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RICHARD NIXON: THE POLITICS OF CONFRONTATION

Richard Nixon was elected in 1968, winning against his running mate, Hubert Humphrey, in a
very close race.
Nixon wanted to be an activist president, but he didnt have the support of the Congress with
his conservative proposals because the Congress was controlled by the Democrats who
previously favored the Great Society legislation of Lyndon Johnson
Nixons strategy was to use his powers as chief executive officer of the government to their
fullest extent to achieve his goals and to use his constitutional powers as president against the
Congress.
The control of the money to run programs, one of the advantages of power, was split by The
Framers between the Congress (the power to appropriate money, but dependent on
presidential veto) and the president (has the authority to spend the funds in carrying out the
laws).
Nixon decided to use the strategy of impoundment and refused to spend funds on programs he
disapproved of, regardless of the law or Congress, if he could not convince the Congress to make
the cuts and programmatic changes in the budget that he proposed.
Nixon followed the examples of other president who used the same technique and refused to
spend funds, such as President Truman, Eisenhower or Kennedy. However, Nixons action is
differentiated in several ways:
He impounded larger amounts than any other president
He tried to eliminate entire programs by impounding funds
He claimed that he had the constitutional power to do that
His actions were confronted in federal courts across the country and one of the most significant
cases is that from the fall of 1972, when Nixon decided to veto the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act amendments for building water- pollution abatement plants; when both houses
vetoed to override the presidents veto, he went on impounding the funds anyway.
His administration is rendered as an Imperial Presidency and his actions had repercussions
over the years because they transformed relations between the branches.






JIMMY CARTER: THE MORAL EQUIVALENT OF WAR
During Jimmy Carters mandate, both the presidency and the houses of Congress were
controlled by the Democrats, which led to the belief that a productive legislative period would
follow.
Carters goals and legislative proposals included welfare reform, health care, the tax system and
energy.
Since 1973, U.S depended on foreign countries for oil and between 1973 and 1976 the price of
gasoline almost doubled. In his first year of presidency, Carter channeled his efforts towards the
energy issue. After the election he named James Schlesinger to be his secretary of energy and
come up with a project to deal with the nation's energy problems.
However, Carter's plan had some drawbacks as well as advantages: the task was carried out in
complete secrecy by Schlesinger and his team, meaning that not even a member of Congress
was included into the process
When the plan was ready, on April 18, Carter delivered a speech about the energy issue. He
stated that "Ours is the most wasteful nation on Earth. We waste more energy than we import.
His plan included a gasoline tax increase, a tax on gas-guzzling cars, the development of
alternative energy sources such as nuclear and solar power. In the end, Carter could not
convince the people that the crisis was so bad and that his package was the solution to all the
problems.
However, on August 1977 the administration bill passed The House but in the Senate, Carter did
not have the same support and in late October, the Senate finally passed an energy bill but
some major parts were changed.
The reaction of congress to the Nixon administration made the institutions less willing to be
cooperative with any president, even a Democrat.
RONALD REAGAN: THE FY1982 BUDGET JUGGERNAUT
When he won the election over Jimmy Carter in 1980, Reagan promised to cut taxes, to balance
the budget and to restore Americas military forces during his term.
Contrary to most expectations, Reagan accomplished much of his agenda. Even before the
election, David Stockman began planning for the budget changes. Reagans decisions were
supported by the Senate, whose majority was captured by Republicans, but the House of
Representatives (who was controlled by the Democrats) was a challenge for the administration.
On 5
th
February 1980, Reagan warned the Congress of an economic calamity if it refuses to pass
his program. A couple of weeks after that, he presented his program Program for Economic
Recovery to the Congress and on March 10 he released Fiscal Year 1982 Budget Revisions.


Reagan demonstrated that he could control the Democratic House and he had them voting for
him on both budget resolutions.
The measures took by Reagan included the largest spending cuts in the US history and very few
predicted that he could do such drastic shifts, but eventually he accomplished his major
priorities.
CLINTON AND THE TWO CONGRESSES: A STUDY IN CONTRAST
Bill Clintons first term legislative record was a paradox. His presidency spanned over the course
of 2 Congresses: the 103
rd
Congress, a Democratic Congress, and the 104
th
, a Republican one.
Clinton was an impressive lobbyer of Congress and he used all his assets to court the
Congress: he invited to the White House members of both branches and he personally phone
called them; he showed empathy and sympathized with his listeners, ready to make deals and
compromise.
His campaign proposed a number of issues in which he would engage but despite his promise,
the new administration was not ready to go with its economic plan until February 1993.
During the 104
th
congress, The Republicans passed a budget for fiscal year 1996 in the fall of
1995. It contained cuts in the projected expenditures for programs in education; environment,
Medicare and Medicaid, but the president vetoed the Republicans budget. The republicans
stood firm but they did not have enough votes to override Clintons veto. The republicans
thought that the president would give in but he didnt and the government shut down for 6 days
in October and then for about 2 weeks at the end of the year.
However, during the spring and summer of 1996, the 2 parties saw the necessity of cooperation
for the mutual benefit and a number of significant pieces of legislation passed such as an
increase in the minimum wage or changes in portability of health insurance.

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