The year 1972 was a time full of deceit and deception by the United States government. Even though 1972 is marked by despair, peace will be imminent in the near future. In this time period, America began to gain a sense of identity. The year 1972 was the beginning of a new era of serenity due to Richard Nixon’s trip to Moscow and the proposed Equal Rights Amendment. However, the time period was also cursed by the Watergate Burglary and the Vietnam War.
In May of 1972, President Richard Nixon flew to Moscow. He met with the Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev, and other Soviet officials. After four days of discussion, the United States and the USSR reached many agreements, most importantly, the Strategic Arms Limitation …show more content…
The Constitution did not allow women the right to vote, own property, earn equal wages, or custody of their children. The sixties were a prime example of the unequal treatment of women. A woman was quoted stating, “The female doesn't really expect a lot from life. She's here as someone's keeper — her husband's or her children's" (Coontz). Women’s lives were not deemed equally important as men’s lives. Women have been fighting for equal rights for over 200 years. In 1972, the Equal Right Amendment for women was proposed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification on March 22. The ERA granted equality of rights for all genders, and permitted that rights cannot be limited to the account of sex, or Congress can enforce legal action onto the violating party. However, when the ratification deadline passed on June 30, 1982, only thirty-five out of the thirty-eight states ratified the amendment (Francis). Therefore, the ERA was never …show more content…
The U.S. economy was left in shambles due to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s unwillingness to increase taxes. Most of the population of fifty-five million were unemployed, impoverished, and suffering from the emotional and physical ramifications of the war. Men and women who have served in the Vietnam War suffer from PTSD and other psychological disorders such as, depression, anxiety, and alcohol problems (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs). The Watergate Scandal and the Vietnam War lead to the War Power Acts which prohibits a President to send American troops into battle with consent from Congress. Voting age was reduced from 21 to 18 years old; and the military draft was based on a voluntary basis. The war scarred the United States’