The First Oil Shock? Nixon, Congress, and the 1973 Petroleum Crisis

2021/01/02 by J. Louis Cohen · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · Medicine · #Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis #Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts #Vietnamese History and Culture Studies #Contingency plan #Government (linguistics) #Political science #Shock (circulatory) #Administration (probate law) #Public administration #Political economy #Law #Economics #Management #Medicine

paper · doi:10.1080/21520844.2021.1886501

openalex publication_date 2021/01/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06

Abstract

This article investigates whether the United States had prior knowledge of the 1973 oil crisis instituted by Arab countries in 1973. It argues, using predominantly primary source documents, that as early as 1971, Washington understood the Arab nations were willing to use oil as an economic weapon. Furthermore, government officials had drafted contingency plans to ameliorate the enormous deleterious economic impact. Unfortunately, the gridlocked Congress and the erosion of executive power associated with the unfolding of the Watergate scandal thwarted any possibility of the Nixon Administration’s economic response to these developments being implemented. This article contributes new primary source research and contextualizes the crisis within the framework of a gridlocked Congress to add to the existing debate concerning America’s preparations for and failure to respond to the 1973 oil crisis.

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• 1973 oil crisis [wikipedia]

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