1. The Carter Administration

2. James Earl (“Jimmy”) Carter (Dem ,GA) ~Former Governor of Georgia
~Washington “outsider”
*Led to challenges in dealing with Congress

3. A. Domestic Policies 1. Economic Issues
~He inherits an unstable economy and isn’t able to improve it
>Problems include inflation, high unemployment, business failures, etc.
*Stagflation – rising prices coupled with high unemployment, largely due to recent and dramatic rise in oil prices

4. ~OPEC had been continually raising prices since 1973
2. Energy Issues
~OPEC had been continually raising prices since 1973
~In 1977 Carter creates new cabinet department, the Department of Energy
*Will also later create the Department of Education

5. 1.) Tax the sales of gas guzzling cars
~ In 1978 a National Energy Act is passed, containing following directives:
1.) Tax the sales of gas guzzling cars
2.) Convert new utilities to fuels other than oil or natural gas *He has solar panels installed at the White House…
3.) Deregulate prices for domestic oil and natural gas
4.) Tax credits for homeowners using solar energy and for energy efficiency improvements
5.) Fund research for alternative energy sources and synthetic fuels
*Three Mile Island – nuclear power seemed a promising, though controversial, alternative energy source and concerns were validated with 1979 partial reactor meltdown at a nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, PA
>No one hurt, voluntary evacuations took place, reactor later dismantled, did hurt the
nuclear power industry *China Syndrome movie released 12 days before this…

6. 3. Civil Rights Issues
~Makes good on promise to grant full pardon to Vietnam War draft dodgers, which received mixed reactions
~Appoints many African Americans to important positions
Ex. Andrew Young as Ambassador to the United Nations

7. - The Supreme Court’s complex ruling: 1.) Ordered Bakke be admitted
~Affirmative Action
>Policy started during Johnson Administration to make up for past discrimination by establishing hiring and University enrollment quotas for minorities
>1974 Bakke vs California
- A white applicant to U.C. Davis Medical school is refused admission and sues the school claiming that reserving 16 of 100 class spaces for minority applicants amounted to “reverse discrimination”
- The Supreme Court’s complex ruling:
1.) Ordered Bakke be admitted
2.) Upheld school’s right to consider race as one factor in admission decisions
3.) Forbade the use of numerical quotas
*Doesn’t ban concept of affirmative action but does signal the start of a backlash against it

8. B. Foreign Policy ~Little diplomatic experience prior to taking office
~Personal beliefs and support for human rights guide his approach

9. Camp David Accords
~Israel and neighboring Arab nations had fought several wars, the most recent in 1967 and 1973
~Carter invites Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to Camp David, the Presidential retreat in Maryland
~Carter’s personal diplomacy helps them agree to a peace treaty known as the Camp David Accords whereby:
>Israel would withdraw from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, which it had held since 1967 war
>Egypt became the first Arab nation to recognize Israel’s existence as a nation
*Sadat & Begin will share the Nobel Peace Prize for this historic agreement

10. 2. U.S. – Soviet Relations
~Détente was at a high point when Carter took office
Ex Apollo – Soyez joint space mission
~Carter’s support for human rights angers U.S.S.R. when he spoke in support of Soviet dissidents – activists and writers who criticized their government
~1979 SALT II : Carter and Leonid Brezhnev sign new treaty limiting nuclear warheads and missiles
*However, Carter withdraws the treaty from Senate consideration for ratification following the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan (to support a pro-soviet regime there)
**He will also impose a boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics, which some 60 other nation will join
~Détente was then effectively dead and Cold War tensions resume

11. 3. 1979 The Iran Hostage Crisis
~Worst foreign policy crisis of Carter’s administration (and does much to prevent Carter’s re-election)
~Despite the corruption and repression of his regime, the U.S. had supported Iran’s Shah (king), Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, for years
Why?: >He had modernized & westernized Iran
>He was a reliable source for oil
~In January 1979 an anti-western Muslim fundamentalist revolution breaks out in Iran by the supporters of the religious leader the Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini

12. ~The Shah flees Iran and Carter allows him to enter the U. S
~The Shah flees Iran and Carter allows him to enter the U.S. to get medical attention (for cancer)
~In Iran, outraged fundamentalists seize the U.S. embassy and hold 52 American hostages for 444 days
~Carter’s efforts to free the hostages included: diplomacy, breaking diplomatic relations & freezing Iranian assets in the U.S., and a commando rescue attempt that ends in disaster (in a desert sandstorm)
*Khomeini was demanding the Shah’s return to Iran for trial, but didn’t release the hostages even after the Shah died

13. 4. The Panama Canal
~In the early 1900’s President Theodore Roosevelt acquires the land to build the Panama Canal
~As the 1900’s progress many in Latin America resent the U.S.’s presence in Panama
~In 1978, despite bitter debate in Congress, Carter convinces the Senate to sign two treaties dealing with the canal
1.) The U.S. agreed to return the canal to Panama by the year 2000
2.) The U.S. asserted the right to take military action to keep the canal open in any crisis
*These protected American strategic interests (though we certainly lose money) while improving relations with Latin America

14. C. 1980 Presidential Election
~Dems: re-nominate Carter (after fending off a challenge from Teddy Kennedy)
>Despite success in the Middle East peace process, the economy still struggled with inflation and high unemployment (7%)
>Approval rating was at only 21% and even Carter spoke of a “crisis of confidence”, a “national malaise”
~Repubs: nominate Ronald Reagan, Governor of California
>Optimistic conservative who almost gained nomination in ’76
~Result: Reagan wins in landslide 489 to 49 electoral votes
*Republicans are swept into office nationwide on Reagan’s “coattails”
**Carter does go on to a distinguished post-Presidential career as an international statesman, humanitarian, and 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner