Executive Order 11615

In 1971, America was fully involved in the Vietnam War, and President Nixon was under huge public pressure to bring the war to an end. At the same time, the nation's economy was in trouble. Government spending on both social programs and the military had resulted in high rates of inflation, and Nixon feared that economic difficulties would hamper America's ability to prosecute the war.

In response to this situation, Nixon issued EO 11615 in August 1971. This order froze wages, prices, and rents for 90 days. In other words, Nixon forbade landlords from raising rents, employers from raising the salaries of their workers, and merchants from raising the prices of their products for 90 days. This was an unprecedented intrusion into the nation's economy by the federal government. Over the next few years, Nixon would issue several other executive orders in an attempt to stabilize the economy.

Many people, particularly members of Nixon's own Republican party, objected loudly to Nixon's actions.

They believed that this was an unacceptable form of government intervention in the capitalist marketplace and that Nixon's orders were a dangerous precedent. However, Nixon eventually ended these policies in June 1974, just two months before he was forced to resign because of the Watergate scandal, and the constitutionality of his actions was never decided upon by the Supreme Court.