption scandal and was forced to resign. Nixon, a prominent member of the Republican Party from California who previously served as vice president for two terms under president Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961, took office following his narrow victory over Democrat incumbent vice president Hubert Humphrey and American Independent Party nominee George Wallace in

13439-476: The failure of Operation Lam Son 719 , which was designed to be the first major test of the South Vietnamese Army since the implementation of Vietnamization , the drawdown of American soldiers in Vietnam continued throughout Nixon's tenure. In early 1970, Nixon sent U.S. and South Vietnamese soldiers into Cambodia to attack North Vietnamese bases, expanding the ground war out of Vietnam for

13590-657: The federalization of Medicaid for poor families with dependent minor children, and support for health maintenance organizations (HMOs). This market-based system would, Nixon argued, "build on the strengths of the private system." Both the House and Senate held hearings on national health insurance in 1971, but no legislation emerged from either committee. In October 1972, Nixon signed the Social Security Amendments of 1972, extending Medicare to those under 65 who had been severely disabled for over two years or had end stage renal disease and gradually raising

13741-652: The first Democratic Party primary on March 12 in New Hampshire, and the closeness of the results startled the party establishment and spurred Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York to enter the race. Two weeks later, Johnson told a stunned nation that he would not seek a second term. In the weeks that followed, much of the momentum that had been moving the McCarthy campaign forward shifted toward Kennedy. Vice President Hubert Humphrey declared his own candidacy, drawing support from many of Johnson's supporters. Kennedy

13892-553: The first time that an intra-term vacancy in the office of vice president was filled. The Speaker of the House , Carl Albert from Oklahoma, was next in line to the presidency during the 57-day vacancy. Nixon made four successful appointments to the Supreme Court while in office, shifting the Court in a more conservative direction following the era of the liberal Warren Court . Nixon took office with one pending vacancy, as

14043-472: The first time. He had previously approved a secret B-52 carpet bombing campaign of North Vietnamese positions in Cambodia in March 1969 (code-named Operation Menu ), without the consent of Cambodian leader Norodom Sihanouk . Even within the administration, many disapproved of the incursions into Cambodia, and anti-war protesters were irate. The bombing of Cambodia continued into the 1970s in support of

14194-490: The form of Supplemental Security Income , which provides aid to low-income individuals who are aged or disabled. The Nixon administration adopted a "low profile" on school desegregation, but the administration enforced court desegregation orders and implemented the first affirmative action plan in the United States. Nixon also presided over the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and

14345-586: The form of "economic cooperation" grants. Giving in to the Vietnamese demands, Japan paid the money and opened an embassy in Hanoi on 11 October 1975, following the unification of North Vietnam and South Vietnam into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Earlier, the Japanese already gave similar funding to the South Vietnamese, which also re-established official diplomatic relations with Japan during

14496-461: The freeze to 60 days. The price controls became unpopular with the public and business people, who saw powerful labor unions as preferable to the price board bureaucracy. Business owners, however, now saw the controls as permanent rather than temporary, and voluntary compliance among small businesses decreased. The controls and the accompanying food shortages —as meat disappeared from grocery stores and farmers drowned chickens rather than sell them at

14647-667: The goal of spreading Việt Minh leadership: the Allied Powers are supported by the Vietnamese Nationalist Party (according to Cecil B. Currey, this organization borrows the revolutionary name of Vietnamese Nationalist Party of 1930 was founded by Nguyễn Thái Học and, according to David G. Marr, the Vietnamese Communist Party under Hồ Chí Minh tried to ban the Vietnamese Nationalist Party ) Võ Nguyễn Giáp gradually sought to marginalize

14798-569: The goals of environmentalists. Nixon was largely uninterested in environmental policy, but he did not oppose the goals of the environmental movement. In 1970, he signed the National Environmental Policy Act and established the Environmental Protection Agency , which was charged with coordinating and enforcing federal environmental policy. During his presidency, Nixon also signed the Clean Air Act of 1970, and

14949-440: The hand of friendship to all people... And we work toward the goal of an open world, open sky, open cities, open hearts, open minds." At the start of 1967, most Democrats expected that President Lyndon B. Johnson would be re-nominated. Those expectations were shattered by Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, who centered his campaign on opposition to Johnson's policies on the Vietnam War . McCarthy narrowly lost to Johnson in

15100-420: The highland areas occupied by minority peoples were not substantially impacted. Some land was retained by the government but most was distributed without payment with priority given to Viet Minh fighters and their families. The total number of rural people impacted by the land reform program was more than 4 million. The rent reduction program impacted nearly 8 million people. The land reform program

15251-704: The last U.S. soldiers from South Vietnam in 1973, ending the military draft that same year. To prevent the possibility of further U.S. intervention in Vietnam, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution over Nixon's veto. In domestic affairs, Nixon advocated a policy of " New Federalism ", in which federal powers and responsibilities would be shifted to state governments. However, he faced a Democratic Congress that did not share his goals and, in some cases, enacted legislation over his veto. Nixon's proposed reform of federal welfare programs did not pass Congress, but Congress did adopt one aspect of his proposal in

15402-426: The leak first appeared, Nixon was inclined to do nothing, but Kissinger persuaded him to try to prevent their publication. The Supreme Court ruled for the newspapers in the 1971 case of New York Times Co. v. United States , thereby allowing for the publication of the excerpts. By mid-1971, disillusionment with the war had reached a new high, as 71 percent of Americans believed that sending soldiers to Vietnam had been

15553-564: The legislation in July 1974. The Nixon years witnessed the first large-scale efforts to desegregate the nation's public schools. Seeking to avoid alienating Southern whites, whom Nixon hoped would form part of a durable Republican coalition, the president adopted a "low profile" on school desegregation. He pursued this policy by allowing the courts to receive the criticism for desegregation orders, which Nixon's Justice Department would then enforce. By September 1970, less than ten percent of black children were attending segregated schools. After

15704-733: The limit on hospital days, added income-based out-of-pocket limits, and added outpatient prescription drug coverage. In April, Kennedy and House Ways and Means committee chairman Wilbur Mills introduced the National Health Insurance Act, a bill to provide near-universal national health insurance with benefits identical to the expanded Nixon plan—but with mandatory participation by employers and employees through payroll taxes and with lower cost sharing. Both plans were criticized by labor, consumer, and senior citizens organizations, and neither gained traction. In mid-1974, shortly after Nixon's resignation, Mills tried to advance

15855-598: The loyalty of many conservatives , and Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York, who had a strong following among party moderates . At the August Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida , Reagan and Rockefeller discussed joining forces in a stop-Nixon movement, but the coalition never materialized and Nixon secured the nomination on the first ballot. He selected Governor Spiro Agnew of Maryland as his running mate,

16006-539: The number of racial minorities hired across the nation in various construction trades, implementing the first affirmative action plan in the United States. The Philadelphia Plan required government contractors in Philadelphia to hire a minimum number of minority workers. In 1970, Nixon extended the Philadelphia Plan to encompass all federal contracts worth more than $ 50,000, and in 1971 he expanded

16157-435: The only Republican president since World War II to have a positive impact on the environment, asserting that "Nixon did not have to be personally committed to the environment to become one of the most successful presidents in promoting environmental priorities." While applauding Nixon's progressive policy agenda, environmentalists found much to criticize in his record. The administration strongly supported continued funding of

16308-632: The operation convinced Nixon of the necessity to quickly reach a final agreement with North Vietnam. After years of fighting, the Paris Peace Accords were signed at the beginning of 1973. The agreement implemented a cease fire and allowed for the withdrawal of remaining American troops; however, it did not require the 160,000 North Vietnam Army regulars located in the South to withdraw. By March 1973, U.S. military forces had been withdrawn from Vietnam. Once American combat support ended, there

16459-734: The opposite direction. After the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975, the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam , or the Việt Cộng , alongside the North Vietnamese Army , governed South Vietnam for the next year. However it was seen as a vassal government of North Vietnam. North and South Vietnam were officially reunited on 2 July 1976 as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam . The merged country's government

16610-625: The opposition such as the pro-Japan nationalist groups, the Trotskyists , the anti-French nationalists, and a catholic group known as the "Catholic Soldiers". On 19 June 1946, the Việt Minh Journal reportedly vehemently criticized "reactionaries sabotage the Franco-Vietnamese preliminary agreement on 6 March". Shortly thereafter, Võ Nguyễn Giáp began a campaign to pursue opposition parties by police and military forces controlled by

16761-643: The opposition. They were exposed when the break-in of the Democratic National Committee Headquarters ended in the arrest of five burglars. This kicked off the Watergate Scandal and gave rise to a congressional investigation. Nixon denied any involvement in the break-in. However, after a tape emerged revealing that Nixon had known about the White House connection to the burglaries shortly after they occurred,

16912-449: The partition of Vietnam in 1954 at the end of the First Indochina War , more than one million North Vietnamese migrated to South Vietnam, under the U.S.-led evacuation campaign named Operation Passage to Freedom , with an estimated 60% of the north's one million Catholics fleeing south. The Catholic migration is attributed to an expectation of persecution of Catholics by the North Vietnamese government, as well as publicity employed by

17063-411: The passage of major environmental laws like the Clean Water Act , although that law was vetoed by Nixon and passed by override. Economically, the Nixon years saw the start of a period of " stagflation " that would continue into the 1970s. Nixon was far ahead in the polls in the 1972 presidential election, but during the campaign, Nixon operatives conducted several illegal operations designed to undermine

17214-641: The plan to encompass women and racial minorities. Nixon and Attorney General Mitchell also helped enact an extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that expanded federal supervision of voting rights to all jurisdictions in which less than 50 percent of the minority population was registered to vote. Dean J. Kotlowski states that: Over the course of the Vietnam War, a large segment of the American population came to be opposed to U.S. involvement in South Vietnam. Public opinion steadily turned against

17365-463: The poverty rate dropped from 12.8 percent in 1968 to 11.1 percent in 1973. In August 1970, Democratic senator Ted Kennedy introduced legislation to establish a single-payer universal health care system financed by taxes and with no cost sharing . In February 1971, Nixon proposed a more limited package of health care reform, consisting of an employee mandate to offer private health insurance if employees volunteered to pay 25 percent of premiums,

17516-481: The president the power to impose wage and price controls , though the Democratic congressional leadership, knowing Nixon had opposed such controls through his career, did not expect Nixon to actually use the authority. With inflation unresolved by August 1971, and an election year looming, Nixon convened a summit of his economic advisers at Camp David . He then announced temporary wage and price controls, allowed

17667-405: The process of redistributing land. Severe rioting protesting the excesses of the land reform broke out in November 1956 in one largely Catholic rural district, leading to 1,000 deaths or injuries, and several thousand imprisoned. As part of the correction campaign, as many as 23,748 political prisoners were released by North Vietnam by September 1957. By 1958, the correction campaign had resulted in

17818-763: The proposal became the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution on July 1, 1971, after being ratified by the requisite number of states (38). Nixon also endorsed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which passed both houses of Congress in 1972 and was submitted to the state legislatures for ratification. The amendment failed to be ratified by 38 states within the period set by Congress for ratification. Nixon had campaigned as an ERA supporter in 1968, though feminists criticized him for doing little to help

17969-827: The proposal. Many conservatives opposed the establishment of the national income floor, while many liberals believed that the floor was too low. Though the FAP passed the House, the bill died in the Senate Finance Committee in May 1970. Though Nixon's overall proposal failed, Congress did adopt one aspect of the FAP, as it voted to establish the Supplemental Security Income program, which provides aid to low-income individuals who are aged or disabled. Determined to dismantle much of Johnson's Great Society and its accompanying federal bureaucracy, Nixon defunded or abolished several programs, including

18120-400: The return of land to many of those harmed by the land reform. The ultimate objective of the land reform program of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam government was not to achieve equitable distribution of farmland but rather the organization of all farmers into co-operatives in which land and other factors of agricultural production would be owned and used collectively. The first steps after

18271-625: The same period. With the re-establishment of relations between Japan and North Vietnam the Japanese agreed to resolve what are termed "unsolved problems", which after earlier negotiations in Vientiane , Kingdom of Laos , these "unsolved problems" revolved around grants given by the Japanese State to North Vietnam. Between 1973 and 1975 the Japanese and North Vietnamese governments held over 20 both official and unofficial meetings, on 6 October 1975 both sides finally reached and agreement and

18422-411: The southern zone, under control of the de jure non-communist State of Vietnam , was commonly called South Vietnam . Supervision of the implementation of the Geneva Accords was the responsibility of an international commission consisting of India , Canada , and Poland , respectively representing the non-aligned , the capitalist , and the communist blocs. The United States , which did not sign

18573-576: The start of the next academic year. As the U.S. continually drew down the number of troops in Vietnam, the number of protests declined, especially after 1970. The Nixon administration vigorously prosecuted anti-war protesters like the " Chicago Seven ", and ordered the FBI, CIA, NSA, and other intelligence agencies to monitor radical groups. Nixon also introduced anti-crime measures like the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and

18724-494: The statutory language to restrict all detentions by the executive branch, not merely those by the Attorney General. Lawmakers, both supporters and opponents of Section 4001(a), recognized that it would restrict the President and military authorities. The Supreme Court of the United States originally took the case of Rumsfeld v. Padilla to decide whether Congress's Authorization for Use of Military Force authorized

18875-513: The system of autonomous regions was not continued and were fully abolished by 1978. List of North Vietnamese autonomous regions and their subsidiary provinces: The Democratic Republic of Vietnam was diplomatically isolated by many capitalist states, and many other anti-communist states worldwide throughout most of the North's history, as these states extended recognition only to the anti-communist government of South Vietnam . North Vietnam however,

19026-668: The time Nixon took office, there were over 500,000 American soldiers in Southeast Asia . Over 30,000 U.S. military personnel serving in the Vietnam War had been killed since 1961, with approximately half of those deaths occurring in 1968. The war was broadly unpopular in the United States with widespread and sometimes violent protests taking place on a regular basis. The Johnson administration agreed to suspend bombing in exchange for negotiations without preconditions, but this agreement never fully took force. According to Walter Isaacson , soon after taking office, Nixon concluded that

19177-544: The time of the land reform provided a minimum number of 1,337 executions. Concurrently with the land reform campaign and the end of the First Indochina War, over 12,000 people starved to death in Viet-Minh controlled zones by the end of 1954 due to economic turmoil in combination with natural disasters, floods, and crop failures. Gareth Porter estimated that between 800 and 2,500 people were executed, citing

19328-557: The total number of executions at between 3,000 and 15,000 and later came up with a more precise figure of 13,500. In early 1956, North Vietnam initiated a "correction of errors" which put an end to the land reform, and to rectify the mistakes and damage done. On 18 August 1956, North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh apologised and acknowledged the serious errors the government had made in the land reform. Too many farmers, he also said, had been incorrectly classified as "landlords" and executed or imprisoned and too many mistakes has been made in

19479-557: The total population". The number of persons actually executed by cadre carrying out the land reform program has been variously estimated, with some ranging up to 200,000. However, other scholarship has concluded that the higher estimates were based on political propaganda which also emanated from South Vietnam with the support of the US, and that the actual total of those executed was significantly lower. Scholar Balasz Szalontai wrote that documents of Hungarian diplomats living in North Vietnam at

19630-482: The unified Vietnamese state experienced economic decline , refugee crises and conflicts with the Khmer Rouge in 1977 and China in 1979. The expanded Socialist Republic retained Soviet-style political culture , economic system and memberships in Eastern Bloc organisations such as COMECON until the Đổi Mới economic reforms in 1986 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The official name of

19781-512: The vote. Nixon secured 301 electoral votes to Humphrey's 191 and 46 for Wallace. Nixon gained the support of many white ethnic and Southern white voters who traditionally had supported the Democratic Party, but he lost ground among African American voters. In his victory speech, Nixon pledged that his administration would try to bring the divided nation together . Despite Nixon's victory, Republicans failed to win control of either

19932-462: The war , and the unsupported South Vietnam was swiftly overrun by the superior Northern forces. The Vietnam War ended on 30 April 1975 and saw South Vietnam come under the control of the Việt Cộng's Provisional Revolutionary Government , which led to the reunification of Vietnam on 2 July 1976 and the creation of the current Socialist Republic of Vietnam . In the aftermath of the Vietnam War ,

20083-664: The war following 1967, and by 1970 only a third of Americans believed that the U.S. had not made a mistake by sending troops to fight in Vietnam. Anti-war activists organized massive protests like the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam , which attracted over 600,000 protesters in various cities. Opinions concerning the war grew more polarized after the Selective Service System instituted a draft lottery in December 1969 . Some 30,000 young men fled to Canada to evade

20234-405: Was Governor of Maryland and vice president. On October 10, 1973, Agnew pleaded no contest to tax evasion and became the second vice president after John C. Calhoun to resign from office. Nixon used his authority under the 25th Amendment to nominate Gerald Ford for vice president. The well-respected Ford was confirmed by Congress and took office on December 6, 1973. This represented

20385-550: Was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan in June 1968, leaving Humphrey and McCarthy as the two remaining major candidates in the race. Humphrey won the presidential nomination at the August Democratic National Convention in Chicago , and Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine was selected as his running mate. Outside the convention hall, thousands of young antiwar activists who had gathered to protest

20536-460: Was a brief truce, but fighting quickly broke out again, as both South Vietnam and North Vietnam violated the truce. Congress effectively ended any possibility of another American military intervention by passing the War Powers Resolution over Nixon's veto. The war concluded with the Fall of Saigon the year after Nixon's resignation, resulting in a unified communist Vietnam and a costly failure for

20687-419: Was a success in terms of distributing much land to poor and landless peasants and reducing or eliminating the land holdings of landlords (địa chủ) and rich peasants. By 1960, there were 40,000 cooperatives spanning nearly nine-tenths of all farmland. The program, proceeded by a Three Year Plan (1957–1960), lifted agricultural production to 5.4 million tonnes or over double pre-Indochina War levels. However, it

20838-758: Was able to convince Congress to eliminate one cabinet-level department, the United States Post Office Department . In July 1971, after passage of the Postal Reorganization Act , the Post Office Department was transformed into the United States Postal Service , an independent entity within the executive branch of the federal government. Nixon supported passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act , which established

20989-454: Was an integral part of the Viet Minh and communist Democratic Republic of Vietnam. A Viet Minh Land Reform Law of 4 December 1953 called for (1) confiscation of land belonging to landlords who were enemies of the regime; (2) requisition of land from landlords not judged to be enemies; and (3) purchase with payment in bonds. The land reform was carried out from 1953 to 1956. Some farming areas did not undergo land reform but only rent reduction and

21140-434: Was carried out with violence and repression primarily directed against large landowners identified, sometimes incorrectly, as landlords. Executions and imprisonment of persons classified as "reactionary and evil landlords" were contemplated from the beginning of the land reform program. A Politburo document dated 4 May 1953 said that the planned executions were "fixed in principle at the ratio of one per one thousand people of

21291-473: Was codified at 18 U.S.C. § 4001(a). § 4001. Limitation on detention The statute was used to challenge military detention of U.S. citizens accused of terrorist activity. A Congressional Research Service report on the history of the Non-Detention Act concluded, Legislative debate, committee reports, and the political context of 1971 indicate that when Congress enacted Section 4001(a) it intended

21442-508: Was dominated by holdovers from North Vietnam, and adopted the North Vietnamese constitution, flag and anthem. As an ideologically Marxist-Leninist state, North Vietnam adopted a constitution modelled on Joseph Stalin's 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union . "The administrative units in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam are as follows: — Article 78, Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam – 1959 (Điều 78, Hiến pháp Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa – 1959). North Vietnam established

21593-485: Was just as improper as legal segregation, and he took a strong public stance against its continuation. The issue of cross-district busing faded from the fore of national politics after the Supreme Court placed limits on the use of cross-district busing with its decision in the 1974 case of Milliken v. Bradley . Nixon established the Office of Minority Business Enterprise to promote the establishment of minority-owned businesses. The administration also worked to increase

21744-438: Was led by National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger . Nixon's first secretary of state, William P. Rogers , was largely sidelined during his tenure, and in 1973, Kissinger succeeded Rogers as secretary of state while continuing to serve as National Security Advisor. Nixon presided over the reorganization of the Bureau of the Budget into the more powerful Office of Management and Budget , further concentrating executive power in

21895-513: Was not strongly interested in, such as environmental policy. In a 1970 memo to top aides, he stated that in domestic areas other than crime, school integration, and economic issues, "I am only interested when we make a major breakthrough or have a major failure. Otherwise don't bother me." Nixon recruited former campaign rival George Romney to serve as the secretary of housing and urban development, but Romney and Secretary of Transportation John Volpe quickly fell out of favor as Nixon attempted to cut

22046-684: Was recognized by almost all Communist countries, such as the Soviet Union and other Socialist countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia , China, North Korea , and Cuba , and received aid from these nations. North Vietnam refused to establish diplomatic relations with Yugoslavia from 1950 to 1957, perhaps reflecting Hanoi's deference to the Soviet line on the Yugoslav government of Josip Broz Tito , and North Vietnamese officials continued to be critical of Tito after relations were established. Several non-aligned countries also recognized North Vietnam. Similar to India , most accorded North Vietnam de facto rather than de jure (formal) recognition. In

22197-478: Was reduced and in 1973 ended; the armed forces became all-volunteer. In the aftermath of the Easter Offensive, peace talks between the United States and North Vietnam resumed, and by October 1972 a framework for a settlement had been reached. Objections from South Vietnamese President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu derailed this agreement, and the peace talks broke down. In December 1972, Nixon ordered another massive bombing campaign, Operation Linebacker II ; domestic criticism of

22348-503: Was succeeded by Alexander Haig , who became the dominant figure in the White House during the last months of Nixon's presidency. As the Watergate scandal heated up in mid-1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew became a target in an unrelated investigation of corruption in Baltimore County, Maryland of public officials and architects, engineering, and paving contractors. He was accused of accepting kickbacks in exchange for contracts while serving as Baltimore County Executive , then when he

22499-411: Was to reduce inflation; the most obvious means of doing so was to end the war. As the war continued, the administration adopted a policy of restricting the growth of the money supply to address the inflation problem. In February 1970, as a part of the effort to keep federal spending down, Nixon delayed pay raises to federal employees by six months. When the nation's postal workers went on strike, he used

22650-426: Was ultimately confirmed. Burger, Powell, and Rehnquist all compiled a conservative voting record on the Court, while Blackmun moved to the left during his tenure. Rehnquist would later succeed Burger as chief justice in 1986. Nixon appointed a total of 231 federal judges, surpassing the previous record of 193 set by Franklin D. Roosevelt . In addition to his four Supreme Court appointments, Nixon appointed 46 judges to

22801-406: Was with a generally liberal Democratic Congress, Nixon used his veto power on multiple occasions during his presidency. Congress's response came in the form of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 , which established a new budget process, and included a procedure providing congressional control over the impoundment of funds by the president. Nixon, mired in Watergate, signed

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