President Nixons International and Domestic Challenges
Name
Teacher
AP US History
September 20, 2012 President Richard M. Nixon’s administration had to face many international and domestic challenges in the United States between 1968 and 1974, some positive and some negative. His achievements in expanding peaceful relationships with both China and the Soviet Union are contrastingly different with his continuation of the Vietnam War. In the end, Nixon’s scandals and abuse of presidential power caught up to him, and his administration did much to corrode America’s faith in the government. In 1968, Richard Nixon gave his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention(Doc A). He said that it was time for a new leadership for the United States of America, and that new leadership was him. Nixon won in a very close election against Hubert Humphrey and promised to restore law and order to the nation’s cities. What everyone didn’t know was that for him to achieve his future accomplishments, he would destroy the nation’s trust. A positive international challenge that Nixon was involved in was seeking better relations with China. Early in his first term, Nixon and his adviser, Henry Kissinger, began sending subtle proposals hinting at warmer relations to the People’s Republic of China’s government. When both countries hinted at this, Kissinger flew on secret diplomatic missions to Beijing and in July 1971, the President announced that he would visit the PRC the following year. This confused most American’s at the time because they believed that all communists countries were evil. When Nixon flew to China in February and he met with Mao Zedong. Nixon’s visit included a vast shift in the Cold War balance, putting the U.S. and China against the Soviet Union. Several months later, Nixon traveled to the U.S.S.R. and met with Leonid Brezhnev and other Soviet leaders. The result this trip was the signing of the Antiballistic Missile Treaty of 1972. The treaty restricted the number of ICBMs each nation could manufacture
Teacher
AP US History
September 20, 2012 President Richard M. Nixon’s administration had to face many international and domestic challenges in the United States between 1968 and 1974, some positive and some negative. His achievements in expanding peaceful relationships with both China and the Soviet Union are contrastingly different with his continuation of the Vietnam War. In the end, Nixon’s scandals and abuse of presidential power caught up to him, and his administration did much to corrode America’s faith in the government. In 1968, Richard Nixon gave his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention(Doc A). He said that it was time for a new leadership for the United States of America, and that new leadership was him. Nixon won in a very close election against Hubert Humphrey and promised to restore law and order to the nation’s cities. What everyone didn’t know was that for him to achieve his future accomplishments, he would destroy the nation’s trust. A positive international challenge that Nixon was involved in was seeking better relations with China. Early in his first term, Nixon and his adviser, Henry Kissinger, began sending subtle proposals hinting at warmer relations to the People’s Republic of China’s government. When both countries hinted at this, Kissinger flew on secret diplomatic missions to Beijing and in July 1971, the President announced that he would visit the PRC the following year. This confused most American’s at the time because they believed that all communists countries were evil. When Nixon flew to China in February and he met with Mao Zedong. Nixon’s visit included a vast shift in the Cold War balance, putting the U.S. and China against the Soviet Union. Several months later, Nixon traveled to the U.S.S.R. and met with Leonid Brezhnev and other Soviet leaders. The result this trip was the signing of the Antiballistic Missile Treaty of 1972. The treaty restricted the number of ICBMs each nation could manufacture