President Jimmy Carter

1. President Jimmy Carter

2. Background • Born in Plains, GA • Family farmed peanuts • Served in the Navy for 11 years • Nuclear submarine officer • Governor of Georgia

3. 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

4. How did he win? • Honesty? Washington ‘outsider’ • Down to earth? Farmer • Low voter turnout? 53% (lowest since ‘48) • All of the above?

5. The Energy Crisis OPEC Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Oil Embargo – drastically raised oil prices

6. Cuyahoga River on fire • Clean Water Act 1972 • Safe Drinking Water Act 1974

7. National Energy Act of 1978 • Offered tax credits for • Insulating your home • Investing in alternative sources of energy

8. Camp David Accords • Invited Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin to Camp David (rural MD) in 1978 • 13 day conference

9. Results • Israel agreed to return the Sinai Peninsula • Egypt agreed to open diplomatic relations with Israel • Officially recognized Israel’s right to exist

10. SALT • Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty • Negotiated with Soviet leaders to limit the use and production of nuclear weapons

11. The Cold War • Soviet forces invade Afghanistan in 1979

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

13. 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

14. Iran Hostage Crisis Lasted 444 Days 52 hostages released after Carter left office (1981)

15. Evaluation Pros Cons ‘Soft’ on Communism Inability to bring the hostages home Washington ‘Outsider’ could not gain support from Congress • Concerned about the environment • Promoted human tights • Promoted “fairness, not force” in foreign policy