American History: A Survey (Brinkley), 13th EditionChapter 30:
THE CRISIS OF AUTHORITYMain themes of Chapter Thirty: - The liberation movements of youths, ethnic minorities, and women in the late sixties and early seventies, and their challenge to prevailing social norms
- The change in Vietnam strategy under Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, to achieve "peace with honor" rather than outright victory
- The foreign policy emphasis on a "multipolar" world in the diplomacy of Nixon and Kissinger, in forging a bold new relationship with China and seeking a détente with the Soviet Union through grain sales and arms reductions
- The political and practical effects of Nixon's efforts to build a policy of less federal dominance of the states and more respect for traditional values, and his continued advocacy of welfare state programs
- The growing economic problem of "stagflation" under Nixon and Ford, an economic malaise as much international as domestic in origin
- The origins and evolution of the Watergate scandals, culminating in the resignation of Richard Nixon
A thorough study of Chapter Thirty should enable the student to understand the following:- The reasons for the rise of the New Left and the counterculture
- The problems facing American Indians, Hispanics, and gays in the seventies, and the nature of their respective protest movements
- The meaning of the New Feminism
- The Nixon-Kissinger strategy for ending the Vietnam War, and the subsequent Paris peace settlement
- The changes in American foreign policy necessitated by the new perception of the world as multipolar, particularly with regards to China and Russia
- The ways in which the Supreme Court issued several liberal rulings and then in the Nixon years began a change to a more conservative posture
- The reasons for the decline in the American economy in the early 1970s and President Nixon's reaction to the decline
- The evolution of Watergate from an obscure hotel break-in to the first presidential resignation in American history
- The varying historical interpretations of Watergate
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