President Jimmy Carter (1976-1980)

An “Outsider” becomes President• Former peanut farmer and governor of Georgia• Deeply religious and “down home”– Gained support of Christian fundamentalists and

Americans fed up with dirty politics of the 60s and 70s

• Appointed many more women and minorities than previous administrations

• No congressional ties and found it difficult to get legislation passed– Congress feared increasing national debt through

new programs while the 70s economy was so poor

Problems Facing Carter

• Describe and evaluate the problems of high inflation and high oil prices on the presidency of Jimmy Carter.

• How would the two above problems spell doom for his presidency?

• How did Carter try to ease the pain of increased gas prices?

• How did Congress help?

Events of Carter’s PresidencyCamp David Accords• Israel and Arab nations had

continuous fighting in the Middle East since 1948

• 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany—Palestinians Liberation Organization (PLO) captured and killed members of Israel’s team

• Egypt’s President Anwar el-Sadat and Israel’s Prime Minister Menachem Begin were invited to Camp David in Sept. 1978

• Camp David Accords—Israel agreed to withdraw from former Arab lands; Egypt agreed to officially recognize the country of Israel

• 1979 Sadat and Begin shared the Nobel Prize for Peace

The Effects of the Camp David Accords

• Prime Minister Begin did dismantle Israeli settlements in the Sinai peninsula, but retained all other Jewish settlements

• Carter pressured Begin to release more land for the Palestinians; Begin refused

• Anwar Sadat (Egypt) was assassinated in 1981 by Islamic Fundamentalists who thought he gave in to Israel

• Conflict reemerges in Israel and Lebanon and has continued

Soviet-American Relations• Carter supported Soviet dissidents who spoke out

against the Soviet gov’t and violations of human rights in Eastern Europe– Angered the Soviets

• Late in 1979, the SU invaded Afghanistan to support a communist coup d’etat of gov’t– Looking for access to the Persian Gulf, rich with oil

• Carter halted American grain shipments to the Soviet Union

• Carter Doctrine—U.S. would protect its interests in the Persian Gulf

• Carter imposed a boycott on the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow– 60 other nations joined the boycott

• Began massive U.S. arms buildup that will continue throughout the 1980s

• Economy was still hurting, but Carter increased military spending and added to national debt

• Détente was dead and the Cold War was heating up

Iran Hostage Crisis

• What caused the situation?• What happened?• How did Carter respond?• What was the result of the hostage crisis?

The 1970s Summary

• Create a three part summary describing the political, economical, and social atmosphere of the 1970s.

• Put it in the idea of what is something important to remember about the 1970s.

• 3 paragraphs with a minimum of 5 sentences per paragraph