"I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as President, I must put the interests of America first... Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow." — President Richard Nixon, Resignation Address, August 8, 1974
President Carter's 1979 "crisis of confidence" address built on which trend signaled by Nixon's resignation?
- A
Bipartisan consensus on Cold War foreign policy
- B
Strong economic growth and low inflation
- Ccheck_circle
Declining public trust in the federal government and the presidency
- D
Renewed enthusiasm for activist liberal government
Explanation
Watergate accelerated a long decline in trust in government that Carter explicitly addressed. Liberalism waned in the 1970s, foreign-policy consensus eroded over Vietnam, and the decade saw stagflation, not growth.