James Earl "Jimmy" Carter
January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981
Election of 1976
Humanitarian Efforts
- Carter was one of the only presidents to use human rights to shape US foreign policy.
- He brought about peace between Israel and Egypt during the Camp David Accords in 1978
- Created the Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT II) Treaty, easing tensions between the Soviet Union and US
- Signed over the Panama Canal to Panama.
- Carter is also known for his post-presidency work. He was an active member of Habitat for Humanity.
- He has written twenty books addressing many issues involving foreign policy, and other world issues.
- He also created The Carter Center, an organization at Emory University that studies political situations and worldwide issues.
- President Jimmy Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work in 2002, and is still alive and well today.
Economic and Energy Issues
- Carter was elected during a time where the economy slowly emerging from a recession.
- After four years of the Carter presidency, both inflation and unemployment were worse than at the time of his inauguration.
- Although Carter had pledged to eliminate federal deficits, the deficit for the fiscal year 1979 totaled $27.7 billion, and that for 1980 was nearly $59 billion, and left approximately 8 million people out of work.
- Carter faced a drastic erosion of the value of the US dollar, along with a trade deficit, much of it resulting from US dependence on foreign oil.
- He thought that Americans were wasting too much energy involving domestic supplies of oil and natural gas, and that we were running out.
- In mid-1979, in the middle of widespread shortages of gasoline, Carter proposed a long-term program to solve the energy problem.
- He proposed a limit on imported oil, gradual price decontrol on domestically produced oil, a stringent program of conservation, and development of alternative sources of energy such as solar, nuclear, and geothermal power, oil and gas from shale and coal, and synthetic fuels.
Iranian Hostage Crisis
On November 4, 1979, an angry mob of young Islamic revolutionaries overran the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran taking more than 60 Americans hostage.
"From the moment the hostages were seized until they were released minutes after Ronald Reagan took the oath of office as president 444 days later,"
"The crisis absorbed more concentrated effort by American officials and had more extensive coverage on television and in the press than any other event since World War II."
- Historian, Gaddis Smith
- With the Iranians showing no signs of releasing the hostages, Carter decided to take a risk.
- On April 11, 1980 a high-risk rescue operation occurred, called "Desert One”. This mission had been in the works for months.
- Carter was devastated when he the mission failed due to three malfunctioning helicopters, and when another helicopter crashed into a C-130 transport plane while taking off.
- Eight servicemen were killed and three more were injured. Thrilled Iranians broadcasted footage of the smoking remains of the helicopter.
Broadcasted by an ABC television crew. Carter's all-night effort to bring the remaining 52 hostages home before the end of his term, fell short.
- The Iranians released the hostage’s minutes after Reagan was inaugurated.
- On January 21, 1981, now former President Jimmy Carter went to Germany to meet the freed hostages. It was an extremely difficult, emotional, and groundbreaking moment. The Iranian Hostage Crisis took a toll on Carter and our nation.
Hamilton Jordan stated that Carter "looked as old and tired as I had ever seen him."