Chapter 23New

Challenges

Ford and Carter

Section 23.1

Describe the US as Ford took office:• In Crisis

– Vietnam and Watergate– “The long national

nightmare is over.”• Economic Recession

(Stagflation) – US industries beaten by

Japanese and W. Germans

– Annual inflation rate–1972= 3.3%–1974= 11%

Above: Ford addresses the nation; below: a cartoon suggests Congress will be Ford’s toughest foe

What caused the energy crisis of 1973-74?• Oil embargo of OPEC

– Controlled prices and supply• US acquired 33% of oil it needed

from OPEC nations in in 1973• Yom Kippur War of 1973:

– Israel v. Syria, Egypt– S+E attacked on religious

holiday and caught Israel unprepared; US aided Israel

– Saudi Arabia placed embargo against all Israeli allies• Refused to sell oil to US

• OPEC restricted trade with Israeli allies (US)– Gasoline went from < .50 cents

to over $1 amid widespread shortages

Above: gas station out of gas; below: instead of Ford on the cover, a shivering American

What impact did the oil embargo have on the US economy?

• Hurt steel and auto industries– large gas-guzzlers no longer

demanded• 1970- Japan sold 17% of cars in

US• 1980- Japan sold 37% of cars in

US• 300 thousand workers laid off• Steel

– US steel plants out of date, used lots of oil

– Cost rose 10% annually – 1946- US produced 60% of worlds

steel– 1980- 14%

Above: A 1970s Cadillac; below: An old steel mill

Capture from clip on industry in the 1970s

How did President Ford deal with the economic crisis?

• Tried to reduce inflation• Cut government spending

– Health, education, housing• Called for higher interests rates

– Americans would spend less and supply of goods would increase, prices would fall

• Results– Inflation fell to 6% by 1976– Unemployment rose to 10%– Recession

• Worst since the Great Depression

• Already over before ’76 election

Above: Ford misinterprets the back end of a hippo; below: Ford becomes the butt of more jokes by falling down steps leaving a plane

Election of 1976•Obscure Georgia governor and ex-peanut farmer (also ex-nuclear engineer in Navy sub program) beats out several Democrats including the dying Hubert Humphrey and the wheelchair-bound George Wallace for the Dem. Nomination; by Convention time, Humphrey is so ill Carter chooses H.H.H.’s Senate replacement, Walter Mondale, as VP candidate

•Ford seen as weak and not conservative enough by Goldwater Republicans; challenged in primaries by ex-governor of California, Ronald Reagan, who almost wins (but Ford’s nominated and picks Sen. Dole of Kansas as running mate)

•Nov. election is very close but not controversial: no state goes to a re-count and Carter wins by taking a few southern states (pattern repeated by Clinton and Obama)

Below: Americans and Time ask, “Who is Jimmy Carter?” One reason they voted for the unknown is that Ford pardoned Nixon

How did President Jimmy Carter deal with the economic crisis?

• Increased government spending and cut taxes

• Results:– Reduced unemployment– Re-ignited inflation (10% by 1979)

• Called on Americans to conserve energy and endure hardship:– Oil prices had skyrocketed to $30 a barrel– Lower thermometer to 68– Turn off lights– Businesses and schools reduced hours

• Had 29% approval rating, lower than GWB ever did

Above: reprise of Time cover; below: some kind of corny ‘Mr. Energy’ Mr. M doesn’t recall

What happened at Love Canal?• Small community near Niagara

Falls, NY was contaminated by poison chemicals from nearby factories

• EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) declared it a toxic-waste area and evacuated the residents

• Results– Laws to protect air, water and

forest passed– 100 million acres of Alaskan

land placed under federal protection

Above: Love Canal on a map; below: environmentalists protest

Clip on Carter’s cold winters and economic hardship of the 1970s

What happened at Three-Mile Island?

What happened at Three-Mile Island?• Accident at a nuclear power-plant

– resulted in the release of radioactive material (very small amount)

• Reactor core overheated and threatened a nuclear ‘meltdown’

• 100 thousand residents evacuated and area sealed off for 6 years

• No new nuclear power plants built in 30+ years in the U.S. (France uses nuclear power for 60% of its electrical needs)

• Gulf catastrophe is far, far worse

Above: sensational Time cover; below, Time map shows bull’s-eye, as if Harrisburg had been nuked!

Capture from clip on Three Mile Island

Describe Carter’s foreign policy:• Great supporter of Human Rights and

Peace– all people had right to free and fair

elections, freedom of religion/speech• Boycotted 1980 Moscow

Olympics/imposed grain embargo to protest Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

• SALT II:– Signed Strategic Arms Limitation

Treaty II with USSR– Limited amount of offensive nuclear

weapons– Never ratified b/c of Afghani War

• Gave control of Panama Canal to Panama (1999)

Above: Newsweek raises question of Olympic boycott; below: Before Afghanistan, Brezhnev

and Carter sign SALT II

What was the Camp David Accord of 1979?

• Peace treaty between Israel and Egypt brokered by Carter– 4 wars between Israel and Arab

nations since 1948– Cold War ‘in miniature’ existed

between Israel and Egypt– Anwar Sadat (Egypt) and

Menachem Begin (Israel) were invited to Camp David, Maryland

– In exchange for land, Sadat recognized Israel’s right to exist

– Ever since, a ‘cold peace’

Above: map showing Sinai; below: Carter gets his deal

Capture from clip about the Shah and Iranian Revolution

Describe the Iranian Hostage Crisis:• Shah of Iran

– Absolute ruler and US ally was overthrown and given asylum in US

• Ayatollah Khomeini – Fundamentalist Muslim assumed

leadership and demanded Shah be handed over

• 11/4/1979 armed students seized Americans in US embassy

• Commando rescue mission ended in bitter failure (helicopters crashed into each other in Iranian desert)

• Hostages released 1/20/1981 (Ronald Reagan’s inauguration day)

Above: Iranian militants take an American hostage; below: wreckage from a burned supply plane

Capture from clip on the Iranian Hostages and the Carter/Reagan transition