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The Ford Presidency1974-1977 “My fellow
Americans, our long national nightmare is over.”
Gerald Ford swearing in speech – August 9, 1974
The Ford Presidency1974-1977 Ford was
an affable man
First unelected president
The Ford Presidency1974-1977 A former
football player at the University of Michigan
Former member of the House
The Ford Presidency1974-1977 Ford served on the
Warren Commission that investigated the Kennedy Assassination
The Nixon PardonSeptember 8, 1974One of Ford’s first
actions, and his most controversial, was to issue a full pardon to Richard Nixon for any crimes he might have committed.
The Nixon PardonSeptember 8, 1974 I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United
States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution…do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from July (January) 20, 1969 through August 9, 1974.
The Ford Presidency1975 Final U.S.
evacuation of South Vietnam – April 30, 1975
Saturday Night Live debuts with parodies of President Ford
The Ford Presidency1975 President Ford falling down the steps of
Air Force One
The Ford Presidency1975
President Ford standing over a women hit by one of his golf shots
The Ford Presidency1975-1976 Congress investigated the CIA (The
Church Committee) In the 1950’s it administered the drug
LSD on unsuspecting Americans to test its effects
Assassination plots against Fidel Castro and other foreign leaders
Introduction of African swine fever virus to Cuba in 1971 through anti-Castro rebels
The Ford Presidency1975-1976 Congress also investigated the FBI
Illegal surveillance of several hundred thousand American citizens
Tapped Martin Luther King’s private phone conversations, sent him fake letters and threatened him
The Ford Presidency1975-1976
These investigations were a product of the climate of mistrust created by Vietnam and Watergate (LBJ and Nixon)
They led to restraints put on the FBI and CIA that some have argued made us vulnerable to terrorist attack in years to come
The Ford Presidency1974-1977U.S. economy
experiencing high levels of inflation
Energy crisis - OPEC
Whip Inflation Now (WIN)
The BicentennialJuly 4, 1976
The BicentennialJuly 4, 1976
The Election of 1976
Ford held off conservative Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination
The Democrats selected a “Washington outsider”, James Earl Carter; the former Governor of Georgia; “Call me Jimmy”
Carter was a born-again Christian who vowed that he would never lie to the American people
The Election of 1976
The Election of 1976
The Carter Presidency1977-1981
StagflationHigh levels of Unemployment
AND InflationEnergy Crisis
Rising gas pricesThree-Mile Island
Near nuclear meltdown
The Energy Crisis of the 70’s
The Energy Crisis of the 70’s
The Carter Presidency1977-1981 The Panama Canal Treaty
U.S. vow to turn the Canal over to Panama in 2000
Camp David AccordsCarter brokers a peace agreement
between Egypt and Israel
Camp David Accords
The Carter Presidency1977-1981
Soviets invade Afghanistan – Dec. 24, 1979Détente endsU.S. boycotts 1980 summer
OlympicsOsama Bin LadenSoviet Union’s Vietnam
The Iranian Hostage CrisisNovember 4, 1979 – January 20, 1981
After a coup in 1953, the CIA reinstalled the government of Reza Mohammed Pahlevi – The Shah of Iran
The Shah was a U.S. ally that bordered the Soviet Union
The Iranian Hostage CrisisNovember 4, 1979 – January 20, 1981
Iran’s petrodollars ended up in the hands of the Shah and his allies and NOT the mass of Iranian people
He brutalized political opposition (secret police)
The Iranian Hostage Crisis
The Shah sought to modernize/westernize Iran and this met with opposition from Islamic fundamentalists
One of his leading opponents was the Ayatollah Khomeini
The Iranian Hostage Crisis
Khomeini represented Islamic fundamentalists who rejected the westernization of Iran
They viewed the U.S. as the embodiment of evil (The Great Satan)
The Iranian Hostage Crisis
In 1978, the Iranian people revolted against the Shah (The Iranian Revolution)
President Carter and the U.S. continued to support its long time ally
The Shah is forced to leave Iran
The Iranian Hostage Crisis
November 4, 1979 Iranian students
in Tehran storm the U.S. embassy and take Americans hostage
The Iranian Hostage Crisis
They hold these hostages for the
next 444 days
Massive anti-U.S. protests are held in the streets of Tehran
The Iranian Hostage Crisis
The protests and President Carter’s inability to do anything about it frustrated the American people
A botched rescue mission added to the frustration
The Reagan Presidency1981-1989Election of
1980 (November 4, 1980)
1 year anniversary of the hostage crisis
The Reagan Presidency1981-1989
Reagan called for an America with greater military power
Vowed we would not be humiliated as a superpower
Criticized budget deficits and the progressivism of the 60’s and 70’s
Election of 1980
The Reagan Presidency1981-1989 Reagan became the
oldest man ever to be elected president at age 69
On the day of his inauguration the hostages were released from Iran
In his inaugural speech he outlined his political philosophy
1st Inaugural AddressJanuary 20, 1981 “In this present crisis, government is not the
solution to our problem; government is the problem.”
“It is my intention to curb the size and influence of the Federal establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or to the people.”
1st Inaugural AddressJanuary 20, 1981 “We are a nation under God, and I believe
God intended for us to be free. It would be fitting and good, I think, if on each Inauguration Day in future years it should be declared a day of prayer.”
“Can we solve the problems confronting us? Well, the answer is an unequivocal and emphatic "yes."
The Reagan Presidency1981-1989
The Reagan appealThe Great CommunicatorUpbeat, positive, patriotic in the
traditional senseSurvived and recovered from an
assassination attempt, two months in office, with great speed and great humor
The Reagan Presidency1981-1989 Reaganomics
Tax cuts Cut federal spending/programs Deregulation
Worst economic downturn since the Depression (1982) followed by the longest period of economic prosperity (to that time), 1983-1989 (low UE and low inflation)
Reagan Foreign Policy
Staunchly ant-Communist Referred to the Soviet Union as the Evil
Empire Lebanon and Grenada (1983-84)
220 U.S. Marines in Lebanon killed by two trucks lined with explosives
Within days, the Reagan administration launched a successful invasion of the island nation of Grenada (in Caribbean)
Grenada
The invasion was condemned by the United Nations but very popular in the U.S.
The U.S. was successfully exerting its military might again, in the name of freedom and democracy
Election of 1984
Reagan runs for re-election claiming it is morning again in America Economy back on track America flexing military
might Tax cuts
The Democrats nominate Carter’s VP, Senator Walter Mondale
Election of 1984
The Reagan PresidencySecond Term The
Challenger Disaster (January 28, 1986)
The Reagan PresidencySecond Term Reagan and
Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev
Negotiate historic arms reduction agreements
Iran-Contra Scandal (1987)
Despite a congressional law (Boland Amendment) forbidding it, the Reagan administration was funneling money to anti-Communist rebels in Nicaragua (The Contras)
The money came from the sale of weapons to Iran (at war with Iraq) in exchange for Iran’s help in the release of American hostages in Lebanon
Iran-Contra Scandal
Oliver North worked for the NSC and was an ex-Marine coordinating this activity
He became a hero to some Americans for proudly proclaiming the illegal act, “a neat idea”
Iran-Contra Scandal
Throughout the process President Reagan claimed he had no memory of the events
A number of Reagan administration officials were convicted of crimes in relation to Iran-Contra
President Reagan was never officially implicated
The Reagan Legacy
The Reagan Revolution Conservative, anti-government The Religious Right
Budget Deficits Widening gap between rich and poor Contributed to the fall of communism
in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe