1. Jimmy Carter Enters the White House

2. Election of 1976
In the 1976 Presidential Election, the Republicans nominated the sitting president Gerald Ford as their candidate
The Democrats nominated a relative unknown, Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter, who had once been a peanut farmer
In a close election, Carter defeated Ford to become the nation’s 39th president.
Texas was a key state in the victory for Carter.
Gerald Ford, Republican
Jimmy Carter, Democrat

3. Election of 1976 Carter won 40.8 million votes and 297 electoral votes
Ford won 39.1 million votes and 240 electoral votes

4. The Carter Years
Jimmy Carter was liked by many because he was a Southern Democrat who was not a Washington insider
But Carter’s Presidency was troubled by the Iran hostage crisis and an economic downturn

5. Economic Problems Continues
Carter increased government spending to put more money into the economy. Result: Rising inflation.
Then Carter cut government spending. Funding was cut for social programs.
Businesses failed & more people lost their jobs.
Then asked for an increase in government spending.
Voters had enough of his economic policy swings.

6. Conserving Energy As President Carter asked
Carter goal was to cut the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.
Called for increase in coal production.
He encouraged energy conservation and installed solar panels on the White House.
Created the Department of Energy & Education
Citizens to make fewer car trips use more transportation
Homes, offices & schools should be kept cooler in winter and warmer in summer.
Automakers began to produce smaller cars with more fuel-efficient engines.
US greatly reduced the use of foreign oil during the late 70s

7. Carter’s Foreign Affairs
1978, Pres. Carter negotiated that the canal would be returned to the nation of Panama on 12/31/1999.
Central goal: Promote human rights. Carter cut aid to countries that violated the rights of their people.
US pressured Premier Brezhnev to stop mistreating dissidents (pp who disagreed with communism)

8. US-Soviet Tensions Afghanistan
December 25, 1979, 80,000 USSR troops invade Afghanistan.
Brezhnev refused to withdraw forces.
Carter said this was the “greatest threat to peace”
1st time since 1948 that USSR moved beyond their borders
Afghanistan did not want to become like E. Europe
US supported Islamic Rebels (Mujhadeen)
$40 billion to train Rebels
Osama Bin Laden & Taliban
Carter ordered embargo on the shipment of grain & ordered US Olympic team to boycott the 1980 summer games in Moscow.
Détente had fallen apart.

9. One of the greatest achievements of Carter was in his foreign policy.
Camp David Accords
One of the greatest achievements of Carter was in his foreign policy.
Carter negotiated a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt that was known as the Camp David Accords, signed in September 1978.
Egypt recognized Israel and Israel agreed to return the Sinai Peninsula, which it had occupied since the 1967 War to Egypt.

10. Camp David Accords
RESULTS: It led to a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt after many years of war. However, the rest of the Arab countries in the Middle East were not happy with Egypt. They kicked Egypt out of the Arab League and denounced any peace agreement with Israel. On October 6, 1981, Anwar Sadat was assassinated by Islamic extremists for his part in the peace agreements.

11. Iran Hostage Crisis
Iran was a country that ignored human rights.
US backed Shah or leader of Iran for 2 reasons.
Major oil producer
Iran bordered the Soviets. US believed it would keep Soviets out of the Middle East
*Carter allowed Shah to enter US for cancer treatment.
*This angered the revolutionaries.
*They took over the American Embassy in response to the U.S. allowing the former Shah of Iran to come to the U.S.

12. In January 1979, less than a year before the hostage crisis, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, had been overthrown in an Islamist, nationalist revolution.

13. The Shah departure leads to interruption of the oil supplies
The Shah departure leads to interruption of the oil supplies. Triggering a major oil energy crisis in America.
A renewed violence in the Middle East produced a second major fuel shortage in the U.S. OPEC announced another major price hike.

14. The Shah’s admission to the U. S
The Shah’s admission to the U.S. intensified Iranian revolutionaries anti-Americanism and spawned rumors of a U.S. backed coup to re-install the Shah.

15. Around 6:30 am on November 4, the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam’s Line (500 Islamic students) forced themselves into the U.S. embassy in the capital city of Teheran.

16. Iran Hostage Crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the U.S. when 53 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981

17. Ayatollah Khomeini (Iran’s religious leader)
He wanted to transfer Iran into a fundamentalist Islamic state.
The plan was to hold the embassy for only a short time, but this changed after it became apparent how popular the takeover was with the Iranian people. Ayatollah gives his blessing.

18. President Carter applied economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran
President Carter applied economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran. Oil imports from Iran were stopped, and $8 billion of Iranian assets were frozen.

19. The hostage takers declared that the hostages were actually “guests” of the Ayatollah, but their treatment was not always gracious. They were often paraded blindfolded before local crowds and television cameras.

20. The hostages experienced long periods of solitary confinement and forbidden to speak to one another for months.

21. The most terrifying night for the hostages came on February 5, 1980, when guards in black ski masks rousted all the hostages from sleep and led them blindfolded to be executed….

22. This ‘fake’ execution ended after the guards cocked their weapons and readied them to fire, and then told the prisoners that it was “just a joke.” The terrorist often played Russian Roulette with the hostages.

23. Iran Hostage Crisis
They demanded that U.S. send Shah back to Iran to stand trial in return for the hostages. Carter refused. Carter’s attempts to negotiate the release of the hostages went nowhere.
A military attempt to rescue the hostages failed.
They were not released until after Carter was defeated in the 1980 election and left office.

24. The death of the Shah, and the invasion of Iran by neighboring Iraq in September 1980 may have made Iran more receptive to the idea of resolving the hostage crisis.
They demanded the frozen iranian assests. He did everything he can to make a deal. All the way til he last 24 hours as President. Unfortunately, the confirmation of the release is not confirmed until Reagan is confirmed as the President of US.

25. The hostage crisis and continuing problems with the economy at home led Carter to lose the Presidential election of The Watergate Crisis, the fall of Vietnam, and the Iran hostage Crisis all seemed to confirm the collapse of American power and the weakness of American leaders

26. Cuban Mariel Boatlift
It started to have negative political implications for U.S. President Carter when it was discovered that a number of the exiles had been prisoners and mental health patients.. 
In 1980, Castro announced that anyone who wished to leave Cuba could do so from the port of Mariel between April to October 31st. As many as 125, 000 Cubans had made the journey to Florida.

27. Bumper sticker at the time stated, “Will the last American to leave Miami please bring the flag.”

28. Miami Riots
In December 1979, police kill an African American Marine Corps veteran and successful salesman, Arthur McDuffie, after a high-speed chase. Though the officers claim McDuffie died from injuries he sustained crashing his motorcycle, a cover-up is soon revealed: in reality, McDuffie was beaten to death.
Despite the evidence against the police officers, the trial, which has been moved to a more sympathetic venue in Tampa, clears the officers of all charges. All the jurors are white.

29. Election of 1980

31. The event transformed the future of the entire Middle East.
For the first time, the American Public has been forced to confront a powerful new force in the world-Islamic Extremism.
It’s a reckoning that would continue to haunt the nation