Nixon's Resignation and Death Rates: Individual/Systems Interaction in America

Abstract

Two studies are reported in which death rates were examined to determine the impact of Richard Nixon's resignation as a cultural/environmental event. As hypothesized, in the first study a significant dip in the number of deaths occurred in Atlanta, Georgia in the week immediately following the resignation. An examination of subpopulations indicated that the phenomenon was strongest among those individuals who had no obvious familial support system. In the second study, analysis of death rates for the entire state of Wisconsin indicated that the effect was strongest among circulatory deaths for males and neoplasmic deaths (tumor-related deaths) for females. The results are interpreted in terms of a stress hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, significant cultural events will be accompanied by emotional reactions, including stress reactions, and we may expect alterations in behavior to accompany these emotional reactions. In this instance, the behavior is death.