Ellerbrock 1 Daniel Ellerbrock Mrs. Gengler College U.s.

Block 4 06 May 2013 Oates: How the Seventies Changed America The seventies this day and age seem almost forgotten a lost, loser decade where nothing particularly interesting happened. However Nicholas Lemann contests this saying that it was not only the wrapping up of the sixties but the incorporation of sixties into modern American life. He also discusses how geopolitics took a major shift from the the cold war ideology of communism to the issue of oil and Islam. At the beginning of the Article Lemman contrasts the seventies from the decades that preceded and succeeded it. He says that many people people think of the seventies as the precursor to the 80s where the events gave it a suspenseful feeling including the 1984 olympics, the Iran-contra scandal, and other events. However the seventies werent exactly a continuation of the sixties where challenging social norms and self discovery were the social norm. So what exactly was the seventies? Lemann suggests that on further inspection the seventies wasn't only about its odd fashion trends but more on the changing of historical patterns. The trends of the 1960s did not become a part of American society until the seventies suggests Lemann states that Richard Nixon a republican was criticized for being nightmarishly right wing. However Nixon's administration was more liberal Lyndon Johnsons administration. Nixon spent more on social programs and did not advocate the war in Vietnam as much as Johnson. However Nixon was not a liberal it was the fact that American ideals because of the sixties had shifted to the left. The sixties did not fully impact America while it they were happening but rather spread its ideology throughout the seventies and even the eighties. Lemann

Ellerbrock 2 states that the nature of self discovery introduced by the sixties only became a cultural phenomenon in the seventies. The seventies coupled with the cultural prosperity of World War II and the social upheaval of the nineteen sixties created new social arenas for movement such as feminist and gay-liberation movements. However social change and discovery had its basis in a thriving economy. The social issues were what bothered American during the beginning of the seventies not our own economy. The United States was number one in production during World War II this is what kept us alive, that we could be self sufficient. It was common thinking that the economy and social mobility would continue and the United States prosperity would continue to rise. This however was not the case, in fall of 1973 OPEC began an embargo of oil into the United States while this gesture did not fully register in the consciousness of the country at first its lasting effects would certainly make it memorable. The embargo made the price of oil and gasoline skyrocket this made oil producer of the United States in high demand and in turn vastly wealthy however this would begin a new trend in the seventies fragmentation between groups and parts of the country. The production of cars declined because of the exorbitant price of oil. The car produces of the U.S. such as Detroit lost a lot of business. However oil producers such as texas became wealthy. This split changed the dynamic of the United States from being a unified workhorse working for the common good of all changed. The U.S. developed an attitude of me first.This demonstrate how the U.S. was so dependant on one commodity that they could be controlled by another power so easily. The political turmoil by Nixons resignation and the embargo left the U.S. seemingly weak. This was obvious in the basic social structure of the country; the family unit the building blocks of structure was falling apart. Drastic increases of children being born out of wedlock, divorce, and many single families popping up.Finally OPEC made another move limiting

Ellerbrock 3 production of oil this increase prices even more. This created a crisis with many families running to the station to fill up before the prices changed. This scramble was not handled well by the Carter administration he did not have a definitive plan to stop OPEC from controlling the United States. He in turn admitted that the United States was weak this honest move was not favorable to the president whose poll numbers controlled his political moves. This weakness within the presidency is what made a man like Ronald Reagan such a great candidate for president. Ronald Reagan embraced the changing dynamics of America and taught strength to contrast the bleak seventies. The seventies still impact us today however with war in the middle east with oil barons and ever rising gas prices all stemming from the embargo. However this decade will leave an indelible mark on the nation as a time for the implementation of social phenomenon and political turmoil.