-
Richard Nixon
Richard M. Nixon became president on January 20, 1969 after defeating Herbert Humphrey in the election. He also won the election in 1972 for a second term. During Nixon's presidency he visited communist China. He also took the country off of the gold standard. He promised to get the U.S. out of Vietnam, but he ordered the invasion of Cambodia. He is most known for his involvement in the Watergate Scandal. Because of Watergate, Richard Nixon was the first and only president to resign from office. -
Watergate Scandal
On June 17, 1972, some members of the Republican party were caught breaking into the Democrat Party's headquarters located in the Watergate Hotel. They had bugged phones and copied files. Nixon used his power as president to try to cover up this scandal. He paid off White House staff members. He had recorded all of his phone calls. He refused to hand over these tapes. He was ordered to by the Supreme Court. So he altered the tapes. The Senate was getting ready to impeach him when he resigned. -
Munich Olympics
During the Munich Olympics in Germany. Eleven Israeli athletes and trainers were captured by eight Palestinians in a group called Black September. They demanded the release of over 200 prisoners in Israeli prisons. Five of the Black September members were killed during a failed rescue attempt by police. The remaining three kidnappers killed all of the hostages. The three members were captured but released by West German police. Massod spent the next ten years hunting down the remaining members. -
Energy Crisis
On October 17, 1973 the oil company Opec decided they would not sell oil to the U.S. anymore. This was because Israel and several other Middle Eastern countries went to war and there was a huge shortage of oil. This caused a major energy crisis in the U.S. Gasoline was very expensive and there was a limit on how much you could use. There was also a limit on how much other forms of energy you could use such as electricity. Jimmy Carter worked to end this energy crisis. -
Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford became president after the resignation of Richard Nixon on August 9, 1974. Ford served for two years. Ford was the only person to never be elected as president. He was appointed as Nixon's vice president during his second term and became president when Nixon resigned. Ford pardoned Nixon for all crimes that he may or may not have committed as president. The pardon was meant to move the country forward but it also eliminated Ford's chances of being elected for his own term. -
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter was elected in 1976. He was the governor of Georgia and a peanut farmer. He taught Sunday School while he was president. He worked to end the energy crisis. He installed solar panels on the White House. The last days of his administration were consumed with the Iran Hostage Crisis. He lost the election for a second term to Ronald Reagan. Carter is said to be the best ex president ever. -
Three Mile Island
Three Mile Island was a nuclear power plant located in Pennsylvania. On March 28, 1979, the second generator malfunctioned and the plant shutdown. Some steam built up and caused some radiation to escape. This was the closest the U.S. has ever came to a nuclear disaster. Clean up started in 1979 and officially ended in 1993. The clean up cost one billion dollars. There as not been any cases of cancer reported from the workers of Three Mile Island. Many Anit-Nuclear protests took place after this. -
Iran Hostage Crisis
During the Iranian Revolution, Islamic revolutionaries overran the American Embassy and took fifty-two Americans hostage. These Americans were held hostage for 444 days. There were several failed mission to rescue them. This became a major factor in the election of 1980. Reagan was campaigning to get them home. Carter worked to free them. The Iranians waited until they heard that Reagan was inaugurated as president before they let a plane take off that had all of the hostages safe on board. -
U.S. Olympic Hockey Team
On February 22, 1980, during the WInter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team beat the Soviets in the semifinals. The team was made up of amateur and collegiate players. The Soviets had won almost every championship and Olympic tournament since 1954. The U.S. team ended up winning the gold medal by defeating Finland in the finals. The Soviet team won the silver metal. -
Discovery of AIDS
AIDS was first detected in the US in 1981. AIDS weakens the immune system and the body is not able to fight of deceases. It was first thought to be a male homosexual diseases. Once women and children began getting AIDS people realized that it was contagious. People were scared that you could catch AIDS just by someone sneezing. People began getting it from blood transfusions. Science has improved and there are now medicines to help control the AIDS virus. -
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan won the election of 1980 against Jimmy Carter. Reagan was a former movie star and the governor of California. Reagan was known as the "Great Communicator" because regardless of the party everyone listened when he spoke. During his presidency he introduced Trickle-Down Economics, he supported the war on drugs. His administration was accused of being involved in the Iran-Contra Affair. Reagan was influential in ending the Cold War. He also proposed the Star Wars Initiative. -
Iran Contra Affair
In the Iran Contra Affair, senior officials in the Reagan administration were accused of selling weapons illegally to groups in Iran that were trying to overthrow the Iranian government. The money was used to try and stop the spread of communism in South America. Reagan claimed that he did not know about this deal. -
Challenger Explosion
On January 28, 1986, millions of American children sat in front of their TVs to watch live as Christa McAuliffe became the first female teacher in space. Seventy-three seconds into the flight the Challenger broke apart killing all seven of it's crew. The disaster was caused by as small seal failing at liftoff. President Ronald Reagan responded by addressing the nation and especially the children watching the launch, during the time that was set up to be a state of the union address. -
Chernobyl
The worst nuclear disaster in world history happened at Chernobyl in the Ukraine. An explosion happened and two of the reactors catch on fire. A huge could of radiation swept over Europe. Sixty-three people died in the initial explosion. Many people in surrounding area suffered from radiation exposure. Chernobyl Babies were children born with birth defects. This lead to Glasnost which was the opening of the press. This said that news did not have to be approved by the government anymore. -
George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush was elected president with the pledge "Read my lips. No new taxes." This slogan was not the greatest idea because during his presidency the government had to raise taxes. He had served as Reagan's Vice President. Bush was president during Operation Desert Storm. Bush lost reelection to Bill Clinton partly because of the fall in the economy right before the election. -
Fall of Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989. Families were reunited for the first time in many years. Ronald Reagan is credited for causing the wall to be torn down. The Berlin Wall had become a symbol of Soviet aggression. In a speech Reagan ordered Mikel Gorbachev, the Premiere of the Soviet Union to tare down the wall. Shortly after the fall of the wall Germany was reunited into one country and the Soviet Union collapsed. -
Operation Desert Storm
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait to take control of their oil fields. U.S. troops went to assist Kuwait in fighting the Iraqi army and to save the oil industry, in Operation Desert Storm. The operation lasted for six months. By this war warfare had changed to more advanced technology. The U.S. military used Saudi Arabia as a base. This caused Osama Bin Laden who was from Saudi Arabia to begin hating the U.S. and eventually organize the September 11th terrorist attacks. -
Rise of Computers
Computers had been around for several years. At first they only had text. During the 1990's the internet develops and becomes more popular. On August 7, 1991, the first person connected to the internet. They was only on for a few minutes before they were booted off. Once the internet became more accessible to the public the sell of computers began to increase and within a few years most people had one in their home. Today it is hard to imagine how our world would work without the internet.
