When United States President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as his successor. Johnson was elected in his own right in 1964. In his efforts to establish a Great Society, Johnson attempted to address the problems of poverty and discrimination through such legislation as the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, and the various programs of his War on Poverty. He also established Medicare and Medicaid and passed several acts promoting environmental protection. At the same time, his administration was responsible for escalating the war in Vietnam. Richard M. Nixon was elected president in 1968 at the height of American involvement in Vietnam. In the face of growing antiwar sentiment at home, Nixon gradually reduced the number of United States troops in Vietnam and eventually signed a peace agreement ending the war. Nixon was the first president to visit China, and his visit resulted in greater cultural and scientific exchanges between the two countries. He also attended the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT), which led to two agreements with the Soviet Union on limiting weapons buildup. It was during Nixon's presidency that the first moon landing occurred, meeting the goal set by President Kennedy earlier in the decade. The accomplishments of Nixon's administration, however, are generally overshadowed by the Watergate scandal and the attempts to cover it up, which resulted in Nixon becoming the first president of the United States to resign from office. Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as president shortly after Nixon's resignation in 1974, and he pardoned Nixon soon after. The Vietnam War ended during Ford's presidency, as Saigon fell and Vietnam was consolidated into one nation under a Communist regime. Other international events during Ford's administration included the seizure of the United States ship Mayaguez by Cambodia and the introduction of the Helsinki Agreement, which aimed to ease tensions between the East and West. In domestic affairs, Ford instituted his Whip Inflation Now (WIN) program, which was eventually abandoned as the country fell into recession. In 1977 Jimmy Carter took office, and as his first official act as president he pardoned draft evaders of the Vietnam War era. One of the major focuses of Carter's administration was energy; among the proposals approved were the deregulation of gas prices and incentives for conservation measures. The Three Mile Island nuclear accident also led to questions about nuclear power plant safety. In foreign affairs, Carter helped pave the way to peace in the Middle East by leading the negotiations for the Camp David Accords. He also called for global human rights and established diplomatic relations with China. His Carter Doctrine warned the Soviet Union against exploiting unrest in Iran and Afghanistan. Following the taking of hostages at the United States embassy in Iran, Carter's administration used various diplomatic, economic, and military means to force their release. The hostages were not released until the day Ronald Reagan took office in 1981. Ronald Reagan achieved the office of president in part due to promises to crack down on terrorism. Despite his promise not to negotiate with terrorists, Reagan secretly agreed to sell arms to Iran in exchange for the release of United States hostages. What became known as the Iran-contra scandal developed when it was revealed that profits from the sales were diverted to the contras fighting in Nicaragua. In his first term Reagan announced a Strategic Defense Initiative, known as Star Wars, which further strained relations with the Soviet Union, but in his second term he and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev resumed disarmament talks. The talks resulted in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. Domestically, Reagan managed by the end of his presidency to make significant progress in controlling inflation and creating new jobs to ease unemployment. |