Comprehensive Child Development Bill of 1972
Encyclopedia
The United States Congress passed the Comprehensive Child Development Bill in 1971. If this bill had become law it would have provided a multi-billion dollar national day care system designed partially to make it easier for single mothers to work and care for children simultaneously, thereby alleviating strain on the welfare system. President Richard Nixon
vetoed the bill in 1972.
Nixon's veto and his accompanying rationale reveal several staple thought processes of Cold War
politics in the United States. He said that the bill would implement a "communal approach to child-rearing," tying it to broad-based fears of Communism. He also said it had "family-weakening implications." The idea that America was distinguished by strong traditional families was often used (by Nixon and other American leaders) to contrast it with the USSR and to resist feminist demands for greater equality for women. Nixon's famous "kitchen debates"
with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev included prominent examples of this concept.
The bill incited some political backlash from anti-welfare and anti-feminist activists who opposed the idea of women in the workforce
and who were leery of allowing children to be partially raised outside of the home.
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
vetoed the bill in 1972.
Nixon's veto and his accompanying rationale reveal several staple thought processes of Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
politics in the United States. He said that the bill would implement a "communal approach to child-rearing," tying it to broad-based fears of Communism. He also said it had "family-weakening implications." The idea that America was distinguished by strong traditional families was often used (by Nixon and other American leaders) to contrast it with the USSR and to resist feminist demands for greater equality for women. Nixon's famous "kitchen debates"
Kitchen Debate
The Kitchen Debate was a series of impromptu exchanges between then U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow on July 24, 1959. For the exhibition, an entire house was built that the...
with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev included prominent examples of this concept.
The bill incited some political backlash from anti-welfare and anti-feminist activists who opposed the idea of women in the workforce
Women in the workforce
Until modern industrialized times, legal and cultural practices, combined with the inertia of longstanding religious and educational traditions, had restricted women's entry and participation in the workforce. Economic dependency upon men, and consequently the poor socio-economic status of women...
and who were leery of allowing children to be partially raised outside of the home.