Changes

The 1970s, or "the Seventies," is not known to be a glorious time.  America's pullout from Vietnam was humiliating, the Supreme Court issued decisions that have been much criticized (like ''Roe v. Wade''), a president resigned amid a scandal (Richard Nixon), and inept president won the next election (Jimmy Carter), a nuclear power plant called "Three Mile Island" near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania had a meltdown (1979), and the rock music was abysmal.  Styles like "disco" and "bell-bottom" pants that were popular in the Seventies seem ludicrous today.  Sadly, it was the decade when your teacher became a teenager.  It was too early for the internet, and too late for some of the marvelous music of the 1960s.  In many ways it was a wasted decade between the Sixties and Eighties.

The 1970s, or "the Seventies," is not known to be a glorious time.  America's pullout from Vietnam was humiliating, the Supreme Court issued decisions that have been much criticized (like ''Roe v. Wade''), a president resigned amid a scandal (Richard Nixon), and inept president won the next election (Jimmy Carter), a nuclear power plant called "Three Mile Island" near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania had a meltdown (1979), and the rock music was abysmal.  Styles like "disco" and "bell-bottom" pants that were popular in the Seventies seem ludicrous today.  Sadly, it was the decade when your teacher became a teenager.  It was too early for the internet, and too late for some of the marvelous music of the 1960s.  In many ways it was a wasted decade between the Sixties and Eighties.

Here are some "highlights", or perhaps "lowlights" of what happened:

Here are some "highlights", or perhaps "lowlights" would be more accurate, of what happened:

*In 1972, in ''Furman v. Georgia'', the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the death penalty nationwide until states installed more difficult-to-satisfy requirements before it is imposed.  For years no criminals could be executed, due to this ruling.  But eventually state laws, with stricter rules, began to impose the death penalty again for the worst crimes.

*In 1972, in ''Furman v. Georgia'', the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the death penalty nationwide until states installed more difficult-to-satisfy requirements before it is imposed.  For years no criminals could be executed, due to this ruling.  But eventually state laws, with stricter rules, began to impose the death penalty again for the worst crimes.

*In 1972, President Nixon formed a reelection committee entitled "Committee to Reelect the President", derisively called "CREEP" by his opponents.  This committee was later found to have broken the law in connection with a burglary of the other side's apartment in the Watergate building in D.C.  Nixon covered up the investigation, leading to his resignation in 1973 (once the Supreme Court ordered him to turn over secret tape recordings) to avoid impeachment.

*In 1972, President Nixon formed a reelection committee entitled "Committee to Reelect the President", derisively called "CREEP" by his opponents.  This committee was later found to have broken the law in connection with a burglary of the other side's apartment in the Watergate building in D.C.  Nixon covered up the investigation, leading to his resignation in 1974 (once the Supreme Court ordered him to turn over secret tape recordings) to avoid impeachment.

*In 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned due to corruption charges arising from when he was previously Governor of Maryland, and Agnew was replaced by congressman Gerald Ford, who became president in 1974 when Nixon resigned.  When Ford became president, he pardoned Nixon of any crimes, and this made people angry especially since Nixon's aides went to jail

*In 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned due to corruption charges arising from when he was previously Governor of Maryland, and Agnew was replaced by congressman Gerald Ford, who became president in 1974 when Nixon resigned.  When Ford became president, he pardoned Nixon of any crimes, and this made people angry especially since Nixon's aides went to jail

*As the investigation into the Watergate scandal heightened, the "Saturday Night Massacre" in 1973 consisted of Nixon ordering the Attorney General to fire the special prosecutor Archibald Cox who was investigating Nixon.  The Attorney General refused and resigned, and then his successor refused and resigned, and then his second successor (future Judge Robert Bork) fired Cox

*As the investigation into the Watergate scandal heightened, the "Saturday Night Massacre" in 1973 consisted of Nixon ordering the Attorney General to fire the special prosecutor Archibald Cox who was investigating Nixon.  The Attorney General refused and resigned, and then his successor refused and resigned, and then his second successor (future Judge Robert Bork) fired Cox

Panama Canal treaties "1977: Carter agrees to give back Panama Canal to Panama after 1999, Senate approves"

A "dark horse" candidate, Democrat Jimmy Carter from Georgia, won his Party's nomination for president, and then defeated the never-elected Gerald Ford in a close contest in 1976.  But Carter was not ready for the job, and anxious to give things away like Santa Claus.  He started in 1977 by agreeing to give the Panama Canal to Panama, even though the United States built it, paid for it, and needed it for security reasons.  The Senate ratified the treaty after a heated controversy, with conservatives opposing the giveaway, and Panama acquired full ownership of it in 1999.  Now communist China runs the Canal under a contract with Panama.

Camp David Accords "1978: Carter gets Egypt and Israel to agree to peace, still in effect"

Jimmy Carter arranged a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1978 by promising each about $10 billion per year in annual gifts from the United States if they complied with the agreement.  This is known as the Camp David Accords and it later earned Carter an award of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Iran hostage crisis 1979-81: Iranian fundamentalists captured US embassy since Carter helped Shah; hostages released for Reagan

Iran hostage crisis 1979-81: Iranian fundamentalists captured US embassy since Carter helped Shah; hostages released for Reagan

Jimmy Carter "1976-1980: Dem. Pres., honest antidote to Nixon scandal, boycotted Olympics, decried nat'l ""malaise"", high inflation"

Jimmy Carter "1976-1980: Dem. Pres., honest antidote to Nixon scandal, boycotted Olympics, decried nat'l ""malaise"", high inflation"