Social and political change, 1973-80

• Gerald Ford


  - Never elected- 1974: Granted pardon to Nixon
• Jimmy Carter


  - Elected 1976- No link to Washington politics- "Call me Jimmy"
• War Powers Act


  - 1973- Limited power of president to use military action abroad- Result of Nixon's forces in South East Asia
• Hughes-Ryan Amendment to Privacy Act


  - 1975- President to report all undercover operations to Congress
• Ethics in Government Act


  - 1978- All senior gov officials to disclose their finances
• Tellico Dam


  - 1978- Building of dam opposed to built anyway
• Love Canal


  - 1978- New York canal- full of foul smelling waste and residents suffering chromosomal damage
• Three Mile Island


  - 1979- Pennsylvania - Nuclear power station explosion- 10,000 people fled homes
• Environmentalism: impact

  - 1970 Clean Air Act- 1973 Endangered Species Act- 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act
• Political Disillusionment: Carter

  - Georgia Mafia- Speaker of House Tip O'Neill said he found it difficult to work with Congress
• Political Disillusionment: Ford


  - Barely won own party nomination 1976
• Political Disillusionment: Yom Kippur War


  - 1973- Dramatic increase in oil prices
• Political Disillusionment: Stagflation

  - 1978: Unemployment 10%, inflation 13%- Interest rates rose to 20%
• Political Disillusionment: Shah of Iran


  - 1979: Replaced with Islamic regime- 66 Americans taken hostage- 1980: Rescue mission failed
• Political Disillusionment: Olympics

  - 1979: USSR invaded Afghanistan- USA boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympics- 64 nations joined
• Ford: Inflation


  - Anti-inflation campaign- Balance fed budget and decrease gov spending
• Carter: Inflation

  - Unemployment 8%, inflation 6%- cut Gov spending and deregulation of industry
• Carter: Environmentalism

  - 1979: solar panels installed on White House- Created dep for energy
• Nixon: Environmentalism

  - Encouraged nation to make sacrifices to conserve energy
• Economy: Sunbelt

  - West and South benefitted from cold war defence spending - South profited from agribusiness industry- Silicon Valley, California: technology industry hub
• Economy: Rustbelt

  - Heavy industry declined- Unemployment, white flight to suburbs
• Deindustrialisation


  - Foreign competition from Latin America- AFI-CLO lost 4m members
• Cost of living?

  Doubled 1968-78
• Cost of postage stamp?

  Increased from 8c to 20c 1974-81
• Real Wages?

  Fell 2% each year 1973-81
• Government Deficit?

  $1.6bn to $25bn 1965-8
• Mechanisation


  - Caused unemployment - Manufacturing jobs fell from 46% to 25% in Philadelphia
• Social Welfare?

  Rose from 200,000 to 340,000 1970-80 in Philadelphia
• Proposition 13


  - 1978- Reduced state taxes by 57%
• Oil Prices?


  $3 a barrel to $34 1973-9
• Oil Crisis: Strikes

  - 1977: month long strike by mine workers- 1974: 100,000 truck drivers striked
• Car Industry


  - Chrysler saved by $1.3bn fed bailout
• Affirmative Action


  - 1971: Griggs v Duke Power- 1978: Bakke v Regents of University of California
• Bussing


  - 1971: Swann v Mecklenburgh- Black children in segregated schools fell from 68% to 8%
• What proportion of blacks living under poverty line?


  1/3
• Beer v United States


  - 1976- No EM should be worse off in terms of political representation
• BAs in Politics

  - Elected as mayors e.g LA 1983- Rarely won white votes
• What percentage of elected officials black?


  1% in 1980
• Roe v Wade


  - 1973- Abortion legal within first 3 months
• Women in politics

  - 1974: Ella Grasso elected Governor of Conneticut