Political Climate of the 1970s Paper

The 1970s for the United States of America was a time of recession, war and a world famous government scandal. The war in Vietnam left the people of the nation in disarray and turmoil. The government took a great deal of abuse from the people with the decisions made during the Vietnam War. President Nixon attempted different strategies than used before to end the Vietnam War with little success. The public’s image of the government was distorted when the Watergate Scandal was made public and Richard Nixon was the first president to resign in U.S. history. The 1970s was a challenging time for the people of the nation and the faith the country had in the government diminished. By the end of the Vietnam War the social outcome of the nation was beaten and battered. The baby boomers of the 1950s were confronted with the draft when they came of age and were forced to fight in the war. Many Americans believed that the U.S. should not be in Vietnam and protested to bring the military home. College campuses were a popular place for protesters and in 1970, four students of Kent State were shot and killed by the Ohio National Guardsman in the attempt to break up a protest. The news traveled fast of the killings and the people of the nation were in shock, including the government. The killings triggered even more protest as the people of the nation rose up against the government and their tactics in the Vietnam War. Draft dodgers were another social outcome of the Vietnam War. More people were fleeing the draft to Canada in attempt to escape the war. An estimated 70,000 draft evaders and "dodgers" were living in Canada by 1972 (N.A., 2002). Human rights were in full swing after the war along with environmental awareness. The political outcome at the end of the Vietnam War was one president electing not to run for a second term and the Republican Party rising. The Vietnam War took a toll on President Johnson’s administration and even had Johnson withdraw from serving a