Content Summary
End of Watergate
President Nixon was successful in his attempt to pull out of Vietnam and was able to ease tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. However, Nixon's regime will always be tarnished by the scandal that took him down, Watergate. During this unit we will review the end result of Watergate and get students to think about the morale of the country and America's opinion on the Presidency and their faith in the federal government.
Ford- "WIN" and Carter "Crisis of Confidence"
After Watergate and Nixon's resignation, President Ford had the unique task of trying to repair the nation's faith in government while taking care of issues abroad and dealing with the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression. Inflation was at an all time high and questions about Ford's integrity after granting a pardon for Nixon, were all major dents in Fords regime. He stood by his plan to stop inflation, called "Whip Inflation Now" or "WIN" which ultimately failed.
Then comes President Carter. After winning the 1976 election, Carter promised to restore the faith in the presidency and tried to become a "citizens" president. He had no ties to the current government and spoke honestly to the people and was a born again Christian. However, his inexperience and his lack of ties to government ended up hurting him in the long run. Carter did nothing to help inflation and the ever growing energy crisis that swept through the country. This led to major lines at gas pumps, gas rationing, and the closing of some major factories. Carter recognized that the confidence of the country was dwindling, so he came on the airwaves to rally the country and work to make things better, called his "Crisis of Confidence" speech, which will be covered in the lessons.
Ford and Carter Foreign Policy
Not only did Ford and Carter have issues at home, but abroad as well. Terrorism caused fear across the globe, and especially in the Middle East. While Ford and the Soviet Union tried to improve relations, and ultimately signing the SALT II treaty, disarming the USSR, tensions were at an all time high in the middle east under Carter with Egyptians invading Israel and coup's in Afghanistan and Iran. One event that caused a black cloud over the Carter regime was the Iran Hostage Crisis when Iranian college students, with help from the Ayatollah Khomeini, stormed the US embassy and took 66 Americans hostage for 444 days. In the lesson we will take a look at a diary from one of the hostages and discuss what he went through during that time.
"Miracle on Ice"
Finally, the last thing we will cover is the historical significance of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team, and their stunning upset over the Soviets. Some of you might say that this is irrelevant but when you look at it in a historical sense, it is far from irrelevant. With all that happened in the 70s and even more so in the late 70s, Americans needed a morale boost, something they can hang their hat on. So they jumped on the backs of 20 college kids (mostly from Boston and Minnesota, which had a huge hockey rivalry at the time) and rode them through the tough olympic schedule to the medal round where they faced the heavily favored Soviet squad who have been playing together for almost two decades. The students will learn that even though things might be tough and different events might get you down, anything can happen if you just believe in yourself.
End of Watergate
President Nixon was successful in his attempt to pull out of Vietnam and was able to ease tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. However, Nixon's regime will always be tarnished by the scandal that took him down, Watergate. During this unit we will review the end result of Watergate and get students to think about the morale of the country and America's opinion on the Presidency and their faith in the federal government.
Ford- "WIN" and Carter "Crisis of Confidence"
After Watergate and Nixon's resignation, President Ford had the unique task of trying to repair the nation's faith in government while taking care of issues abroad and dealing with the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression. Inflation was at an all time high and questions about Ford's integrity after granting a pardon for Nixon, were all major dents in Fords regime. He stood by his plan to stop inflation, called "Whip Inflation Now" or "WIN" which ultimately failed.
Then comes President Carter. After winning the 1976 election, Carter promised to restore the faith in the presidency and tried to become a "citizens" president. He had no ties to the current government and spoke honestly to the people and was a born again Christian. However, his inexperience and his lack of ties to government ended up hurting him in the long run. Carter did nothing to help inflation and the ever growing energy crisis that swept through the country. This led to major lines at gas pumps, gas rationing, and the closing of some major factories. Carter recognized that the confidence of the country was dwindling, so he came on the airwaves to rally the country and work to make things better, called his "Crisis of Confidence" speech, which will be covered in the lessons.
Ford and Carter Foreign Policy
Not only did Ford and Carter have issues at home, but abroad as well. Terrorism caused fear across the globe, and especially in the Middle East. While Ford and the Soviet Union tried to improve relations, and ultimately signing the SALT II treaty, disarming the USSR, tensions were at an all time high in the middle east under Carter with Egyptians invading Israel and coup's in Afghanistan and Iran. One event that caused a black cloud over the Carter regime was the Iran Hostage Crisis when Iranian college students, with help from the Ayatollah Khomeini, stormed the US embassy and took 66 Americans hostage for 444 days. In the lesson we will take a look at a diary from one of the hostages and discuss what he went through during that time.
"Miracle on Ice"
Finally, the last thing we will cover is the historical significance of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team, and their stunning upset over the Soviets. Some of you might say that this is irrelevant but when you look at it in a historical sense, it is far from irrelevant. With all that happened in the 70s and even more so in the late 70s, Americans needed a morale boost, something they can hang their hat on. So they jumped on the backs of 20 college kids (mostly from Boston and Minnesota, which had a huge hockey rivalry at the time) and rode them through the tough olympic schedule to the medal round where they faced the heavily favored Soviet squad who have been playing together for almost two decades. The students will learn that even though things might be tough and different events might get you down, anything can happen if you just believe in yourself.