United States

Henry Kissinger (right) shaking hands with Le Duc Tho in Paris after their agreement on the cease-fire terms of the Vietnam War, 1973.AP/REX/Shutterstock.com

Domestic affairs

When Chief Justice Earl Warren, who had presided over the most liberal Supreme Court in history, retired in 1969, Nixon replaced him with the conservative Warren Burger. Three other retirements enabled Nixon to appoint a total of four moderate or conservative justices. The Burger court, though it was expected to, did not reverse the policies laid down by its predecessor.

Congress enacted Nixon’s revenue-sharing program, which provided direct grants to state and local governments. Congress also expanded social security and federally subsidized housing. In 1972 the Congress, with the support of the president, adopted a proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal rights for women. Despite widespread support, the Equal Rights Amendment, or ERA, as it was called, failed to secure ratification in a sufficient number of states. (Subsequent legislation and court decisions, however, gave women in substance what the ERA had been designed to secure.)

The cost of living continued to rise, until by June 1970 it was 30 percent above the 1960 level. Industrial production declined, as did the stock market. By mid-1971 unemployment reached a 10-year peak of 6 percent, and inflation continued. Wage and price controls were instituted, the dollar was devalued, and the limitation on the national debt was raised three times in 1972 alone. The U.S. trade deficit improved, but inflation remained unchecked.

The Watergate scandal

A scandal surfaced in June 1972, when five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic national headquarters at the Watergate office-apartment building in Washington. When it was learned that the burglars had been hired by the Committee to Re-Elect the President (CRP), John Mitchell, a former U.S. attorney general, resigned as director of CRP. These events, however, had no effect on the election that fall. Even though the Democrats retained majorities in both the Senate and the House, Nixon won a landslide victory over Democratic nominee Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota, who won only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

In 1973, however, it was revealed that an attempt to suppress knowledge of the connection between the Watergate affair and CRP involved highly placed members of the White House staff. In response, a Senate select committee was formed and opened hearings in May, and Nixon appointed Archibald Cox as a special prosecutor to investigate the scandal. Amid conflicting testimony, almost daily disclosures of further scandals, and continuing resignations of administrative personnel, a battle developed between the legislative and executive branches of government. Nixon attempted to stop the investigation by firing Cox, leading Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus to resign. This “Saturday night massacre” of Justice Department officials did not, however, stem the flow of damaging revelations, confessions, and indictments.

Watergate ScandalWhite House reporters watching the televised Watergate address by U.S. President Richard M. Nixon on April 30, 1973.© Archive Photos

The Watergate affair itself was further complicated by the revelation of other irregularities. It became known that a security unit in the White House had engaged in illegal activities under the cloak of national security. Nixon’s personal finances were questioned, and Vice Pres. Spiro T. Agnew resigned after pleading no contest to charges of income tax evasion. On December 6, 1973, Nixon’s nominee, Congressman Gerald R. Ford of Michigan, was approved by Congress as the new vice president.

On May 9, 1974, the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives began hearing evidence relating to a possible impeachment proceeding. On July 27–30 it voted to recommend that Nixon be impeached on three charges. On August 5 Nixon obeyed a Supreme Court order to release transcripts of three tape-recorded conversations, and he admitted that, as evidenced in the recordings, he had taken steps to direct the Federal Bureau of Investigation away from the White House when its inquiries into the Watergate burglary were leading it toward his staff.

Nixon’s support in Congress vanished, and it seemed probable that he would be impeached. On the evening of August 8, in a television address, Nixon announced his resignation, effective the next day. At noon on August 9, Vice Pres. Ford was sworn in as his successor, the first president not elected either to the office or to the vice presidency.

The Gerald R. Ford administration