Domestic Policy

He sought to spark what he called a New American Revolution. Nixon believed that President Johnson's anti-poverty programs were ineffective and too costly. Instead he proposed to return power to state and local governments and focus on holding the line on Federal spending. Nixon addressed a variety of domestic issues with a mixture of principled pragmatism and political calculation.

Nixon was the first incoming President in 120 years to face a Congress completely controlled by the opposing party, and only some of his domestic proposals became law.

For example: To address the problems of crime and poverty in America's cities, he moved policy initiation into the White House through the creation of the Urban Affairs Council. The Council (later folded by Nixon into the Domestic Council under John Ehrlichman) coordinated the dozens of urban programs spread across the Government to make them more efficient and more effective.

He believed that local and state governments, because they were closer to the people, were in a far better position to address the nation's domestic challenges.

As President, Nixon returned billions of Federal tax dollars to governors and mayors all across America through a program of "revenue sharing" - an approach that was part of what he called New Federalism.

In addition, Nixon's New Federalism took aim at the nation's welfare program, which he believed was robbing people of the dignity of work and promoting a sense of dependency among its recipients.

Rather than just ending welfare, Nixon proposed a far-reaching replacement of the existing welfare program. Nixon's proposal created incentives for people to work, while also providing assistance for struggling families. Although Nixon's plan didn't pass the Democratic-controlled Congress, a Republican-controlled Congress passed a similar set of reforms in 1996 under President Clinton.

This principle of New Federalism was applied not just to economic policy but also to social issues such as Native American affairs, desegregation, and more.

The massive job of cleaning up the Great Lakes could not be accomplished by either the United States or by Canada alone. In what would become one of the first international environmental agreements in history, the two nations committed to restore and maintain the quality of the waters of the Great Lakes.

This agreement set the stage for international environmental cooperation for decades to come.

Acts signed by Nixon, such as the Endangered Species Act of 1973, are still the main legislative tools for protecting wildlife and limiting pollution.

The burning river became a tipping point for public disgust, and people demanded action.

A pragmatist in his approach to domestic affairs, Nixon knew politically that this was a problem he had to address. In his 1970 State of the Union address, President Nixon proposed an ambitious set of environmental goals, including a $10 billion clean water program, pollution controls on automobiles, and an end to dumping in the Great Lakes.

Enacted in 1970, the National Environmental Policy Act established the Environmental Protection Agency to bring together in one agency the responsibility for preserving and protecting America's environment.

Other reforms followed, including

• A comprehensive revision of the Clean Air Act
• The Marine Mammal Protection Act [eatlife.net/nixon-library/reflecting-pool.php]
• The Endangered Species Act [eatlife.net/nixon-library/endangered-species.php]

The next year, acknowledging growing vocal public support, he decided to make cancer research a priority.

The National Cancer Act, which President Nixon signed on December 23, 1971, created a new research infrastructure and committed billions of dollars to the cause of finding a cure for cancer.

At the White House signing ceremony, the president of the American Cancer Society enthusiastically called the act "the greatest thing ever done by the United States."

In his first term Nixon proposed a major health insurance overhaul to Congress. The Democratic-controlled Congress defeated the bill. After his reelection, Nixon tried again.

He proposed a plan for sweeping health insurance reform, not replacing Medicare, which had only been created in 1965, but drawing on the power of the private sector to make it more effective. Employers would be required to provide insurance to their workers. Subsidies would assist those who couldn't afford the premiums. And no one would be denied insurance because of existing conditions.

Nixon's resignation and opposition from Capitol Hill put an end to the plan.

When Vera Glaser, a reporter at his second Presidential press conference, pointed out that only three administration appointments out of 200 were women, Nixon pledged to address the problem. Soon after, he named a Presidential Task Force on Women's Rights and Responsibilities.

The Administration tripled the number of women in policy-making jobs within a year and shattered glass ceilings in a number of fields from forest rangers to generals. Nixon was only the third President to appoint a woman to a Cabinet-level post when he appointed Anne Armstrong as Counselor to the President in 1972. Altogether, the Nixon administration hired more than four times as many women for jobs in the Executive Branch as any previous Presidency.

Title IX began a dramatic increase in funding for girls' sports. In 1972, one in 27 girls played a sport in high school; as of 2015, more than 40 percent of all high school girls participate in athletics.

In seven Southern states, there had been fierce resistance to Federal efforts to enforce the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous decision that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" in violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.

In 1955, the Court ruled that school desegregation needed to occur "with all deliberate speed." But the pace of change remained slow. So in 1969 the Court ruled that desegregation had to occur "at once."

Nixon's New Federalism emphasized steering money and resources to local and state governments to empower them, which allowed him to push for locally sourced and enforced desegregation in America's schools.

In March 1970, Nixon tapped senior members of his administration to create and meet with committees of community leaders from each state, to develop individualized plans to bring about rapid desegregation of the South's schools.

The President met personally with the first six committees in the White House. When the Louisiana committee couldn't reach agreement, Nixon traveled to New Orleans for the final meeting to persuade Louisiana's leaders to take on responsibility for desegregating their schools.

By 1974, the number of African-American students in segregated schools in the South was down from 68 percent to 8 percent.

The plan forced many cities to develop their own affirmative action plans that covered both Federal and private projects, a legacy that continues to this day.

President Nixon felt that the Federal Government had taken advantage of the First Americans and treated them unfairly. He decided to reverse almost 100 years of Washington policy.

President Nixon returned tribal lands to their tribes, beginning with the sacred Blue Lake in New Mexico. He proposed the Indian Finance Act, providing support for economic development on Native American lands. And he crafted the landmark 1975 legislation that bolstered self-determination by allowing tribes to administer their Federally funded programs.

Beyond implementing purely economic initiatives, Nixon insisted that programs such as environmental reform, space exploration, and other social polices conform to cost-budget standards. He created the Office of Management and Budget - which still exists today - for this purpose.

Nixon's commitment to fiscal responsibility was put to the test when the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972. While an advocate for environmental protections and initially in favor of the legislation, Nixon vetoed the final bill because of the greatly increased $18 billion price tag, but Congress overrode the President's veto.

In addition there was a wave of serious drug use among U.S. troops in Vietnam. Landmark efforts, supported by the Nixon administration, showed how addressing heroin abuse could reduce urban crime.

In response Nixon announced the War on Drugs, a comprehensive, Federally supported approach to combating the tide of illegal drugs. Nixon's approach to the drug problem didn't begin and end with addressing the manufacturers and dealers. It also required supporting and rehabilitating addicts.

Nixon created a Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention, and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) was founded and new programs launched, many of them focused for the first time on treatment - the human side of the drug problem.

The highly unpopular draft compelled military service during Vietnam. Controversy about the draft also fueled a national debate about the voting age of 21. If people were old enough to fight for their country, it was argued, they should also be able to vote.

As President, Nixon appointed in 1969 a high-level commission to study the creation of an all-volunteer armed force as a way of replacing the military draft. He signed legislation to extend the draft two more years, but with a lottery system. He accepted the Commission's recommendation for an all-volunteer force and the draft was ended in early 1973.

President Nixon also signed an extension of the Voting Rights Act that lowered the voting age to 18. After the Supreme Court ruled that Congress lacked the authority to lower the voting age, the 26th Amendment was proposed to correct the problem and was quickly passed by Congress and ratified by the states.

By early 1973, no more draft orders were issued, military pay had been increased to encourage voluntary service, and the draft expired later that year.

Along with other factors, its impact is reflected in the respect and honor which returning vets and active duty forces are accorded today.