Jimmy Carter Democrat 1977-1981

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Jimmy CarterDemocrat1977-1981
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I. Political Background
a. 1963-1967 Georgia state senator b.
1971-1975 Georgia governor c. 1977-1981
Thirty-ninth U.S. president d. 1980 Lost
presidential election to Ronald Reagan
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(1) Election of 1976

• D Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale
• R Gerald R. Ford/Robert Dole
• Very close election
• 1. Popular Vote 40,977,147 to 39,422,671
• 2. Electoral Vote 297 to 240
• d. Jimmy Carter's success in the election of 1976
  resulted in large part because he seemed to
  possess honesty, piety, and an outsider's
  skepticism of the federal government

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• (2) Panama Canal
• 1. Pushed for
• ratification of a
• treaty to
• return control
• of the canal to
• Panama on Dec 31,
• 1999.
• (Unpopular - had just one vote more than the
  required for the 2/3rds majority!)

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• (3) Creation of Dept. of Energy
• a. created as a result of the severe
• energy crisis of the 1970s
• b. Carter called for conservation of
• fuel and use of alternative
• energy sources
• c. Coal miners strike and the
• nuclear power plant accident at
• Three-Mile Island near
• Harrisburg, PA, dealt blows to his
• energy policies

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• (4) Camp David Accords
• 1. Carter invited Egyptian president Anwar
  el-Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem
  Begin to the presidential retreat at Camp David,
  Maryland, to discuss peace between the two
  nations
• 2. Meeting lasted over 13 days during September,
  1978 was successful!

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• 3. Drafted and signed on March 26, 1979
• 4. Other Arab nations rejected the Camp David
  Accords
• 5. 1st peace treaty between Israel and any Arab
  nation!

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(5) Iranian Revolution/ Hostage Crisis

• 1. Islamic Revolution in Iran occurred on
  November 4, 1979
• 2. U.S. supported shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who
  was
• forced to leave Iran
• 3. Shah was very ill with
• cancer and was admitted
• to an American hospital

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• 4. Iranians believed that his presence in the
  U.S. would provide a base for the Shah to reclaim
  his throne
• 5. Ayatollah Khomeini, a radical Islamic leader
  and one
• of the Shahs most vocal
• opponents, became Irans
• leader and proclaimed
• Iran an Islamic Republic

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• 6. Nov 4, 1979 American embassy in Tehran, Iran
  was attacked and the American staff was taken
  hostage

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• 7. Diplomatic efforts failed, and Carter froze
  all Iranian financial assets in the U.S.
• 8. Failed military attempt to rescue the hostages
  almost half of the helicopters developed
  mechanical problems another crashed (8 U.S.
  Soldiers died during Operation Eagle Claw, April
  1980)
• 9. HUGE embarrassment to the Carter
  Administration and the U.S.

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Downed American helicopter during Operation Eagle
Claw on a mission to rescue the hostages
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• 10. Carter eventually secured the release of the
  hostages, but 52 men were held hostage for 444
  days released Jan 20, 1981, when Reagan became
  president!

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• (6) Recognition of China
• Carter Administration formally
• recognized the Peoples Republic as
• the sole government of China led
• to the establishment of normal
• relations
• with
• Communist
• China.

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• (7) Accident at Three-Mile Island
• a. March 28, 1979 a nuclear power plant in PA
  experienced a severe core meltdown in one of
• the plants reactors
• b. Despite the scare that radioactivity would
  spread and damage people nearby no one received
  a harmful amount.
• c. This accident led the
• U.S. to reform our
• nuclear power industry
• to improve safety!

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• (8) Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
• a. Civil war in Afghanistan ? secular,
  communist govt vs. Muslims who wanted a
  more traditional govt that followed the
  religion
• b. Invasion of Soviets Dec, 1979 began a
  9-year conflict
• c. claimed they were not invading the country
  but were supporting a legitimate government
  against terrorists.

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• (9) Carter withdrew
• U.S. participation
• in the summer Olympics
• held in Moscow as a
• result of the invasion
• 60 nations boycotted in total
• (USSR retaliated in 1984 at the L.A. Olympics)

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(10) Steven Jobs/Stephen Wozniak

• Co-founders of Apple Inc. on April 1, 1976
• Greatly increased the popularity of personal
  computers in the 1970s
• Apple II was 1st
• successful sale
• eclipsed by Mac

He danced with the stars!!!
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(11) Affirmative Action

• Definition positive steps taken to increase the
  representation of women and minorities in areas
  of employment, education, and business from which
  they have been historically excluded.
• This sometimes gave preference to ethnic
  minorities and women in admission and hiring.

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• c. Some businesses and schools developed a fixed
  number of openings or quotas for certain groups
  of people.
• d. This practice angered many, and the issue made
  its way to the Supreme Court in University of
  California v. Bakke

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• e. Supreme court ruled that Allan Bakke, a white
  man, had been unfairly denied admission to
  medical school on the basis of these quotas.
• f. It did strike down the use of the quota system
  in university admissions and said that race can
  be one eligibility factor but not the determining
  factor.
• g. Many people claim affirmative action is
  Reverse Discrimination.

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(12) SALT II (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty)

• 1. Carter attempted to negotiate a SALT
  II treaty with the Soviets, which would further
  limit the production of nuclear weapons,
  lessening the chance of nuclear war.
• 2. Some members of Congress felt it
  threatened American defense
• 3. When the Soviet Union invaded
  Afghanistan in 1979, all talk of
  ratifying the treaty was pushed aside

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V. Random Information about Life After Presidency

• a. Founded the Carter Center in Atlanta in 1982
  that promotes human rights, democracy, improved
  public health and advances in agriculture
• b. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his
  efforts in seeking peaceful solutions and
  promoting social justice

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• c. Will forever be known as the Peanut Farmer
  president from Georgia, due to his peanut
  agricultural background before becoming involved
  in politics

Statue in Plains, GA 13 feet tall!
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• d. Economic Troubles

1. Inflation and high unemployment were still
problems 2. High interest rates and a poor
home-mortgage market discouraged economic
expansion