{"id":418,"date":"2015-08-21T18:06:59","date_gmt":"2015-08-21T18:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/ushistory2os2xmaster\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=418"},"modified":"2022-09-29T01:04:16","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T01:04:16","slug":"jimmy-carter-in-the-aftermath-of-the-storm","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-ushistory2\/chapter\/jimmy-carter-in-the-aftermath-of-the-storm\/","title":{"raw":"Jimmy Carter in the Aftermath of the Storm","rendered":"Jimmy Carter in the Aftermath of the Storm"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-highlight\">\r\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Describe Jimmy Carter\u2019s domestic and foreign policy achievements<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Discuss how the Iranian hostage crisis affected the Carter presidency<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp340787824\">At his inauguration in January 1977, President Jimmy Carter began his speech by thanking outgoing president Gerald Ford for all he had done to \u201cheal\u201d the scars left by Watergate. American gratitude had not been great enough to return Ford to the Oval Office, but enthusiasm for the new president was not much greater in the new atmosphere of disillusionment with political leaders. Indeed, Carter won his party\u2019s nomination and the presidency largely\u00a0by pledging a more open and honest government\u2014a claim strengthened by his status as a Washington\u00a0outsider who could not be blamed for current policies. Ultimately, Carter\u2019s presidency proved a\u00a0disappointing\u00a0one that was marked by economic stagnation at home and humiliation overseas.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<section id=\"fs-idp174711872\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<h2 data-type=\"title\">The Election of 1976<\/h2>\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"537\"]<img class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/884\/2015\/08\/23203418\/CNX_History_30_05_1976Elect.jpg\" alt=\"A photograph shows Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter engaged in debate from two lecterns. Ford is speaking and gesturing toward Carter with one hand.\" width=\"537\" height=\"344\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/> <strong>Figure 1<\/strong>. President Gerald Ford (right) and Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter dueled in Philadelphia in 1976, during the first televised presidential debate since that between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy in 1960.[\/caption]\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp219418528\">President Ford won the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1976, narrowly defeating the conservative\u00a0former California governor Ronald Reagan, but he lost the election to his Democratic opponent Jimmy Carter. Carter ran on an \u201canti-Washington\u201d ticket, making a virtue of his lack of experience in what was increasingly seen as the corrupt politics of the nation\u2019s capital. Accepting his party\u2019s nomination, the former governor of Georgia pledged to combat racism and sexism as well as overhaul the tax structure. He openly proclaimed his faith as a born-again Christian and promised to change the welfare system and provide comprehensive healthcare coverage for neglected citizens who deserved compassion. Most importantly, Jimmy Carter promised that he would \u201cnever lie.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp54613760\">Ford\u2019s pardon of Richard Nixon had alienated many Republicans. The stagnant economy\u00a0also cost him votes, as did his puzzling insistence that Eastern Europe was not under Soviet domination during a televized debate.\u00a0Jimmy Carter, an engineer and former naval officer who portrayed himself as a humble peanut farmer, prevailed, carrying\u00a0nearly every\u00a0southern state, as well as traditionally Democratic areas in the Northeast and Midwest. Ford did well in the West, but Carter received 50 percent of the popular vote to Ford\u2019s 48 percent, and 297 electoral votes to Ford\u2019s 240.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\r\n<h3>Link to learning<\/h3>\r\nIn the mid-1970s, the United States celebrated the two-hundredth anniversary of its independence from Great Britain. Peruse the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov\/museum\/ArtifactCollectionSamples\/Bicentennial.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">collection of patriotic bicentennial memorabilia<\/a> at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-idp127451232\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<h2 data-type=\"title\">On the Inside<\/h2>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp263916368\">Making a virtue of his lack of\u00a0familiarity with\u00a0Washington, Jimmy Carter took office with less practical experience in executive leadership and the workings of the national government than any president since Calvin Coolidge. His first executive act was to fulfill a campaign pledge to grant unconditional amnesty to young men who had evaded the draft during the Vietnam War.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp57004880\">In trying to manage the relatively high unemployment rate of 7.5 percent and inflation that had risen into the double digits by 1978, Carter was only marginally effective. His tax reform measure of 1977 was weak and failed to close the grossest of loopholes. His deregulation of major industries, such as aviation and trucking, was intended to force large companies to become more competitive. Consumers benefited in some ways: For example, airlines offered cheaper fares to beat their competitors.\u00a0Carter also expanded various social programs, improved housing for the elderly, and took steps to improve workplace safety.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp160937984\">Because the high cost of fuel continued to hinder economic expansion, the creation of an energy program became a central focus of his administration. Carter stressed energy conservation, encouraging people to insulate their houses and rewarding them with tax credits if they did so, and pushing for the use of coal, nuclear power, and alternative energy sources such as solar power to replace oil and natural gas.\u00a0To this end, Carter created the Department of Energy.\u00a0He apply these changes, he tried to set a good example, putting solar panels on the White House and wearing sweaters while keeping the White House thermostat low.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-idp156075328\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<h2 data-type=\"title\">Carter and a New Direction in Foreign Affairs<\/h2>\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"390\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/884\/2015\/08\/23203420\/CNX_History_30_05_SadatBegin.jpg\" alt=\"A photograph shows Jimmy Carter standing by as Anwar Sadat shakes hands with Menachem Begin.\" width=\"390\" height=\"216\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/> <strong>Figure 2<\/strong>. President Jimmy Carter meets with Egypt\u2019s Anwar Sadat (left) and Israel\u2019s Menachem Begin (right) at Camp David in 1978. Sadat was assassinated in 1981, partly because of his willingness to make peace with Israel.[\/caption]\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp8790176\">Informed in part by his evangelical Christian faith, Carter believed that U.S. foreign policy should be founded upon deeply held moral principles and national values.\u00a0He instead proposed \u201ca policy based on constant decency in its values and on optimism in our historical vision.\u201d\u00a0His dedication to peace and human rights significantly changed the way that the United States conducted its foreign affairs and marked a departure from the realism and calculations that guided them under Nixon and Kissinger.\u00a0Carter\u2019s human rights policy achieved real victories: the United States either reduced or eliminated aid to American-supported right-wing dictators guilty of extreme human rights abuses in places like South Korea, Argentina, and the Philippines. In September 1977, Carter negotiated the return to Panama of the Panama Canal, which cost him enormous political capital in the United States.\u00a0Most significantly of all, he bought\u00a0Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat to the United States to discuss peace between their countries. Their meetings at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, led to the signing of the <strong>Camp David Accords<\/strong> in September 1978.\u00a0Subsequently, the two rival Middle Eastern nations\u00a0(Israel and Egypt) signed\u00a0a historic and enduring\u00a0peace treaty in 1979.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp324677072\">Despite achieving many successes in the area of foreign policy, Carter made a more controversial decision in response to the Soviet Union\u2019s 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. In January 1980, he declared that if the USSR did not withdraw its forces, the United States would boycott the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. The Soviets did not retreat, and the United States did not send a team to Moscow. Only about half of the American public supported this decision, and despite Carter\u2019s call for other countries to join the boycott, very few did so.<\/p>\r\nCarter\u2019s efforts to ease the Cold War by achieving a new nuclear arms control agreement disintegrated under domestic opposition from conservative Cold War hawks such as Ronald Reagan, who accused Carter of weakness. A month after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, a beleaguered Carter committed the United States to defending its \u201cinterests\u201d in the Middle East against Soviet incursions, declaring that \u201can assault [would] be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.\u201d The <strong>Carter Doctrine<\/strong> not only signaled Carter\u2019s ambivalent commitment to de-escalation and human rights, it testified to his increasingly desperate presidency.[footnote]Jimmy Carter, \u201cThe State of the Union Address,\u201d January 23, 1980, American Presidency Project, http:\/\/www.presidency.ucsb.edu\/ws\/?pid=33079.[\/footnote]\u00a0To demonstrate American resolve, the president also reactivated the selective service, requiring young men to register for the draft for the first time since the Vietnam War.\r\n\r\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-idp285931408\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<h2 data-type=\"title\">Hostages to History<\/h2>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp92911008\">Carter\u2019s biggest foreign policy problem was the Iranian hostage crisis, whose roots lay in the 1950s. In 1953, the United States had assisted Great Britain in the overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, a rival of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran. Mossadegh had sought greater Iranian control over the nation\u2019s oil wealth, which was claimed by British companies.\u00a0The U.S. also feared that Mossadegh lacked the resolve to keep the communist threat out of Iran in the midst of Cold War tensions.\u00a0Following the coup, the shah assumed complete control of Iran\u2019s government. He then disposed of political enemies and eliminated dissent through the use of SAVAK, a secret police force trained by the United States. The United States also supplied the shah\u2019s government with billions of dollars in aid. As Iran\u2019s oil revenue grew, especially after the 1973 oil embargo against the United States, the pace of its economic development and the size of its educated middle class also increased, and the country became less dependent on U.S. aid. Its population increasingly\u00a0faulted\u00a0the United States for the death of Iranian democracy, a rise in decadent Western social values, and its consistent support of Israel.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp25447360\">Despite the shah\u2019s unpopularity among his own people, the result of both his brutal policies and his desire to Westernize Iran, the United States supported his regime. In February 1979, the shah was overthrown when revolution broke out, and a few months later, he departed for the United States for medical treatment. The long history of U.S. support for him and its offer of refuge greatly angered Iranian revolutionaries.\u00a0When the President and First Lady Rosalynn Carter visited Tehran, Iran, in January 1978, the president praised the nation\u2019s dictatorial ruler, Shah Reza Pahlavi, and remarked on the \u201crespect and the admiration and love\u201d Iranians had for their leader.<\/p>\r\nOn November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students and activists, including Islamic fundamentalists who wished to end the Westernization and secularization of Iran, invaded the American embassy in Tehran and seized sixty-six embassy employees. The women and African Americans were soon released, leaving fifty-three men as hostages. Negotiations failed to free them, and in April 1980, a rescue attempt fell through when an\u00a0aircraft sent to transport them crashed and caused the deaths of eight American servicemen.\r\n<figure id=\"CNX_History_30_05_Hostages\">\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"520\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/884\/2015\/08\/23203422\/CNX_History_30_05_Hostages.jpg\" alt=\"A photograph shows former hostages walking down a flight of steps to exit an official plane; a crowd of people waits for them on the ground.\" width=\"520\" height=\"330\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/> <strong>Figure 3<\/strong>. The fifty-two American hostages return from Iran in January 1981. They had been held for 444 days.[\/caption]<\/figure>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp164963632\">Americans not only experienced another oil crisis as Iran\u2019s oil fields shut down, but they also watched America\u2019s news programs for 444 days, reminding them of the hostages and America\u2019s new global impotence. Carter couldn\u2019t win their release. Already beset with a punishing economy, Carter\u2019s popularity plummeted.\u00a0The fifty-two men still held in Iran were finally freed on January 20, 1981, the day Ronald Reagan took office as president.<\/p>\r\nThis contributed to a growing sense of malaise, a feeling that the United States\u2019 best days were behind it and the country had entered a period of decline.\u00a0In a televised address, Carter noted that \"our people are losing that faith, not only in government itself but in the ability as citizens to serve as the ultimate rulers and shapers of our democracy,\" and the nation was suffering \"a crisis of confidence.\"[footnote]Jimmy Carter, \"Address to the Nation on Energy and National Goals: 'The Malaise Speech,'\" July 15, 1979. The American Presidency Project (http:\/\/www.presidency.ucsb.edu\/ws\/?pid=32596).[\/footnote]\u00a0His critics gleefully dubbed the address \"Malaise Speech,\" for its depressing quality, and the solutions he proposed\u2014importing less oil and removing price controls on energy sources--did little to resolve the issue.\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp342354832\">Many of the problems facing the United States during the 1970s predated Carter's presidency and endured after he left office when he was defeated for re-election.\u00a0Some blamed these problems on dishonest politicians; others blamed the problems on the Cold War obsession with fighting Communism, even in small nations like Vietnam that had little influence on American national interests. Still others faulted American materialism. In 1980, a small but growing group called the <strong>Moral Majority<\/strong>\u00a0found Carter complicit in weakening\u00a0America's global stature and the corrosion of its moral values.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/810fd427-c426-4772-8b25-05413bfdee85\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox examples\">\r\n<h3>Watch It<\/h3>\r\nThis CrashCourse video explains some of the economic malaise that beset the United States in the 1970s, including the oil crisis, stagflation, and more. Watch to learn more about these issues and major events during Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter's presidencies.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/pyN5LPHEQ_0?t=1s\r\n\r\nYou can view the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/course-building.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/US+history+II\/FordCarterandtheEconomicMalaiseCrashCourseUSH.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">transcript for \u201cFord, Carter, and the Economic Malaise: Crash Course US History #42\u201d here (opens in new window)<\/a>.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/6d57b2ca-67e8-4700-bae3-41b1a7891a67\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\r\n<h3>Review Question<\/h3>\r\n<section>What were considered President Carter\u2019s successes in the area of foreign policy?\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"303483\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"303483\"]Carter succeeded in improving U.S. relations with China and engaged in talks with the Soviet Union regarding limiting nuclear weapons. He called attention to human rights abuses on the parts of foreign governments. Finally, he helped Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat lay the groundwork for a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.[\/hidden-answer]<\/section><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Glossary<\/h3>\r\n<strong>Camp David Accords:<\/strong>\u00a0an agreement between Israel's Menachem Begin and Egypt's Anwar Sadat that secured peace between these two hostile powers\r\n\r\n<strong>Carter Doctrine:\u00a0<\/strong>Jimmy Carter\u2019s declaration that efforts to interfere with American interests in the Middle East would be considered a act of aggression and be met with force if necessary\r\n\r\n<strong>Moral Majority<\/strong>: a political coalition of Christians seeking to support conservative programs and candidates\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-highlight\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Describe Jimmy Carter\u2019s domestic and foreign policy achievements<\/li>\n<li>Discuss how the Iranian hostage crisis affected the Carter presidency<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"fs-idp340787824\">At his inauguration in January 1977, President Jimmy Carter began his speech by thanking outgoing president Gerald Ford for all he had done to \u201cheal\u201d the scars left by Watergate. American gratitude had not been great enough to return Ford to the Oval Office, but enthusiasm for the new president was not much greater in the new atmosphere of disillusionment with political leaders. Indeed, Carter won his party\u2019s nomination and the presidency largely\u00a0by pledging a more open and honest government\u2014a claim strengthened by his status as a Washington\u00a0outsider who could not be blamed for current policies. Ultimately, Carter\u2019s presidency proved a\u00a0disappointing\u00a0one that was marked by economic stagnation at home and humiliation overseas.<\/p>\n<section id=\"fs-idp174711872\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<h2 data-type=\"title\">The Election of 1976<\/h2>\n<div style=\"width: 547px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/884\/2015\/08\/23203418\/CNX_History_30_05_1976Elect.jpg\" alt=\"A photograph shows Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter engaged in debate from two lecterns. Ford is speaking and gesturing toward Carter with one hand.\" width=\"537\" height=\"344\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 1<\/strong>. President Gerald Ford (right) and Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter dueled in Philadelphia in 1976, during the first televised presidential debate since that between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy in 1960.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"fs-idp219418528\">President Ford won the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1976, narrowly defeating the conservative\u00a0former California governor Ronald Reagan, but he lost the election to his Democratic opponent Jimmy Carter. Carter ran on an \u201canti-Washington\u201d ticket, making a virtue of his lack of experience in what was increasingly seen as the corrupt politics of the nation\u2019s capital. Accepting his party\u2019s nomination, the former governor of Georgia pledged to combat racism and sexism as well as overhaul the tax structure. He openly proclaimed his faith as a born-again Christian and promised to change the welfare system and provide comprehensive healthcare coverage for neglected citizens who deserved compassion. Most importantly, Jimmy Carter promised that he would \u201cnever lie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idp54613760\">Ford\u2019s pardon of Richard Nixon had alienated many Republicans. The stagnant economy\u00a0also cost him votes, as did his puzzling insistence that Eastern Europe was not under Soviet domination during a televized debate.\u00a0Jimmy Carter, an engineer and former naval officer who portrayed himself as a humble peanut farmer, prevailed, carrying\u00a0nearly every\u00a0southern state, as well as traditionally Democratic areas in the Northeast and Midwest. Ford did well in the West, but Carter received 50 percent of the popular vote to Ford\u2019s 48 percent, and 297 electoral votes to Ford\u2019s 240.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Link to learning<\/h3>\n<p>In the mid-1970s, the United States celebrated the two-hundredth anniversary of its independence from Great Britain. Peruse the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov\/museum\/ArtifactCollectionSamples\/Bicentennial.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">collection of patriotic bicentennial memorabilia<\/a> at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-idp127451232\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<h2 data-type=\"title\">On the Inside<\/h2>\n<p id=\"fs-idp263916368\">Making a virtue of his lack of\u00a0familiarity with\u00a0Washington, Jimmy Carter took office with less practical experience in executive leadership and the workings of the national government than any president since Calvin Coolidge. His first executive act was to fulfill a campaign pledge to grant unconditional amnesty to young men who had evaded the draft during the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idp57004880\">In trying to manage the relatively high unemployment rate of 7.5 percent and inflation that had risen into the double digits by 1978, Carter was only marginally effective. His tax reform measure of 1977 was weak and failed to close the grossest of loopholes. His deregulation of major industries, such as aviation and trucking, was intended to force large companies to become more competitive. Consumers benefited in some ways: For example, airlines offered cheaper fares to beat their competitors.\u00a0Carter also expanded various social programs, improved housing for the elderly, and took steps to improve workplace safety.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idp160937984\">Because the high cost of fuel continued to hinder economic expansion, the creation of an energy program became a central focus of his administration. Carter stressed energy conservation, encouraging people to insulate their houses and rewarding them with tax credits if they did so, and pushing for the use of coal, nuclear power, and alternative energy sources such as solar power to replace oil and natural gas.\u00a0To this end, Carter created the Department of Energy.\u00a0He apply these changes, he tried to set a good example, putting solar panels on the White House and wearing sweaters while keeping the White House thermostat low.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-idp156075328\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<h2 data-type=\"title\">Carter and a New Direction in Foreign Affairs<\/h2>\n<div style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/884\/2015\/08\/23203420\/CNX_History_30_05_SadatBegin.jpg\" alt=\"A photograph shows Jimmy Carter standing by as Anwar Sadat shakes hands with Menachem Begin.\" width=\"390\" height=\"216\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 2<\/strong>. President Jimmy Carter meets with Egypt\u2019s Anwar Sadat (left) and Israel\u2019s Menachem Begin (right) at Camp David in 1978. Sadat was assassinated in 1981, partly because of his willingness to make peace with Israel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"fs-idp8790176\">Informed in part by his evangelical Christian faith, Carter believed that U.S. foreign policy should be founded upon deeply held moral principles and national values.\u00a0He instead proposed \u201ca policy based on constant decency in its values and on optimism in our historical vision.\u201d\u00a0His dedication to peace and human rights significantly changed the way that the United States conducted its foreign affairs and marked a departure from the realism and calculations that guided them under Nixon and Kissinger.\u00a0Carter\u2019s human rights policy achieved real victories: the United States either reduced or eliminated aid to American-supported right-wing dictators guilty of extreme human rights abuses in places like South Korea, Argentina, and the Philippines. In September 1977, Carter negotiated the return to Panama of the Panama Canal, which cost him enormous political capital in the United States.\u00a0Most significantly of all, he bought\u00a0Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat to the United States to discuss peace between their countries. Their meetings at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland, led to the signing of the <strong>Camp David Accords<\/strong> in September 1978.\u00a0Subsequently, the two rival Middle Eastern nations\u00a0(Israel and Egypt) signed\u00a0a historic and enduring\u00a0peace treaty in 1979.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idp324677072\">Despite achieving many successes in the area of foreign policy, Carter made a more controversial decision in response to the Soviet Union\u2019s 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. In January 1980, he declared that if the USSR did not withdraw its forces, the United States would boycott the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow. The Soviets did not retreat, and the United States did not send a team to Moscow. Only about half of the American public supported this decision, and despite Carter\u2019s call for other countries to join the boycott, very few did so.<\/p>\n<p>Carter\u2019s efforts to ease the Cold War by achieving a new nuclear arms control agreement disintegrated under domestic opposition from conservative Cold War hawks such as Ronald Reagan, who accused Carter of weakness. A month after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, a beleaguered Carter committed the United States to defending its \u201cinterests\u201d in the Middle East against Soviet incursions, declaring that \u201can assault [would] be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.\u201d The <strong>Carter Doctrine<\/strong> not only signaled Carter\u2019s ambivalent commitment to de-escalation and human rights, it testified to his increasingly desperate presidency.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Jimmy Carter, \u201cThe State of the Union Address,\u201d January 23, 1980, American Presidency Project, http:\/\/www.presidency.ucsb.edu\/ws\/?pid=33079.\" id=\"return-footnote-418-1\" href=\"#footnote-418-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0To demonstrate American resolve, the president also reactivated the selective service, requiring young men to register for the draft for the first time since the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-idp285931408\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<h2 data-type=\"title\">Hostages to History<\/h2>\n<p id=\"fs-idp92911008\">Carter\u2019s biggest foreign policy problem was the Iranian hostage crisis, whose roots lay in the 1950s. In 1953, the United States had assisted Great Britain in the overthrow of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, a rival of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran. Mossadegh had sought greater Iranian control over the nation\u2019s oil wealth, which was claimed by British companies.\u00a0The U.S. also feared that Mossadegh lacked the resolve to keep the communist threat out of Iran in the midst of Cold War tensions.\u00a0Following the coup, the shah assumed complete control of Iran\u2019s government. He then disposed of political enemies and eliminated dissent through the use of SAVAK, a secret police force trained by the United States. The United States also supplied the shah\u2019s government with billions of dollars in aid. As Iran\u2019s oil revenue grew, especially after the 1973 oil embargo against the United States, the pace of its economic development and the size of its educated middle class also increased, and the country became less dependent on U.S. aid. Its population increasingly\u00a0faulted\u00a0the United States for the death of Iranian democracy, a rise in decadent Western social values, and its consistent support of Israel.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idp25447360\">Despite the shah\u2019s unpopularity among his own people, the result of both his brutal policies and his desire to Westernize Iran, the United States supported his regime. In February 1979, the shah was overthrown when revolution broke out, and a few months later, he departed for the United States for medical treatment. The long history of U.S. support for him and its offer of refuge greatly angered Iranian revolutionaries.\u00a0When the President and First Lady Rosalynn Carter visited Tehran, Iran, in January 1978, the president praised the nation\u2019s dictatorial ruler, Shah Reza Pahlavi, and remarked on the \u201crespect and the admiration and love\u201d Iranians had for their leader.<\/p>\n<p>On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students and activists, including Islamic fundamentalists who wished to end the Westernization and secularization of Iran, invaded the American embassy in Tehran and seized sixty-six embassy employees. The women and African Americans were soon released, leaving fifty-three men as hostages. Negotiations failed to free them, and in April 1980, a rescue attempt fell through when an\u00a0aircraft sent to transport them crashed and caused the deaths of eight American servicemen.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"CNX_History_30_05_Hostages\">\n<div style=\"width: 530px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images-archive-read-only\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/884\/2015\/08\/23203422\/CNX_History_30_05_Hostages.jpg\" alt=\"A photograph shows former hostages walking down a flight of steps to exit an official plane; a crowd of people waits for them on the ground.\" width=\"520\" height=\"330\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><strong>Figure 3<\/strong>. The fifty-two American hostages return from Iran in January 1981. They had been held for 444 days.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p id=\"fs-idp164963632\">Americans not only experienced another oil crisis as Iran\u2019s oil fields shut down, but they also watched America\u2019s news programs for 444 days, reminding them of the hostages and America\u2019s new global impotence. Carter couldn\u2019t win their release. Already beset with a punishing economy, Carter\u2019s popularity plummeted.\u00a0The fifty-two men still held in Iran were finally freed on January 20, 1981, the day Ronald Reagan took office as president.<\/p>\n<p>This contributed to a growing sense of malaise, a feeling that the United States\u2019 best days were behind it and the country had entered a period of decline.\u00a0In a televised address, Carter noted that &#8220;our people are losing that faith, not only in government itself but in the ability as citizens to serve as the ultimate rulers and shapers of our democracy,&#8221; and the nation was suffering &#8220;a crisis of confidence.&#8221;<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Jimmy Carter, &quot;Address to the Nation on Energy and National Goals: 'The Malaise Speech,'&quot; July 15, 1979. The American Presidency Project (http:\/\/www.presidency.ucsb.edu\/ws\/?pid=32596).\" id=\"return-footnote-418-2\" href=\"#footnote-418-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0His critics gleefully dubbed the address &#8220;Malaise Speech,&#8221; for its depressing quality, and the solutions he proposed\u2014importing less oil and removing price controls on energy sources&#8211;did little to resolve the issue.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idp342354832\">Many of the problems facing the United States during the 1970s predated Carter&#8217;s presidency and endured after he left office when he was defeated for re-election.\u00a0Some blamed these problems on dishonest politicians; others blamed the problems on the Cold War obsession with fighting Communism, even in small nations like Vietnam that had little influence on American national interests. Still others faulted American materialism. In 1980, a small but growing group called the <strong>Moral Majority<\/strong>\u00a0found Carter complicit in weakening\u00a0America&#8217;s global stature and the corrosion of its moral values.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_810fd427-c426-4772-8b25-05413bfdee85\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/810fd427-c426-4772-8b25-05413bfdee85?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_810fd427-c426-4772-8b25-05413bfdee85\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox examples\">\n<h3>Watch It<\/h3>\n<p>This CrashCourse video explains some of the economic malaise that beset the United States in the 1970s, including the oil crisis, stagflation, and more. Watch to learn more about these issues and major events during Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter&#8217;s presidencies.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-1\" title=\"Ford, Carter, and the Economic Malaise: Crash Course US History #42\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pyN5LPHEQ_0?start=1&#38;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>You can view the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/course-building.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/US+history+II\/FordCarterandtheEconomicMalaiseCrashCourseUSH.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">transcript for \u201cFord, Carter, and the Economic Malaise: Crash Course US History #42\u201d here (opens in new window)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>Try It<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_6d57b2ca-67e8-4700-bae3-41b1a7891a67\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/6d57b2ca-67e8-4700-bae3-41b1a7891a67?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_6d57b2ca-67e8-4700-bae3-41b1a7891a67\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\n<h3>Review Question<\/h3>\n<section>What were considered President Carter\u2019s successes in the area of foreign policy?<\/p>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q303483\">Show Answer<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q303483\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">Carter succeeded in improving U.S. relations with China and engaged in talks with the Soviet Union regarding limiting nuclear weapons. He called attention to human rights abuses on the parts of foreign governments. Finally, he helped Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat lay the groundwork for a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Glossary<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Camp David Accords:<\/strong>\u00a0an agreement between Israel&#8217;s Menachem Begin and Egypt&#8217;s Anwar Sadat that secured peace between these two hostile powers<\/p>\n<p><strong>Carter Doctrine:\u00a0<\/strong>Jimmy Carter\u2019s declaration that efforts to interfere with American interests in the Middle East would be considered a act of aggression and be met with force if necessary<\/p>\n<p><strong>Moral Majority<\/strong>: a political coalition of Christians seeking to support conservative programs and candidates<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-418\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Modification, adaptation, and original content. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Mark Lempke for Lumen Learning. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>US History. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: OpenStax. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/openstaxcollege.org\/textbooks\/us-history\">http:\/\/openstaxcollege.org\/textbooks\/us-history<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Access for free at https:\/\/openstax.org\/books\/us-history\/pages\/1-introduction<\/li><li>The Unraveling. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: The American Yawp. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/text\/28-the-unraveling\/#footnote_66_121\">http:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/text\/28-the-unraveling\/#footnote_66_121<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">All rights reserved content<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Ford, Carter, and the Economic Malaise: Crash Course US History #42. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Crash Course. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/pyN5LPHEQ_0?t=1s\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/pyN5LPHEQ_0?t=1s<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em>All Rights Reserved<\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Standard YouTube License<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section><hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-418-1\">Jimmy Carter, \u201cThe State of the Union Address,\u201d January 23, 1980, American Presidency Project, http:\/\/www.presidency.ucsb.edu\/ws\/?pid=33079. <a href=\"#return-footnote-418-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-418-2\">Jimmy Carter, \"Address to the Nation on Energy and National Goals: 'The Malaise Speech,'\" July 15, 1979. The American Presidency Project (http:\/\/www.presidency.ucsb.edu\/ws\/?pid=32596). <a href=\"#return-footnote-418-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":19,"menu_order":15,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"US History\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"OpenStax\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/openstaxcollege.org\/textbooks\/us-history\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"Access for free at https:\/\/openstax.org\/books\/us-history\/pages\/1-introduction\"},{\"type\":\"copyrighted_video\",\"description\":\"Ford, Carter, and the Economic Malaise: Crash Course US History #42\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Crash Course\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/pyN5LPHEQ_0?t=1s\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"arr\",\"license_terms\":\"Standard YouTube License\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"The Unraveling\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"The American Yawp\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.americanyawp.com\/text\/28-the-unraveling\/#footnote_66_121\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Modification, adaptation, and original content\",\"author\":\"Mark Lempke for Lumen Learning\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"f1806333-132a-42bc-9336-6e4a27b480c4,1a24f8f0-3ce3-4ebc-8fc4-e6f3023182f4,87a5536a-5a13-4a83-b555-f7b542c3720d","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-418","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":389,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-ushistory2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-ushistory2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-ushistory2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-ushistory2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-ushistory2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9568,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-ushistory2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/418\/revisions\/9568"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-ushistory2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/389"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-ushistory2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/418\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-ushistory2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-ushistory2\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=418"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-ushistory2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=418"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-ushistory2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}