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The Age of Limits

The Age of Limits. Chapter 24 Ford – Carter Pages 810-825. The Ford and Carter Years. 1974-1980. Ford’s Unusual Road to the Presidency…. Never elected to the Vice-Presidency or Presidency Only person to become President and Vice-President under the 25 th Amendment

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The Age of Limits

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  1. The Age of Limits Chapter 24 Ford – Carter Pages 810-825

  2. The Ford and Carter Years 1974-1980

  3. Ford’s Unusual Road to the Presidency… • Never elected to the Vice-Presidency or Presidency • Only person to become President and Vice-President under the 25th Amendment • Nelson Rockefeller became Vice-President under the 25th Amendment

  4. The Nixon Pardon • Ford gave Nixon a full pardon for Watergate • Covered crimes Nixon committed or may have committed as Pres. • Ford wanted to spare the country a trial • Some Americans were outraged • None of Nixon’s former employees were pardoned and nearly all served prison terms

  5. 1973 – OPEC – Oil Embargo • Inflation rose form 6% in ’73 to 10% in ’74 • Ford started the “WIN” campaign, (Whip Inflation Now) It failed. • Ford urged Americans to cut back on use of oil and gas • He cut government spending, interests rates went up triggering the worst recession in 40 years

  6. Foreign Policy • Ford kept Kissinger as Sec. of State • Helsinki Accords – 1975 • Legitimized Soviet drawn borders in E. Europe • Agreement allowing for more open exchanges of people and information • Milestone • One-sided

  7. Vietnam… • Wanted to continue to give money to aid South Vietnam, Congress refused, the South fell in 1975 • 140,000 Vietnamese left • Cost to U.S. - $118 billion • 56,000 Am. dead and 300,000 wounded • U.S. lost respect

  8. Carter in the White House • Former peanut farmer and Gov. of Georgia • Promised he would never lie to the American people • Carter and Ford squared off over energy, inflation, and unemployment • Carter won by a close margin • He talked to the American people through FDR like “fire-side” chats by radio and TV

  9. How did the economy change in the 1970s? • Less manufacturing jobs • More jobs in communication, transportation, and retail • Greater overseas competition • U.S. iron and steel and clothing – plant closings and lay-offs • OPEC raised oil prices

  10. Carter’s Domestic Agenda • Carter urged Americans to cut back their consumption of oil and gas • The National Energy Act – taxed gas guzzling cars, removed price controls on oil and gas produced in the US, and gave tax credits for development of alternative energy.

  11. In 1979 inflation hit 11.3%, 14% by ’80. • Famous “malaise speech” - complained of a “crisis of spirit” in Americans.

  12. Carter and Draft – Evaders? • Wanted to end divisions in the country • Gave full pardons to draft evaders • No pardons for deserters • Few protested the pardons (put Vietnam behind us)

  13. Three-Mile Island? • March 1979 – nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island broke down  at risk for nuclear meltdown • Caused widespread fear • Some Americans doubted nuclear energy was safe • Nuclear power plants were held to stricter safety standards

  14. Carter and Civil Rights? • Appointed more women and African Americans to his administration than any other previous administration • Appointed Andrew Young as US Ambassador to the UN

  15. Civil Rights…. • Courts: Milliken v. Bradley – 1974 • Desegregation could not require across district bussing • Reinforced “White Flight” • Pitted poor whites and blacks against each other

  16. Bakke v. Board of Regents • 1978 – Allan Bakke denied admission to U. of Cal. – Davis Medical School • Sued – said his scores were better than the minorities who were accepted • Supreme Court – preference for admission can not be given to any group • Racial factors may be used in overall admissions process • Bakke admitted – “reverse discrimination”

  17. Carter’s Foreign Policy • Based upon human rights • Publicly criticized the Soviet Union and South Africa • Most countries that violated human rights no longer received U.S. foreign aid • Panama Canal Treaty – gave canal back to Panama on December 31, 1999

  18. Camp David Pace Accords • Carter invited Anwar Sadat (Egypt) and Menachem Begin (Israel) to Camp David • 13 days – negotiation • Two agreements • Conditions for general peace talks • Conditions for peace between Egypt and Israel • 1979 – peace treaty signed

  19. Carter and Soviet Union? • 1979 attempted to improve on SALT I by negotiating SALT II – impose additional limits on certain nuclear weapons • Conservative Republicans and Democrats opposed SALT II – died in the Senate

  20. Carter and China? • Formally recognized the People’s Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China • 1979 – trade and cultural contacts increased

  21. Afghanistan? • Hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism • The government backed by S. U. • S. U. invaded to protect government against fundamentalists • Carter protested  suspended grain and high-tech sales to Soviets • Boycotted 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow

  22. Iranian Hostage Crisis? • Shah of Iran a strong ally of the U.S. • 1978 Shah was overthrown by Islamic fundamentalists – Ayatollah Khomeini • Carter allowed the Shah to enter the U.S. for cancer treatment • Nov. 4, 1979 Khomeini’s followers seized U.S. embassy in Tehran – 52 hostages • Hostages released 444 days later – January 20, 1981

  23. Miracle at Lake Placid 1980

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