Nixon endorsed the Equal Rights Amendment after it passed both houses of Congress in 1972 and went to the states for ratification as a Constitutional amendment. Nixon increased the number of female appointees to administration positions. Nixon signed the landmark laws Title IX in 1972, prohibiting gender discrimination in all federally-funded schools and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act.
It was during the Nixon Presidency that the Supreme Court issued its Roe v. Wade ruling, legalizing abortion. First Lady Pat Nixon had been outspoken about her support for legalized abortion, a goal for many feminists . Nixon himself did not speak out publicly on the abortion issue, but was personally pro-choice, and believed that, in certain cases such as rape, or an interracial child, abortion was an option.
During the Nixon administration, the United States established many government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Nixon authorized the Clean Air Act of 1970, which has been called one of the most significant pieces of environmental legislation ever signed.
In his 1974 State of the Union address, Nixon called for comprehensive health insurance. On February 6, 1974, he introduced the Comprehensive Health Insurance Act. Nixon's plan would have mandated employers... Read More to purchase health insurance for their employees, and in addition provided a federal health plan, similar to Medicaid, that any American could join by paying on a sliding scale based on income.
The Republican base has been screaming bloody murder about "negotiating with the enemy but again, we look back at Presidents past and find the Nixon visit to our Communist enemy at the time, China.
In February 1972, President and Mrs. Nixon traveled to China, where the president was to engage in direct talks with Mao and Chou. Kissinger briefed Nixon for over forty hours in preparation. Upon touching down, the President and First Lady emerged from Air Force One and greeted Chou. The visit ushered in a new era of Chinese-American relations. Fearing the possibility of a Sino-American alliance, the Soviet Union yielded to American pressure for detente
Nixon used the improving international environment to address the topic of nuclear peace. Following his successful visit to China, the Nixon administration drew up plans for the president to visit the Soviet Union. The President and First Lady arrived in Moscow on May 22, 1972.
Nixon met with Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev, and engaged in intense negotiations regarding international issues with his Soviet counterpart. Out of this "summit meeting" came agreements for increased trade and two landmark arms control treaties: SALT 1 the first comprehensive limitation pact signed by the two superpowers, and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, which banned the development of systems designed to intercept incoming missiles. Nixon and Brezhnev proclaimed a new era of "peaceful coexistence" and established groundbreaking new policy of détente (or cooperation) between the two superpowers. Détente would replace the hostility of the Cold War and the two countries would live mutually. A banquet was held that evening at the Kremlin.
-Source Wikipedia
In other words, many of the policies being adopted by the new Obama administration aren't new policies at all but are policies and ideals from the Republican Party of the 70's. Policies that worked! What has happened to the GOP? It has lurched so far to the right, filling itself with such reactionary, fear spewing radicals that it doesn't even recognize itself. The party must return to some sort of sanity to be seen as a viable alternative again. The current struggles of the Democratic Party and the less than exceptional start of the Obama Presidency won't get them back into power as long as they continue to sound like the hateful, radical party that they have become.
