Carter and Ford administrations

1. LATE 1970S

2. DEBATE OVER 26TH AMENDMENT
• The long debate over
lowering the voting
age in America from 21
to 18 began during
World War II and
intensified during the
Vietnam War.
• People were furious
about young men
denied the right to vote
were being
conscripted (drafted)
to fight for their
country.

3. 26TH AMENDMENT RATIFIED
• In the 1970 case Oregon v.
Mitchell, a divided U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that
Congress had the right to
regulate the minimum age
in federal elections, but not
at the state and local level.
• Because of increasing
support for a Constitutional
amendment, Congress
passed the 26th
Amendment in March 1971;
the states promptly ratified.
• President Richard M. Nixon
signed it into law that July.

4. Picture B

5. ELECTION OF JIMMY CARTER
• In 1976, former one-term
governor of Georgia James
(Jimmy) Earl Carter Jr. became
the first candidate from the
Deep South to win election to
the presidency of the United
States. The last to do so
without the benefit of
incumbency since Zachary
Taylor in 1848.
• During his term as president,
Carter, an administrator with
neither a liberal nor a
conservative approach,
proved unable to shake his
image as a weak leader,
unsure of how to cope with
domestic economic turmoil
and foreign policy crises

6. DOMESTIC ISSUES
• Domestic issues that dominated the nation during
the Carter years were unemployment, inflation, and
energy.
• Like Ford, when Carter started as President, the
unemployment rate was 7%, and the annual
inflation rate was 6.8%.

7. CARTER’S DOMESTIC PROGRAM
Energy Crisis – to deal with this crisis,
Carter created the Department of
Energy. Increased the oil in the
nation’s ―Strategic Petroleum
Reserve‖. Wanted a special tax for
large automobiles and power to
ration gas, Congress said no to his
wants
Stagflation – Inflation and interest
rates soared in 1979, due to the oil
crisis. Carter cut federal spending,
but inflation did not come down until
two years later during the Reagan
Presidency
Environment – Carter provided funds
to clean up toxic dumps. Following
the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor
leak in 1979, Carter created the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission to
develop stricter standards for the
peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Diversity – Carter appointed women
and minority members to govt.
positions. He sponsored bill requiring
schools provide instruction to students
in their native language while trying
to learn English.

8. • Carter had promised to reduce unemployment,
cut the inflation rate, and balance the budget. He
failed in all three areas.
• By 1980, unemployment was over 8%, inflation was
about 12%, and the projected budget deficit was
nearly $59 billion.

9. Picture C

10. DOMESTIC ISSUES (CONT.)
• Carter had no better luck in dealing with a shortage
of oil import supplies in 1979 caused by the
overthrow of the shah of Iran.
• The United States had been plagued by rising
energy costs ever since the 1973 Arab oil embargo.
• Carter submitted a comprehensive energy bill to
Congress designed to reduce U.S. dependence on
foreign oil with the statement that "nothing less than
the moral equivalent of war" was at stake, he was
unable to rally support.

11. DOMESTIC ISSUES (CONT.)
• In the fall of 1978, he settled for a much weaker
piece of legislation than he knew was necessary.
• When gas prices began to skyrocket in the summer
of 1979, there was little he could do except urge
conservation and a gasoline rationing system
through the newly created Department of Energy.
• The rationing system failed to avoid fuel shortages:
tempers flared in long gasoline station lines, prices
continued to soar, and Carter was blamed

12. Picture D

13. FOREIGN POLICY
• Two foreign policy
successes of the
Carter administration
were—
• The negotiation and
ratification by the
Senate of a new
Panama Canal Treaty
in 1978 – returned
control to Panama the
canal zone, BUT not the
canal itself!

14. • The negotiations that led to the signing of the
Camp David Peace Accords between Egypt and
Israel in 1979 (first peace treaty between Israel and
one of its Arab neighbors)
• Israel and Egypt has fought each other since the creation
of Israel in 1948
• Carter invited the leaders of Egypt (Sadat) and Israel
(Begin) to the Presidential retreat at Camp David
• Face-to-face negotiations lead to an agreement
• Israel agreed to return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt
• Egypt agreed to a peace treaty and the establishment of
normal diplomatic relations with Israel
• Both of Carter’s foreign policy acts were
overshadowed by events in Iran
FOREIGN POLICY

15. • Sadat and Begin awarded Nobel Peace Prize
• Many Arab leaders denounced the Camp
David Peace Accord because it failed to find
a homeland for the Palestinians
• Several Arab Nations broke diplomatic
relations with Egypt
• Sadat was later assassinated by Muslim
Fundamentalist who opposed peace with
Israel.
CAMP DAVID ACCORD EFFECTS TO THE
ARAB WORLD

16. IRANIAN HOSTAGE CRISIS
• Crisis showed the image of a
confused leader so much as
the way Carter dealt with
the results of the overthrow
of the shah of Iran in 1979.
• During the Iran's Islamic
Revolution, 52 American
citizens were captured at
the American embassy and
held hostage for 444 days
until freed.
• Carter pledged not to use
military force that might
endanger the lives of the
hostages. Instead, greatly
underestimating the
popularity and power of the
new Iranian government, he
relied on world opinion and
economic sanctions.

17. OTHER FOREIGN POLICY
• In addition, after the Soviet Union invaded
neighboring Afghanistan in order to create a new
communist government
• This ended the détente Nixon had with the Soviet
Union
• Carter ordered further economic sanctions, NO
GRAIN sales to the Soviets
• Boycotted the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow
• Postponed ratification of a new arms control
agreement known as SALT II

18. Picture E

19. OPEC
• Founded in 1960, the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) are nations whose main
export income comes from the sale of petroleum.
• OPEC seeks to unify the petroleum policies of these
nations, protect the members' mutual interests, and
stabilize international oil prices.
• OPEC's control of such a valuable resource has also
made the organization an important international
political actor at times.

20. OPEC (CONT.)
• In 1973, OPEC used its control of oil production most
effectively to influence world politics.
• It was able to do this in part because the demand for oil
in the industrial nations greatly exceeded supply.
• In support of the Arab invasion of Israel that occurred in
October 1973, the Arab oil producing countries decided
to cut their oil production so long as Israel continued to
occupy Arab lands.
• Though individual nations took more drastic action
(Saudi Arabia imposed a total embargo on the United
States because of its support of Israel), OPEC as a whole
raised oil prices by some 300% by the end of the year

21. Picture
F

22. ENVIRONMENTALISM
• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an
independent agency responsible for controlling
pollution of the air and water, as well as
environmental damage from solid waste,
pesticides, radiation, and toxic substances.
• The EPA was founded in 1970 as part of
Reorganization Plan No. 3 to coordinate the
government's efforts to protect the environment

23. EPA (CONT.)
• Also known as the Environmental Species
Conservation Act, this law was enacted on
December 28, 1973.
• It became a milestone in the environmental
conservation movement, offering federal
protection to a broad range of animals and plants
threatened with extinction due to past
environmental carelessness.

24. Picture
G

25. Picture H

26. TITLE IX (9)
• This law banned sex discrimination in educational
programs that receive federal funds.
• Because of pressure from some Ivy League schools,
Title IX (9) contains an exception for undergraduate
admissions to private colleges.

27. Picture I

28. TITLE IX (CONT.)
• The bill addressed discrimination in athletics, where
the law evoked particularly strong opposition;
admission to specific university classes; and
pregnant students' maternity leave and their rights
to continue their education.
• The specific Title IX regulations were released in 1974
and then revised in 1975.