1970's or Seventies was a time they called the " Hippie Decade". But not only this decade is about the hippie culture but it's also about the history behind it. The chaotic events of the 60's, including war and social change, seemed destined to continue in the 70's. Major trends included a growing government, improvement of civil rights, increased influence of the women's movement, a greater concern for the environment, and increased space exploration. Many of the "basic" ideas of the 60's gained wider acceptance in the new decade, and were mainstreamed into American life and culture. Also, many political members participated in this decade and some of which are President Richard M. Nixon, President Gerald Ford, and President Jimmy Carter.

The Vietnam War, which started in1959 still continued up to April 30, 1975. This war occured in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and was fought between the communist North Vietnam, supported by its communists allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other member nations of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organizatio( SEATO). U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search-and-destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery and strikes. The United States entered the war to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of repression. Militayr advisors arrived beggining in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated n the 1960's and combet units were deployed beggining in 1965. Involvement peaked in 1968 at hte time of the Tet Offensive. Despite a peace treaty or what they called “Paris Peace Accords”, signed by all parties in January 1973, fighting continued. In April 1975, North Vietnam captured Saigon. North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year. The war caused a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, including 3 to 4 million Vietnamese from both sides, 1.5 to 2 million Laotians and Cambodians, and 58,159 U.S. soldiers.
President Nixon At the same time, President M. Nixon who was reelected in the year 1968, had also contributed a lot in the Seventies. His accomplishments while in office included revenue sharing, the end of the draft, new anticrime laws, and a broad environmental program. As he had promised, he appointed Justices of conservative philosophy to the Supreme Court. Also in 1971, Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers, a massive collection of top-secret government documents, whose publication helped to discredit the Vietnam War policies of the Nixon administration. Some of Nixon's most acclaimed achievements came in his quest for world stability. During visits in 1972 to Beijing and Moscow, he reduced tensions with China and the U.S.S.R. His summit meetings with Russian leader Leonid I. Brezhnev produced a treaty to limit strategic nuclear weapons. In January 1973, he announced an accord with North Vietnam to end American involvement in Indochina. In 1974, his Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, negotiated disengagement agreements between Israel and its opponents, Egypt and Syria. But after a few months, his administration was embattled over the so-called "Watergate" scandal, causd by a break-in at the offices of the Democratic National Committee during the 1972 campaign. The break-in was traced to officials of the Committee to Re-elect the President. A number of administration officials resigned; some were later convicted of offenses connected with efforts to cover up the affair. Nixon denied any personal involvement, but the courts forced him to yield tape recordings which indicated that he had, in fact, tried to turn away the investigation. As a result of unrelated scandals in Maryland, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned in 1973. Nixon nominated, and Congress approved, House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford as Vice President. Faced with what seemed almost certain impeachment, Nixon announced on August 8, 1974, that he would resign the next day to begin "that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America." 
In May 29, 1972, the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty or SALT I, a negotiation was signed by the U.S. and the Soviet Union. This agreement consists of 2 two documents: the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty) and the Interim Agreement on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. The first one is to place limits and restraints on some of their central and most important armaments. In a Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems, they moved to end an emerging competition in defensive systems that threatened to spur offensive competition to still greater heights. In an Interim Agreement on Certain Measures With Respect to the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, the two nations took the first steps to check the rivalry in their most powerful land- and submarine-based offensive nuclear weapons.  
In April 9, 1974, Gerald Ford became the U.S. president. He established his policies during his first year in office, despite opposition from a heavily Democratic Congress. His first goal was to limit inflation. Then, when recession became the Nation's most serious domestic problem, he shifted to measures aimed at stimulating the economy. But, still fearing inflation, Ford vetoed a number of non-military appropriations bills that would have further increased the already heavy budgetary deficit. During his first 14 months as President he vetoed 39 measures. His programs were usually sustained. In foreign affairs, Ford acted vigorously to maintain U. S. power and prestige after the collapse of Cambodia and South Vietnam. Preventing a new war in the Middle East remained a major objective; By providing aid to both Israel and Egypt, the Ford Administration helped persuade the two countries to accept an interim truce agreement. Agreement with the Soviet Union continued and President Ford and Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev set new limitations upon nuclear weapons. His presidency ended when Jimmy Carter defeated him in the 1976 election.   

Jimmy Carter now became the 39th U.S. president. He became president of U.S. in 1977 to 1981. He tried to work hard to combat the continuing economic woes of inflation and unemployment. By the end of his administration, he could claim an increase of nearly eight million jobs and a decrease in the budget deficit, measured in percentage of the gross national product. Unfortunately, inflation and interest rates were at near record highs, and efforts to reduce them caused a short recession. He dealt with the energy shortage by establishing a national energy policy and by decontrolling domestic petroleum prices to stimulate production. He prompted Government efficiency through civil service reform and proceeded with deregulation of the trucking and airline industries. He sought to improve the environment. His expansion of the national park system included protection of 103 million acres of Alaskan lands. To increase human and social services, he created the Department of Education, bolstered the Social Security system, and appointed record numbers of women, blacks, and Hispanics to Government.

There are many political events that happened in the 1970’s. This is the decade where the Vietnam War ended, when the Watergate Scandal occurred and the Pentagon Papers was leaked and when our 3 presidents tried to improve our economy. President Nixon created anti crime laws and environmental programs, President Ford limited inflation and tried to fix our serious domestic problems; President Carter tried to decrease the unemployment rate and he also improved the environment. This is also the era where women, minorities, and gays increasingly demanded full legal equality and privileges in society. The 1970’s decade showed that it is the decade that greatly improved not only the lives of the people but also our environment.   

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 www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_tov/ai_2419100495
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