The Nixon years. No shortage of drama, not even during the first term. On March 18th 1971 news was greeted at Boeing with a sense of dread, as the House voted to kill the SST (Supersonic Transport) program. Nixon's proposal of the Revenue Sharing Program with local governments met with tepid response. Debate was on over No-Fault Car insurance. Nixon renews his pledge to abolish the Office of Economic Opportunity from the Johnson Administration. Meanwhile, the Nixon administration opted to turn down Federal funding for school age inoculations triggering a spike in disease outbreaks by the end of 1970. The EPA refused to ban DDT and the weed killer 245T. It came as no surprise to anyone that low income families paid 1/2 of their annual income in taxes, while the rest paid roughly a third. The Vietnam War dragged on with the South Vietnamese Army scoring heavy losses and the Lt. Calley Mai Lai Massacre trial continued.

It could always be worse.

Here is an NBC Nightly News from March 18, 1971, complete with commercials.