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| Aug. 26 |
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| Thousands of women celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and called attention to persistent gender inequality in the nation's social, economic, and political life. | 1 |
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| Sept. 3–7 |
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| A congress of African people, mainly African Americans, at Atlanta studied problems of culture and ideology. | 2 |
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| Oct. 12 |
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| The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, in a comprehensive report, concluded that because of a lack of interagency coordination and adequate supervision, a major breakdown had occurred in the implementation of the voluminous legislation designed to ensure equal rights for all. Civil rights issues were becoming less of a national priority, as indicated in Daniel Patrick Moynihan's advice to Pres. Nixon that “the issue of race could benefit from a period of benign neglect.” | 3 |
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| Oct. 15 |
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| The Organized Crime Control Act established federal jurisdiction over major gambling operations, control over the interstate sale of explosives, and so on. The death penalty was made mandatory for bombings resulting in loss of life. | 4 |
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| Oct. 22 |
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| The Merchant Marine Act provided for the construction of 300 ships over the next ten years and the extension of operating subsidies in order to restore the U.S. to the position of a first-rate maritime power. | 5 |
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| Oct. 24 |
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| Pres. Nixon repudiated the report of the National Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, declaring its conclusion—that pornography was not a contributing factor to crime and that it ought to be freely available to adults—to be morally bankrupt. Many called Nixon's judgment a biased interpretation of a generally sound report. | 6 |
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