Question 1

The tragedies of Kent State and Jackson State occurred during protests over the American expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia by the Nixon administration.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. The shootings at Kent State University in Ohio and Jackson State College in Mississippi took place during protests against the Nixon administration's decision to escalate the Vietnam War by invading Cambodia in 1970.

Question 2

In the early 1970s, the United States suffered its first fuel shortage since World War II.

Accepted Answer

This is true. The fuel shortage was caused by a combination of factors including the OPEC oil embargo and increased demand for oil due to economic growth and a greater reliance on automobiles.

Question 3

The political demise of Richard Nixon was largely a result of his own personality and leadership style.

Accepted Answer

Richard Nixon's leadership style, which included a tendency towards secrecy, paranoia, and a willingness to engage in unethical behavior, played a major role in his downfall. The Watergate scandal, in which Nixon and his advisors were found to have engaged in illegal activities, was a direct result of Nixon's personality and leadership style. Nixon's attempts to cover up the scandal only further damaged his reputation and led to his eventual resignation from office.

Question 4

During the Nixon administration, relations with communist China were greatly improved.

Accepted Answer

Nixon's foreign policy led to the opening of diplomatic relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China in 1972.

Question 5

Shortly after the last Americans had left South Vietnam, Cambodia came under the control of a brutal and repressive government.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. The Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia in 1975 and their regime was responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million people through execution, forced labor, and starvation.

Question 6

The Nixon administration abolished the Office of Economic Opportunity and created the Environmental Protection Agency.

Accepted Answer

President Nixon did indeed abolish the Office of Economic Opportunity and create the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970.

Question 7

Weeks after Henry Kissinger announced that "peace is at hand" in the Vietnam War, President Nixon ordered the heaviest air raids on North Vietnam of the entire war.

Accepted Answer

This is true. The incident is known as the Christmas Bombings and it happened in December 1972, after Kissinger's announcement in October of the same year. The bombings lasted for 11 days and caused extensive damage and civilian casualties.

Question 8

Despite President Nixon's desire for a more conservative Supreme Court and his appointment of several new justices, the Court actually moved further toward social reform.

Accepted Answer

Despite Nixon's attempts to shift the Court to the right, decisions such as Roe v. Wade and Furman v. Georgia expanded individual rights and limited government power, indicating a move towards social reform.

Question 9

The 1973 Yom Kippur War saw the United States pressure Israel to accept a cease-fire rather than push for more territory.

Accepted Answer

This is true. The United States, under the Nixon administration, pressured Israel to accept a cease-fire in order to avoid further escalating the conflict and possibly risking Soviet involvement. Israel eventually agreed to the cease-fire on October 22, 1973.

Question 10

The release of chlorofluorocarbons into the atmosphere directly affects the earth's capacity to replenish its oxygen supply.

Accepted Answer

Chlorofluorocarbons have no direct effect on the earth's capacity to replenish its oxygen supply. However, they do contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer, which indirectly affects the production of oxygen by plants through increased UV radiation.

Question 11

The Nixon administration responded to the mounting economic problems of the country by focusing on the one thing they thought they could control: inflation.

Accepted Answer

The Nixon administration did indeed focus on inflation as a response to economic problems in the country.

Question 12

The 1972 Democratic nominee George McGovern could most accurately be described as a strong critic of the Vietnam War who was a moderate on social issues.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The 1972 Democratic nominee George McGovern could...

Question 13

Conservative Americans, by and large, supported the decisions of the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren.

Accepted Answer

Conservative Americans generally opposed the decisions of the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren, which included rulings on issues such as school desegregation and criminal defendants' rights.

Question 14

The so-called Pentagon Papers revealed the government had misled the public in explaining its motives for American involvement in Vietnam.

Accepted Answer

This is a well-known fact about the Pentagon Papers. The papers were a classified government report that was leaked to the press in 1971 and showed that the government had been misleading the public about the true nature and extent of American involvement in Vietnam. The revelations in the papers contributed to a growing sense of disillusionment and skepticism about government claims, and helped to turn public opinion against the war.

Question 15

What came to be called the Watergate scandal began when five men broke into the offices of the Democratic National Committee.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. The Watergate scandal began with the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington D.C. in 1972.

Question 16

The lesson of the Yom Kippur War was that the United States could continue to expect cheap, easy access to raw materials from its "client states."

Accepted Answer

The lesson of the Yom Kippur War was actually the opposite. It showed that the United States could not rely on its "client states" to always provide cheap, easy access to raw materials, and that it needed to diversify its sources of energy and materials.

Question 17

To secure a peace agreement in Vietnam in 1972, President Nixon dropped his demand that North Vietnam withdraw its troops from South Vietnam before American troops would be removed.

Accepted Answer

This statement is true. In the Paris Peace Accords of 1972, Nixon agreed to withdraw American troops from Vietnam if North Vietnam released American prisoners of war and agreed to a ceasefire. The agreement did not require North Vietnam to withdraw its troops from the South, which was a major concession by the U.S.

Question 18

In order to avoid losing public support, President Nixon informed the American people of his decision to begin bombing Cambodia before he did so.

Accepted Answer

President Nixon did not inform the American people before he began bombing Cambodia in 1970. The decision was made secretly and only revealed later by the media.

Question 19

The Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club, the National Audubon Society, the Nature Conservancy, the National Wildlife Federation, and the National Parks and Conservation Association all predated the rise of modern ecological science.

Accepted Answer

These organizations were founded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before the development of modern ecological science in the mid-20th century.

Question 20

Richard Nixon was reelected in 1972 by a much greater margin than he had received in 1968.

Accepted Answer

Richard Nixon won the 1972 election by a large margin, receiving 520 electoral votes to his opponent George McGovern's 17 electoral votes. This was a much greater margin than the 1968 election, in which Nixon won by a margin of 301 electoral votes to Hubert Humphrey's 191.

Quiz 30: The Crisis of Authority