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11/4 Blog Post- Isa Keetley

In his chapter, “The Seventies:Under Control?” Zinn emphasizes the distrust between the American people and the government during and after the Vietnam War. During the 70s something that unified people from every class and socio-economic background was their shared distrust in the government. This distrust only increased with Nixon’s scandal known as Watergate. For me, reading about Watergate was most interesting, because I had never actually learned what happened. Maybe that sounds crazy but I feel like many of my peers, specifically in highschool also had a lack of understanding for what Watergate truly was. We knew it was a scandal and that Nixon resigned because if it, but we never learned much else. Watergate exposed how corrupt Nixon and his administration truly were, as they were accepting illegal donations, interfering with the Democratic party, and illegally bombed places in Cambodia. Ford then became president however the American people were still restless because they had “cleaned” the government of corrupt people, but not of previous policies. There were no fundamental changes made to the system under Ford.

Another main point that Zinn discussed was what was happening in Cambodia and how the US interfered. Not only was Nixon illegally bombing some areas of the country, but Ford somewhat followed in his footsteps and entered Cambodia (legally) but in a horrible unnecessary manner. A ship of men from the US had been captured by the Cambodians, however they were not harmed; in fact, they were given food and beds to sleep on from the soldiers that captured them. Nevertheless, Ford demanded Cambodia let the men free and when they did not answer the US began bombing Cambodian ships and sending troops over. Chinese diplomats later stated that they were working with the Cambodians to get the men back however it was too late, and the day the troops arrived, the men were released (some of them killed in the attack). I found the American government needing to assert their dominance to be a reoccurring theme through many things we have read this semester. This was the same, Ford wanted the world to know that although we had lost in Vietnam, we were still a strong military force.

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3 Comments

  1. Christopher Wilson Christopher Wilson

    To this day, I am still confused about the Watergate scandal’s events because, as Zinn points out in this chapter, many details of what exactly happened were kept from the public because of “national security.” And I disagree with the public opinion that the government had been “cleaned” of corrupt people. This is because of all the corrupt and unethical things President Ford did to prevent former President Nixon and his associates from experiencing any harsh punishments determined by the judicial system.

  2. Julia Borger Julia Borger

    I found the distrust between the American people and the government which was highlighted in this chapter particularly alarming, as well as relatable to today’s political climate, with the upcoming election. I know most Americans are very anxious about the 2020 election no matter what happens, because many things will change and because we have definitely lost hope in the government somewhat, not unlike this time period of unrest following the Vietnam War.

  3. Julia Leonardi Julia Leonardi

    I think Cambodia is another example of how the US needs to mind their business. The US tends to be violent for no reason, just because they can, and it is often long term harmful. Cambodia has always been a fragile place, and the US instead of helping decides to illicit violence.

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