1970s US Politics

	The 1970s
		1970s CE

1970 On April 30, announced that U.S. combat troops were being sent into Cambodia to destroy enemy sanctuaries.	1971
1972 Visited China in February. Met in Moscow with Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev in May, signed agreements limiting antiballistic missiles (ABM) systems and offensive missile launchers. In June, five men were arrested for breaking into the headquarters for the Democratic National Committee. The subsequent investigation of the "Watergate affair" led to the downfall of the Nixon presidency in 1974. Overwhelmingly reelected in November 520-17-1EV. George McGovern John Hospers	1973 The Vietnam cease-fire agreement was signed in January. On October 10, Spiro T. Agnew resigned as vice president and pleaded no contest to one count of income tax evasion. The president name Gerald R. Ford as his successor.
1974 Toured the Middle East in June. Resigned as president, effective at noon on August 9. Gerald Ford nominated Nelson A. Rockefeller as vice president. Granted Richard M. Nixon an "absolute" pardon for all federal crimes he may have "committed or taken par t in" while president. In Vladivostok, USSR, joined Soviet General Secretary Brezhnev in signing a tentative agreement listing the number of offensive strategic nuclear weapons and delivery vehicles through 1985. 1st Lady: Betty	1975 In April, South Vietnam surrendered to the Communists, ending the war in Southeast Asia. U.S. evacuation from the nation was completed. In May, U.S. forces rescued 39 crewmen of the U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez, seized by Cambodia.
1976 Led the nation in marking its 200th birthday. Defeated by Jimmy Carter 297-240EV in his bid to win a full term.	1977 Jimmy Carter 1st Lady: Rosalynn In September, signed treaties providing for U.S. operation of the Panama Canal to the end of 1999 and for the permanent neutralization of the canal. Department of Energy established.
1978 With Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat, signed the "Framework of Peace in the Middle East" and the "Framework for the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty Between Egypt and Israel," following eleven days of U.S.-sponsored talks at Camp David. The treaty was signed on March 26, 1979. In December, China and the U.S. agreed to establish diplomatic relations.	1979 Signed a bill creating the Department of Education. Reached Strategic Arms Limitation Agreement with Soviet President Brezhnev. Protesting U.S. support of the Shah, radical Iranian students seized a group of American diplomats and embassy officials in Tehran in November. The "hostage crisis" clouded the remaining months of the Carter presidency.

1970s