From Vietnam to Present Day

General Overview

The Vietnam War

the American destroyer USS Maddox attacked three North Vietnamese P-4 torpedo boats; days later a completely false report of an attack on the Maddox by the North Vietnamese was publicized; Congress granted Johnson the power to assist South Vietnam against communist aggression. Johnson used it to support injecting the United States into the Vietnam War and to win reelection in 1964 in a landslide

“Vietnam is a huge country: 81 million people also a jungle” A substantial percentage of our casualties in the Vietnam War were from stepping on land mines. Between 1964 and 1975, 58,000 (mandatory draft);

Nixon: "Vietnamization", "My Lai Massacre."

disruption at colleges; the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968, hippies caused massive riots that were brutally suppressed by the tough Chicago Democratic Mayor Richard Daley - a political disaster for the Democratic Party. The "Chicago Seven," the hippie ringleaders of the riots, were convicted for disrupting the convention ; convictions overturned on appeal; Muhammad Ali; "conscientious objection“.

“the South Vietnamese clung to the wheels or landing gear of the last airplanes and helicopters, begging to leave with us” Congress passed the War Powers Act in 1973. approval of Congress within 60 days of using troops in battle in a foreign conflict.

ERA and Abortion

Equal Rights Amendment :

Section 1. Equality of Rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article

The ERA would have required drafting women just like men; forcing taxpayer-funded abortion just like medical care for men; mandating same-sex marriage; ending special Social Security benefits enjoyed by widows; would shift the entire field of family law and marriage from state and local levels to the federal government; would prohibit single-sex programs and classes, particularly in public schools.

Theme of the only debate between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter ; failed in 1980 (?)

Watergate

In 1972, President Nixon formed a reelection committee entitled "Committee to Reelect the President", derisively called "CREEP" by his opponents. The security officer of this committee was later convicted of buglarizing the Democratic headquarters in the Watergate building in D.C. Nixon covered up the investigation, leading to his resignation in 1974 after the Supreme Court ordered him to turn over secret tape recordings, to avoid impeachment.

Dark Horse Jimmy Carter

Santa promises and major ‘achievements’:

To give Panama Canal to Panama;

Camp David Accords;

Iran hostage crisis;

"stagflation" and "national malaise."

President Ronald Reagan and

8 Great Years

Reagan ran for governor of California by emphasizing two points: (1) "to send the welfare bums back to work," and (2) "to clean up the mess at Berkeley" ;

campaigned and governed based on conservative principles: less government, lower taxes, less regulation, more morality, new federalism (returning power from the federal government to the states), and a strong national defense (particularly against the communists).

"Great Communicator"

inaugurated on Jan. 20, 1981;

adhered to "supply-side economics," a new theory advanced by Arthur Laffer that cutting taxes would actually increase government revenue = "Reaganomics".

the "evil empire“; a missile defense system called the "Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).“

In 1986, Reagan cut taxes much further. He also met with Gorbachev in Reykjavik, Iceland to negotiate an arms reduction deal: just one demand - abandon the Star Wars (SDI) program.

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" is credited with ending communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union

signed into law the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

Gulf War, Bush the Elder

and Costly Welfare

In 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded and easily conquered nearby Kuwait, President George H.W. Bush, struck back with American troops. This combat was code-named Operation Desert Storm

Patriot missiles tests

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990;

Bill Clinton

served for eight years but never won even 50% of the vote. In 1993, his wife (the "First Lady") Hillary Clinton led a massive committee-based effort for the government to take over the health care system, which is about 1/7th of the nation's economy.

removal of the longstanding ban on homosexuals in the military; a policy of "don't ask, don't tell“;

"Violence Against Women Act," which authorized women to sue institutions like colleges in federal court over alleged incidents that were never charged or proven as crimes;

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993, which created a "free-trade zone" encompassing Mexico, Canada, and the United States and submitted the United States to control by an international tribunal to decide disputes in trade.

"Monica Lewinsky" sex scandal; Clinton impeached near the end of 1998 for it; the Senate did not reach the 2/3rd vote needed to remove Clinton from office.

President George W. Bush - a "compassionate conservative,"

("9/11"), 19 Saudi Arabians hijacked four planes (about five hijackers per plane), and flew them in suicide missions into targets. Two flew into the World Trade Centers in southern Manhattan, one for each tower, causing a massive fire at about 9am in the upper floors of the towers, killing nearly 3,000 people …

the Patriot Act of 2001, authorized extensive phone and email surveillance of Americans possibly connected with terrorism, deportation or detention of suspected terrorists. The internal surveillance and fighting in Afghanistan became known as the "War on Terrorism"

Iraq in 2003;

unsuccessful at immigration "reform" - granted amnesty to millions of illegal aliens in the nation,

"No Child Left Behind Act of 2001," which allows students of public schools that repeatedly do poorly on mandatory tests to transfer to another public school …does not generate new alternatives