Vietnam

The Watergate scandal that happened in the 1970’s led to President Nixon’s resignation. President Ford had a pardon issued for Nixon which the people did not take very well. The decisions such as pardoning former President Nixon was a tough situation for President Ford to face. People still did not trust the government at al still during this time. Then congress passed the War Powers Act as an effort to prevent future events that were similar to the Vietnam War from happening. Nixon had vetoed the War Powers Act that stated that if the President had to inform Congress if more troops were going into battle. The War Powers Act puts a limit on how many troops a President can send into war without congress approval. “It only lets troops into battle for 60 days and where there are imminent hostilities without a declaration of war from congress or a congressional mandate.” (New York Times, 1984) The United States lost the Vietnam War and it hurt the United States in more ways that one. Many American cititens had lost their lives and others were injured if they made it out alive. “The government had spent around $167 billion on the war total and was taking a major hit for spending that much money.” (Nelson, 1999) President Johnson idea to spend that kind of money without raising taxes cause double digit inflation and a mound of federal debt that changed the way Americans lived for a long time.