The Presidents

Nixon, Ford, Carter,

Reagan, Bush,
Clinton, and Bush
Richard Nixon 1969-1974
• Elected on promise of
“Vietnamization” and by courting the
“Silent Majority”
• Republican who downplayed his
involvement in House UnAmerican
Committee’s hearings
 More Nixon
• Relations
improved with
China
• Troops
deescalated and
removed from
Vietnam
• Runs for re-
election
• Energy Crisis
More Nixon

• Watergate – CREEP broke into

the Democratic Party
Headquarters
• Nixon orders a cover – up
• Everything is caught on tapes
• US v Nixon – SC says that he
cannot claim executive
privilege
The end of the Nixon
Years
• Tapes are turned
over to the
Subcommittee
• Nixon resigns and
Ford takes over
• Pardoned
• Left a “bad taste”
in the political
mouth
Gerald Ford 1973-1977
• Became Nixon’s
VP when Agnew
resigned
• Pardoned Nixon
(full)
• Conditional
Pardon for draft
dodgers
• 25th amendment
James Carter 1977-1981

• Elected as an
“outsider” to the
corrupt
Washington
politics
• Democratic
peanut farmer
with strong
family ties
 More Carter

• Camp David
Accords –
forged peace
between
Sadat (Egypt)
and Begin
(Israel) in
1978
Even More Carter

• USSR invaded Afghanistan – we

boycott Moscow Summer
Olympics
• Iranian hostage crisis
• Seen as a weak leader
Ronald Reagan 1981-
1989
• Republican
former movie
“star”
• Conservative
Nationalist
• Iranian
Hostages
returned
Reagan
• Reaganomics – New
Federalism –many federal
programs cut/taxes to
wealthy cut as well
• Implications = more
homeless/less programs
for the unfortunate
Reagan

• Trillion dollar
debts
• Talks with
Gorbachev
• Iran Contra
Affair – Ollie
North takes
the fall…
The end of the Cold War!
 George Bush 1989-1993
• Republican
• Desert Storm –
1991 –
“protect” the
Kuwaitis from
Iraq
• Oil Politics
• Savings and
Loan Scandal
More Bush Sr.

• Panama –
removed
Noriega from
power and
imprisoned him
in the US
Made MLK Jr. an official
holiday in 1989.
William J. Clinton (1993-
2001)
• Democrat
• Defeated Bush
and Perot
• NAFTA
• Impeachment
and Acquittal
• Intervention in
Kosovo to aid
ethnic Albanians
George W. Bush 2001-2009
• Conservative
Republican
• 9/11
• War on Terrorism
(Afghanistan and
Iraq)
• Patriot Act
• Largest Deficit
Ever
Creation of Homeland
Security Department