The 1970s

Gerald Ford, #38 (1913-2006)

Domestic Actions

pardon of Nixon (Sept. 8, 1974)

Whip Inflation Now (WIN)

stagflation

39 vetoes

1974 mid-terms: huge Democratic gains

resurgence in Congressional power

Foreign Policy

restructuring of the intelligence community (George

Bush)

fall of Saigon (1975)

Khmer Rouge (Cambodia) Mayaguez incident

OPEC oil embargo

​

​

Election of 1976

Democrats: Jimmy Carter

Republicans: Gerald Ford (vs. Ronald Reagan)

Campaign: first debates since 1960 (held ever since)

little difference on issues

Results:

Carter 40,828,929 297

Ford 39,148,940 240

​

Carter won the New Deal

coalition: southern whites,

blacks, urban ethnics

​

Jimmy Carter, #39 (b. 1924)

campaigned as an outsider; remained an

outsider

Christian faith

administration lacked clear direction

​

amnesty for Vietnam draft resisters

departments of Energy, Education

$1.6 billion Superfund

Chrysler bailout

deregulation: airlines, trucking, railroads, banking

​

​

News during the Carter years:

Bakke v. Regents of the University of California

Pope John Paul II

Three Mile Island

​

Economic Trouble (a bad situation made worse)

Stagflation --> fought unemployment first --> inflation rose

to 10%

Change of plan: fight inflation

delayed tax reduction proposals

vetoed spending programs that he had initiated himself

Results: deep recession

unemployment: 7.5%

mortgage rates: 15%

inflation: 11-13%

Carter and Energy Policy

“moral equivalent of war”

voluntary conservation

energy bill called for conservation, gutted version passed

another Middle Eastern embargo (1979)

​

Foreign Policy

no clear focus (hard-liners vs. diplomats)

Panama Canal Treaty

Camp David Accords (1979)

Israel & Egypt

Human Rights: strained some alliances

​

​

Soviet Union

SALT II (never ratified, see below)

invasion of Afghanistan

US response: grain embargo, Olympic boycott

Iran

US-supported Shah overthrown

rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism

Ayatollah Khomeini: resented U.S. (1950s CIA activity)

Shah needed cancer treatment

mob took 53 hostages (Nov. 4, 1979)

Carter actively worked for release

rescue attempt failed

444 days

​

Election of 1980

Democrats: Carter vs. Ted Kennedy

Republicans: Ronald Reagan

misery index (unemployment + inflation)

supply-side economics

opposition to abortion, ERA

​

Reagan 42,797,153 489

Carter 34,434,100 49