Ford took office in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal and in the final stages of the Vietnam War, both of which engendered a new disillusion in American political institutions. Ford's first major act upon taking office was to grant a presidential pardon to Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal, prompting a major backlash to Ford's presidency. He also created a conditional clemency program for Vietnam War draft dodgers. Rabin notes it was 'an innocent-sounding term that heralded one of the worst periods in American-Israeli relations'. The announced reassessments upset many American supporters of Israel. On May 21, Ford 'experienced a real shock' when seventy-six U.S. senators wrote him a letter urging him to be 'responsive' to Israel's request for $2.59 billion in military and economic aid. Ford felt truly annoyed and thought the chance for peace was jeopardized.