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Star football player at University of Michigan Fought in the Navy in WWII Won House seat and served for 25 years Minority leader Seen as hard-working, full of integrity, and dependable

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VP Gerald Ford assumed office after Nixon resigned 1 st thing Ford did pardon Nixon of wrong-doings Goal: to end long, national nightmare

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Politically nation was angry and distrustful of the president Economically nation still dealing with stagflation

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Helsinki Accords Ford and Brezhnev sign document agreeing to basic human rights Criticized for not pushing political rights as well S.A.L.T. II Limited production of new armaments

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Vietnam falls US declines to help Boat People (1,500,000 people) Mayaguez Incident US marines free Cambodian held merchant ship crew US gets some hope and optimism from the success

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Viking I and II probes land on Mars Space excitement rekindled

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Pledges to make govt more transparent Economy weak Ratings plummet from Nixons pardon

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Economy tanking as inflation soars and unemployment rises Fords plan not working Idea was to make inflation into public enemy number one to spark a public campaign to defeat it Came with bumper stickers and lapel pins

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Not seen as in control Challenged from inside his own party Ronald Reagan US people dont trust or believe the govt Jimmy Carter (D) takes the advantage

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Father was a farmer and businessman and mother a registered nurse Came from a small farming community Graduated from Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia Institute of Technology Went to the United States Naval Academy in 1946 1971 became Georgias governor When he came to the presidency he was a relative rookie (1x governor, 2x Georgia state house representative

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Wins close election AID: backlash against Watergate and mistrust Citizens President Walks inaugural route Dresses in common clothing Carries his own things

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Pardons draft dodgers from Vietnam (bad idea) Angers the silent majority Give Chrysler federal bailout to survive oil crisis Angers fiscal conservatives

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Price of oil per barrel goes from about $40 in 1976 to about $80 in 1980 Shortages in fuel and heating oil cause factory and business closings Americans freeze in homes during brutal winters of 1976 - 1978

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Carter raises taxes Price controls Inflation on the rise Raises interest rates US businesses hurt = more unemployment

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Announces US policy will be guided by human rights interests Direct challenge to communism Undercuts spirit of dtente with the Soviets

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Carters response Withdrew from S.A.L.T. II Imposed sanctions on trade Boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympics Communism begins new era of expansion

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Nicaragua Carter cuts US support to ruling Somoza family Sandinista rebels overthrow the dictator install far leftist govt Socialism growing in Central America, Asia, Africa, and South America

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Castro and Carter negotiate deal to let Cuban political exiles leave Cuba for the US (Mariel Boatlift) Castro empties his prisons into the US Movie Scarface

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Panama broke away from Columbia in US aided revolt (1903) US given canal zone for its role Carter negotiated to return canal to Panamanian control in 1999

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Egypt had been leading attacks against US supported Israel since 1948 Carter brokers deal, Israel gives Sinai Peninsula for Egyptian Peace

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US ally, Shah of Iran, was hated by the lower classes In US for cancer treatment Religious exile, Ayatollah Khomeini, returned and led a fundamentalist coup

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Khomeini demands the US return Shah for trial (death sentence for guilt) US refuses US embassy stored by Iranians Embassy workers held for 444 days

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Carter sends Special Forces to save captives (Operation Eagle Claw) Helicopters crash in sand storm Ayatollah seen as victorious, US weak

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Effort to rally sour American mood Claims we are all glum and down in the dumps but we could be great again Seen as desperate, negative, and defeatist Rallies Republicans

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1970s me generation Concerned with personal happiness not societal success Perceived as fundamentally flawed The Moral Majority Televangelists decry excesses of the 60s and 70s Want to return to traditional values Reagan and the Conservatives on the rise