APUSH Unit 10 American History of XX Century

A major accomplishment of the Carter presidency, the CAMP DAVID ACCORDS were signed by Israel's leader, Menachem Begin, and Egypt's leader, Anwar el-Sadat, on Sept. 17,1978, creating a framework for peace in the Middle East. The treaty , however, fell apart when Sadat was assassinated by Islamic fundamentalists in 1981.

In 1973 it was revealed that President Nixon had made tapes of conversations converning the cover-up of the Watergate break-in. The president was taken to court to force him to turn over the tapes. Nixon used to argument of "excesive priviledge" to fight this order. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court ruled in 1974 that Nixon must turn over the tapes, which implicated him in the cover-up.

REAGNOMICS refers to Ronald Reagans economic philosophy. Reagan's supply-side economics postulated that a capitalist system, free from taxation and government involvement, would be most productive, and that the prosperity of a rich upper class would "tirckle down" to the poor.

Cesar Chavez, a migrant farm worker, created the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee in 1963 to help exploited Chicano workers. After leading union strikes against Califronia grape growers, he won better pay for the workers.

In 1987, the discovery that profits from US arms sales to the anti-American government in Iran had been used to illegally finance the Contras in Nacaragua resulted in the IRAN CONTRA AFFAIR. the Contras were rebel group fighting the Sandinista regime, which had Communist ties. Colonel Olver North, a member of National Security Council, was convicted of organizing this operation.

n 1973, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries created an embargo, refusing to export oil to Western nations. The embargo, which lasted until 1974, sparked rapid inflation in the West and had a crippling effect on the U.S. economy. The ensuing economic crisis plagued Gerald Ford's time in office and was one of the factors in his 1976 defeat.

THE WAR POWERS ACT was passed by Congress, over Nixon's veto, as a reaction to preidential actions in the Vietnam conflict. Its goal was to limit the president's ability to make war without having a formal declaration from Congress. It has been viewed as unconstitutional by each successive president and virtually ignored by all of them and by Congress.

In 1973, the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion carried the rights of privacy and women to unprecedented levels in America. However, the ruling has also become the most significant political wedge issue in many judicial nominations and elections. In today's society, abortion has become one of the most emotionally charged issues

the FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT was passed in 1966 and later strengthened after Watergate. it required government agencies to provide proof of why items were classified as secret and to provide information not labeled secret for public use. After 1975, FBI files that had been exempt became available to the public.

The term New Left was adopted by radical youths such as Tom Hayden, who was a founding member of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in 1960. Criticizing American capitalism and focusing on individual freedom, the New Left consisted mainly of student groups, growing more militant as unrest spread from campus to campus.

On May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard shot into a crowd of students at Kent State University who were protesting the Vietnam War. They killed four and wounded nine. The shootings came to symbolize the huge political and social divisions within the nation, bring national attention to the issue. It was suggested by H. R. Haldeman in The Ends of Power that this had a huge impact on American politics.

In 1971, the New York Times published the leaked Pentagon Papers detailing information about the Vietnam War. The Justice Department tried to block this in New York Times Co. v. US. The Supreme Court, however, overturned the Justice Department's order to restrict free press in the interests of national security, thereby firmly protecting the freedom of the press.

The Voting Rights Act guaranteed all Americans the right to vote. It allowed the federal government to intervene in elections in order to ensure that minorities could vote. It restricted literacy and character tests in specific cases. Because of this and other acts, Black voters were able to register en masse and become significant in poliical affairs.

The NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN was formed in 1966 and functions to advocate for and raise public awareness of women's issues. NOW was a central part of the women's liberation movement in the 1960s.

Beginning with Kennedy, American troops became increasingly involved in fighting against Communist North Vietnam. Yet, when the United States realized it could not win, it entered the Paris Accords, settling the terms of withdrawal and ending the war with North Vietnam. However, the treaty left the conflict unresolved, and the North eventually reunited Vietnam under common rule.

The actions of Richard Nixon concerning the WATERGATE break in severely damaged confidence in the presidency. This coupled with the subsequent pardon of Nixon by his successor, Gerald Ford, eroded the belief that the president was accountable for his ations. The result was a strong disillusionment with government and a decline in political interest as evidenced in declining voter turnout.