On November 7, 1973, President Richard Nixon addressed the nation via a broadcast television appearance. The topic wasn’t what you might think. Rather than trying to reassure Americans about the unfolding Watergate scandal, Nixon instead attempted to encourage the country about its energy situation.

The month before, Egypt and Syria had launched a surprise attack against Israel. Arab members of OPEC intended to punish any nations in support of, or even just perceived in support of, the Israelis during what would be called the Yom Kippur War. The United States was targeted as was Canada, the UK, Japan, and even the Netherlands.

Nixon told Americans that the government was forecasting at least a 10% shortfall in crude supplies, maybe as much as 17%. The country hadn’t seen anything like it since the rationing of World War II.

Now, even before war broke out in the Middle East, these prospective shortages were the subject of intensive discussions among members of my Administration, leaders of the Congress, Governors, mayors, and other groups. From these discussions has emerged a broad agreement that we, as a nation, must now set upon a new course.

Though it was peacetime for the United States, Nixon encouraged cutting back, a new paradigm of rationing. As he said, in the short run “it will require sacrifice by all Americans”.

He then set about a long-term goal on par with the Apollo Program and the Manhattan Project. The President called it Project Independence, in keeping with the spirit of the “Bicentennial Era.” Trying hard to resurrect the spirit and enthusiasm of Kennedy, Nixon declared that by the end of the decade the US would “meet our own energy needs without depending on any foreign energy sources”.

So began the age of energy independence. As with most things related to Nixon, it didn’t come close. Even today we still import a massive amount of crude oil. The shale revolution of the past half-decade has brought this country closer than at any point to realizing that goal, if forty years behind schedule, but we aren’t quite there yet.