Presidential Legacies: 1969-1989

The Johnson Administration’s folly in Vietnam led to Republican Executive Branch dominance for the remainder of the century. The Cold War continued and the Republicans were enlisted to end it and fix an economy damaged by the Great Society. The presidents between 1969 and 1989 battled recession and Russians. In the end, both were conquered.

Richard Nixon benefited politically from Lyndon Johnson’s downfall. His political career was dead. However, he worked hard in 1966 and became the Republican nominee in 1968. Once in office, Nixon worked to thaw the Cold War and end the Vietnam conflict. It took almost four years for the Vietnam War to end. The North Vietnamese refused to negotiate in good faith through much of Nixon’s first term. They finally came around when it appeared he would be re-elected.

The war’s end coincided with two major Nixon diplomatic coups. He became the first president to go to China. This opened China to the United States, set in motion their economic renaissance, and isolated the Soviet Union. The Russians felt threatened and isolated by the U.S. and China. As a result, they welcomed Nixon’s diplomatic overtures. Détente has been criticized by the right, but there was no way for Nixon to know that the Soviet Union would collapse in his lifetime.

While Nixon was racking up the accomplishments, his administration became immersed in the Watergate Scandal. Basically, a group of White House operatives broke into and bugged Democratic Headquarters. The Johnson Administration bugged the Nixon Campaign, so this was nothing new. However, word of the break-in made it into the papers. Nixon made the mistake of attempting to cover it up. He should have fired those involved immediately and claimed ignorance. Instead, he waged war on the press. Events steam rolled and he was forced to resign.

Gerald Ford took over for Nixon. Initially, Ford was very popular. However, he pardoned Nixon and that popularity collapsed. The president from Michigan decided it was best to get beyond the Watergate Scandal. He wanted the country to heal and move forward. Ford did not want to put the country through the agony of a trial. Additionally, Nixon’s health declined dramatically and some worried the former president would not survive a trial. So, Ford pardoned Nixon and that cost him the election of 1976.

Ford lost to Jimmy Carter. Carter was an inexperienced nobody in 1975. In 1977, he was president. Carter’s tenure was marked by disaster. He refused to work with Congressional Democrats. Carter did not see much of a difference between them and Nixon. Then, the economy collapsed. Unemployment and inflation each hit double digits. The country’s confidence was gone. On July 15, 1979, Carter went on national television and chewed out the country. Carter called it a “crisis of confidence.” However, Carter’s tone was that of a fire-and-brimstone preacher and it fell flat. At the end of the year, Iran kidnapped 52 Americans and held them hostage. This paralyzed the Carter Administration even further. The economy and Iran Hostage Crisis cost Carter the White House.

Carter left America searching for a white knight. Ronald Reagan literally came out of central casting. Reagan won two massive electoral victories. Upon taking office, it appeared his economic policy was D.O.A. Then, John Hinkley Jr. tried to kill him in an effort to impress Jodie Foster. Hinkley failed on both accounts. This was a turning point. Reagan got his economic policies through congress. The economy continued to struggle for a time before exploding. By 1984, it was “Morning in America.” In his first term, the economy turned around. In his second term, he would face down the Russians.

During his first term, Reagan had little diplomatic contact with the Soviets. The Soviet leaders kept dying. Additionally, the Russians had been trying to expand in a fashion similar to the Nazis before World War II. By the early eighties, the Soviets had invaded Afghanistan, declared martial law in Poland, and stepped up their proxy wars against American allies. People questioned whether democracy could survive. In response, Reagan began a massive arms buildup. The plan was to outspend the Russians. He succeeded.

By 1985, the Soviet economy was strained. By 1989, it had completely collapsed. The Soviets had overextended and now had to try and keep up with the American arms buildup. The Reagan arms buildup was only part of the reason. The other factor was the new Soviet Premier, Mikhail Gorbachev. Gorbachev attempted to reform the Soviet economy. He did not want to end communism. However, socialism is failed economic theory. Under Gorbachev's socialist reforms, the Soviet economy, and with it the military, collapsed. The Soviet Union itself ceased to exist in 1991.

In 1989, it looked like anything was possible. Communism was collapsing around the world. Dictatorships were on the wane. The world economy was expanding. Freedom was expanding. Would things continue to improve and would mankind enter into some new enlightened phase or would mankind blow it?