The Nation 1973

On January 17th, 1973 President Richard Nixon announced the suspension of offensive action against North Vietnam as the Paris Peace Accords are signed. The last American soldier dies and the military draft is suspended. What remains of US forces leave the country, including released POWs in this photo. Chronology of the end of the Vietnam War

The Watergate scandal continues in earnest with hearings televised beginning May 17th. White House attorney John Dean spills the beans. Attorney General John Mitchell resigns. In what is called the Midnight Massacre, President Nixon orders Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox who was hot on his trail. Richardson refuses as does Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus. Solicitor General Robert Bork finally does the dirty deed. Nixon claims to the world "I am not a Crook!". Top White House aides H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and others resign.The Washington Post Watergate Story

Vice President Spiro Agnew, known for his nasty political rhetoric "Naboobs of Negatism" resigns in an unrelated matter concerning taking bribes and income tax invasion when Governor of Maryland. He is fined $10,000 and put on 3 years' probation. Spiro Agnew and the Media

Roe v. Wade: The State of Texas refused Jane Roe (Norma McCorvey) an abortion under its criminal statutes. She appealed and the U.S. Supreme Court which in a 7 to 2 decision gave women the constitutional right to choose to have an abortion without state interference in the first trimester, up to 12 weeks. The health and lives of countless women have been saved from failed and botched self inflicted abortions, back street butchers and suicides. Quick Guide to Roe V Wade

After many racial incidents involving the killings of Indians, AIM, the American Indian Movement occupied the Pine Ridge Reservation in Wounded Knee, South Dakota. After a 71-day standoff between federal authorities the militants,
Russell Means and Dennis Banks pictured above surrendered. The Story behind the AIM occupation

The War on Drugs began in earnest as Congress and the Nixon Administration form the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). More on the DEA

Republican President Richard Nixon asked Congress to pass conservation laws to help protect the environment. The Endangered Species Act was passed and signed by Nixon in 1973. It saved Bald Eagles, Whooping cranes, and wolves from extinction. Though the act has been demonized by conservatives since passage, it has been a proven success for the environment and popular with the American people. More on the Endangered Species Act

"One judge, stubbornly and doggedly pursuing the truth in his courtroom regardless of its political implications, forced Watergate into the light of investigative day. One judge, insisting that not all the panoply of the presidency entitled Nixon to withhold material evidence from the Watergate prosecutors, brought the White House tapes and documents out of hiding. For these deeds, and as a symbol of the America judiciary's insistence on the priority of law throughout the sordid Watergate saga of 1973, TIME's Man of the Year is Federal Judge John Joseph Sirica."

The World 1973

Former U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson died at his ranch in Stonewall, Texas. A man of the people who ultimately failed them by getting us into the Vietnam War. Which was not only unpopular and divisive, but was the only war America ever lost. The White House Biography

Elected in 1970, Salvadore Allende (left) tried to uplift the poor and dispossed of Chile with a socialist government. It was destined to fail with the constant battle against the United States backed right-wing military and wealthy landowners. On September 11th, 1973 a Military Coup was finalized, Allende committed suicide and General Augusto Pinochet become the military dictator of Chile for the next 16 years. Pinochet died in 2006 in Spain while being tried for crimes against humanity. The Allende Story

The Yom Kippur War was also called the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War. Egypt and Syria attacked Israel from the North and South seeking to gain back Gaza and the Golan Heights lost to them in the 1967 Six Day War. After Israel pushed back the United Nations called for a cease fire. The major outcome was Anwar Sadat removing Egypt from the fray be recognizing the Jewish State. Quick guide to this forever war

A year after winning his second election for President of the Philippines in 1973, United States backed Ferdinand Marcos declared himself President for Life. Though Marcos was from the Right, with his powerful wife Imelda, comparisons abound to the Leftist Perons' in Argentina. About Ferdinand Marcos

Nobel prizes 1973

Physics - Leo Esaki, Ivar Giaever, Brian David Josephson
Chemistry - Ernst Otto Fischer, Geoffrey Wilkinson
Medicine - Karl von Frisch, Konrad Lorenz, Nikolaas Tinbergen
Literature - Patrick White
Peace - Henry A. Kissinger, Le Duc Tho
Economics - Wassily Leontief

The Class of 1973