us_ch12_Gerald-Ford

=**Ford Administration**=

You need your Chapter 12 packet. Turn to the journal and answer the section 1 question (What do you know about the Middle East now regarding Israel and Islamic nations?).

Now, turn to your daily lesson guide.

**__Pardoning Nixon__:**
Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon for any crimes associated with Watergate. Presidents have the power to pardon any citizen except himself/herself. Ford was the only "unelected" President. When Spiro Agnew resigned due to charges of bribery, Nixon appointed Ford as the new Vice President. Then, when Nixon resigned due to Watergate, Ford became President. When Gerald R. Ford took the oath of office on August 9, 1974, he declared, "I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances.... This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts." One of Ford's first acts as president was pardoning Nixon. Ford claimed that the nation needed to move forward and not be tied. Give the pardoning of Nixon your pinhead or patriot label and why.

**__Vietnam__:**
Military aid to South Vietnam was slashed and the Communist North invaded. Congress refused funding that was pushed by Ford. U.S. citizens evacuated Saigan as the Communists were taking control.  The brutal Communists took over and killed millions in “re-education programs.” The Domino Theory was proving true as Communism also spread to Cambodia with the Khmer Rouge led by the brutal dictator Pol Pot. 

**__Middle East Turmoil__: **
History reminder à  conflict stems from Jewish homeland Israel in post-WWII world; Islamic extremists in the Middle East became hostile towards Israel; Suez Canal Crisis (Egypt under Nasser) was an example in 1956.      Long gas lines and a major gas shortage was a painful effect of the oil crisis.
 * __Six Day War (1967)__: Nasser wanted to “wipe Israel off the map;” Israel attacked rather than wait to be attacked fighting against Egypt, Jordan, and Syria; Israel won the Sinai, Golan Heights, and the West Bank filling out its Biblical boundaries; they also unified Jerusalem.
 * __Yom Kippur War (1973)__: Egypt’s military rebuilt by Anwar al-Sadat and attacked Israel on their holiest time with supplies from the USSR; Cold War implications since Israel’s leader Golda Meir convinced Nixon to airlift supplies – saved Israel; shaky truce.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">__Oil Crisis of 1973__: After the war, OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) cut production and boosted prices – against Israel’s allies; impacts on the U.S. The g overnment set maximum speed limits at 55 mph; fuel-efficient standards put on auto makers; when Ford came into office in 1974 he had to deal with the recession that developed.

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">__Cold War policy__: **
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">SALT II signed between the U.S. and USSR that put limits on launchers (Ford failed to distinguish between warheads and launchers) – this put the U.S. at a disadvantage because the Soviets couldn’t keep up with the U.S. in producing launchers. Therefore, when the SALT agreement was to limit launchers, the Soviets really didn’t have to limit much…the U.S. had to eliminate some launchers. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Ford was weak in dealing with foreign leaders and the USSR’s Leonid Brezhnev was a hard-line Communist, but a series of strokes left him a semi-invalid and therefore vulnerable. The biggest Soviet concerns were ABMs (Antiballistic Missiles) allowed in SALT I and MIRV (multiple reentry vehicles) that could carry up to 10 MIRVs and could hit 10 different targets. Ford and his advisors failed to distinguish between warheads and launchers. One area that Ford felt he had success was in the Helsinki Accords that were signed by 35 nations for improved relations between the West and Communist Bloc and agreed to more human rights.

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">__Economic Stagflation__: **
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Term given to a stagnant economy and inflation. Higher oil prices as a result of the Middle East turmoil drove up the cost of production in the U.S. forcing layoffs and along with Great Society spending pushed the U.S. into a recession. In addition, regulations hurt business and kept from economic expansion. Gerald Ford encouraged the public to wear WIN buttons for Whip Inflation Now; inflation eroded savings which lead to need of women to work. The 1970s recession shattered the beliefs that Keynesian economics would revive an economy. When government announced new programs, businesses assumed taxes would go up and so responded in price increases. For was an honest president, but lacked the ability to solve the recession plus he faced a hostile Congress looking to destroy the Republican Party. Ford had no desires for tax cuts, which would’ve been turned down by Congress anyways. The damage to the economy was done by Johnson-Nixon spending along with environmental and workplace regulations put on businesses. WIN was more of public relations gimmick; introduced income tax increase on corporations and the wealthy (opposite of 1920s and 1946) as well as some cuts to spending. He would later push for tax cuts (1975-76). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">__First Lady Betty Ford__: **
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Increased awareness of breast cancer and addiction; the Betty Ford Center helps in substance abuse and addiction. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">__Interesting Facts about Ford__: **
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">He was the president for America's bicentennial (200th birthday). As a child, Ford made Eagle Scout. He played the position of center on Michigan's football team in college. Ford was really born Leslie Lynch King Jr. but his mother left his father 16 days after his birth due to abuse. His mother met a man named Gerald Ford and young Leslie King Jr. took the name of his stepfather. Ford is the only President to have worked as a model. Portrayed as a bumbler – played by Chevy Chase on Saturday Night Live; Ford was a Yale graduate and well-education and intelligent; LBJ once said Ford must’ve played without his helmet; having a chance to turn it around in the 1976 campaign, he stumbled and failed to out-debate the younger Jimmy Carter. Ford gave a ceremonial presidential pardon to General Robert E. Lee. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">[[image:ryanhill1/gerald-ford.jpg width="284" height="221" caption="President Gerald Ford"]]
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Give Ford your evaluation...here are some highlights:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Ford came into the presidency finding himself in circumstances beyond his control.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Immediately had to deal with inflation, try to revive struggling economy; deal with oil shortage, and try to help bring about world peace.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Pardoned Nixon
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Economic recession – inflation – WIN buttons
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Helsinki Accords – continuation of detente
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Vietnam (wanted to help South – denied funds by Congress)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">On social issues he favored allowing each state to decide their position on abortion (wife support pro-choice, which Ford later believed).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Signed a bill which began special education in the U.S.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">Tough to accomplish much with a hostile Congress (controlled by Democrats).

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 13px;">HOMEWORK #1: Go back to the Chapter 12 main page using the link below. Upload Homework #1. This assignment requires you to use your textbook. It is due Monday.

Back to Chapter 12 main page