This invaluable student resource provides an historical overview on the most controversial issues of the Nixon, Ford, and Carter administrations, allowing the presidents and their opponents to speak for themselves through primary documents. Also included are a timeline, bibliographies, and an index.When Richard Nixon was elected president in 1968, the United States was mired in Vietnam. In 1981, as Jimmy Carter was preparing to leave office, American citizens were hostages in Iran. The intervening years were no less turbulent. Nixon was forced to resign, the United States boycotted the Olympic games, an energy crisis struck the country, and skyrocketing rates of inflation and stagnating growth hampered the economy. The nation was torn over the forced desegregation of schools, Ford's pardon of Nixon, the relinquishment of the Panama Canal to Panama, and a host of environmental issues.