Jimmy Carter Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Presidency (1977–1981) == {{main|Presidency of Jimmy Carter}} {{For timeline|Timeline of the Jimmy Carter presidency}} [[File:President Carter National Portrait Gallery.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=A painting of Carter|Image of President Carter displayed in the [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]], Washington DC. Portrait by Robert Templeton.]] Carter was inaugurated as the 39th president on January 20, 1977.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.inaugural.senate.gov/48th-inaugural-ceremonies/|title=48TH INAUGURAL CEREMONIES|publisher=United States Senate|access-date=September 2, 2021|archive-date=September 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210913210846/https://www.inaugural.senate.gov/48th-inaugural-ceremonies/|url-status=live}}</ref> One of Carter's first acts was the fulfillment of a campaign promise by issuing an [[executive order]] declaring unconditional [[amnesty]] for [[Vietnam War]]-era [[Draft evasion|draft evaders]], [[Proclamation 4483]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11967.html |title=Executive Orders |date=October 25, 2010 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |website=archives.gov |archive-date=September 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922131219/https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11967.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/vietnam/vietnam_1-21-77.html |title=Online NewsHour: Remembering Vietnam: Carter's Pardon |publisher=[[PBS]] |access-date=September 8, 2021 |archive-date=February 28, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228161513/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/vietnam/vietnam_1-21-77.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Carter's tenure in office was marked by an economic malaise, a time of [[Early 1980s recession in the United States|continuing inflation and recession]] and a [[1979 energy crisis]]. On January 7, 1980, Carter signed Law H.R. 5860 aka Public Law 96–185, known as ''The Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979'', to bail out the [[Chrysler]] Corporation with $3.5 billion (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|3.5|1980|r=2}} billion in {{Inflation-year|US}}) in aid.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kaufman |first1=Burton I. |last2=Kaufman |first2=Scott |title=The Presidency of James Earl Carter, Jr |date=2006 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |location=Lawrence, Kansas |isbn=978-0-7006-1471-4 |page=183 |edition=2nd |chapter=A Growing Sense of Crisis}}</ref> Carter attempted to calm various conflicts around the world, most visibly in the Middle East with the signing of the [[Camp David Accords]];<ref name="achievement.org">{{cite web |title=Jimmy Carter Biography and Interview |website=achievement.org |publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]] |url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/jimmy-carter/#interview |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=February 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100222200351/http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/car0bio-1#interview |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Torrijos–Carter Treaties|giving back the Panama Canal]] to Panama; and signing the [[Salt II|SALT II nuclear arms reduction treaty]] with Soviet leader [[Leonid Brezhnev]]. His final year was marred by the [[Iran hostage crisis]], which contributed to his losing the [[1980 United States presidential election|1980 election]] to [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.whitehousehistory.org/whha_classroom/classroom_9-12-transitions-carter.html |title=Jimmy Carter and the Iranian Hostage Crisis |publisher=White House Historical Association |access-date=December 28, 2014 |archive-date=September 3, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903061159/http://www.whitehousehistory.org/whha_classroom/classroom_9-12-transitions-carter.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Whistleblowers have alleged, most recently in 2023, that people working on the Reagan campaign's behalf [[October surprise conspiracy theory|convinced Iran to prolong the crisis]] to reduce Carter's chance of reelection.<ref name="Baker 2023">{{cite news |authorlink1=Peter Baker (journalist) |last1=Baker |first1=Peter |title=A Four-Decade Secret: The Untold Story of Sabotaging Jimmy Carter's Re-election |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/18/us/politics/jimmy-carter-october-surprise-iran-hostages.html |access-date=March 19, 2023 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 18, 2023 |archive-date=March 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318200201/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/18/us/politics/jimmy-carter-october-surprise-iran-hostages.html |url-status=live }}</ref> === Domestic policy === ==== U.S. energy crisis ==== Moralism typified much of Carter's action.<ref>Kenneth Earl Morris, ed. ''Jimmy Carter, American Moralist'' ( University of Georgia Press, 1996).</ref> On April 18, 1977, he delivered a televised speech declaring that the current energy crisis was the "moral equivalent of war". He encouraged energy conservation and installed [[Solar power at the White House|solar water heating panels on the White House]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unity.edu/news/solar1004.htm |title=Maine college to auction off former White House solar panels |date=October 28, 2004 |access-date=January 31, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100122051251/http://www.unity.edu/News/solar1004.htm |archive-date=January 22, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Dave |last=Burdick |url=https://huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/27/white-house-solar-panels_n_160575.html |work=HuffPost |title=White House Solar Panels: What Ever Happened To Carter's Solar Thermal Water Heater? (VIDEO) |date=January 27, 2009 |access-date=January 31, 2010 |archive-date=September 4, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090904023005/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/27/white-house-solar-panels_n_160575.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He wore sweaters to offset turning down the heat in the White House.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/10/08/craig-shirley-jimmy-carter-white-house-energy-crisis-solar-panels-ronald-reagan/|title=Days of 'Malaise' and Jimmy Carter's Solar Panels|first1=Craig|last1=Shirley|date=October 8, 2010|access-date=August 30, 2021|work=Fox News|archive-date=November 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141122031809/http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/10/08/craig-shirley-jimmy-carter-white-house-energy-crisis-solar-panels-ronald-reagan/|url-status=live}}</ref> On August 4, 1977, Carter signed the [[Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977]], forming the Department of Energy, the first new cabinet position in eleven years.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Relyea |first1=Harold |title=The executive branch, creation and reorganization |year=2003 |publisher=Nova Publishers |page=29 |last2=Carr |first2=Thomas P. |isbn=978-1-59033-610-6}}</ref> Carter boasted that the House of Representatives had "adopted almost all" of the energy proposal he had made five months earlier and called the compromise "a turning point in establishing a comprehensive energy program."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-125 |title=The President's News Conference (29 September 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816115250/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-125 |url-status=live }}</ref> The following month, on October 13, Carter stated he believed in the Senate's ability to pass the energy reform bill and identified energy as "the most important domestic issue that we will face while I am in office."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-122 |title=The President's News Conference (13 October 2021) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=November 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105040157/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-122 |url-status=live }}</ref> On January 12, 1978, during a press conference, Carter said the continued discussions about his energy reform proposal had been "long and divisive and arduous" as well as hindering to national issues that needed to be addressed with the implementation of the law.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-1008 |title=The President's News Conference (12 January 1978) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140632/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-1008 |url-status=live }}</ref> In an April 11, 1978, news conference, Carter said his biggest surprise "in the nature of a disappointment" since becoming president was the difficulty Congress had in passing legislation, citing the energy reform bill in particular: "I never dreamed a year ago in April when I proposed this matter to the Congress that a year later it still would not be resolved."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-1006 |title=The President's News Conference (11 April 1978) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140501/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-1006 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Carter energy legislation was approved by Congress after much deliberation and modification on October 15, 1978. The measure deregulated the sale of natural gas, dropped a longstanding pricing disparity between intra- and interstate gas, and created tax credits to encourage energy conservation and the use of non-fossil fuels.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kaufman |first=Burton Ira |title=The Presidency of James Earl Carter, Jr. |date=1993 |publisher=University Press of Kansas |isbn=978-0-7006-0572-9 |location=Lawrence, Kansas |pages=108 |oclc=26359258}}</ref> On March 1, 1979, Carter submitted a standby gasoline rationing plan per the request of Congress.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/standby-gasoline-rationing-plan-message-the-congress-transmitting-the-plan-0 |title=Standby Gasoline Rationing Plan Message to the Congress Transmitting the Plan. (1 March 1979) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140613/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/standby-gasoline-rationing-plan-message-the-congress-transmitting-the-plan-0 |url-status=live }}</ref> On April 5, he delivered an address in which he stressed the urgency of energy conservation and increasing domestic production of energy sources such as coal and solar.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/energy-address-the-nation |title=Energy Address to the Nation. (5 April 1979) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140452/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/energy-address-the-nation |url-status=live }}</ref> During an April 30 news conference, he said it was imperative that the House commerce committee approve the standby gasoline rationing plan and called on Congress to pass the several other standby energy conservation plans he had proposed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-980 |title=The President's News Conference (30 April 1979) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140512/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-980 |url-status=live }}</ref> On July 15, 1979, Carter delivered a nationally televised address in which he identified what he believed to be a "[[s:The Crisis of Confidence|crisis of confidence]]" among American people,<ref name="millercenter1979">{{cite web |url=http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3402 |title="Crisis of Confidence" Speech (July 15, 1979) |publisher=Miller Center, University of Virginia |format=text and video |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090721024329/http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/detail/3402 |archive-date=July 21, 2009 |date=October 20, 2016}}</ref> under the advisement of pollster [[Pat Caddell]] who believed Americans faced a crisis in confidence from events of the 1960s and 1970s, before his presidency.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/carter-crisis-speech/ |publisher=PBS |series=American Experience |title=Jimmy Carter |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=October 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019101602/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/carter-crisis-speech/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Some later called this his "[[malaise]] speech",<ref name="millercenter1979" /> memorable for mixed reactions<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eoearth.org/article/Jimmy_Carter%27s__malaise_speech_ |publisher=The Encyclopedia of Earth |title=Jimmy Carter's "malaise speech" |author=Cutler Cleveland |date=January 24, 2007 |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=July 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711161737/http://www.eoearth.org/article/Jimmy_Carter%27s__malaise_speech_ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0611F8395D12728DDDA10994DF405B898BF1D3 |title=Speech Lifts Carter Rating to 37%; Public Agrees on Confidence Crisis; Responsive Chord Struck |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 18, 1979 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |author=Adam Clymer |author-link=Adam Clymer |page=A1 |archive-date=May 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517074931/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0611F8395D12728DDDA10994DF405B898BF1D3 |url-status=live }}</ref> and his use of rhetoric.<ref>{{cite web |title=American Experience |publisher=[[PBS]] |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/carter-crisis-speech/ |access-date=October 22, 2013 |archive-date=October 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019101602/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/carter-crisis-speech/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The speech's negative reception centered on a view that he did not emphasize his own efforts to address the energy crisis and seemed too reliant on Americans.<ref>{{cite book |last=Weintraub |first=Walter |title=Political Psychology 7: Profiles of American Presidents as Revealed in Their Public Statements: The Presidential News Conferences of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan |year=1986 |publisher=International Society of Political Psychology |pages=285–295}}</ref> ==== EPA Love Canal Superfund ==== In 1978, Carter declared a federal emergency in the neighborhood of [[Love Canal]] in the city of [[Niagara Falls, New York]]. More than 800 families were evacuated from the neighborhood, which had been built on top of a [[toxic waste]] landfill. The [[Superfund]] law was created in response to the situation.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v751AwAAQBAJ&q=carter+Love+Canal+in+the+city+of+Niagara+Falls,+New+York.+More+than+800+families+were+evacuated&pg=PT1417|title=Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society|first1=Robert|last1=W. Kolb|publisher=SAGE Publications|date=2008|page=1305|isbn=9781452265698|access-date=March 21, 2022|archive-date=April 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407065100/https://books.google.com/books?id=v751AwAAQBAJ&q=carter+Love+Canal+in+the+city+of+Niagara+Falls%2C+New+York.+More+than+800+families+were+evacuated&pg=PT1417|url-status=live}}</ref> Federal disaster money was appropriated to demolish the approximately 500 houses, the 99th Street School, and the 93rd Street School, which had been built on top of the dump; and to remediate the dump and construct a containment area for the hazardous wastes. This was the first time that such a process had been undertaken. Carter acknowledged that several more "Love Canals" existed across the country, and that discovering such hazardous dumpsites was "one of the grimmest discoveries of our modern era".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eUTkicMAXuQC&q=one+of+the+grimmest+discoveries+of+our+modern+era+carter&pg=PR15|title=Risks of Hazardous Wastes|first1=Paul|last1=E. Rosenfeld|first2=Lydia|last2=Feng|first3=William|last3=Andrew|date=2011|publisher=William Andrew|isbn=9781437778434|access-date=March 21, 2022|archive-date=April 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407071456/https://books.google.com/books?id=eUTkicMAXuQC&q=one+of+the+grimmest+discoveries+of+our+modern+era+carter&pg=PR15|url-status=live}}</ref> ==== Poor relations with Congress ==== Carter typically refused to conform to Washington's rules.<ref>Zelizer, pp. 53–55</ref> He avoided phone calls from members of Congress and verbally insulted them. He was unwilling to return political favors. His negativity led to frustration in passing legislation.<ref name="pbs">{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/georgia-mafia/ |title=The 'Georgia Mafia' . Jimmy Carter |work=WGBH American Experience |publisher=PBS |access-date=March 13, 2017 |archive-date=February 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215065641/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/georgia-mafia// |url-status=dead }}</ref> During a press conference on February 23, 1977, Carter stated that it was "inevitable" that he would come into conflict with Congress and added that he had found "a growing sense of cooperation" with Congress and met in the past with congressional members of both parties.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-119 |title=The President's News Conference (23 February 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815112634/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-119 |url-status=live }}</ref> Carter developed a bitter feeling following an unsuccessful attempt at having Congress enact the scrapping of several water projects,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/27/zelizer.hundred/index.html |work=CNN|title=Commentary: New president's 100 days of pressure – CNN.com |date=October 28, 2008 |access-date=May 22, 2010 |archive-date=December 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203002100/http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/27/zelizer.hundred/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> which he had requested during his first 100 days in office and received opposition from members of his party.<ref name="Biven 2002">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/jimmycartersecon00bive_0 |title=Jimmy Carter's Economy: Policy in an Age of Limits |author=Biven, W. Carl |isbn=978-0-8078-2738-3 |year=2002 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press}} p. 81</ref> As a rift ensued between the White House and Congress afterward, Carter noted that the liberal wing of the Democratic Party was most ardently against his policies, attributing this to [[Ted Kennedy 1980 presidential campaign|Ted Kennedy's wanting the presidency]].<ref>Carter, Jimmy ''Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis'', p. 8, (2005), Simon & Schuster</ref> Carter, thinking he had support from 74 Congressmen, issued a "hit list" of 19 projects that he claimed were "pork barrel" spending that he claimed would result in a veto on his part if included in any legislation.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/143163782.html?dids=143163782:143163782&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+1%2C+1977&author=By+Walter+Pincus+Washington+Post+Staff+Writer&pub=The+Washington+Post+(1974-Current+file)&edition=&startpage=A1&desc=When+a+Campaign+Vow+Crashes+Into+a+Pork+Barrel |last=Pincus |first=Walter |title=When a Campaign Vow Crashes into a Pork Barrel |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=April 1, 1977 |access-date=July 5, 2008 |archive-date=May 25, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525152206/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/143163782.html?dids=143163782:143163782&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Apr+1,+1977&author=By+Walter+Pincus+Washington+Post+Staff+Writer&pub=The+Washington+Post+(1974-Current+file)&edition=&startpage=A1&desc=When+a+Campaign+Vow+Crashes+Into+a+Pork+Barrel |url-status=live }}</ref> He found himself at odds with Congressional Democrats once more, with [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|speaker of the House of Representatives]] [[Tip O'Neill]] finding it inappropriate for a president to pursue what had traditionally been the role of Congress. Carter was also weakened by signing a bill that contained many of the "hit list" projects he intended to cancel.<ref name="ucsb2">{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=6799 |publisher=presidency.ucsb.edu |title=Jimmy Carter: Water Resource Projects Message to the Congress |access-date=March 13, 2017 |archive-date=August 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828215048/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=6799 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In an address to a fundraising dinner for the Democratic National Committee on June 23, 1977, Carter said, "I think it's good to point out tonight, too, that we have evolved a good working relationship with the Congress. For eight years we had government by partisanship. Now we have government by partnership."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/democratic-national-committee-dinner-remarks-the-fundraising-dinner-new-york-city |title=Democratic National Committee Dinner Remarks at the Fundraising Dinner in New York City. (23 June 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=October 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012010116/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/democratic-national-committee-dinner-remarks-the-fundraising-dinner-new-york-city |url-status=live }}</ref> At a July 28 news conference, assessing the first six months of his presidency, Carter spoke of his improved understanding of Congress: "I have learned to respect the Congress more in an individual basis. I've been favorably impressed at the high degree of concentrated experience and knowledge that individual members of Congress can bring on a specific subject, where they've been the chairman of a subcommittee or committee for many years and have focused their attention on this particular aspect of government life which I will never be able to do."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-104 |title=The President's News Conference (28 July 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140513/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-104 |url-status=live }}</ref> On May 10, 1979, the House voted against giving Carter authority to produce a standby gas rationing plan.<ref>Bourne, p.436</ref> The following day, Carter delivered remarks in the Oval Office describing himself as shocked and embarrassed for the American government by the vote and concluding "the majority of the House Members are unwilling to take the responsibility, the political responsibility for dealing with a potential, serious threat to our Nation." He furthered that a majority of House members were placing higher importance on "local or parochial interests" and challenged the lower chamber of Congress with composing their own rationing plan in the next 90 days.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=32325 |title=Standby Gasoline Rationing Plan Remarks on the House of Representatives Disapproval of the Plan (10 May 1979) |date=May 11, 1979 |publisher=American Presidency Project |first=Jimmy |last=Carter |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=September 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926085905/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=32325 |url-status=live }}</ref> Carter's remarks were met with criticism by House Republicans, who accused his comments of not befitting the formality a president should have in their public remarks. Others pointed to 106 Democrats voting against his proposal and the bipartisan criticism potentially coming back to haunt him.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/15/archives/carters-clash-with-congress-on-gas-plan-news-analysis-some.html |title=Carter's Clash With Congress on Gas Plan |date=May 15, 1979 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=May 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531084739/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/15/archives/carters-clash-with-congress-on-gas-plan-news-analysis-some.html |url-status=live }}</ref> At the start of a news conference on July 25, 1979, Carter called on believers in the future of the U.S. and his proposed energy program to speak with Congress as it bore the responsibility to impose his proposals.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=32653 |title=The President's News Conference (25 July 1979) |date=July 25, 1979 |publisher=American Presidency Project |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=September 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926090001/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=32653 |url-status=live }}</ref> Amid the energy proposal opposition, ''The New York Times'' commented that "as the comments flying up and down Pennsylvania Avenue illustrate, there is also a crisis of confidence between Congress and the President, sense of doubt and distrust that threatens to undermine the President's legislative program and become an important issue in next year's campaign."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/08/05/archives/carter-and-the-congress-doubt-and-distrust-prevail.html |title=Carter and the Congress: Doubt and Distrust Prevail |first=Steven V. |last=Roberts |date=August 5, 1979 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817111437/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/08/05/archives/carter-and-the-congress-doubt-and-distrust-prevail.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ==== Economy ==== [[File:Bill Clinton 1978.jpg|thumb|alt=A monochrome image of Carter shaking hands with Bill Clinton|Newly elected [[governor of Arkansas]] and future president [[Bill Clinton]] meets with President Carter in 1978]] Carter's presidency had a troubled economic history of two roughly equal periods. The first two years were a time of continuing recovery from the severe 1973–75 recession, which had left fixed investment at its lowest level since the 1970 recession and unemployment at 9%.<ref name="stat 88">{{cite web |url=http://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/1988-04.pdf |title=1988 Statistical Abstract of the United States |publisher=Department of Commerce |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140458/https://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/1988-04.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> His last two years were marked by double-digit inflation, coupled with very high interest rates,<ref name="'70s 292">Bourne, p. 447.</ref> oil shortages, and slow economic growth.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/JubaksJournal/Is70sStyleStagflationComing.aspx |title=Is '70s-style stagflation returning? |author=Jim Jubak |work=Jubak's Journal |publisher=MSN |date=April 1, 2008 |access-date=October 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820042310/http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/JubaksJournal/Is70sStyleStagflationComing.aspx |archive-date=August 20, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Due to the $30 billion economic stimulus legislation – such as the Public Works Employment Act of 1977 – proposed by Carter and passed by Congress, real household median had grown by 5.2%, with a projection of 6.4% for the next quarter.<ref>Bourne, p.422</ref> The [[1979 oil crisis|1979 energy crisis]] ended this period of growth, and as inflation and interest rates rose, economic growth, job creation and [[consumer confidence]] declined sharply.<ref name="'70s 292" /> The relatively loose [[monetary policy]] adopted by [[Federal Reserve Board]] chairman [[G. William Miller]], had already contributed to somewhat higher inflation,<ref name="Inflation of 1970s">{{cite web |url=http://econ161.berkeley.edu/econ_articles/theinflationofthes.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970219022512/http://econ161.berkeley.edu/Econ_Articles/theinflationofthes.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 19, 1997 |title=The Inflation of the 1970s: November 21, 1978 |date=December 19, 1995 |publisher=[[University of California at Berkeley]] and National Bureau of Economic Research |access-date=March 18, 2012}}</ref> rising from 5.8% in 1976 to 7.7% in 1978. The sudden doubling of [[crude oil]] prices by [[OPEC]], the world's leading oil exporting [[cartel]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-cta.ornl.gov/cta/Publications/Reports/ORNL-6873%20.pdf |title=The Outlook for U.S. Oil Dependence |publisher=U.S. Department of Energy |access-date=October 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170513154741/http://www-cta.ornl.gov/cta/Publications/Reports/ORNL-6873%20.pdf |archive-date=May 13, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> forced inflation to double-digit levels, averaging 11.3% in 1979 and 13.5% in 1980.<ref name="stat 88" /> The sudden shortage of gasoline as the 1979 summer vacation season began exacerbated the problem and came to symbolize the crisis to the general public;<ref name="'70s 292" /> the acute shortage, originating in the shutdown of [[Amerada Hess]] refining facilities, led to a lawsuit against the company that year by the federal government.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://md.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.%5CFCT%5CC04%5C1979%5C19791226_0040006.C04.htm/qx |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120628221218/http://md.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.%5CFCT%5CC04%5C1979%5C19791226_0040006.C04.htm/qx |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 28, 2012 |access-date=September 9, 2021 |title=United States v. Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America}}</ref> ==== Deregulation ==== [[File:AirlineDeregulationAct.png|thumb|alt=Carter surrounded by a crowd of people as he signs the Airline Deregulation Act.|Carter signing the [[Airline Deregulation Act]], 1978]] {{Main|Airline Deregulation Act}} In 1977, Carter appointed [[Alfred E. Kahn]] to lead the [[Civil Aeronautics Board]] (CAB). He was part of a push for deregulation of the industry, supported by leading economists, leading think tanks in Washington, a civil society coalition advocating the reform (patterned on a coalition earlier developed for the truck-and-rail-reform efforts), the head of the regulatory agency, Senate leadership, the Carter administration, and even some in the airline industry. This coalition swiftly gained legislative results in 1978.<ref>{{cite book |title=Contrived Competition: Regulation and Deregulation in America |last=Vietor |first=Richard H. K. |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-43679-4 |oclc=897163998}}</ref> Carter signed the [[Airline Deregulation Act]] into law on October 24, 1978. The main purpose of the act was to [[Airline deregulation|remove government control]] over fares, routes and market entry (of new airlines) from [[commercial aviation]]. The Civil Aeronautics Board's powers of regulation were to be phased out, eventually allowing market forces to determine routes and fares. The Act did not remove or diminish the [[Federal Aviation Administration|FAA's]] regulatory powers over all aspects of airline safety.<ref>{{cite book |title=Practical Applications in Business Aviation Management |isbn=978-1-60590-770-3 |last1=Cannon |first1=James R. |last2=Richey |first2=Franklin D. |year=2012|publisher=Government Institutes }}</ref> In 1979, Carter deregulated the American beer industry by making it legal to sell [[malt]], [[hops]], and [[yeast]] to American [[Homebrewing|home brewers]] for the first time since the effective 1920 beginning of [[prohibition in the United States]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2011/08/beer-charts |title=Beer Charts of the Day |first=Tom |last=Philpott |work=Mother Jones |date=August 17, 2011 |access-date=December 10, 2011 |archive-date=December 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111218221821/http://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2011/08/beer-charts |url-status=live }}</ref> This deregulation led to an increase in home brewing over the 1980s and 1990s that by the 2000s had developed into a strong craft [[Microbrewery|microbrew]] culture in the United States, with 9,118 microbreweries, brewpubs, and regional craft breweries in the United States by the end of 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Association |first=Brewers |date=April 5, 2022 |title=Brewers Association Releases Annual Craft Brewing Industry Production Report and Top 50 Producing Craft Brewing Companies for 2021 |url=https://www.brewersassociation.org/press-releases/brewers-association-releases-annual-craft-brewing-industry-production-report-and-top-50-producing-craft-brewing-companies-for-2021/ |access-date=February 19, 2023 |website=Brewers Association |language=en-US |archive-date=February 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209063838/https://www.brewersassociation.org/press-releases/brewers-association-releases-annual-craft-brewing-industry-production-report-and-top-50-producing-craft-brewing-companies-for-2021/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ==== Healthcare ==== During his presidential campaign, Carter embraced healthcare reform akin to the [[Ted Kennedy]]-sponsored bipartisan [[universal health care|universal]] [[national health insurance]].<ref>Multiple sources * {{cite news |last=Reinhold |first=Robert |date=April 17, 1976 |title=Carter proposes U.S. health plan; says he favors mandatory insurance financed from wage and general taxes |newspaper=The New York Times |page=1 |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30717FD3E5F167493C5A8178FD85F428785F9 |quote=Although Mr. Carter left some details a bit vague today, his proposal seemed almost identical to the so-called Kennedy-Corman health security plan. His position on the issue is now substantially the same as that of his chief rivals, Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, Senator Henry M. Jackson and Representative Morris K. Udall. All three are co-sponsors of the Kennedy-Corman bill. |access-date=September 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521003608/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30717FD3E5F167493C5A8178FD85F428785F9 |archive-date=May 21, 2013 |url-status=dead }} * {{cite news |last=Auerbach |first=Stuart |date=April 17, 1976 |title=Carter gives broad outline for national health plan; cost unknown |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=A1 |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/120359627.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |quote=The outlines of Carter's program are close to one sponsored by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and strongly supported by organized labor. |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=January 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130082012/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/120359627.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |url-status=live }} * {{cite news |agency=United Press International |date=April 17, 1976 |title=Carter urges universal health plan |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |page=4 |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/613101652.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |quote=Although Carter didn't provide an estimate of what his health plan would cost taxpayers, it features many proposals similar to plans suggested by others, including Sen. Edward Kennedy [D., Mass.] which are estimated to cost at least $40 billion annually. |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=January 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130130082000/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/613101652.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI |url-status=live }}</ref> Carter's proposals on healthcare while in office included an April 1977 mandatory health care cost proposal,<ref>{{cite book |year=1978 |chapter=Hospital cost control |title=Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 95th Congress 1st Session....1977 |journal=Congressional Quarterly Almanac Plus |volume=33 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Congressional Quarterly |pages=499–507 |issn=0095-6007 |oclc=1564784}}</ref> and a June 1979 proposal that provided private health insurance coverage.<ref name="NHI: CQ Almanac 1979">{{cite book |year=1980 |chapter=National health insurance |title=Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 96th Congress 1st Session....1979 |journal=Congressional Quarterly Almanac Plus |volume=35 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Congressional Quarterly |pages=536–540 |issn=0095-6007 |oclc=1564784}}</ref> Carter saw the June 1979 proposal as a continuation of progress in American health coverage. President [[Harry S. Truman]] proposed a designation of health care as a basic right of Americans and [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]] and [[Medicaid]] were introduced under President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/national-health-plan-remarks-announcing-proposed-legislation |title=National Health Plan Remarks Announcing Proposed Legislation. (12 June 1979) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816100742/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/national-health-plan-remarks-announcing-proposed-legislation |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/national-health-plan-message-the-congress-proposed-legislation |title=National Health Plan Message to the Congress on Proposed Legislation. (12 June 1979) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140641/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/national-health-plan-message-the-congress-proposed-legislation |url-status=live }}</ref> The April 1977 mandatory health care cost proposal was passed in the Senate,<ref>{{cite book |year=1979 |chapter=Hospital cost control legislation dies |title=Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 95th Congress 2nd Session....1978 |journal=Congressional Quarterly Almanac Plus |volume=34 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Congressional Quarterly |pages=619–625 |issn=0095-6007 |oclc=1564784}}</ref> but later defeated in the House.<ref>{{cite book |year=1980 |chapter=House kills Carter hospital cost control plan |title=Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 96th Congress 1st Session....1979 |journal=Congressional Quarterly Almanac Plus |volume=35 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Congressional Quarterly |pages=512–518 |issn=0095-6007 |oclc=1564784}}</ref> During 1978, he met with Kennedy over a compromise healthcare law that proved unsuccessful.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zelizer |first1=Julian |title=Jimmy Carter |date=2010 |publisher=Times Books |isbn=978-0-8050-8957-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/jimmycarter00zeli/page/78 78] |url=https://archive.org/details/jimmycarter00zeli/page/78}}</ref> He later said Kennedy's disagreements thwarted his plan to provide a comprehensive American health care system.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jimmy |last=Carter |author-link=Jimmy Carter |title=Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President |publisher=Bantam Books |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-553-05023-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/keepingfaithmemo00cart/page/86 86–87] |url=https://archive.org/details/keepingfaithmemo00cart/page/86}}</ref> ==== Education ==== Early into his term, Carter collaborated with Congress to fulfill his campaign promise to create a cabinet level education department. In an address from the White House on February 28, 1978, Carter argued "Education is far too important a matter to be scattered piecemeal among various government departments and agencies, which are often busy with sometimes dominant concerns."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/elementary-and-secondary-education-remarks-announcing-the-administrations-proposals-the |title=Elementary and Secondary Education Remarks Announcing the Administration's Proposals to the Congress. (28 February 1978) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818211940/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/elementary-and-secondary-education-remarks-announcing-the-administrations-proposals-the |url-status=live }}</ref> On February 8, 1979, the Carter administration released an outline of its plan to establish an education department and asserted enough support for the enactment to occur by June.<ref name="Dept of Ed outlined">{{cite news |title=Department of Education Outlined |agency=Associated Press |date=February 9, 1979 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IkwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5661,1224804 |archive-date=October 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012023354/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IkwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5661,1224804&dq=department+of+education |url-status=live }}</ref> On October 17, the same year, Carter signed the [[Department of Education Organization Act]] into law,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/department-education-organization-act-statement-signing-s-210-into-law |title=Department of Education Organization Act Statement on Signing S. 210 Into Law. (17 October 1979) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=September 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902142407/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/department-education-organization-act-statement-signing-s-210-into-law |url-status=live }}</ref> establishing the [[United States Department of Education]].<ref name="Dept of Ed created">{{cite news |title=Education Department Created |agency=United Press International |date=October 18, 1979 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0sZUAAAAIBAJ&pg=1984,3959160 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Carter expanded the [[Head Start (program)|Head Start]] program with the addition of 43,000 children and families,<ref name="ilheadstart">{{cite web |url=http://ilheadstart.org/about-ihsa/history-goals-and-values/head-start-a-historical-perspective/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220025932/http://ilheadstart.org/about-ihsa/history-goals-and-values/head-start-a-historical-perspective/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 20, 2013 |website=ilheadstart.org |title=A Historical Perspective |access-date=March 13, 2017}}</ref> while the percentage of nondefense dollars spent on education was doubled.<ref name="google">{{cite book |title=American Presidents and Education |author=Berube, M.R. |date=1991 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0-313-27848-8 |url={{GBurl|id=CZ18F-KzLREC|p=49}} |page=49 |access-date=March 13, 2017}}</ref> Carter was complimentary of the [[presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson]] and the [[89th United States Congress]] for having initiated Head Start.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/15th-anniversary-project-head-start-remarks-white-house-reception |title=15th Anniversary of Project Head Start Remarks at a White House Reception. (12 March 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=October 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012010119/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/15th-anniversary-project-head-start-remarks-white-house-reception |url-status=live }}</ref> In a speech on November 1, 1980, Carter stated his administration had extended Head Start to migrant children and was "working hard right now with [[Lloyd Bentsen|Senator Bentsen]] and with [[Kika de la Garza]] to make as much as $45 million available in federal money in the border districts to help with the increase in school construction for the number of Mexican school children who reside here legally".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/brownsville-texas-remarks-rally-with-area-residents |title=Brownsville, Texas Remarks at a Rally With Area Residents. (1 November 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140544/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/brownsville-texas-remarks-rally-with-area-residents |url-status=live }}</ref> === Foreign policy === {{main|Foreign policy of the Jimmy Carter administration}} [[File:Camp David, Menachem Begin, Anwar Sadat, 1978.jpg|thumb|alt=Sadat, Carter, and Begin together during the Camp David accords|Anwar Sadat, Jimmy Carter and Menachem Begin meet at Camp David on September 6, 1978.]] ==== Israel and Egypt ==== [[File:Dan Hadani collection (990045970050205171).jpg|thumb|alt=Carter standing alongside Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, during his 1979 visit|Carter standing alongside Israeli prime minister [[Menachem Begin]], during his 1979 visit]] {{main|Presidency of Jimmy Carter#Camp David Accords|Camp David Accords}} From the onset of his presidency, Carter attempted to mediate the [[Arab–Israeli conflict]].<ref>Alter, p. 388–417.</ref> After a failed attempt to seek a comprehensive settlement between the two nations in 1977 (through reconvening the [[Geneva Conference (1973)|1973 Geneva conference]],<ref>Kaufman and Kaufman, 2006, pp. 53–56.</ref> Carter invited the Egyptian president [[Anwar Sadat]] and Israeli prime minister [[Menachem Begin]] to the presidential lodge Camp David in September 1978, in hopes of creating a definitive peace. Whilst the two sides could not agree on Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, the negotiations resulted in Egypt formally recognizing Israel, and the creation of an elected government in the West Bank and Gaza. This resulted in the Camp David Accords, which ended the war between Israel and Egypt.<ref>Herring, p. 841–842.</ref> The accords were a source of great domestic opposition in both Egypt and Israel. Historian Jørgen Jensehaugen argues that by the time Carter left office in January 1981, he was "in an odd position—he had attempted to break with traditional U.S. policy but ended up fulfilling the goals of that tradition, which had been to break up the Arab alliance, sideline the Palestinians, build an alliance with Egypt, weaken the Soviet Union and secure Israel."<ref>Jørgen Jensehaugen. ''Arab–Israeli Diplomacy under Carter: The US, Israel and the Palestinians'' (2018) p. 178, quoted [https://networks.h-net.org/node/28443/discussions/4083976/h-diplo-roundtable-xx-36-j%C3%B8rgen-jensehaugen-arab-israeli on H-DIPLO] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704131441/https://networks.h-net.org/node/28443/discussions/4083976/h-diplo-roundtable-xx-36-j%C3%B8rgen-jensehaugen-arab-israeli |date=July 4, 2019}})</ref> ==== Africa ==== [[File:Carter Nyerere, August 1977 - NARA 175790.jpg|thumb|right|alt=The Carters and Julius Nyerere standing next to each other outside.|First Lady [[Rosalynn Carter]], Tanzanian leader [[Julius Nyerere]], and Carter, 1977]] [[File:Olusegun Obasanjo and Jimmy Carter-02.jpg|thumb|alt=Carter standing alongside Olusegun Obasanjo outside.|Carter with Nigerian leader [[Olusegun Obasanjo]] on April 1, 1978]] In an address to the African officials at the United Nations on October 4, 1977, Carter stated the U.S.'s interest to "see a strong, vigorous, free, and prosperous Africa with as much of the control of government as possible in the hands of the residents of your countries" and pointed to their unified efforts on "the problem of how to resolve the Rhodesian, Zimbabwe question."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=6745 |title=United Nations Remarks at a Working Luncheon for Officials of African Nations |publisher=American Presidency Project |date=October 4, 1977 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |archive-date=March 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311140601/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=6745 |url-status=live }}</ref> At a news conference later that month, Carter outlined that the U.S. wanted to "work harmoniously with South Africa in dealing with the threats to peace in Namibia and in Zimbabwe in particular", as well as do away with racial issues such as apartheid, and for equal opportunities in other facets of society in the region.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=6849 |title=The President's News Conference |date=October 27, 1977 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |publisher=American Presidency Project |archive-date=October 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023115834/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=6849 |url-status=live }}</ref> Carter visited Nigeria from March 31 to April 3, 1978, to improve relations;<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/31/archives/carter-trip-to-nigeria-culminates-long-effort-to-improve-relations.html |title=Carter Trip to Nigeria Culminates Long Effort to Improve Relations |first=Michael T. |last=Kaufman |date=March 31, 1978 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=May 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210531063017/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/31/archives/carter-trip-to-nigeria-culminates-long-effort-to-improve-relations.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the first U.S. president to do so.<ref name="history.state.gov">{{cite web |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/nigeria |title=Presidents' Travels to Nigeria (31 March — 3 April) |publisher=U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian |access-date=August 31, 2021 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818133750/https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/nigeria |url-status=live }}</ref> He reiterated interest in convening a peace conference on Rhodesia that involved all parties and said the U.S. was moving as it could.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/03/archives/new-jersey-pages-carter-seeks-talks-including-all-sides-in-rhodesia.html |title=Carter Seeks Talks Including All Sides in Rhodesia Conflict |date=April 3, 1978 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=October 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012042353/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/03/archives/new-jersey-pages-carter-seeks-talks-including-all-sides-in-rhodesia.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The elections of [[Margaret Thatcher]] as [[prime minister of the United Kingdom]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/04/archives/conservatives-win-british-vote-margaret-thatcher-first-woman-to.html |title=Conservatives Win British Vote; Margaret Thatcher First Woman to Head a European Government |date=May 4, 1979 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=September 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907191715/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/04/archives/conservatives-win-british-vote-margaret-thatcher-first-woman-to.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Abel Muzorewa]] for [[Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/25/archives/muzorewa-party-wins-in-rhodesia-with-bare-majority-in-parliament.html |title=Rhodesian Election Ends with Turnout Put at 65 Percent |date=April 25, 1979 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816194436/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/25/archives/muzorewa-party-wins-in-rhodesia-with-bare-majority-in-parliament.html |url-status=live }}</ref> South Africa turning down a plan for [[South West Africa]]'s independence, and domestic opposition in Congress were seen as a heavy blow to the Carter administration's policy toward South Africa.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/14/archives/fight-over-rhodesia-sanctions-reflects-carter-bid-to-save-africa.html |title=Fight Over Rhodesia Sanctions Reflects Carter Bid to Save Africa Policy |date=May 14, 1979 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=July 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210703000906/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/14/archives/fight-over-rhodesia-sanctions-reflects-carter-bid-to-save-africa.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On May 16, 1979, the Senate voted in favor of lifting economic sanctions against [[Rhodesia]], seen by some Rhodesians and South Africans as a potentially fatal blow to joint diplomacy efforts the United States and Britain had pursued in the region for three years and any compromise between the Salisbury leaders and guerrillas.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/17/archives/rhodesia-south-africa-hail-move-in-senate-to-end-curb-on-salisbury.html |title=Rhodesia, South Africa Hail Move In Senate to End Curb on Salisbury |date=May 17, 1979 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=October 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012010116/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/17/archives/rhodesia-south-africa-hail-move-in-senate-to-end-curb-on-salisbury.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On December 3, Secretary of State [[Cyrus Vance]] promised Senator [[Jesse Helms]] that when the British governor arrived in [[Harare|Salisbury]] to implement an agreed Lancaster House settlement and the electoral process began, the President would take prompt action to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe Rhodesia.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/04/archives/carter-promises-to-stop-sanctions-after-rhodesia-political.html |title=Carter Promises to Stop Sanctions After Rhodesia Political Settlement |date=December 4, 1979 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818111344/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/04/archives/carter-promises-to-stop-sanctions-after-rhodesia-political.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ==== East Asia ==== [[File:Carter DengXiaoping (cropped).jpg|thumb|alt=Carter standing next to Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping|[[Deng Xiaoping]] with Carter in 1979]] Carter sought closer relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC), continuing the Nixon administration's drastic policy of rapprochement. The two countries increasingly collaborated against the Soviet Union, and the Carter administration tacitly consented to the [[Sino-Vietnamese War|Chinese invasion]] of Vietnam. In December 1978, he announced the United States' intention to formally recognize and establish full diplomatic relations with the PRC starting on January 1, 1979, while severing ties with Taiwan, including revoking a mutual defense treaty with the latter.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wachman |first=Alan M. |date=1984 |title=Carter's Constitutional Conundrum: An Examination of the President's Unilateral Termination of a Treaty |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45331164 |journal=The Fletcher Forum |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=427–457 |jstor=45331164 |issn=0147-0981}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Walsh |first=Edward |date=December 16, 1978 |title=U.S. to Normalize Ties With Peking, End Its Defense Treaty With Taiwan |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/12/16/us-to-normalize-ties-with-peking-end-its-defense-treaty-with-taiwan/7d53f81a-865d-4a87-8c32-a0f6f343502c/ |access-date=December 11, 2023 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> In 1979, Carter extended formal diplomatic recognition to the PRC for the first time. This decision led to a boom in trade between the United States and the PRC, which was pursuing economic reforms under the leadership of [[Deng Xiaoping]].<ref>Herring, pp. 839–840.</ref> After the [[Soviet invasion of Afghanistan]], Carter allowed the sale of military supplies to China and began negotiations to share military intelligence.<ref>Herring, pp. 855–856.</ref> In January 1980, Carter unilaterally revoked the [[Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty]] with the [[Republic of China]] (ROC), which had lost control of [[mainland China]] to the PRC in 1949, but retained control of the [[island of Taiwan]]. Conservative Republicans challenged Carter's abrogation of the treaty in court, but the Supreme Court ruled that the issue was a non-justiciable [[political question]] in ''[[Goldwater v. Carter]]''. The U.S. continued to maintain diplomatic contacts with the ROC through the 1979 [[Taiwan Relations Act]].<ref name="millerforeign">{{cite web|last1=Strong|first1=Robert A.|title=Jimmy Carter: Foreign Affairs|url=https://millercenter.org/president/carter/foreign-affairs|website=Miller Center|date=October 4, 2016|publisher=University of Virginia|access-date=November 21, 2017|archive-date=December 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201031100/https://millercenter.org/president/carter/foreign-affairs|url-status=live}}</ref> During Carter's presidency, the U.S. continued to support Indonesia as a cold war ally, despite human rights violations in [[East Timor (province)|East Timor]]. The violations followed Indonesia's [[Indonesian invasion of East Timor|December 1975 invasion and occupation]] of East Timor. Under Carter's administration military assistance to Indonesia increased, peaking in 1978.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/indoarms.html|title=Report: U.S. Arms Transfers to Indonesia 1975–1997|work=World Policy Institute|date=March 1997|access-date=September 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226181104/http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/indoarms.html|archive-date=February 26, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dumbrell |first=John |title=The Carter Presidency: A Re-evaluation |year=1995 |edition=2nd |publisher=Manchester University Press |location=Manchester, England, UK |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2GK7AAAAIAAJ&q=Indonesia&pg=PA187 |pages=187, 191 |isbn=978-0-7190-4693-3 |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=April 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410051130/https://books.google.com/books?id=2GK7AAAAIAAJ&q=Indonesia&pg=PA187 |url-status=live }}</ref> This was antithetical to Carter's stated policy of "not selling weapons if it would exacerbate a potential conflict in a region of the world".<ref>{{cite interview |last=Carter |first=Jimmy |subject-link=Jimmy Carter |interviewer=[[Amy Goodman]] |title=Fmr. President Jimmy Carter on "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," Iraq, Greeting the Shah of Iran at the White House, Selling Weapons to Indonesia During the Occupation of East Timor, and More |url=https://www.democracynow.org/2007/9/10/fmr_president_jimmy_carter_on_palestine |date=September 10, 2007 |work=Democracy Now! |access-date=July 30, 2019 |archive-date=July 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730232155/https://www.democracynow.org/2007/9/10/fmr_president_jimmy_carter_on_palestine |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ball |first1=Nicole |last2=Lettenberg |first2=Milton |title=The foreign arms sales of the Carter administration |journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |date=February 1979 |volume=35 |issue=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GgsAAAAAMBAJ&q=Carter+weapons+sales+Indonesia&pg=PA31 |pages=31–36 |publisher=Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science |doi=10.1080/00963402.1979.11458586 |bibcode=1979BuAtS..35b..31B |access-date=October 28, 2019 |archive-date=February 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210206211240/https://books.google.com/books?id=GgsAAAAAMBAJ&q=Carter+weapons+sales+Indonesia&pg=PA31 |url-status=live }}</ref> During a news conference on March 9, 1977, Carter reaffirmed his interest in having a gradual withdrawal of American troops from [[Fourth Republic of Korea|South Korea]] and said he wanted South Korea to eventually have "adequate ground forces owned by and controlled by the South Korean government to protect themselves against any intrusion from North Korea."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-117 |title=The President's News Conference (9 March 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011221451/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-117 |url-status=live }}</ref> On May 19, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' quoted Chief of Staff of U.S. forces in South Korea [[John K. Singlaub]] as criticizing Carter's withdrawal of troops from the Korean peninsula. Later that day, Press Secretary Rex Granum announced that Carter had summoned Singlaub to the White House, and confirmed that Carter had seen the ''Washington Post'' article.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/20/archives/carter-summons-general-in-korea-over-criticism-of-withdrawal-plan.html |title=Carter Summons General in Korea Over Criticism of Withdrawal Plan |date=May 20, 1977 |access-date=September 1, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816120219/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/20/archives/carter-summons-general-in-korea-over-criticism-of-withdrawal-plan.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Carter relieved Singlaub of his duties on May 21 after a meeting between the two.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/22/archives/carter-disciplines-gen-singlaub-who-attacked-his-policy-on-korea.html |title=Carter Disciplines Gen. Singlaub, Who Attacked His Policy on Korea |first=Bernard |last=Weinraub |work=The New York Times |date=May 22, 1977 |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816085328/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/22/archives/carter-disciplines-gen-singlaub-who-attacked-his-policy-on-korea.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,914937,00.html |title=Armed Forces: General on the Carpet |date=May 30, 1977 |access-date=September 1, 2021 |magazine=Time |archive-date=October 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211014033517/https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,914937,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> During a news conference on May 26, 1977, Carter said South Korea could defend itself with reduced American troops in case of conflict.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/27/archives/carter-defends-plan-to-reduce-forces-in-korea-carer-defends-plan-to.html |title=Carter Defends Plan to Reduce Forces in Korea |date=May 27, 1977 |access-date=September 9, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=July 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210702233520/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/27/archives/carter-defends-plan-to-reduce-forces-in-korea-carer-defends-plan-to.html |url-status=live }}</ref> From June 30 to July 1, 1979, Carter held meetings with [[president of South Korea]] [[Park Chung Hee]] at the Blue House for a discussion on relations between the U.S. and South Korea as well as Carter's interest in preserving his policy of worldwide tension reduction.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/seoul-republic-korea-joint-communique-issued-the-conclusion-meetings-with-president-park |title=Seoul, Republic of Korea Joint Communiqué Issued at the Conclusion of Meetings With President Park. (1 July 1979) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140609/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/seoul-republic-korea-joint-communique-issued-the-conclusion-meetings-with-president-park |url-status=live }}</ref> On April 21, 1978, Carter announced a reduction in American troops in South Korea scheduled to be released by the end of the year by two-thirds, citing lack of action by Congress in regard to a compensatory aid package for the South Korean government.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/22/archives/carter-cuts-total-of-us-troops-to-leave-south-korea-this-year.html |title=Carter Cuts Total of U.S. Troops To Leave South Korea This Year (21 April 1978) |first=Terence |last=Smith |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 22, 1978 |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=August 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816183234/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/22/archives/carter-cuts-total-of-us-troops-to-leave-south-korea-this-year.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ==== Iran ==== {{main|Iran hostage crisis}} [[File:Jimmy Carter with King Hussein of Jordan the Shah of Iran and Shahbanou of Iran - NARA - 177332 04.jpg|thumb|alt=Carter standing alongside King Hussein and the Shah of Iran|Carter with [[King Hussein]] of Jordan and [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Shah of Iran]] in 1977]] On November 15, 1977, Carter pledged that his administration would continue positive relations between the U.S. and Iran, calling its contemporary status "strong, stable and progressive".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/11/16/archives/carter-lauds-shah-on-his-leadership-assures-visitor-us-will.html |title=Carter Lauds Shah On His Leadership |date=November 16, 1977 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=July 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210702235156/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/11/16/archives/carter-lauds-shah-on-his-leadership-assures-visitor-us-will.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On December 31, 1977, he called Iran under the Shah an "island of stability" made possible by the "admiration and love your people give to [the Shah]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://vandvreader.org/jimmy-carter-toasts-the-shah-31-december-1977/|title=Jimmy Carter Toasts the Shah|date=December 31, 1977|work=Voices and Visions|access-date=March 24, 2023|archive-date=March 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324205948/http://vandvreader.org/jimmy-carter-toasts-the-shah-31-december-1977/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Making of US Foreign Policy |date=1997 |publisher=Manchester University Press |page=72}}</ref> Carter praised the Shah's "great leadership" and spoke of "personal friendship" between them.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gill Guererro |first1=Javier |title=The Carter Administration and the Fall of Iran's Pahlavi Dynasty US-Iran Relations on the Brink of the 1979 Revolution |date=2016 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |page=57}}</ref> When the Shah was overthrown, anti-Americanism increased in Iran, which intensified when Carter allowed the Shah to be admitted to the [[Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center]] in New York on October 22, 1979.<ref>Bourne, p. 454.</ref> On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students took over the [[U.S. Embassy in Tehran]]. The students belonged to the [[Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line]] and supported the [[Iranian Revolution]].<ref>Bourne, p. 452.</ref> Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for the next 444 days. They were freed immediately after [[Ronald Reagan]] succeeded Carter as president on January 20, 1981. During the crisis, Carter remained in isolation in the White House for more than 100 days, until he left to participate in the lighting of the [[National Menorah]] on [[the Ellipse]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://forward.com/articles/120124/how-hanukkah-came-to-the-white-house/|title=How Hanukkah Came To The White House|first1=Jonathan|last1=D. Sarna|date=December 2, 2009|access-date=August 30, 2021|publisher=The Forward|archive-date=March 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319162202/http://forward.com/articles/120124/how-hanukkah-came-to-the-white-house/|url-status=live}}</ref> A month into the affair, Carter announced his commitment to resolving the dispute without "any military action that would cause bloodshed or arouse the unstable captors of our hostages to attack them or to punish them".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/american-hostages-iran-remarks-state-department-employees |title=American Hostages in Iran Remarks to State Department Employees. (7 December 1979) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140657/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/american-hostages-iran-remarks-state-department-employees |url-status=live }}</ref> On April 7, 1980, he issued Executive Order 12205, imposing economic sanctions against Iran,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-12205-economic-sanctions-against-iran |title=Executive Order 12205—Economic Sanctions Against Iran (7 April 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140558/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-12205-economic-sanctions-against-iran |url-status=live }}</ref> and announced further government measures he deemed necessary to ensure a safe release.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/sanctions-against-iran-remarks-announcing-us-actions |title=Sanctions Against Iran Remarks Announcing U.S. Actions. (7 April 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818212038/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/sanctions-against-iran-remarks-announcing-us-actions |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1980/4/8/carter-cuts-ties-with-iran-ppresident/ |title=Carter Cuts Ties With Iran |date=April 8, 1980 |access-date=August 30, 2021 |newspaper=The Harvard Crimson |archive-date=August 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809084016/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1980/4/8/carter-cuts-ties-with-iran-ppresident/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On April 24, 1980, Carter ordered [[Operation Eagle Claw]] to try to free the hostages. The mission failed, leaving eight American servicemen dead and two aircraft destroyed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-the-nation-the-rescue-attempt-for-american-hostages-iran |title=Address to the Nation on the Rescue Attempt for American Hostages in Iran (24 April 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818152309/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-the-nation-the-rescue-attempt-for-american-hostages-iran |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/rescue-attempt-for-american-hostages-iran-white-house-statement |title=Rescue Attempt for American Hostages in Iran White House Statement. (25 April 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 30, 2021 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818152313/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/rescue-attempt-for-american-hostages-iran-white-house-statement |url-status=live }}</ref> The failure led Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who had opposed the mission, to resign.<ref>Bourne, p. 460.</ref> Released in 2017, a declassified memo produced by the CIA in 1980 concluded "Iranian hardliners—especially [[Ruhollah Khomeini|Ayatollah Khomeini]]" were "determined to exploit the hostage issue to bring about President Carter's defeat in the November elections." Additionally, Tehran in 1980 wanted "the world to believe that Imam Khomeini caused President Carter's downfall and disgrace."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Declassified CIA memo predicted the 1980 October Surprise|url=https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2017/jul/24/declassified-cia-memo-predicted-1980-october-surpr/|access-date=November 13, 2021|website=MuckRock|date=July 24, 2017 |language=en-US|archive-date=November 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113103809/https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2017/jul/24/declassified-cia-memo-predicted-1980-october-surpr/|url-status=live}}</ref> ==== Soviet Union ==== [[File:Carter Brezhnev sign SALT II.jpg|thumb|alt=Carter and Brezhnev sitting next to each other.|Carter and [[Leonid Brezhnev]] signing the SALT II treaty at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, June 18, 1979]] On February 8, 1977, Carter said he had urged the Soviet Union to align with the U.S. in forming "a comprehensive test ban to stop all nuclear testing for at least an extended period of time", and that he was in favor of the Soviet Union ceasing deployment of the [[RSD-10 Pioneer]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-112 |title=The President's News Conference (8 February 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 31, 2021 |archive-date=November 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105040225/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-112 |url-status=live }}</ref> During a June 13 press conference, he said that at the beginning of the week, the U.S. would "work closely with the Soviet Union on a comprehensive test ban treaty to prohibit all testing of nuclear devices underground or in the atmosphere", and [[Paul Warnke]] would negotiate demilitarization of the Indian Ocean with the Soviet Union beginning the following week.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-114 |title=The President's News Conference (13 June 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 31, 2021 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818111344/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-114 |url-status=live }}</ref> At a December 30 news conference, Carter said that during "the last few months, the United States and the Soviet Union have made great progress in dealing with a long list of important issues, the most important of which is to control the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons", and that the two countries sought to conclude SALT II talks by the spring of the next year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-115 |title=The President's News Conference (30 December 1977) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=August 31, 2021 |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817111526/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-115 |url-status=live }}</ref> The talk of a comprehensive test ban treaty materialized with the signing of the [[Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II]] by Carter and [[Leonid Brezhnev]] on June 18, 1979.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/19/archives/us-and-soviet-sign-strategic-arms-treaty-carter-urges-congress-to.html |title=U.S. And Soviet Sign Strategic Arms Treaty; Carter Urges Congress To Support Accord |date=June 19, 1979 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |newspaper=The New York Times |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817175614/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/19/archives/us-and-soviet-sign-strategic-arms-treaty-carter-urges-congress-to.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/this-day-in-politics-june-18-1979-119113 |title=Jimmy Carter signs Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, June 18, 1979 |first=Andrew |last=Glass |work=Politico |date=June 18, 2015 |access-date=August 31, 2021 |archive-date=December 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212140451/https://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/this-day-in-politics-june-18-1979-119113 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1979, the Soviets intervened in the [[Yemenite War of 1979|Second Yemenite War]]. The Soviet backing of [[South Yemen]] constituted a "smaller shock", in tandem with tensions that were rising due to the Iranian Revolution. This played a role in making Carter's stance on the Soviet Union more assertive, a shift that finalized with the impending Soviet-Afghan War.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jimmy Carter and the Second Yemenite War: A Smaller Shock of 1979? {{!}} Wilson Center|url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/jimmy-carter-and-second-yemenite-war-smaller-shock-1979|access-date=November 21, 2021|website=wilsoncenter.org|language=en|archive-date=November 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122053035/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/jimmy-carter-and-second-yemenite-war-smaller-shock-1979|url-status=live}}</ref> In his [[1980 State of the Union Address]], Carter emphasized the significance of relations between the two regions: "Now, as during the last 3½ decades, the relationship between our country, the United States of America, and the Soviet Union is the most critical factor in determining whether the world will live at peace or be engulfed in global conflict."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=33079 |title=The State of the Union Address Delivered Before a Joint Session of the Congress. (January 23, 1980) |access-date=August 31, 2021 |website=The American Presidency Project |archive-date=September 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911122002/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=33079 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ===== Soviet invasion of Afghanistan ===== Communists under the leadership of [[Nur Muhammad Taraki]] [[Saur Revolution|seized power in Afghanistan]] on April 27, 1978.<ref name="Kaplan">{{cite book |last=Kaplan |first=Robert D. |title=Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistan |publisher=Knopf Doubleday |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-307-54698-2 |pages=115–117}}</ref> The new regime signed a treaty of friendship with the Soviet Union in December of that year.<ref name="Kaplan" /><ref name="Kepel">{{cite book |last=Kepel |first=Gilles |title=Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84511-257-8 |pages=138–139, 142–144}}</ref> Due to the regime's improvement of secular education and redistribution of land coinciding with mass executions and political oppression, Taraki was deposed by rival [[Hafizullah Amin]] in September.<ref name="Kaplan" /><ref name="Kepel" /><ref name="Blight">{{cite book |last1=Blight |first1=James G. |title=Becoming Enemies: U.S.-Iran Relations and the Iran-Iraq War, 1979–1988 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4422-0830-8 |pages=69–70}}</ref> Amin was considered a "brutal psychopath" by foreign observers and had lost control of much of the country, prompting the Soviet Union to [[Soviet–Afghan War|invade Afghanistan]] on December 24, 1979, execute Amin, and install [[Babrak Karmal]] as president.<ref name="Kaplan" /><ref name="Kepel" /> [[File:Carter and Begin, September 5, 1978 (10729514294).jpg|thumb|alt=Carter, Begin, and Brzezinski walking together outside.|Carter, Begin, and [[Zbigniew Brzezinski]] in September 1978]] [[File:King Khaled (10168117694).jpg|thumb|alt=Carter standing next to King Khalid|King [[Khalid of Saudi Arabia]] and Carter in October 1978]] In the West, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was considered a threat to global security and the oil supplies of the [[Persian Gulf]], as well as the existence of Pakistan.<ref name="Kepel" /><ref name="Riedel">{{cite book |author-link=Bruce Riedel |last=Riedel |first=Bruce |title=What We Won: America's Secret War in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 |publisher=[[Brookings Institution]] Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-8157-2595-4 |pages=ix–xi, 21–22, 93, 98–99, 105}}</ref> These concerns led Carter to expand collaboration between the CIA and Pakistan's [[Inter-Services Intelligence]] (ISI), which had begun in July 1979, when the CIA started providing $695,000 worth of non-lethal assistance (e.g., "cash, medical equipment, and radio transmitters") to the [[Afghan mujahideen]].<ref name="Tobin 2020"/> The modest scope of this early collaboration was likely influenced by the understanding, later recounted by CIA official [[Robert Gates]], "that a substantial U.S. covert aid program" might have "raise[d] the stakes", thereby causing "the Soviets to intervene more directly and vigorously than otherwise intended."<ref name="Riedel" /><ref name="Gates">{{cite book |last=Gates |first=Bob |title=From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider's Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4165-4336-7 |pages=145–147}} When asked whether he expected that the revelations in his memoir would inspire the conspiracy theories surrounding the U.S. aid program, Gates replied: "No, because there was no basis in fact for an allegation the administration tried to draw the Soviets into Afghanistan militarily." See Gates, email communication with John Bernell White Jr., October 15, 2011, as cited in {{cite thesis |last=White |first=John Bernell |url=http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04252012-175722/unrestricted/WHITE_THESIS.pdf |title=The Strategic Mind Of Zbigniew Brzezinski: How A Native Pole Used Afghanistan To Protect His Homeland |date=May 2012 |pages=45–46, 82 |access-date=September 11, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304022857/http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04252012-175722/unrestricted/WHITE_THESIS.pdf |archive-date=March 4, 2016}} cf. {{cite book |author-link=Steve Coll |last=Coll |first=Steve |title=Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 |url=https://archive.org/details/ghostwarssecreth00coll |url-access=registration |publisher=Penguin |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-59420-007-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ghostwarssecreth00coll/page/581 581] |quote=Contemporary memos—particularly those written in the first days after the Soviet invasion—make clear that while Brzezinski was determined to confront the Soviets in Afghanistan through covert action, he was also very worried the Soviets would prevail. ... Given this evidence and the enormous political and security costs that the invasion imposed on the Carter administration, any claim that Brzezinski lured the Soviets into Afghanistan warrants deep skepticism.}}</ref> According to a 2020 review of declassified U.S. documents by Conor Tobin in the journal ''[[Diplomatic History (journal)|Diplomatic History]]'': "The primary significance of this small-scale aid was in creating constructive links with dissidents through Pakistan's ISI that could be utilized in the case of an overt Soviet intervention ... The small-scale covert program that developed ''in response'' to the increasing Soviet influence was part of a contingency plan ''if'' the Soviets did intervene militarily, as Washington would be in a better position to make it difficult for them to consolidate their position, but not designed to induce an intervention."<ref name="Tobin 2020">{{cite journal|last=Tobin|first=Conor|title=The Myth of the 'Afghan Trap': Zbigniew Brzezinski and Afghanistan, 1978–1979|journal=[[Diplomatic History (journal)|Diplomatic History]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|volume=44|issue=2|date=April 2020|pages=237–264|doi=10.1093/dh/dhz065|doi-access=free}}</ref> On December 28, 1979, Carter signed a presidential finding explicitly allowing the CIA to transfer "lethal military equipment either directly or through third countries to the Afghan opponents of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan" and to arrange "selective training, conducted outside of Afghanistan, in the use of such equipment either directly or via third country intermediation."<ref name="Tobin 2020"/> His finding defined the CIA's mission as "harassment" of Soviet troops; at the time, "this was not a war the CIA expected to win outright on the battlefield," in the words of [[Steve Coll]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Coll|first=Steve|title=[[Ghost Wars|Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001]]|publisher=[[Penguin Group]]|year=2004|isbn=9781594200076|page=[https://archive.org/details/ghostwarssecreth00coll/page/58 58]|author-link=Steve Coll}}</ref> Carter was determined to respond harshly to what he considered a dangerous provocation. In a televised speech on January 23, 1980, he announced sanctions on the Soviet Union, promised renewed aid and registration to Pakistan and the [[Selective Service System]], and [[Carter Doctrine|committed the U.S. to the Persian Gulf's defense]].<ref name="Riedel" /><ref name="Gates" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Carter |first1=James |title=Jimmy Carter State of the Union Address 1980 (23 January 1980) |url=https://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/documents/speeches/su80jec.phtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041015134701/http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/documents/speeches/su80jec.phtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 15, 2004 |website=Selected Speeches of Jimmy Carter |publisher=Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum |access-date=May 30, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Jimmy Carter: The State of the Union Address Delivered Before a Joint Session of the Congress |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=33079 |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=January 7, 2018 |archive-date=December 14, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161214111712/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=33079 |url-status=live }}</ref> Carter imposed an embargo on grain shipments to the USSR, tabled SALT II, requested a 5% annual increase in defense spending,<ref>Zelizer, p. 103.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Leuchtenburg |first1=William E. |title=The American President |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-517616-2 |page=577 |chapter=Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter}}</ref> and called for a boycott of the [[1980 Summer Olympics]] in Moscow, which was ultimately joined by 65 other nations.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Eaton|first1=Joseph|date=November 2016|title=Reconsidering the 1980 Moscow Olympic Boycott: American Sports Diplomacy in East Asian Perspective|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26376807|journal=Diplomatic History|volume=40|issue=5|pages=845–864|doi=10.1093/dh/dhw026|jstor=26376807|access-date=June 20, 2022|archive-date=October 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023092500/https://www.jstor.org/stable/26376807|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Treadaway |first=Dan |date=August 5, 1996 |title=Carter stresses role of Olympics in promoting global harmony |url=https://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT/erarchive/1996/August/ERaug.5/8_5_96carter.html |journal=Emory Report |volume=48 |issue=37 |access-date=April 12, 2023 |archive-date=June 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230622182355/https://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT/erarchive/1996/August/ERaug.5/8_5_96carter.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Toohey |first=Kristine |title=The Olympic Games: A Social Science Perspective |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ywy9aslk3M8C&pg=PA100 |date=November 8, 2007 |publisher=CABI |isbn=978-1-84593-355-5 |page=100 |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=July 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705120119/https://books.google.com/books?id=ywy9aslk3M8C&pg=PA100 |url-status=live }}</ref> British Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] enthusiastically backed Carter's tough stance.<ref name="Riedel" /> [[National Security Advisor (United States)|National Security Advisor]] [[Zbigniew Brzezinski]] played a major role in organizing Carter's policies on the Soviet Union as a grand strategy.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sargent|first=Daniel|title=Postmodern America Didn't Deserve Jimmy Carter|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/07/24/postmodern-america-didnt-deserve-jimmy-carter/|access-date=November 21, 2021|website=Foreign Policy|date=July 24, 2021 |language=en-US|archive-date=November 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121041348/https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/07/24/postmodern-america-didnt-deserve-jimmy-carter/|url-status=live}}</ref> In early 1980, Carter determined the thrust of U.S. policy for the duration of the war: he initiated [[Operation Cyclone|a program to arm the mujahideen through Pakistan's ISI]] and secured a pledge from Saudi Arabia to match U.S. funding for this purpose. Despite huge expenditure, the Soviet Union was unable to quell the insurgency and [[Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan|withdrew from Afghanistan]] in 1989 amid the economic, political, and social turmoil within the USSR, precipitating its [[dissolution of the Soviet Union|collapse]] two years later.<ref>{{cite book | last = Gaddis|first = John Lewis | title = We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History | date = 1997 | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 978-0-19-878070-0}}</ref><ref name="Riedel" /> The routing of U.S. aid through Pakistan led to some controversy, as weapons sent to [[Karachi]] were frequently controlled by Pakistan, whose government influenced which rebels received assistance. Despite this, Carter has expressed no regret over his decision to support what he still considers the Afghan freedom fighters.<ref name="Riedel" /> ==== International trips ==== {{further|List of international presidential trips made by Jimmy Carter}} [[File:US President Jimmy Carter Presidential Trips.PNG|thumb|upright=1.35|alt=Every country visited by Carter as president, highlighted in purple.|Countries visited by Carter during his presidency]] Carter made twelve international trips to 25 countries as president.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/carter-jimmy |title=Travels of President Jimmy Carter |work=U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=December 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181231091716/https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/travels/president/carter-jimmy |url-status=live }}</ref> He was the first president to make a state visit to Sub-Saharan Africa when he went to Nigeria in 1978.<ref name="history.state.gov"/> His travel also included trips to Europe, Asia, and Latin America. He made several trips to the Middle East to broker peace negotiations. His visit to [[Pahlavi Iran|Iran]] from December 31, 1977, to January 1, 1978, took place less than a year before the overthrow of [[Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.realclearworld.com/lists/presidential_visits/carter_iran.html |title=Most Important Presidential Visits: No. 7 Jimmy Carter – Iran |website=realclearworld |access-date=May 24, 2016 |archive-date=June 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601144811/http://www.realclearworld.com/lists/presidential_visits/carter_iran.html |url-status=live }}</ref> === Allegations and investigations === The September 21, 1977, resignation of [[Bert Lance]], who was director of the office of management and budget in the Carter administration, came amid allegations of improper banking activities before his tenure and was an embarrassment to Carter.<ref>{{Cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/16/us/politics/bert-lance-carter-adviser-dies-at-82.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/16/us/politics/bert-lance-carter-adviser-dies-at-82.html |archive-date=January 3, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Bert Lance, Carter Adviser, Dies at 82|first1=Robert|last1=D. Hershey Jr.|date=August 15, 2013|access-date=September 1, 2021|work=[[The New York Times]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Carter became the first sitting president to testify under oath as part of an investigation of him,<ref>{{cite news |title=Paul Curran, 75, Corruption Foe, Dies |first=Robert D. |last=McFadden |author-link=Robert D. McFadden |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/nyregion/07curran.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 6, 2008 |page=A30 |access-date=September 6, 2008 |archive-date=April 25, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425033130/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/nyregion/07curran.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kayescholer.com/web.nsf/sl/96D840B79AF05CE785256CE20076DA99|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051018150259/http://www.kayescholer.com/web.nsf/sl/96D840B79AF05CE785256CE20076DA99|archive-date=October 18, 2005|title=Paul J. Curran, Special Counsel, Litigation, Kaye Scholer.|access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref> as a result of [[United States Attorney General]] [[Griffin Bell]] appointing [[Paul J. Curran]] as a special counsel to investigate loans made to the peanut business Carter owned by a bank controlled by Lance and Curran's position as special counsel not allowing him to file charges on his own.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916712-1,00.html |title=I Have a Job to Do |date=April 2, 1979 |magazine=Time |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025175059/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,916712-1,00.html|archive-date=October 25, 2012 |access-date=September 1, 2021}}</ref>{{efn|Curran also investigated President Jimmy Carter's family peanut business for the Justice Department in 1979, and thus became the first lawyer to examine a sitting president under oath.}} Curran announced in October 1979 that no evidence had been found to support allegations that funds loaned from the National Bank of Georgia had been diverted to Carter's 1976 presidential campaign, ending the investigation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Carter's Business Cleared in Inquiry on Campaign Funds |last=Pound |first=Edward T. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/17/archives/carters-business-cleared-in-inquiry-on-campaign-funds-indictments.html |newspaper=The New York Times |page=A1 |date=October 17, 1979 |access-date=September 7, 2008 |archive-date=July 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722223222/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/17/archives/carters-business-cleared-in-inquiry-on-campaign-funds-indictments.html |url-status=live }}</ref> === 1980 presidential campaign === {{main|1980 United States presidential election}} [[File:ElectoralCollege1980.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|alt=Electoral Map of the 1980 election. Almost all the states are Red.|Electoral map of the 1980 election]] Carter's reelection campaign was based primarily on attacking Ronald Reagan. The campaign frequently pointed out and mocked Reagan's proclivity for gaffes, using his age and perceived lack of connection to his native California voter base against him.<ref>Zeizler, p. 112-113.</ref> Later, the campaign used similar rhetoric as [[Lyndon B. Johnson 1964 presidential campaign|Lyndon Johnson's 1964 presidential campaign]], portraying Reagan as a warmonger who could not be trusted with the nuclear arsenal.<ref>Zeizler, p. 115.</ref> Carter attempted to deny the [[Ronald Reagan 1980 presidential campaign|Reagan campaign]] $29.4 million ({{Inflation|index=US|value=29,400,000|start_year=1980|fmt=eq}}) in campaign funds, due to dependent conservative groups already raising $60 million to get him elected—an amount that exceeded the limit of campaign funds. Carter's attempt was later denied by the [[Federal Election Commission]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Md1JAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yx0NAAAAIBAJ&pg=2024%2C3677501|title=Bid by Carter to deny Reagan funds rejected|date=July 25, 1980|access-date=September 5, 2021|work=The Michigan Daily|archive-date=May 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525125539/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Md1JAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yx0NAAAAIBAJ&pg=2024%2C3677501|url-status=live}}</ref> Carter later wrote that the most intense and mounting opposition to his policies came from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, which he attributed to [[Ted Kennedy]]'s ambition to replace him as president.<ref>{{cite book |last=Carter |first=Jimmy |title=Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis |url=https://archive.org/details/ourendangeredv00cart |url-access=registration |year=2005 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |page=[https://archive.org/details/ourendangeredv00cart/page/8 8] |isbn=978-0-7432-8457-8}}</ref> After Kennedy announced his candidacy in November 1979,<ref name="bg-series-4">{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/02/18/chapter_4_sailing_into_the_wind/ |title=Chapter 4: Sailing into the Wind: Losing a quest for the top, finding a new freedom |author=Allis, Sam |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=February 18, 2009 |access-date=October 24, 2017 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174031/http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/02/18/chapter_4_sailing_into_the_wind/ |url-status=live }}</ref> questions about his activities during his presidential bid were a frequent subject of Carter's press conferences during the [[1980 Democratic Party presidential primaries|Democratic presidential primaries]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-975 |title=The President's News Conference (13 February 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818021455/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-975 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-973 |title=The President's News Conference (14 March 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815070107/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-news-conference-973 |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite winning key states such as California and New York, Kennedy surprised his supporters by running a weak campaign, and Carter won most of the primaries and secured renomination. Kennedy had mobilized the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, which gave Carter weak support in the fall election.<ref>Hayward, p. 497.</ref> Carter and Mondale were formally nominated at the [[1980 Democratic National Convention]] in New York City.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-accepting-the-presidential-nomination-the-1980-democratic-national-convention-new |title=Remarks Accepting the Presidential Nomination at the 1980 Democratic National Convention in New York (14 August 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011214303/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-accepting-the-presidential-nomination-the-1980-democratic-national-convention-new |url-status=live }}</ref> Carter delivered a speech notable for its tribute to the late [[Hubert Humphrey]], whom he initially called "Hubert [[Horatio Hornblower]]",<ref>{{cite news |title=Carter Blows the Horn Of the Wrong Horatio |work=The New York Times |date=August 15, 1980 |access-date=September 5, 2021 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E03E2DB113BE732A25756C1A96E9C94619FD6CF |archive-date=March 17, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160317003621/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E03E2DB113BE732A25756C1A96E9C94619FD6CF |url-status=live }}</ref> and Kennedy made "[[The Dream Shall Never Die]]" speech, in which he criticized Reagan and did not endorse Carter.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/08/13/kennedy-rips-reagan-electrifies-convention/e095b296-247a-425d-8ef4-05bdfed24c9a/|title=Kennedy Rips Reagan, Electrifies Convention|first1=T. R.|last1=Reid|first2=David S.|last2=Broder|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=August 13, 1980|access-date=February 18, 2023|archive-date=August 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828171503/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/08/13/kennedy-rips-reagan-electrifies-convention/e095b296-247a-425d-8ef4-05bdfed24c9a/|url-status=live}}</ref> Along with Reagan and Kennedy, Carter was opposed by centrist [[John B. Anderson]], who had previously contested the [[1980 Republican Party presidential primaries|Republican presidential primaries]], and upon losing to Reagan, reentered the race as an independent. Anderson advertised himself as a more liberal alternative to Reagan's conservatism.<ref>{{cite news|date=December 4, 2017|title=John Anderson, Independent Who Ran for President, Dies at 95|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-04/john-anderson-third-party-candidate-for-president-dies-at-95|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204215128/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-04/john-anderson-third-party-candidate-for-president-dies-at-95|archive-date=December 4, 2017|access-date=December 4, 2017|newspaper=Bloomberg.com}}</ref> As the campaign went on, Anderson's polling numbers dropped and his base was gradually pulled to Carter or Reagan.<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 30, 2017|title=Gallup Presidential Election Trial-Heat Trends, 1936–2004 Gallup|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/110548/gallup-presidential-election-trialheat-trends-19362004.aspx#4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630070844/http://www.gallup.com/poll/110548/gallup-presidential-election-trialheat-trends-19362004.aspx#4|archive-date=June 30, 2017|access-date=May 25, 2021}}</ref> Carter had to run against his own "[[stagflation]]"-ridden economy, while the hostage crisis in Iran dominated the news every week. He was attacked by conservatives for failing to "prevent Soviet gains" in less-developed countries, as pro-Soviet governments had taken power in countries including Angola, Ethiopia, Nicaragua and Afghanistan.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Galster|first=Steve|date=October 9, 2001|title=Afghanistan: Lessons from the Last War|url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB57/essay.html|url-status=live|access-date=September 1, 2021|website=The National Security Advisor|archive-date=September 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906203727/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB57/essay.html}}</ref> His brother, Billy Carter, caused controversy due to his association with [[Muammar Gaddafi]]'s regime in [[Libyan Arab Jamahiriya|Libya]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/frenzy/billy.htm|title=Billygate – 1980|access-date=September 5, 2021|newspaper=The Washington Post|archive-date=August 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810085616/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/frenzy/billy.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> He alienated liberal college students, who were expected to be his base, by reinstating registration for the military draft. His campaign manager and former appointments secretary, [[Timothy Kraft]], stepped down five weeks before the general election amid what turned out to have been an uncorroborated allegation of [[cocaine]] use.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,952778,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308003653/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,952778,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 8, 2008 |title=Nation: Kraft Drops Out |magazine=Time |date=September 29, 1980 |access-date=June 29, 2013}}</ref> On October 28, Carter and Reagan participated in the sole presidential debate of the election cycle in which they were both present, due to Carter refusing to participate in debates that included Anderson.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/presidential-debate-cleveland |title=Presidential Debate in Cleveland (28 October 1980) |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=October 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009082657/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/presidential-debate-cleveland |url-status=live }}</ref> Though initially trailing Carter by several points,<ref name="NYT Reagan McCain">{{cite news |first=John |last=Harwood |title=History Suggests McCain Faces an Uphill Battle |date=October 12, 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/us/politics/13caucus.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=October 24, 2017 |archive-date=November 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171104061104/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/us/politics/13caucus.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Reagan experienced a surge in polling after the debate.<ref name="Where the Polls Went Wrong">{{cite news |first=John F. |last=Stacks |title=Where the Polls Went Wrong |date=December 1, 1980 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924541,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009152724/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924541,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 9, 2008 |magazine=Time |access-date=October 24, 2017}}</ref> This was in part influenced by Reagan deploying the phrase "[[There you go again]]", which became the election's defining phrase.<ref>{{cite news|title=Other stars emerge other than those on the presidential ticket|work=Gannett News Service|date=November 4, 2008|url=http://www.news-press.com/article/20081104/NEWS0107/81104001/1075|access-date=September 5, 2021}}{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> It was later discovered that in the final days of the campaign, Reagan's team [[Debategate|acquired classified documents]] Carter used to prepare for the debate.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2009/10/new-book-pins-debategate-on-dem-028317?o=1|title=New book pins 'debategate' on Dem|work=Politico|access-date=September 5, 2021|archive-date=May 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517041941/http://www.politico.com/story/2009/10/new-book-pins-debategate-on-dem-028317?o=1|url-status=live}}</ref> Reagan defeated Carter in a landslide, winning 489 electoral votes. The Senate [[1980 United States Senate elections|went Republican]] for the first time since 1952.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kazin |first1=Michael |last2=Edwards |first2=Rebecca |last3=Rothman |first3=Adam |title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History. (Two volume set) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4hqpJEJp7cUC&pg=PA311 |date=November 9, 2009 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-3356-6 |page=311 |access-date=March 21, 2022 |archive-date=July 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705120117/https://books.google.com/books?id=4hqpJEJp7cUC&pg=PA311 |url-status=live }}</ref> In his concession speech, Carter admitted that he was hurt by the outcome of the election but pledged "a very fine transition period" with President-elect Reagan.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/1980-presidential-election-remarks-the-outcome-the-election |title=1980 Presidential Election Remarks on the Outcome of the Election |website=The American Presidency Project |last1=Peters |first1=Gerhard |last2=Woolley |first2=John T. |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=September 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901212451/https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/1980-presidential-election-remarks-the-outcome-the-election |url-status=live }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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