President Jimmy Carter

Background

• Born in Plains, GA• Family farmed peanuts• Served in the Navy for 11 years– Nuclear submarine officer

• Governor of Georgia

Campaign

• He was a Washington ‘outsider’– Untouched by scandal

• Promised the American people that he would never lie to them

• Focused on unemployment, peace in the Middle East, and energy issues

How did he win?

• Honesty? Washington ‘outsider’

• Down to earth? Farmer

• Low voter turnout? 53% (lowest since ‘48)

• All of the above?

The Energy CrisisOPECOrganization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

Oil Embargo – drastically raised oil prices

• Clean Water Act 1972

• Safe Drinking Water Act 1974

Cuyahoga River on fire

National Energy Act of 1978

• Offered tax credits for– Insulating your home– Investing in alternative sources of energy

Camp David Accords

• Invited Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin to Camp David (rural MD) in 1978

• 13 day conference

Results• Israel agreed to return the Sinai Peninsula • Egypt agreed to open diplomatic relations

with Israel• Officially recognized Israel’s right to exist

SALT• Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty

• Negotiated with Soviet leaders to limit the use and production of nuclear weapons

The Cold War

• Soviet forces invade Afghanistan in 1979

The U.S. Boycotts the Olympics(held in Munich)

Iran•The Shah Reza is overthrown• U.S. supported him; guilty of human

rights abuses

•Ayatollah Khomeini takes power after a successful revolution 1979

•The U.S. allows the exiled Shah safe haven

•Militant students stormed the U.S. embassy• Took 66 Americans hostage

Ayatollah Khomeini

Iran Hostage CrisisLasted 444 Days

52 hostages released after Carter left office (1981)

Evaluation

Pros• Concerned about the

environment

• Promoted human tights

• Promoted “fairness, not force” in foreign policy

Cons• ‘Soft’ on Communism

• Inability to bring the hostages home

• Washington ‘Outsider’ could not gain support from Congress