FOREIGN RELATIONS
During the 70s, America went through many different types of foreign policies. We tried to be involved with many different countries and to make itself known on the world stage. That didn’t always work. Through the different Presidents of this decade, different approaches to foreign relation policies were tried. Here are some examples:
President Nixon and China
After the Communist Revolution in 1949, China remained relatively isolated from the rest of the world. Nixon, a strong anti-communist, also believes that: "We simply cannot afford to leave China outside the family of nations." Nixon believed in a future where all the countries in the world would get along and to stop fighting amongst each other. In 1969 Nixon started to make efforts to meet with China and to encourage the people of China to trust America. Nixon also began to withdraw American troops from Vietnam but still provided them with supplies. It wasn’t until 1970 that China’s icy demeanor broke down. No one thought that China would be open to any kind of talk, but in 1972, Nixon announced that he and China agreed to have a meeting. This opening of relations was one of his most dramatic achievements. (PBS.org)
President ford and détente with USSr
President Ford held many of the same views on foreign relations as his predecessor Nixon. Ford tried to come to Détente with Russia. Détente was an effort to lessen tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States that had existed since the end of World War II. It did not imply complete trust, nor was it a formal alliance; it was a period where the two nations began to explore ways in which they could work together for both national security and economic goals. There was a lot of criticism in Ford’s efforts. Many people believed that coming to terms with USSR was a strategic failure because they are a country that has illegitimate goals and was not to be trusted. (MillerCenter.Org)
Pres. Carter and the Hostage Crisis
President Carter believed in the safety of all people. It was this that got him into trouble and what also started the whole Iranian Hostage Crisis. The Shah was exiled from Iran because the people were “fed up” with the government. Once in exile, he developed a cancerous malignant lymphoma. Carter allowed the Shaw to come to America for treatment. His decision was humanitarian, not political; nevertheless, as one American later noted, it was like throwing “a burning branch into a bucket of kerosene.” Anti-American sentiment in Iran exploded. Once the Shah arrived in New York, Students in Tehran broke the gates and scaled the walls of the US embassy, taking 66 hostages. After several failed attempts to get the hostages out, during the 1980 elections President Carter lost to Ronald Reagan. The hostages were released the same day as Reagan’s inaugural speech after 444 days of captivity. (History.com)