Richard Nixon
the former Vice President for Dwight Eisenhower, Nixon was elected to the presidency in 1968 on a promise to end the Vietnam War and on the basis of his prior experience.
Southern strategy
the nickname for the Republican strategy to appeal to Southern Democrats who were angry over recently passed civil rights legislation.
Silent majority
Nixon's term for the large mass of Americans were not protesting openly and instead supported his policies.
Robert Kennedy
the brother of John Kennedy, the former Attorney General and senator from New York, Kennedy was the leading candidate for the democratic nomination in 1968 until his assassination.
Hubert Humphrey
the governor of Minnesota and the eventual democratic candidate for the presidency in 1968.
George Wallace
a southern democrat turned "Dixiecrat," Wallace ran for the presidency in 1968 as a pro-segregationist candidate.
Eugene McCarthy
this pro-peace senator won the New Hampshire primary over Lyndon Johnson, causing the president to announce he would not seek reelection.
Dixiecrats
formerly southern democrats who supported George Wallace's presidential campaign in 1968.
1968 Democratic national convention, Chicago
the harsh crackdown on anti-war protestors by Chicago police caused a national uproar.
"Stagflation"
an economic situation in which inflation is high, economic growth slows, and unemployment remains high.
Nixon's visit to China
this diplomatic trip formally opened relations between communist china and the US. And was a major foreign relations victory for Nixon.
SALT I and II
two nuclear arms treaties signed between the US and the USSR
Detente
the easing of strained foreign relations between the US and the USSR that began in the late 1960.
Watergate
a hotel and office complex in Washington, DC, that became the nickname for the political scandal which led to the resignation of Richard Nixon.
George McGovern
the Democratic nominee for the presidency in 1972.
Washington Post
the newspaper which originated most of the coverage of the Watergate scandal.
"The plumbers"
a group of saboteurs who conducted a wide-ranging operation to undermine the Democratic Party, funded in part by money from the Republican Committee to Reelect the President (CREEP)
CREEP
the Committee to Reelect the President, the official fundraising organization of the Nixon campaign in 1972.
Slush fund
a secret fund of unaccounted-for money, used to fund illegal operation against the Democratic Party.
HR Haldemann
the chief of staff for President Nixon and one of the organizers of the "slush fund."
John Erlichmann
one of Nixon's closest aides and one of the men who controlled the "slush fund."
John Dean
the President's lawyer and one of the first to testify about the White House's illegal activities.
John Mitchell
the former Attorney General, Mitchell was the head of CREEP and one of the men who controlled access to the "slush fund."
Archibald Cox
the special prosecutor appointed by Nixon to investigate the Watergate scandal.
The "Saturday Night Massacre"
when Cox refused to relent in his request for access to Nixon's secret White House tapes, Nixon fired him, which caused the deputy special prosecutor to quit in protest.
The "18 1/2 minute gap"
a blank gap in the White House tapes that seemed to signal tampering by Nixon's closest aides.
United States v Nixon
in this case, the Court ruled that Nixon had to surrender the White House tapes to the congressional committee investigating him.
Gerald Ford
Nixon's Vice President, Ford ascended to the presidency after Nixon's resignation in 1974.
Pardon
Ford pardoned Nixon shortly after he became president, which meant that Nixon could never be tried for his alleged role in the Watergate scandal.
Evacuation of Saigon
in 1975, when North Vietnamese forces encircles the South Vietnamese capital, American representatives were forced to evacuate the city, signaling an ignominious end to US involvement in Vietnam.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
a federal law, passed after Watergate, which allowed access by the general public to acts of, and data held by, the federal government.
Privacy Act
a law passed after Watergate that governed the collection and use of personal information held by federal agencies.
Jimmy Carter
the governor of Georgia, Carter ran for the presidency in 1976 as an outsider and defeated Gerald Ford in 1976.
Shah of Iran
the dictator of Iran, American support of which helped cause the Islamic revolution in that country in 1979.
Inflation
a steady rise in prices, which caused an economic crisis in the US in the late 1970s.
Afghanistan
the Soviet Union invaded this nation in 1979, which led to an American boycott of the Olympics the following year and a prolonged, bloody occupation for the USSR.
Boycott
the US refused to participate in the 1980 Olympics as a protest to the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan.