Richard Nixon on Crime President of the U.S., 1968-1974

1970s: Spike in crime followed initiation of War on Drugs

Violent crime skyrocketed during Prohibition. With the outrageous profits provided by the black market, with a number of unregulated outlaw criminal syndicates battling to control their share of it, and without access to the courts to resolve business disputes, homicide became a fundamental aspect of commercial success for Prohibition's criminal entrepreneurs.

From 1920 to 1933, America endured a horrific crime wave that ended only after Prohibition was repealed. The only other similar sustained spike in violent crime in the 20th century came immediately after Nixon's declared "War on Drugs" from 1970 to 1990.

Survived 1958 mob riot as VP in Venezuela

Along the route to the American embassy, protestors had erected a roadblock. Wielding clubs and pipes, a crowd swarmed the car. "They had firebombs, and they were bent on killing everybody in the party," an agent says. The crowd tried to pry open the doors and then began to rock the limo and try to set it on fire. The agents managed to get Nixon safely to the American embassy, where more angry insurgents confronted them. President Eisenhower sent the Sixth Fleet out to evacuate the embassy.

1968: Started "law-&-order" plank to gain Southern Whites

Sure, it was couched in other language. Nixon's law-and-order plank, for instance, technically was race neutral. But everyone in the South just knew that it was blacks who were committing most of the crimes. They understood what Nixon was getting at. If they wanted someone to stand up to those rioters making crazy demands, and those hippies egging them on, then Republican Richard Nixon was their man, not an unrecognized Minnesota liberal like Hubert Humphrey.

Declare and win the war against crime

Last year this administration sent to the Congress 13 separate pieces of legislation dealing with organized crime, pornography, street crime, & narcotics. None of these bills has reached my desk for signature. We in the Executive have done everything we can under existing law, but new and stronger weapons are needed in that fight.

While State and local law enforcement agencies are the cutting edge in the effort to eliminate crime, the Federal Government should play a greater role. That is why 1971 Federal spending for local law enforcement will double that budgeted for 1970.