1. Regardless of the outcome, should the President of the United States have a right to privacy in regards to the Oval Office tapes? Explain.
I believe that the President should have the right to privacy of recordings which took place in the privacy of the Oval Office. Although these tapes were being covered up because they held incriminating information against the president, it could have been because they had important information on a matter of national secruity. When we elect a President into office, we are intrusting him to protect us, and we muct give him a certain amount of privacy in order to do that.
2. Was President Nixon justified when he fired special prosecutor Archibald Cox? Explain.
I feel that in some cases a president would be justified to fire a special prosecutor, but in this specific situation, President Nixon was not. The President needs to be confortable with the fact that he has surrounded himself with people in the government whom he can trust. However, in this case, Nixon only wanted to fire Cox because he feared he was going to reveal some of Nixon's wrongdoings whale in office, which had nothing to do with national security or his ability to fulfill his obligations as commander in chief.
3. Was Nixon creating a Constitutional crisis by refusing to hand-over the tapes? Explain.
A crisis was indeed created by this incident. When Nixon refused Congress's order to turn over the oval office tapes, he created an inbalence between the three branches of government.
4. Why do you think the American public was so outraged by Watergate?
The public was outraged by the Watergate scandal because it caused them to lose a great amount of trust in their government. The President had lied to them all, and they felt betrayed.
5. Do you think President Nixon should have resigned? Explain.
I do not feel it was the right move for Nixon to resign the presidency. Even with all of his misdeeds in office, all resigning the office did was create a lack of stability in the office, and Nixon had already done alot of good for the nation as president, such as opening up communication with China.
6. Do you think President Nixon should have been prosecuted? Explain.
I do feel that after he finished his time as President, Nixon should have been prosictuted. It needed to be shown that nobody is above the law, including the president.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Watergate: Nixon's Downfall
1. How were the "plumbers" connected to President Nixon?
They were a group of men who helped President Nixon cover up leaks of information in the press. These are the same gentelmen who broke into the DNC at Watergate.
2. Who was the judge? Why did he hand out maximum sentences?
John Sirica was the judge and he handed out the maximum sentences because he believed that it was important to hold the White House responsable for their crimes.
3. How were Mitchell and Dean connected to Nixon?
Dean was a former White House counsil under the Nixon administration. Mitchell was Nixon's attorney general when the break in occured.
4. How were Haldeman and Erlichman connected to Nixon?
They were both members of Nixon's "inner circle. Haldeman was his chief of staff and Erlichman was his Chief domestic advisor.
5. What did the following men tell the Senate about Nixon?
a. Dean
Dean said that Nixon was involved in the cover up and even held meetings on how to successfuly excecute the cover up.
b. Butterfield
Butterfield revealed that President Nixon taped all of his conversations regarding the cover up.
6. Who was fired or forced to resign in the "massacre"?
Attorney General Richardson was forced to resign because he would not fire Cox for working to get the tapes revealed to the public. The deputy Atorney General also refused and was fired. Cox was eventually fired that night by Robert Bork.
They were a group of men who helped President Nixon cover up leaks of information in the press. These are the same gentelmen who broke into the DNC at Watergate.
2. Who was the judge? Why did he hand out maximum sentences?
John Sirica was the judge and he handed out the maximum sentences because he believed that it was important to hold the White House responsable for their crimes.
3. How were Mitchell and Dean connected to Nixon?
Dean was a former White House counsil under the Nixon administration. Mitchell was Nixon's attorney general when the break in occured.
4. How were Haldeman and Erlichman connected to Nixon?
They were both members of Nixon's "inner circle. Haldeman was his chief of staff and Erlichman was his Chief domestic advisor.
5. What did the following men tell the Senate about Nixon?
a. Dean
Dean said that Nixon was involved in the cover up and even held meetings on how to successfuly excecute the cover up.
b. Butterfield
Butterfield revealed that President Nixon taped all of his conversations regarding the cover up.
6. Who was fired or forced to resign in the "massacre"?
Attorney General Richardson was forced to resign because he would not fire Cox for working to get the tapes revealed to the public. The deputy Atorney General also refused and was fired. Cox was eventually fired that night by Robert Bork.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Women Fight for Equality
1. Experiences in the workplace
Once women realized the descrimination they faced in the workplace from their emploiers, they were motivated to further the feminist cause to reach the goal of complete equality to men.
2. Experiences in social activism
When women as a collective began to realize that the discrimination they faced when attempting to become involved in social activism, they realized that their cases were not isolated issues, but evidence of a large scale sexism which the country was facing.
3. "Consciousness raising"
Many groups, such as the NOW, were formed around this time in order to make the cause of feminism more widespread and more relevant in legslation. Their passionate activism helped get legislation passed which banned the descrimination of gender when hireing for jobs, and made the cause more widespread and organized.
4. Feminism
All of the previously listed factors went into making the feminst movement very wide spread. Women were finally realizing what they were missing out on, and fought to get it.
5. Betty Friedan and The Feminine Mystique
This magizene because very widespread and helped widen the feminism movement and intensify the passion which drove the women.
6. Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act was the result of the hard work of many feminist activists and officialy made it illegal to descriminate based on gender. It was a major victory for the feminist movemnet.
7. National Organization for Women (NOW)
This foundadition helped increase awareness for the feminist movement and fourght hard for pro-feminist legislation.
8. Gloria Steinem and Ms. Magazine
Steinem and her magizene were more factors which gained support and awareness for the feminist cause. The major boost in awareness for the cause during this time is what fuled the pro-faminist legislation which was passed.
9. Congress
Congress passed legislation which helped the feminist cause, including the Civil Rights act.
10. Supreme Court
At this time the Supreme Court began to make pro-feminist rulings which were major victories for the cause.
11. The Equal rights Amendment would have guaranteed equal rights under the law, regardless of gender. Who opposed this amendment? Why?
Extream conservatives and sexist people opposed this movement because they saw the way of life which they invisioned being lost. The traditional lifestyle of a woman's place being at the home and a man's place being at work was fading and it scared these people.
Once women realized the descrimination they faced in the workplace from their emploiers, they were motivated to further the feminist cause to reach the goal of complete equality to men.
2. Experiences in social activism
When women as a collective began to realize that the discrimination they faced when attempting to become involved in social activism, they realized that their cases were not isolated issues, but evidence of a large scale sexism which the country was facing.
3. "Consciousness raising"
Many groups, such as the NOW, were formed around this time in order to make the cause of feminism more widespread and more relevant in legslation. Their passionate activism helped get legislation passed which banned the descrimination of gender when hireing for jobs, and made the cause more widespread and organized.
4. Feminism
All of the previously listed factors went into making the feminst movement very wide spread. Women were finally realizing what they were missing out on, and fought to get it.
5. Betty Friedan and The Feminine Mystique
This magizene because very widespread and helped widen the feminism movement and intensify the passion which drove the women.
6. Civil Rights Act of 1964
This act was the result of the hard work of many feminist activists and officialy made it illegal to descriminate based on gender. It was a major victory for the feminist movemnet.
7. National Organization for Women (NOW)
This foundadition helped increase awareness for the feminist movement and fourght hard for pro-feminist legislation.
8. Gloria Steinem and Ms. Magazine
Steinem and her magizene were more factors which gained support and awareness for the feminist cause. The major boost in awareness for the cause during this time is what fuled the pro-faminist legislation which was passed.
9. Congress
Congress passed legislation which helped the feminist cause, including the Civil Rights act.
10. Supreme Court
At this time the Supreme Court began to make pro-feminist rulings which were major victories for the cause.
11. The Equal rights Amendment would have guaranteed equal rights under the law, regardless of gender. Who opposed this amendment? Why?
Extream conservatives and sexist people opposed this movement because they saw the way of life which they invisioned being lost. The traditional lifestyle of a woman's place being at the home and a man's place being at work was fading and it scared these people.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Why did the USA lose the Vietnam War?
1. US military tactics in Vietnam
They used traditional warfare tatics against the viet cong's gurella tatics which was uneffective. This is shown by the huge number of casualities that resulted from the war.
2. The unpopularity of the South Vietnamese regime
This hurt the US effort because the public was doing alot to help the communists win the war. This is especially appearent in the huge amounts of viet cong soldiers who were willing to fight, which helped make the large number of casualities the north forces faced not as much of a big deal.
3. The experience of the Viet Cong and the inexperience of the American soldiers
The viet cong had knowledge of the land on which the war was being fought. This was helpful in moveing weapons and effectively useing their gurella tatics.
4. Domestic opposition to the war in the U.S.
The domestic oppisition to the war made for alot of problems for those who were trying to gain support for the war. This especially hurt the US after the Tet offensive, s more and more began to call for an end to the war effort, and the government had to split their focas between Vietnam and the domestic issues.
5. Chinese and Soviet support for the Viet Cong
This hurt the Us in the regard that the viet cong was always well armed and ready to continue day and night gurlla warfare against the US forces. Their well armed soldiers were able to carry out the Tet offensive, which vastly brought down domestic support for the war effort.
6. 'But did they really lose?' Summarize the argument put forward in Source 57, and your view on it.
This source is basically arguing that we did nottechnically lose the war. Although it's a nice thought, unfortunatly it holds no credibility. We could not hold off the Viet Cong soldiers and basically were blown out of Vietnam.
They used traditional warfare tatics against the viet cong's gurella tatics which was uneffective. This is shown by the huge number of casualities that resulted from the war.
2. The unpopularity of the South Vietnamese regime
This hurt the US effort because the public was doing alot to help the communists win the war. This is especially appearent in the huge amounts of viet cong soldiers who were willing to fight, which helped make the large number of casualities the north forces faced not as much of a big deal.
3. The experience of the Viet Cong and the inexperience of the American soldiers
The viet cong had knowledge of the land on which the war was being fought. This was helpful in moveing weapons and effectively useing their gurella tatics.
4. Domestic opposition to the war in the U.S.
The domestic oppisition to the war made for alot of problems for those who were trying to gain support for the war. This especially hurt the US after the Tet offensive, s more and more began to call for an end to the war effort, and the government had to split their focas between Vietnam and the domestic issues.
5. Chinese and Soviet support for the Viet Cong
This hurt the Us in the regard that the viet cong was always well armed and ready to continue day and night gurlla warfare against the US forces. Their well armed soldiers were able to carry out the Tet offensive, which vastly brought down domestic support for the war effort.
6. 'But did they really lose?' Summarize the argument put forward in Source 57, and your view on it.
This source is basically arguing that we did nottechnically lose the war. Although it's a nice thought, unfortunatly it holds no credibility. We could not hold off the Viet Cong soldiers and basically were blown out of Vietnam.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Vietnam War Opposition
I plan to do the optional assignment which was to support the war in Vietnam.
1. Note all of the reasons why you feel the war in Vietnam is wrong.
(I'll do why it's right)
1. It is to stop the spread of the evil communism.
2. We are protecting the rights of the Vietnamese people, to be a free nation and not have to be ruled by a dictator.
3. We need to look out for our own intrests in the matter as well, it is necessary to protect ourselfs against the communists in the cold war and haveing another communist nation in Southeast Asia would start a domino effect which would cause many more nations to fall, giving the communists an upperhand in the cold war.
2. Note what you re trying to achieve with this poster.
With my poster I'll be trying to convince people that the war is a necessary one for the US and that it is worth every effort and dollar being spent to win and stop the spread of communism.
3. List possible images for your poster. Think about: background (e.g. destroyed villages); the central image (e.g. picture of a young soldier); whether you will need words to explain your image.
Images I can use could be a mixture of awe inspiring patriotic photos (flag being lifted from world war 2 ect) and pictures depicting communism as evil. This way it gives the message that the US, which has historically been a defender of moral rightnes, is once again going to war to protect the free world from another dangerous evil
4. List some possible slogans for your poster.
"America, we must once again protect ourselfs and the worldfrom another evil threat"
1. Note all of the reasons why you feel the war in Vietnam is wrong.
(I'll do why it's right)
1. It is to stop the spread of the evil communism.
2. We are protecting the rights of the Vietnamese people, to be a free nation and not have to be ruled by a dictator.
3. We need to look out for our own intrests in the matter as well, it is necessary to protect ourselfs against the communists in the cold war and haveing another communist nation in Southeast Asia would start a domino effect which would cause many more nations to fall, giving the communists an upperhand in the cold war.
2. Note what you re trying to achieve with this poster.
With my poster I'll be trying to convince people that the war is a necessary one for the US and that it is worth every effort and dollar being spent to win and stop the spread of communism.
3. List possible images for your poster. Think about: background (e.g. destroyed villages); the central image (e.g. picture of a young soldier); whether you will need words to explain your image.
Images I can use could be a mixture of awe inspiring patriotic photos (flag being lifted from world war 2 ect) and pictures depicting communism as evil. This way it gives the message that the US, which has historically been a defender of moral rightnes, is once again going to war to protect the free world from another dangerous evil
4. List some possible slogans for your poster.
"America, we must once again protect ourselfs and the worldfrom another evil threat"
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Vietnam War Turning Points
1. Why was the Tet Offensive a turning point? Explain your answer.
The Tet offensive brough up many domestic questions surrounding the war. Many questioned how the Communists were able to wage a successful offensive against the US forces considering all the money the US was putting into the war. It was also very destructive and carried with it many casualities. It caused a major drop in domestic support for the war.
2. Are Sources 51 and 52 making the same point about the My Lai Massacre?
No. Source 51 is curseing the actions that took place as unmoral, compareing them to those that the Nazis would carry out in WWII. Source 52 tried to justify the actions that were taken as not a mass murder but a stand against the evils of communism.
3. Why do you think it took 12 months for
anyone to do anything about the massacre?
It became a "dont't ask don't tell" situation because of the fear of what would happen if word got out. Those involved in the massacre knew what would happen if the American public found out about the killing of so many innocents at the hands of the US Army. The already miniscule support that remained for the war would dissappear and there would be political nightmares for all involved in the war.
4. Why was the massacre so shocking to
the American public?
American throughout history had been held to a higher moral standard. Never before had such non excusable devistateing actions been taken willingly by US soldiers. It was a shock because most everybody thought that the US was above that.
The Tet offensive brough up many domestic questions surrounding the war. Many questioned how the Communists were able to wage a successful offensive against the US forces considering all the money the US was putting into the war. It was also very destructive and carried with it many casualities. It caused a major drop in domestic support for the war.
2. Are Sources 51 and 52 making the same point about the My Lai Massacre?
No. Source 51 is curseing the actions that took place as unmoral, compareing them to those that the Nazis would carry out in WWII. Source 52 tried to justify the actions that were taken as not a mass murder but a stand against the evils of communism.
3. Why do you think it took 12 months for
anyone to do anything about the massacre?
It became a "dont't ask don't tell" situation because of the fear of what would happen if word got out. Those involved in the massacre knew what would happen if the American public found out about the killing of so many innocents at the hands of the US Army. The already miniscule support that remained for the war would dissappear and there would be political nightmares for all involved in the war.
4. Why was the massacre so shocking to
the American public?
American throughout history had been held to a higher moral standard. Never before had such non excusable devistateing actions been taken willingly by US soldiers. It was a shock because most everybody thought that the US was above that.
Monday, May 3, 2010
The U.S. struggles against the Communist in Vietnam
a) Were the armies finely balanced or was the balance strongly weighted to one side or the other?
In regards to the strengths of the armies, the US/South Vietnamise army had the advantage. They had better weapons and better trained troops. If the war had been foughttraditionally they would have won the war easily.
b) Which quality was most important in determining who won the war? Was one feature so important that being ahead in that area meant that other advantages or disadvantages did not matter?
The effective use of gurella tatics on behalf of the Viet Cong was the reason why US forces could not defeat them. This outweighed any advantages the US had, because they simply could not find a way to defend the unpradictible tatics used by the Viet Cong.
a. The U.S. weaknesses were:
1) Their inability to adapt to the gurella tatics used by Viet Cong
2) Their lack of support from the Vietnamese civilians
3) Their low moral due to the constant fear of attack from Viet Cong forces.
b. At the same time, the Communist strengths were:
1) Their effective use of gurella tatics
2) The support of the Vietnamese civilians
3) Their high morale due to their genuine belief in their cause and the fact that they were winning the war
c. The U.S. forces did have some successes. For example:
Their bomb raids were effective in slowing the transportation of arms to the South and slowd military movements.
d. However, there were some major failures as well. Examples of these were:
They were simply not able to figure out a successful way to combat the gurella tatics used by the Viet Cong forces. They continued to take heavy casualities in the day and night attacks by the gurella warriors. These continued blows not only hurt the US militarly but moraly as well. The continued loss of life killed the moral of the soldiers stationed in Vietnam and caused them to live in constant fear.
e. The Viet Cong had some major successes, such as:
They played every advantage they had to their fullest. They used their knowledge of the land to effectively use gurella tatics and basically win the war. They Took advantage of favor from the citizens and used them for help in whatever ways they could. They caused the US soldiers to fear them.
f. However, they also suffered defeats, for example:
The bombing raids by the Americans were successful in killing over 1 million Vite Cong soldiers. This was not considered unacceptable by the Communist leaders, however, because of the high numbers of Viet Cong soldiers.
g. If I had to identify one major American weakness, it would be [Insert weakness here] because:
Weakness : inability to adapt to gurella warfare
because.. This was the reason they lost. They could not adapt and it destroied them in every aspect of the war. They lost casualitys and morale because of the constant attacks they could not defend against.
h. The key Viet Cong strength was [Insert strength here] because:
Strenght: gurella warfare
because... It played off all of their advantages and won them the war (above mentioned reasons).
In regards to the strengths of the armies, the US/South Vietnamise army had the advantage. They had better weapons and better trained troops. If the war had been foughttraditionally they would have won the war easily.
b) Which quality was most important in determining who won the war? Was one feature so important that being ahead in that area meant that other advantages or disadvantages did not matter?
The effective use of gurella tatics on behalf of the Viet Cong was the reason why US forces could not defeat them. This outweighed any advantages the US had, because they simply could not find a way to defend the unpradictible tatics used by the Viet Cong.
a. The U.S. weaknesses were:
1) Their inability to adapt to the gurella tatics used by Viet Cong
2) Their lack of support from the Vietnamese civilians
3) Their low moral due to the constant fear of attack from Viet Cong forces.
b. At the same time, the Communist strengths were:
1) Their effective use of gurella tatics
2) The support of the Vietnamese civilians
3) Their high morale due to their genuine belief in their cause and the fact that they were winning the war
c. The U.S. forces did have some successes. For example:
Their bomb raids were effective in slowing the transportation of arms to the South and slowd military movements.
d. However, there were some major failures as well. Examples of these were:
They were simply not able to figure out a successful way to combat the gurella tatics used by the Viet Cong forces. They continued to take heavy casualities in the day and night attacks by the gurella warriors. These continued blows not only hurt the US militarly but moraly as well. The continued loss of life killed the moral of the soldiers stationed in Vietnam and caused them to live in constant fear.
e. The Viet Cong had some major successes, such as:
They played every advantage they had to their fullest. They used their knowledge of the land to effectively use gurella tatics and basically win the war. They Took advantage of favor from the citizens and used them for help in whatever ways they could. They caused the US soldiers to fear them.
f. However, they also suffered defeats, for example:
The bombing raids by the Americans were successful in killing over 1 million Vite Cong soldiers. This was not considered unacceptable by the Communist leaders, however, because of the high numbers of Viet Cong soldiers.
g. If I had to identify one major American weakness, it would be [Insert weakness here] because:
Weakness : inability to adapt to gurella warfare
because.. This was the reason they lost. They could not adapt and it destroied them in every aspect of the war. They lost casualitys and morale because of the constant attacks they could not defend against.
h. The key Viet Cong strength was [Insert strength here] because:
Strenght: gurella warfare
because... It played off all of their advantages and won them the war (above mentioned reasons).
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