| A | B |
|---|
| Divided Democrats over the Vietnam War, George Wallace's candidacy, and a "secret plan" to win the Vietnam War | Richard Nixon wins the 1968 Election |
| Vietnamization | A gradual decline of U.S. ground forces in Vietnam during the Nixon Administration as the war was turned over to ARVN |
| Ideological divisions and geopolitical differences between China and the Soviet Union | Nixon and Kissinger's policy of Ping Pong Diplomacy and playing the Soviets and Chinese off one another |
| Détente | A thaw in the Cold War with improved relations between the U.S. and USSR and the SALT Treaty |
| Nixon's realization that white conservative Southerners were tired of the Democratic Party's liberalism and stance on civil rights | The GOP embarks on a "Southern Strategy" and the South makes the switch from being predominately Democratic to it being predominately Republican today |
| Nixon's paranoia and fears of losing the 1972 Election to George McGovern | Creation of Committee to Reelect the President (CREEP) and the Watergate break-in |
| The continued investigation of the Watergate break-in by Woodward and Bernstein | Revealed there were tapes in the White House and this was no ordinary burglary |
| Nixon's insistence of withholding the tapes because of executive privilege | The Saturday Night Massacre, United States v. Richard M. Nixon (1974), and the tapes were central focus of the Watergate Scandal |
| The certainty that Nixon would be impeached and convicted | Nixon resigned on 8 August 1974 |
| The Kennedy assassination, Watergate, Nixon's "enemies list", the publication of the Pentagon Papers | Decline of faith and trust of the American people in the government and a sharp increase in cynicism |
| The desire to limit the President's power as commander-in-chief to send troops into combat without Congressional approval | Passage of the War Powers Act (1973) |
| Gerald Ford wanting to quickly put the Watergate scandal behind the American people | Nixon is pardoned a month after his resignation |
| Excessive government spending from the Great Society and Vietnam, the OPEC Oil Embargo | Stagflation in the 1970s that ends the post-World War II economic boom |
| The American people's disgust with Washington D.C. politicians | Increased appeal of "outsiders" such as Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan |
| The Camp David Accords | Long-lasting peace between Israel and Egypt that reduces the possibility of wars in the Middle East between Israel and its Arab neighbors |
| Iran Hostage Crisis | Carter looked inept in foreign policy and furthered the decline of confidence the American people had |
| The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan | End of détente and renewed tension between the U.S. and USSR |
| The rise of the religious right and power of the Sunbelt, and a backlash against the liberal excesses of the 1960s | The surge of conservatism in the late 1970s resulting in Ronald Reagan winning the presidency in 1980 |
| Reagan's beliefs in cutting taxes and increasing defense spending to meet the renewed Cold War | Dramatic increase in yearly budget deficits and skyrocketing national debt |
| Reagan inspired by Coolidge's handling of the Boston Police Strike | Reagan put down the Air Traffic Controllers' Strike because "there is no right to strike against the public at any time" |
| Reagan's popularity and ability to restore confidence in the American people | Reagan was overwhelmingly reelected in 1984 |
| Congress prohibiting direct aid to the Contras in Nicaragua | Reagan had to funnel money through Iran to the assist the Contras in their fight against the leftist Sandinistas |
| Iran-Contra Scandal | Revealed Reagan to be the so-called Teflon President but leaving too much to subordinates |
| Gorbachev assuming power in the Soviet Union in 1985 | Glasnost and perestroika and an unwillingness to work with Reagan |
| The fall of the Berlin Wall | Reunification of Germany and a sign that communism was on the way out in Eastern Europe |
| The end of the Cold War | The U.S. is the world's lone superpower and a bit uncertain of its role in the world |
| The refusal of Iraq and Saddam Hussein to evacuate Kuwait | The Persian Gulf War (1991) |
| The recession late in George H.W. Bush's administration | Clinton's victory in the Election of 1992- "It’s the economy stupid" |
| The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) | Removal of tariffs and trade barriers between Mexico, the U.S., and Canada |
| Newt Gingrich leading the Republican opposition to Clinton | The Contract With America |
| Monica Lewinsky Scandal | Bill Clinton was impeached for perjury |
| The contested results in Florida during the 2000 Election | The Supreme Court ruled there would be no recount and thus George W. Bush the winner |
