1970s magazine

Designed by Ava L

OUR LIFE

Our Life

70s Edition

Learn About:

What we Loved: Fashion

Music: Soul, Funk, Punk, and Rock

Ian G, Ava L, Cassandra K, and Kike M

● Open Education ● ERA ● SALT treaty

Punk!

Disco!

Table of Contents

Cassandra Kraft

The Way We Lived

p.3

What We Loved to Wear

p.5

Culture

p.9

Music

p.10

The Insider

p.11

Book Review

p.12

Politics and Government

p.13

Law and Justice

p.14

Education

p.16

Sports

p.18

Stuffed

p.19

Domestic Affairs

p.22

Film and Theatre

p.25

Foreign Affairs

p.26

Citations

p.28

The Way We Lived By: Kike Mesejo The 70’s was an interesting era for its trends. Compared to the year 2019, the 70’s had a very different clothing. Bell bottoms were very famous back then, thus nowadays you mostly see people wearing them in 70’s parties.

The clothing trend from the 1970’s was hippie-like. Men would dress up with their Leisure Suits or the Jump Suits.

The 70’s, not only a decade famous for its clothing, but also for a great contrast in the citizens’ and the government’s point of view in what can be most arguably the biggest failure for the United States of America, The Vietnam War. The nation, every now and then would have strikes and protests for peace in Vietnam. One example of these constant anti-war showings was during the Kent State shootings. On May 4th, 1970, two thousand people of all ages gathered around the Kent State University to support the desertion of the war in Vietnam. This protest ended in the loss of life of 4 human beings and in the injury of 9 others, as the National Guard opened fire on the protesters. Once the war was left for its natives to fight, Americans began to settle more and started to focus on other things, such as going to watch a colored film in the new, and upgraded cinema, or making plans between themselves so every Sunday friends and families could meet up to watch the growing NFL..

Kike Mesejo

What We Loved to Wear

by Cassandra Kraft

“There are no rules of the fashion game now. You’re playing it and you make up the game as you go.� ~Vogue 1972 To understand the fashion of the 70s, it's important to know what came before it. The 60s was the decade of the hippie fashion and mods. The 70s was a decade of uncertainty in terms of deciding which path to take. So many different paths of the hippies, mods, mature women were taken and resulted in many different conflicting styles. Seventies fashion was a bit of everything.

Also, the seventies was the decades of the disco. Along with the disco era, new apparel was introduced, while roots from the hippie era still remained.

The fashion of the 70s is very distinctive. Flared pants and poofy hair rocked the decade. Polyester material for clothing had been on the rise throughout the late 60s, but then went on a rapid decline after the early 70s.

The floofy hair was very popular in this decade.

Some of the more popular/experimental styles were the Farrah flip or the fluffy bowl cut.

Now of course, styles and colors changed depending on the time of year, but below are some of the basic components to 70s fashion.

Some of the most common streetwear apparel consisted of crop tops, oversized collars, quilted material, and patterns.

Some of the most iconic patterns included plaid or paisley although plain colored clothing was still apparent.

Oversized collars were decorated on shirts, coats, dresses, jackets, etc. Long knit vests were also paired with bell-bottom jeans and shirts.

Jumpsuits were worn for casual, evening, or dancing [disco] events. They were adapted from overalls. Also, jumper dresses were still trending during the early 70s. Most of these dresses were made of polyester because they were cheap and allowed for bright, bold color, or more earthy tones if desired.

Pants in the 70s were more diverse than any decade before. They came in all different styles from waist high, wide leg, straight leg, to baggy. However, flared pants are the most iconic style jeans and pants of the decade.

In addition to the flared pants, skirts also rocked the decades. They came in every size from mini to floor length. The mini skirt was a carryover from the 60s until 1973 when skirts dropped to the floor for the first time since the beginning of the century.

As for shorts, they generally fit high on the waist and straight on the leg. Some of the common styles were athletic, knee-knockers, or jamaica shorts.

The shoes of the 70s depended on which point of the decade it was. For instance, in the early 70s, chunky platform shoes were the biggest fad.

These had first been introduced in the 30’s but were revived for nostalgic reasons at the beginning of the decade. At first, these platforms were only about 1 inch but grew to 2-3 inches at the sole with a 5 inch heel.

After the platform fad, the most popular style shoes changed to oxfords, sandals, and boots.

Wedge heels came in style with a nod to the 1940s fad. In the middle of the decade, chunky square heeled shoes became most popular. The colors were mostly plain with no decoration and the style had been heavily influenced by that of the mens shoes in the 60s.

Fashion Icons The biggest fashion icons of the seventies were stars and idols such as Diana Ross, Cher, Mary Tyler Moore, Linda Carter, and more. Their everyday styles and movie wardrobes affected the fashion of the decade and the popular styles that were common.

What to Wear to Work As the seventies rolled in, professional workplace apparel was adapted for women since the marketplace was predominantly controlled by men. Women felt inspired to wear trouser suits, shirts, and jackets. Diane Keaton’s role and wardrobe in Annie Hall inspired a new look for the office.

The women’s pantsuit market exploded during the 70s. The pantsuit was often paired with a silk blouse and a loose bow tie instead of a necktie. An oversize collar blouse was another option that was designed to mimic men’s dress shirts.

There was an alternative, however, to professional pants. Modest skirts were also used in the workplace. These skirts were generally below the knee A-line, maxi, or pleated solids. The length of these skirts grew longer as the decade rolled on.

Fashion Index

Cassandra Kraft

Culture: Punk and Disco

By Ava Levine The seventies where a time for new cultures to blossom and develop. Cultures that started in the 70s are still around today and a popular.

The first culture that became popularized in america during the 70s was punk. It started as a style of music but soon evolved into a counter culture. A counterculture is a way of life created to oppose the current social norm.

It was built off the idea of youth culture breaking off from middle class rules. They were protesting mainstream fads and materialism of the time. They did not follow the rules of music, fashion, and art. It entered into film, literature, poetry, theatres, art and fashion. Punk arrived to New York in the 70s at the CBGB club. Bands like Ramones, Television, Patti Smith Group, Blondie, and Talking Heads all got their start in CBGB. Punk style was also part of the rebellious nature of Punk. People had crazy hair and makeup. They wore mismatched clothes with rips and safety pines. Some famous artists of the punk culture were Joey Ramone, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop and Andy Warhol.

F

Punk, disco, rock and roll, Why they started Some staples of each

Disco was another culture that started and ended in the 70s. Discos where both a name for a club and a style of music. The music is a combination of soul and pop. Disco started as a mixture of music from venues popular with African Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Italian Americans, LGBT people, and psychedelic hippies The clubs were essentially places where people danced to disco. Disco was not populated until the mid 70s, when Saturday Night Fever came out. The culture was composed of youths, who wanted to rebel but in a classier,more sophisticated way. This meant upscale and classy, but keeping the counterculture emphasis on becoming personally evolved. The goal of the disco look was to be flashy, sequins, bell-bottoms and halter tops. Disco artists where the Beegees, Donna Summer, the Village People, and KC and the Sunshine Band.

Music: Soul, Funk, Punk, and Rock By: Ava Levine Music in the 1970s was a representation of all of the cultures sprouting. There was popular music coming out ranging from punk, to rock and roll, all the way to disco.

Since there where many new genres sprouting, many new artists and came to light.

To begin, a genre that started to become popular was R and B, or rhythm and blues. It started in the 30s as a term to describe bluesy music. In the 60s and 70s morphed into a term describing funk, soul, and even hip hop music. Funk, a subsection of r and b started in the 60s, is defined as a combination of African American Soul music and a strong syncopated beat. Artists who popularised the funk sound where James Brown and George Clinton. Bands such as the Parliament, and Funkadelic carried the sound and mixed the elements to create funk. Soul music was another subsection o f r and b that started in the 50s. Many iconic soul songs were produced in the 70s by artists such as Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, and the Commodores. R and B was played in discos, a popular club type in the 70s. Hip hop, another sub genre of r&b was just starting to become a fad at the end of the 70s. It originated in the bronx, with DJ’s. One of the breaksongs that introduced the world to hip hop was grandmaster flash’s the message. Later in the 80s hip hop blew up but it started in the 70s.

Rock was another import genre of music in the 70s.

There were sub genres ranging from hard rock, to soft rock, to punk rock. Psychedelic rock from the 60s transferred over to the rock artists such as David Bowie, Elton John, Talking heads and Joni Mitchell. All these artists produced art that shook the world. They also inspired the generation of protest. Hard rock was a new genre as well and bands like black sabbath, deep purple, and Van halen started. Also, the Punk movement was created in the 70s. It started in the mid 60s in the US, the UK, and Australia. These bands did not follow the rules of music and used music as a form of protest. East coast punk bands like the Ramones played in the New york club, CBGB. West Coast bands like Dead Kennedys and Agent Orange were a mix of punk and surf sound. In the UK, the London Underground punk scene started with bands like the clash and Generation X. The 70s where a time where new styles and bands were developing their sound and the world around them.

The Insider

By Cassandra Kraft

Keeping you up to date on the latest celebrity buzz of the seventies!

BEATLES BREAK APART! The Beatles were a huge, English rock band based in Liverpool, England that joined in 1960. Band members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr are regarded as some of the most influential and popular stars in history.

The year of 1970 was one that came with great sorrow yet not much shock among the public when the band officially broke apart. This had been foreseen, however, starting as early as 1967-68, when tensions between band members began. In 1967, their band manager, Brian Epstein, passed away. Then the band members all began to diverge into their own musical tastes and preferences. Pressure from being the biggest band in the world was stressful on their careers, partnership, and success. They lost their regular dynamic of performing together. John Lennon began meeting with conceptual artist Yoko Ono on his own. George Harrison returned to India where he had previously recorded his single album.

Some sources state that Harrison had even tried to resign from his role in the band but legal/contract obligations required him to stay. However, none of the band members were positive if they were even still a band. By the end of 1968 and throughout 1969, they were barely holding together. There were occasional, unofficial declarations of the bands resignment, but no official statement. For instance, in 1969, Lennon had declared to the press that the band was “over”.

On a day in 1970, Paul Mccartney made this official when he came out with his own, independent album. This year, right at the beginning of the decade, marked the end of the era for the Beatles. They had come from being the biggest and most influential band of all time, the “Fab Four”, to being four independent artists with different tastes. Although their band was based primarily in England, this break apart had a profound impact on American pop culture.

Book Review: The Shining By: Ava Levine The Shining is a horror novel, written by Stephen King. Stephen King is a very famous and influential horror writer.

This book was released in 1977 and soon became a figurehead for what a good horror story is. It was even made into a movie in 1980. I enjoyed reading this book. To begin it had a very good mood and setting. They helped add to the eerie and creepy intent of the novel. The characters all had thought out backgrounds and personalities that helped with the further development of the story. However the plot was the best part of the book. It dragged the reader in from beginning to end. It is about a troubled dad with a very disturbed child.

The father has lost jobs due to his severe alcoholism, he has supposedly overcome, He gains a job at an inn but it involves his entire family living in close exclusion during the winter. As the story goes on the reader can see the psychotic thriller develop around the characters and setting. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes horror stories. All in all this 70s classic is a phenomenal book and scares the readers just enough.

Politics and Government by: Ian Gill The 70’s was a decade that was characterized by heavy political intrigue and conflict. The decade kicked off in the middle of Republican president Richard Nixon’s first term with the election of 1970. Prior to the election, the Democrats held a majority in both the House and Senate.

Fortunately for the Democrats, they were able to maintain this majority after the election, even though they still had to deal with a Republican president.

The next major political development began with a break in of the Watergate building, which was the national headquarters of the Democratic party. Five burglars were caught breaking into said building and immediately claimed that they did it and were not on orders from the Republican party.

However, these burglars directed by the Republicans, so they tried to organize a large cover-up to save their jobs and their public perception.

This cover-up worked to a degree as the reality of the situation was obscured for long enough to allow Richard Nixon be re-elected in 1972.

The five men accused of the watergate break in.

Unfortunately for Nixon, this cover-up began to unravel as one of the burglars revealed what really happened.

Nixon, knowing he would be impeached and removed by the Democratic house and senate, resigned to avoid embarrassment.

Nixon leaving the White House after resigning

In an ordinary case, a presidential resignation would mean that the vice president would take over. However Nixon’s initial vice-president was forced to resign because of a seperate scandal.

This meant that former house minority leader Gerald R. Ford became the first unelected president in United States history. The first action of Ford was the to pardon Nixon to promote a healing in the government.

For the rest of the decade, the Democrats were able to maintain a majority in the house and senate and were even able to acquire the presidency with the victory of Jimmy carter in the 1976 election.

Law and Justice: Roe v.

Wade By: Ava Levine

The seventies where a time of revolution and protests against the people in charge. One of the biggest supreme court case was Roe v. Wade. It was taken in front of the Supreme Court on January 22, 1973. The beginning of the case was in Texas in the 1970s. The plaintiff had an alias of Jane Roe to protect her identity, but her real name, later discovered was Norma McCorvey.

She was challenging Henry wade, the the district attorney of Dallas county. She

wanted to get an abortion, yet the Texas laws at the time prohibited women in Texas to get abortions unless it was to safe the pregnant woman's life.

The ruling was 7-2 in favor of allowing abortion. The people who held spots in the Supreme Court who voted in favor of abortions where Harry Blackmun, Warren Burger, William Douglas, Potter Stewart, Thurgood Marshall, and Lewis Powell. The ones who voted against abortions were Byron White, a democrat, and William Rehnquist, a republican. It said that that unduly restrictive state regulation of abortion is unconstitutional. the court held that a set of Texas statutes criminalizing abortion in most instances violated a woman’s constitutional right of privacy, which it found to be implicit in the liberty guarantee of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Justice Harry A. Blackmun stated that (“nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law�). This meant that abortions were legalized under certain circumstances, such as how along the pregnancy was. Many people were happy because it put an end to dangerous abortions that went around the law and it allowed for women to be in charge of their bodies. In fact it was a huge turning point in the country for the feminist movement.

However, some people weren't in favor of the supreme court ruling. Some people believing abortion to be murder or that it was against their religion. The Roman Catholic Church had long criticized abortion as a form of infanticide and some of the popes have spoken out against abortion. It is still a ruling being argued by groups.

Due to the controversial nature of the ruling, this is a case that has relevance today. Currently there are issues in georgia and other southern states resulting how the states can regulate abortion. This court case was a ruling that defined the 70s and is still affecting life today.

Kike Mesejo

Education: Integration and Open Education

By: Ava Levine

In the 70s many things about educatiOn where changing. Schools where trying to become more open to all people, after the civil rights movement and other human rights protests. They were trying to integrate all the kids, while making improving the quality of the school.

To begin the integration of schools was an important change that took place during the 70s. Schools were now open to african americans, immigrants, the disabled, and for some women. They were mostly successful and thus resulted in minorities being educated. They got into colleges, and gained new jobs, that weren't previously open the them. Non English speakers were taught english, The disabled were granted new - access to a free public education; and women broke down employment barriers at all levels of academia.

Though education was made better for minority groups, overall it declined.

Students performed worse on tests than in the 60s. The test scores kept declining and people started to panic believing that the country was in an educational crisis. The “educational crisis� that was happening lead people to want to rethink the education methods they had then. Thus the Open Education movement started in the US. Open education is a philosophy created in britain. Its base idea is that educational resources are open to everyone and finding new ways to teach topics. They are supposed to foster creativity and teach to kids at their own pace and their own way.

Larry Cuban, a professor emeritus at Stanford University, wrote in 2004 that open education "resonated with those who believed that America's formal, teacher-led classrooms were crushing students' creativity,". People supported it because they saw that current teaching isn't working. One aspect of Open education is reimagining the classroom and school. Desks and classrooms where removed and in its place wide open spaces, rolly chairs, and group tables put the philosophy of open curriculum wanted kids to move around and explore things on their own. The other aspect is reimagining the curriculum. Kids were encouraged to move at their own pace. They didn't have standardized testing, detailed curriculums, or whole class lessons. This introduction of this philosophy cause upset in many people.

Traditionalists argued that the original ways were better. This is a method of teaching still being explored today and still being argued over today.

Kike Mesejo

Sports By: Kike Mesejo The 1970’s was a very revolutionary decade for sports, as teams in every sport in the United States of America, began to get better and better, leading to the great talent the United States now has in sports, compared to other nations.

Muhammad Ali, born in 1942, has been considerably the best boxer that has ever been, in the history of the United States. His career began on February of 1964, and his career was interrupted by the year 1967 as he was drafted to fight for the Armed Forces in Vietnam. Ali, was of Islamic beliefs and decided to neglect his attendance in Vietnam. For this, he was put into jail until in the year 1970, the Supreme Court let him free and permitted the renewal of his boxing license. His famous return was made in October of the same year in which he knocked down his opponent, Jerry Quarry. From that day on, it was all success for Ali. He became the reigning Heavyweight Champion until the year 1978, in which his younger opponent Leon Spinks snatched it from his aging hands. Ali announced his retirement in the year 1979, meaning, the end of a dominant era in boxing.

The National Football League (NFL), was inaugurated in the year 1967. This meaning that by the year 1970, the NFL had been up and running for only 3 years. In those 3 beginning years, teams were filling their rosters and forming great teams. So, by the year 1970, the NFL was filled with talent all around the nation. For the following decades, no team could conquer the league, spreading the trophies all throughout the country. The winners of the Super Bowl, for the 70s are: Kansas City Chiefs (1970) Baltimore Colts (1971) Dallas Cowboys (1972) Miami Dolphins (1973) Miami Dolphins (1974) Pittsburgh Steelers (1975) Pittsburgh Steelers (1976) Oakland Raiders (1977) Dallas Cowboys (1978) Pittsburgh Steelers (1979)

Stuffed ~Food of the seventies

By Cassandra Kraft The seventies was definitely an experimental era for food, to say the least. Food trends such as Jell-O and fondue from the 60s stayed trending in the 70s. However, the seventies is recognized for its weird food combinations such as meat, jello combinations to ham and bananas hollandaise. Some of the most iconic recipes have remained, though.

There is a reasoning behind this strange era of food in the 70s, and it especially pertains to what happened post-WWII and post-Great Depression years. During the war, food manufacturers had to provide cheap, easy meals to all the soldiers.

When the soldiers came back, they had grown an acquired taste to these strange meats. Also, women began to become more prominent in the workplace. As they did, they had less time at home to cook dinner for their husbands and family.

Therefore, there was an increase in demand for these easy-make products. However, women felt bad for not “doing their job� and providing hearty meals for their family. As a result, canned Spam and boxed cakes were transformed into strange, exotic meals that could impress families and dinner guests.

Having some background on what exactly caused this strange food era, it will be easier to stomach some of the dishes that were actually made in the 70s.

In the 70s, there was an increased interest in Hawaiian culture. Therefore, a popular Hawaiian fruit, the pineapple, made their way into everyday dishes.

Pineapple chicken, pineapple fish sticks, and more were all introduced during this decade.

Quiche is perhaps the most popular food that was introduced in the 70s.

Made up of eggs, cheese, milk, and the desired fillings, quiche made its way onto both breakfast and dinner plates.

Another popular dish was cheese logs that are still common at modern dinner parties or celebrations. The biggest reason for their this trend was because of the dish’s versatility.

Ultimately, the list continues of the weird food trends that were introduced during the 70s. However, this decade also brought about some good for food.

For instance, some of the most popular sugary cereals to this day, including Fruit Pebbles and Twix, were invented in the 70s. And most importantly, the new dining style of brunch was introduced, and brunch is an important part of modern day culture.

Some Food Combinations:

Kike Mesejo

Domestic Affairs

By Ian Gill

The 1970’s was a decade full of new trends and policies within the United states.

The 1970’s was the decade that the held the rise of the so called new right. This was a movement that began in the late 60’s in light of the counterculture movement of the same decade.

This group was anti-welfare and pro-small government. They felt that minorities and poor people were being too greatly aided by the government at the expense of the middle class taxpayer.

This group was able to get some accomplished during this decade, most notably the re-election of president Nixon. They also pushed for low taxes, low environmental regulations, and for maintaining the illegal status of abortion.

Their concerns certainly had an impact, as shown with the death penalty being reinstated in 1976, but they were not entirely successful, shown by the legalization of abortion and the environmental legislation that that was passed during the decade.

This environmental legislation that was fought against by the new right was also a major part of the domestic affairs of the 1970’s. The first major event in the environmental movement was the establishment of the EPA or Environmental Protection Agency. The main reason for its creation was to regulate corporations and to enforce the newly passed the Clean Air Act. This act allowed the development of emissions regulations on both the state and federal level. It affected both industrial and mobile sources and was the building block for future environmental regulations relating to air pollution. The stated purpose of the act was to protect the ozone layer and to aid public health through reducing and regulating air pollutants.

The second major piece of legislation that was passed was the Clean Water Act of 1972. This act prevented any person or corporation from discarding any pollutant into navigable waters, along with other regulations such as giving the EPA the authority to institute pollution control programs. The main cause for this act to be created was the rampant pollution companies were pouring into America’s waterways.

The 1970’s was also a decade where women continued to fight for their equality. A notable event relating to this was failed constitutional addition, the Equal Rights Amendment. This amendment simply stated that “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” As stated before, this amendment failed, which shows that the US was still not ready for true equality during this decade.

Feminist activists marching for the passage of the ERA.

Americans protesting pollution prior to the passage of the Clean Air Act.

Another topic on domestic affairs that must be touched on is the strong antiwar movement that grew as a result of the Vietnam War. The events of this war are discussed in further detail in the Foreign Affairs section of this magazine but in short, the failures of the war coupled with its seeming illegitimacy caused large amounts of dissent within the american people. Until the US pulled out of the war in 1973, frequent rallies and riots protesting the war would occur in cities and college campuses throughout the US. These protests were bound to cause conflict between police and rioters. An expression of this conflict can be scene in the Kent State shooting. This event happened when national guard troops opened fire on a crowd of college students protesting the war in Vietnam. Four students were killed which led to a large impact on public perception of the war, which was already going down hill. The death of these students sparked even more protests, and contributed to the growth of a negative perception of enforcement officers.

These protests against the war continued until the US finally pulled out of Vietnam in 1973. Still the effects of years of constant protest and conflict between law enforcement and civilians had a lasting impact on American society.

One other piece of landmark legislation that was passed during the 1970’s was the creation of OSHA, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. This administration was tasked diminishing work related deaths, injuries. It did this through creating standard regulations that all businesses had to follow. OSHA also gave workers clear rights, such as the right to proper training and info on safety hazards and OSHA standards and laws. It also protects workers from being retaliated against for making an OSHA related complaint Another domestic event that was happening in the 70’s was a decrease in public interest in space exploration. With the last manned moon mission happening in 1972 and the dying down of the space race, the public began to lose its enthrallment with space travel.

While some notable events did happen such as the launch of skylab in 1973, the intense space-related innovation had begun to slow down.

Launch of Apollo 17 The final major domestic event that happened in the 1970's was the federal legalization of abortion. After years of debate the landmark case of Roe v. Wade made a decision that had stood for decades. It was a staple change in the decade and influenced the American political landscape ever since its passage.

College students protesting the shootings at Kent state while facing a line of police officers

Kike Mesejo

Film and Theatre By: Kike The 70’s, the decade in which film took a great leap forward. New methods of storytelling and editing were introduced to this era forming not movies, thus art.

In this decade great shows and movies began to be created with the technology we had back then. Not only that, but many of the TV shows which have been key for many teenager’s lives in the twenty-first century, were created in the 70’s. These are such as: The Scooby Doo Show, Sesame Street, Yogi’s Gang, and The Muppet Show.

Not only outstanding TV shows were created, but extraordinary movies were created. Now that the movie stars from the 50’s and 60’s were getting old, they decided to retire, opening a great amount of space for rookies. These new movie stars such as, Roy Scheider (playing the protagonist in the classic Jaws), Sylvester Stallone (Rocky, the protagonist in the movie Rocky), Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta (the main couple in the classic Grease), became even greater with the five year old addition of colored TV and the experience of their producers.

Famous Movies in the 70’s 1.

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Grease (1978) Jaws (1975) Rocky (1976) Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971) Superman (1978)

Foreign Affairs By: Ian Gill The 1970’s were an interesting period for foreign affairs in the US. The most obvious foreign interaction of the 70’s was the Vietnam war. The goal of this war was to prevent communist North Vietnam from taking over capitalist South Vietnam. This seemed to be an easy task to the US government when they first joined the war in 1964. Unfortunately for them, It was not. The North Vietnamese fought will aid from the communist USSR and China. They also fought differently than any enemy the US had faced previously. They didn’t fight along designated battle lines, but rather hid in the forests, attacking South held locations when they deemed it to be beneficial. The made the US carry out search and destroy missions, which created heavy casualties on all sides.

The long war and mounting deaths caused the public to pressure the government into adopting the foreign policy idea of Vietnamization.

This idea consisted of the US training and supporting South Vietnamese troops so that the US could lessen their war effort without the south completing losing to the north. The US sent over military advisors and increased the amount of supplies given to the south.

By early 1970, US troops begin to leave Vietnam.

This continues until 1973, when the Paris Peace Accords formally

American and Vietnamese diplomats shaking hands after the signage of the Paris Peace Accords

end US involvement in the Vietnam.

Still, the US had to take action once more in Vietnam by performing a large scale evacuation of Americans in Saigon soon before it fell to communism The American Defeat in Vietnam influenced their foreign policy for the rest of the decade. It contributed to America and the Soviet Union signing the SALT, or Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty. This treaty limited the amount of nuclear warheads that either of the superpowers could possess. The goal of the treaty was to to try to ease relations between the US and USSR and eventually end the cold war the had been going on since the end of WWII. The SALT treaty was all part of Richard Nixon’s and his secretary of state Henry Kissinger’s ideology of détente. This policy led to the period of the same name existing from 1971 to 1979. The reason for this development was that both nations stood to gain in they could increase trade between them and reduce the nuclear weapons that threatened to destroy them.

Another important achievement in this period was Nixon’s visit to the USSR in 1972.

He discussed several agreements on preventing accidental military clashes with Soviet leader, Brezhnev.

Nixon and brezhnev shaking hands prior to the signing of the SALT

This visit was closely followed with a Soviet visit to America in 1973. A second SALT was signed in 1979 under the carter administration and was known as the last major achievement in the era of DÊtente. Its goal was to limit the amount of warheads the nations could possess even further. DÊtente eventually came to an end once reagan era policies started to take effect in the early 80’s.

Another notable fact that relates to American foreign policy in this decade is the normalization of relations with China. Ever since Communist China won its civil war Against the Republic of China, the US mostly froze its relations with the nation . This began to change during the 70s as Nixon visited the country along with its leader, Mao Zedong.

This, along with the fact that the PRC gots its security council seat in the same decade showed that the US legitimised the new Chinese government. .

Nixon visiting Mao Zedong in China

Another important event of the decade was the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979.

This happened when a group of Iranian students stormed the US embassy in Iran and took 66 people hostage. The immediate reason this event occurred was that the US allowed the deposed Iranian leader to come to the US for cancer treatment. However, the move by Iran had a more deep meaning than this. It was a way for the student revolutionaries to show the US that they had not business interfering in Iranian affairs.

Iranian students breaking into the US embassy.

13 of the hostages in Iran were set free as the radicals believed they were already under the oppression of the United States.

One additional prisoner was sent home because of health complications which made there 52 hostages remaining. These prisoners were paraded around and left in abysmal conditions.

The US did attempt a rescue mission but this attempt was foiled by poor weather which led to a helicopter crashing and 8 US servicemen dying.

Carter's inability to resolve the situation strongly hurt his perception by the public. People saw him as weak and ineffectual as he was unable to save the captured Americans. The hostages were not released until early 1981.

The Iran hostages returning to the US

Citations Study.com, Study.com, study.com/academy/lesson/history-of-funk-music.html.

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