Richard Milhous Nixon

Birth-Death: (1913 - 1994 ) Term: (1969-1974 )

President Nixon's administration attacked various problems that the nation was experiencing. The 26th Amendment was ratified under the call of many Americans who felt that as soldiers sent to Vietnam at age 18, they should have the right to vote. Nixon's efforts against inflation proved to be successful, and he followed this by ending American fighting in Vietnam.

Domestic Events of Richard Nixon

    The years during the presidency of Richard Nixon were marked by vigor and activity among the people of the United States. This vigor was boosted when, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Colonel Edwin Aldrin, Jr. walked on the moon. "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," is the famous quote. Although people have doubted the necessity of the Apollo program it certainly provided a boost to the patriotic attitude of the American People.

    Individual Rights were expanded during Nixon's presidency. The twenty-sixth amendment was proposed on March 20, 1971 and was ratified by June 30th. It expanded the voting population of the United States to include the people between eighteen and twenty one years of age. A new amendment, reaffirming that the "equal protection of all laws" clause of the Fourteenth Amendment also applied to women, was proposed. However, it failed to gain ratification by the necessary 38 states.

    In 1971 President Nixon declared war on inflation. For decades leading economists had looked at inflation as the enemy of the economy. Nixon, judged the situation so intolerable that he implemented government controls to decrease inflation even further. All pay raises for Federal employees were postponed, the gold standard was completely repealed, allowing the dollar to fluctuate in the open market. The first phase of the New Economic Policy (NEP) lasted 90 days and upon the successful completion, Congress passed phase two, with the goal of decreasing the rate of inflation by two to three percent yearly.

    In the end of Nixon's term an energy crisis hit the United States. After the Yom Kippur war, the oil producing countries decided to cut off the shipment of oil to the U.S. and other countries that supported Israel. The situation turned into a huge crisis for the United States. Some gas stations ran out of gas; others had long lines of cars waiting to fill up. Congress was startled and in a panic atmosphere authorized the construction of an oil pipeline through Alaska, connecting the mainland Unites States with the port of Valdez.