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Why did Nixon Win? - Coggle Diagram
Why did Nixon Win?
Middle America
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Who were they:
- Earned $5,000 to $15,000 p.a.
- They were blue collar workers.
- They were not poor but JAMs (‘Just about managing’)
Context:
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Every night on TV they watched the riots and lost patience with a government they saw as taxing them too much to give the money in the form of welfare to the undeserving poor (LBJ’s Great Society programs).
There was a perception that while ‘Middle America’s kids’ were being drafted and sent to Vietnam, student protesters lived comfortably and avoided the draft.
Middle America normally voted democrat but Nixon appealed to them. He gained the votes of ‘Main street …not Wall Street’ (Nixon 1970) appealing to the ‘unyoung, unpoor, unblack and…..middle-aged, middle-class and middle-minded’ – all those who opposed 1960s radicalism, change and disorder.
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Radical groups
- While Nixon was campaigning he country seemed to be being overrun by radical groups.
- Radical groups such as Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Youth International Party (Yippies) battled with the Chicago police.
- There was much call from such groups for social change.
This made Nixon stand out as a reasonable, levelled headed potential president. He will willing to stop this do desired change which appealed to the silent majority.
Experience
He was a former vice President and was associated with the calm of the Eisenhower years. He had government experience.
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Ani-communist
He was an extreme anti-communist which the ‘old guard’ Republicans liked while liberals found his policies acceptable.
This was still a time where the communism was a huge threat. It was felt on both a national and international scale. President that would be tough but yet willing to take American out of the Vietnam War was needed.