1. The Ford Presidency
“My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.”
Gerald Ford swearing in speech – August 9, 1974

2. The Ford Presidency 1974-1977 Ford was an affable man
First unelected president

3. The Ford Presidency
A former football player at the University of Michigan
Former member of the House

4. The Ford Presidency
Ford served on the Warren Commission that investigated the Kennedy Assassination

5. The Nixon Pardon September 8, 1974
One of Ford’s first actions, and his most controversial, was to issue a full pardon to Richard Nixon for any crimes he might have committed.

6. The Nixon Pardon September 8, 1974
I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution…do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from July (January) 20, 1969 through August 9,

7. The Ford Presidency 1975
Final U.S. evacuation of South Vietnam – April 30, 1975
Saturday Night Live debuts with parodies of President Ford

8. The Ford Presidency 1975
President Ford falling down the steps of Air Force One

9. The Ford Presidency 1975
President Ford standing over a woman hit by one of his golf shots

10. The Ford Presidency
Congress investigated the CIA (The Church Committee)
In the 1950’s it administered the drug LSD on unsuspecting Americans to test its effects
Assassination plots against Fidel Castro and other foreign leaders
Introduction of African swine fever virus to Cuba in 1971 through anti-Castro rebels

11. The Ford Presidency 1975-1976 Congress also investigated the FBI
Illegal surveillance of several hundred thousand American citizens
Tapped Martin Luther King’s private phone conversations, sent him fake letters and threatened him

12. The Ford Presidency
These investigations were a product of the climate of mistrust created by Vietnam and Watergate (LBJ and Nixon)
They led to restraints put on the FBI and CIA that some have argued made us vulnerable to terrorist attack in years to come

13. The Ford Presidency
U.S. economy experiencing high levels of inflation
Energy crisis - OPEC
Whip Inflation Now (WIN)

14. The Bicentennial July 4, 1976

15. The Bicentennial July 4, 1976

17. The Election of 1976
Ford held off conservative Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination
The Democrats selected a “Washington outsider”, James Earl Carter; the former Governor of Georgia; “Call me Jimmy”
Carter was a born-again Christian who vowed that he would never lie to the American people

18. The Election of 1976

19. The Election of 1976

20. The Carter Presidency 1977-1981
Stagflation
High levels of Unemployment AND Inflation
Energy Crisis
Rising gas prices
Three-Mile Island
Near nuclear meltdown

21. The Energy Crisis of the 70’s

22. The Energy Crisis of the 70’s

23. The Carter Presidency 1977-1981
The Panama Canal Treaty
U.S. vow to turn the Canal over to Panama in 2000
Camp David Accords
Carter brokers a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel

24. Camp David Accords

25. The Carter Presidency 1977-1981
Soviets invade Afghanistan – Dec. 24, 1979
Détente ends
U.S. boycotts 1980 summer Olympics
Osama Bin Laden
Soviet Union’s Vietnam

26. The Iranian Hostage Crisis November 4, 1979 – January 20, 1981
After a coup in 1953, the CIA reinstalled the government of Reza Mohammed Pahlevi – The Shah of Iran
The Shah was a U.S. ally that bordered the Soviet Union

27. The Iranian Hostage Crisis November 4, 1979 – January 20, 1981
Iran’s petrodollars ended up in the hands of the Shah and his allies and NOT the mass of Iranian people
He brutalized political opposition (secret police)

28. The Iranian Hostage Crisis
The Shah sought to modernize/westernize Iran and this met with opposition from Islamic fundamentalists
One of his leading opponents was the Ayatollah Khomeini

29. The Iranian Hostage Crisis
Khomeini represented Islamic fundamentalists who rejected the westernization of Iran
They viewed the U.S. as the embodiment of evil (The Great Satan)

30. The Iranian Hostage Crisis
In 1978, the Iranian people revolted against the Shah (The Iranian Revolution)
President Carter and the U.S. continued to support its long time ally
The Shah was forced to leave Iran

31. The Iranian Hostage Crisis
November 4, 1979
Iranian students in Tehran storm the U.S. embassy and take Americans hostage

32. The Iranian Hostage Crisis
They hold these hostages for the next 444 days
Massive anti-U.S. protests are held in the streets of Tehran

33. The Iranian Hostage Crisis
The protests and President Carter’s inability to do anything about it frustrated the American people
A botched rescue mission added to the frustration

34. The Reagan Presidency 1981-1989
Election of (November 4, 1980)
1 year anniversary of the hostage crisis

35. The Election of 1980
Reagan called for an America with greater military power
Vowed we would not be humiliated as a superpower
Criticized budget deficits and the progressivism of the 60’s and 70’s

36. Election of 1980