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A Matter of Simple Justice
On October 1, 1969, President Nixon established the President’s Task Force on Women’s Rights and Responsibilities to study the status of women in American life and to recommend what could be done on the governmental level to improve their lives and advance...
President Nixon and the Cooperation of Nations
Few presidents grasped the importance of international cooperation as President Nixon. From the Vietnam War to the Arab-Israeli conflict, RN understood that in order to have successful action on the world stage, it was necessary to create and maintain positive...
China and the Four-Power Talks in the Middle East
The presidency of Richard Nixon was known for its achievements in the stage of foreign policy, most notably the opening of communist China to the rest of the world. However, exposing a new major power to the global stage created a few complications, including what to...
Oil Issues in the Mid-East
In 1971, the United States relied on the Middle East to meet 11.7% of its oil requirements, and imports were rising. Multiple nations in the region were rich with petroleum reserves and made their fortune off of their sales. The United Arab Emirates were established...
Nixon On the Record: End China’s Isolation
President Nixon addresses Midwestern media executives in Kansas City on July 6 1971.44 years ago, President Nixon acknowledged the harsh reality of America's standing in the world: that it could no longer claim global hegemony in an increasingly multi-polar and...
Enter Barbara Hackman Franklin
In a memorandum to the heads of the executive departments and agencies dated April 21, 1971, President Richard Nixon announced a program to recruit top women for mid- and high-level positions in the federal government. The president wrote, “it has been my desire to...
Diplomacy Under Smoggy Skies
“Tokyo Threatened by Killing Pollution” was the headline that greeted newspaper readers on December 9th, 1970. The article, a piece by Michael Hornsby written originally for the Times in London, detailed Japan's environmental struggles. It began by covering Tokyo's...
Okinawa Down…More Issues to Go
This political cartoon from August 1971 suggests a foreboding future for relations with Japan. Fortunately, the reality was not so grim.One of the first National Security Study Memoranda (NSSMs) President Nixon issued was NSSM 5, a study on US policy toward Japan. The...
Changing Gender Roles and the Equal Rights Amendments
Historically speaking, women have been consigned to the confines of the private, domestic sphere; tradition dictates that women are the homemaker, the caregiver, and the mother. However, how has this tradition been reconciled with the trend of women moving into the...
The Origins of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 is one of the most important pieces of environmental policy passed in the 20th century. Often referred to as the Magna Carta of Environmental Policy, it laid out a uniform national approach to environmental issues. Its...