1. Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter

2. Ford Approval Ratings

3. Carter Approval Ratings

4. Carter vs. Ford

5. Commercials

6. Trusteeship Presidency

7. The Presidency of Jimmy Carter (Democrat) 1976-1980
“Washington outsider “
(Governor of Georgia)
LANDSLIDE WIN!

8. Foreign Policy Promotion of human rights.
Turns over Panama Canal to Panama (2000)
Camp David Accords –
first peace agreement between an Arab nation (Egypt) and Israel.
Carter wins Nobel Peace Prize.
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat signing
The Camp David Peace Accords with
Israeli Prime Minister Menachim Begin

9. Cold War “heats up” In 1979, Soviet Union - invades Afghanistan.
- ends Détente era.
US to boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow.

10. Moscow Olympics 1980, July 19, 1978
On July 14, 1978, the Soviet government imprisoned Anatoly Shcharansky, a dissident accused of supplying secret material to a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. The trial began on July 10, just two days before the start of U.S.-Soviet strategic arms limitation talks in Geneva. The trial captured public attention because Shcharansky had been promoting the cause of Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union. In addition, Shcharansky's countryman Alexander Ginzburg, manager of a fund for political prisoners, received a sentence of hard labor on July 13. President Jimmy Carter spoke out against the trials but said that American athletes would not boycott the Moscow Olympics. He reversed this decision in 1980 after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. 10

11. Iran Hostage Crisis
Shah Pahlavi
Ayatollah Khomeini
In 1979 a political coup led by Islamic fundamentalist
Ayatollah Khomeini overthrew the Pro-West Shah of Iran.

12. Iran Hostage Crisis Shah was allowed into the US to
seek treatment for cancer.
In response to the US action,
Iranian students rushed the US
embassy in Tehran and took 52
Americans hostage.
American Hostages Paraded in Tehran
Wreckage from the US Helicopters
Sent to free the US Hostages in Iran

13. Khomeini: Spiritual leader, April 8, 1979
The Shah of Iran, Reza Shah Pahlavi, left his country on January 16, 1979 paving the way for a new government led by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. On April 1, 1979, Khomeini established an Islamic republic in Iran, calling it "the first day of the government of God." Revolutionary fervor ran high as armed vigilante bands and kangaroo courts made bloody work of the Shah's last partisans and what remained of the secular left. Under Khomeini's fanatic rule, firing squads summarily carried out death sentences. His followers seized the American embassy and numerous hostages on November 4, 1979. 13

14. November 4, 1979

15. Rescue Mission April 1980

17. Energy
Source: Office of Trade and Economic Development, Washington state. Available at:

18. Inflation
A Case Study: The March Inflation Rate - April 19, Source: Econed.org, available at

19. Interest Rates
Source: Christopher D. Merrett, The Future of Rural Communities in a Global Economy, University of Iowa Center for International Finance and Development. Available at:

20. Jimmy Carter: "It comes out fuzzy," May 21, 1978
On May 12, 1978, President Jimmy Carter agreed to a tax-cut package under pressure from Congress and the Federal Reserve Board, seeking to end an economic recession. Image consultant Gerald Rafshoon set about to alter the public perception of Carter as being indecisive. But his efforts were soon overwhelmed when Iranians took Americans hostage. Carter's ill-conceived attempt at a military rescue of the hostages resulted in a desert disaster, with loss of American lives and planes. 20

21. Three Mile Island In 1979 a nuclear accident
occurred at the power plant
located in Three Mile Island,
PA. Although the disaster
turned out to be not as
serious as originally
reported it shook American
confidence in technology
and nuclear power.

22. The 1980 Presidential Election
Dem. Jimmy Carter vs.
Rep. Ronald Reagan.
Reagan was a 72 year old
former actor and Gov
of California. Appealing to
voters, Reagan promised to
lead the US to greatness
again. He won the election
easily, and soon after his
election the Iranian
hostages were released.
Ronald Reagan