DISCO DAYS

<p>By 1972 President Richard Nixon had reached the heights of political power and popularity only to self-destruct due to his role in a third-rate burglary called Watergate. Nixon resigned in disgrace and for the first time in history Americans came to be led by an unelected President and Vice President -- Gerald Ford and Nelson Rockefeller. But Americans had much more on their minds than mere politics -- movies TV sports earning a living etc. Hollywood motion pictures including The Godfather Jaws and Star Wars captured their imaginations while weekly TV shows such as All in the Family and Happy Days made them laugh and Monday Night Football kept their competitive juices flowing.</p><p>To no one's surprise UCLA continued to win NCAA basketball championships and such schools as Alabama Arkansas Michigan Nebraska Notre Dame Oklahoma Penn State Texas and USC remained dominant on the gridiron. And professional sports thanks to such super-stars as BIllie Jean King Kareem Abul-Jabbar Henry Aaron Jack Nicklaus Muhammad Ali Al Unser and Terry Bradshaw became more popular than ever. But who could have predicted at the beginning of the decade that a young high school dropout named John Travolta and a band called the Bees Gees would become the kings of Disco Dancing? Or that a peanut farmer from Georgia would be elected President during our Bicentennial Year?</p>