President Carter
Michelle Scheffler, Jack Seykora, Shelby Brehm Rebecca Spain
Three Mile Island
- March 28, 1979
- Three Mile Island, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
- A cooling system malfunction in a nuclear plant that caused a partial melt down of the reactor core which resulted in a release of radioactive gas.
- The World Nuclear Association concluded no deaths, injuries, or adverse health effects.
- The 3 Mile Island power plant is still making electricity today from the second undamaged and fully functioning reactor unit.
- NCR's regulations and oversight became stronger and stricter
Panama Canal Treaty
- The Panama Canal Treaty was signed on September 7, 1977 in Washington D.C. by President Carter and Omar Torrijos
- The treaty promised an end to U.S. control of the canal beginning in 2000
- Panama was able to take over operation and defense of the canal
- Neutrality component of the treaty gave the U.S. permanent authority to defend the canal if it were placed under threat as a neutral water passage
- The canal provided a short cut for people to reach California, avoiding having to travel around South America
Boycott of Olympics in Moscow (1980)
- January 20,1980
- The 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan spurred Jimmy Carter to issue an ultimatum that the U.S. would boycott the Moscow Olympics if Soviet troops did not withdraw from Afghanistan within one month.
- The boycott was popular; 55% of the American people supported it
- The Olympic athletes wanted to compete. Al Oerter, a four-time gold medalist in the discus who was trying to make a comeback at age 42, "The only way to compete against Moscow is to stuff it down their throats in their own backyard.
- The Olympic games in 1980 not only survived but thrived in the years after more than 50 nations, at Carter's urging, turned their backs on the 1980 Olympics
- In 1984, Los Angeles hosted the summer Olympic games, and the Soviet Union and its satellite Warsaw Pact countries boycotted in retaliation for 1980.
Egypt & Israel peace treaty, Sadat and Begin win the nobel prize, 1979
- contains 9 articles and military annex and an annex laying down how the two parties will deal with each other
- limited both parties to abstain from carrying out any hostile activities and to demilitarize Sinai
- President of Egypt Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin received Nobel Peace Prize in 1978 due to their historic agreement
- The treaty caused Israel to withdraw its forces from Egypt, gave up settlements, military bases, and Sinai oil fields
- Created a permanent border between the two countries and initiated the process of normalization
- Egypt received economic and military aid from the United States according to their commitment
- period of peace because of the treat was called "cold peace" by some because it didn't last long
Iran Hostage Crisis 1979
- November 1979-January 1981
- Ever since oil was discovered in Iran, they had gained great interest
- CIA, in an operation to oust prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh, put the Shah in control
- Shah came into the U.S. when deathly ill of cancer
- Students overran embassy and would not release 60 hostages until Shah was returned for trial along with the billions of dollars they claimed he stole from people
- 8 killed but rest finally released right after Reagan was inaugurated
Quiz
1. In your opinion, what is the most serious event, why?
2. How do you think these 5 events shaped President Carter's legacy?
3. Why was the Olympics boycotted?
A. no American athletes B. President Carter hated sports C. the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan