The American Presidency

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 12.03.03

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Rationale
  2. Overview
  3. Objective
  4. Background Information
  5. Theodore Roosevelt
  6. Woodrow Wilson
  7. Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt
  8. John F. Kennedy
  9. Richard Nixon
  10. Birth of the Women's Rights Movement
  11. Growth of Women's Rights (1920–1950)
  12. The Development of Feminism and the ERA (1920–1972)
  13. Strategies and Activities
  14. Appendices 1–5
  15. APPENDIX 6
  16. APPENDIX 7
  17. End Notes
  18. Annotated Bibliography

The Women's Movement in Presidential Rhetoric

Stefano Cadoppi

Published September 2012

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Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon surprised everybody when he became President. Considered as a conservative figure, he pursued unexpected reforms in welfare, civil rights, and environmental policies. Even more surprising was his favorable position on women's rights. The stark contrast between Nixon the man and Nixon the politician escaped logic. Individually, he was conservative; as a politician, he was in some ways a progressive. During his first term, Congress passed Title IX that prohibited sex discrimination in schools receiving federal funds. Moreover, Nixon approved many more anti sex discrimination provisions to federally supported programs. Nixon would systematically identify and consider women like no other president in the past for presidential appointments. The Talent Bank for women was the first time involving the White House and female outside groups. This would prove to be an extension to Kennedy's National Committee on the Status of Women shaped to involve all the most qualified women in the country for high–ranking positions in government. We tend to think about events in terms of their visibility and immediacy. Yet, change many times comes without a fanfare. And the Talent Bank is a case in point.

Perhaps one explanation for Nixon's progressive social agenda stems from the upheavals of the 60s. JFK, Malcolm X, MLK, and Robert Kennedy were assassinated within five years of each other. The last part of the 60s was a generational battleground. Plus, the Vietnam War inflamed and divided the whole country. Reconciliation could have been Nixon's first step to bring a sense of balance to the country. In many ways his Imperial Presidency–like rhetoric benefitted many social programs. He promoted affirmative action and funding for minority owned businesses and African American colleges. Moreover, massive desegregation in the South happened under his supervision. He never made a speech strongly endorsing civil rights. Along those lines, he only went as far as to endorse voluntary desegregation but not integration. With all his imperfections, though, Nixon reflected the changing mood of the country towards women's social inclusion. Strange as it might be, his social agenda on women's rights is one of the most outstanding of any previous President.

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