Domestic Policy and Affairs

When Nixon was in his presidential seat, USA was suffering from stagflation, which means high inflation and high unemployment rate. The unemployment rate reached 6%, and Nixon’s worries grew. Nixon announced wage and price freeze, tax cut, and called for 10 percent import tax. Things looked better during the early 1970s, during the economic boom. Then in 1973, Oil shock reached USA and the inflation was raised again up to 12% and the economy continued to get worse.

While he was in presidential seat, he passed on many laws. In the year of 1970, Nixon proposed to create Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which tried to prevent on the job accidents and deaths. Also to help the environment, he proposed an Environmental Protection Agency, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He also proposed Clean Air Act, which reduced air pollutions that was produced from cars. He also passed the National Health Insurance Partnership Program, which promoted health maintenance organizations. Nixon proposed lot more programs that benefited many people, and increased Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. He also tried to bring diversity between races and end segregation in school. He proposed the desegregation busing, which helped to overcome effect of local segregation.

However, there was one domestic event that ended his presidential life. On June 17, 1972, five men were caught for sneaking into the Democratic National Committee. They were Virgilio Gonzalez, Bernard Barker, James W. McCord Jr., Eugenio Martinez, and Frank Sturgis. During the investigation, they found out that they were all somehow involved with the Committee to Re-elect the President. (CREEP) Soon they found out that E. Howard Hunt Jr. and G. Gordon Liddy were behind this. Hunt was part of the CREEP during the reelection of Richard Nixon, which bought suspicions that Nixon might be behind this. During the investigation, they found letters that was from the White House to the verdicts to remain silence and admit their guilt. Then Nixon tried to cover up all of their misdeeds and audio tapes of conversation that he recorded. However many w witnesses, such as Alexander P. Butterfield, revealed about the audio tapes. Watergate special prosecutors asked for the tapes for evidence, but Nixon refused. However, because the public was upset and required Nixon to turn in the tapes, Nixon had to turn in the tapes on July 23, 1972 including the tapes known as the “Smoking Guns”. Soon people turned their backs on him and his presidency was over. On August 8, 1974, Richard M. Nixon announced his resignation.