President James 'Jimmy' Carter began his journey to the White House as a prominent peanut farmer
from Georgia.
Carter eventually entered the political arena at the state level, working his way up to
successfully running for governor of Georgia.
Carter was a member of the Democratic Party, but his political leanings differed from that
of his political peers.
He was known to be more moderate on race-related issues and extremely conservative in foreign
and fiscal policy.
Carter regarded himself as a 'man of the people' and wanted a federal government that represented
all Americans.
This ethos was his focal point when he ran for President of the United States in 1976.
The Presidential Election of 1976 witnessed incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford
battle against Democratic candidate and up-and-comer Governor Carter.
With the United States mired in a period of economic stagnation, Americans looked for
an alternative to Ford.
While Carter did not represent a significant upgrade, he did win significant support amongst
African Americans for his liberal racial policy, as well as among young male Americans for
his proposed amnesty program for those who dodged the Vietnam War draft.
Even with the extra support, Carter narrowly defeated Ford by a margin of 297 to 241 in
the electoral vote and less than two million popular votes.
Notwithstanding, Carter became the first governor to successfully be elected as president since
Franklin Roosevelt.
As a former governor, Carter obviously had very little experience with foreign relations.
In fact, the few notable diplomatic achievements he orchestrated were often small and regionalized.
To his credit, he was a sensational humanitarian and his emphasis on human rights was the keystone
to his foreign policy even though it would take decades to achieve results.
Carter made it a personal goal to begin an international campaign to bring awareness
toward human rights.
He believed that communism had negatively impacted the lives of those living under an
anti-democratic regime.
Yet, an unforeseen issue arose due to the rhetoric of the Carter Administration.
While Carter denounced a number of nations who either supported communism or were led
by dictators, the United States relied upon several of these states as allies against
the larger Cold War battles.
The most prominent example is Nicaragua.
Carter's rhetoric encouraged a revolution within the nation.
Unfortunately, the leader, Anastasio Somoza, was an ally of the United States!
The revolution, led by militant communists (known as the Sandinistas), replaced the Somoza
regime and drove a wedge between United States and Nicaraguan relations.
Carter took on several other issues in specific areas of the world throughout the rest of
his presidency.
In Latin America, he agreed to return the Panama Canal to Panama over the course of
20 years; Panama was guaranteed total control by the year 2000.
In the Middle East, Carter attempted to resolve the burgeoning issues between Egypt and Israel
brought on largely by the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
In 1978, Carter invited Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel, and Anwar Sadat, President
of Egypt, to Camp David.
After nearly two weeks of negotiations, Carter was able to forge an agreement, known as the
Camp David Accords, between the two nations that temporarily ended hostilities (I use
the word temporarily because tension still remained long after the meetings).
Two important additional events in the Middle East jeopardized domestic support for the
Carter Administration.
The first was the Iran hostage situation in 1979.
The United States had long supported Shah Reza Pahlavi as the leader in Iran.
However, an internal revolution by Islamic fundamentalists dethroned Pahlavi; eventually
he sought asylum in the United States.
That refuge came with a price, as several revolutionary Iranians claimed 66 American
hostages at the United States embassy in Teheran.
The Iranians demanded Pahlavi in return for the hostages.
Carter failed on all fronts to end the situation.
It would not be until President Reagan entered office that the hostage crisis ended.
Simultaneously, 1979 marked the beginning of the Soviet-Afghan War.
Carter withheld the United States from becoming embroiled in the conflict, which led many
in the United States to believe that Carter represented the 'post-Vietnam syndrome' - that
is, the unwillingness to enter the United States into another conflict.
Carter attempted to impose several diplomatic and economic sanctions against the Soviet
Union, but it was too little and too late.
While Carter's foreign policy was often ambiguous and generally unsuccessful, his domestic policy
was even less successful.
Historians generally point to his creation of the Department of Education, amnesty for
draft dodgers, expansive environmental legislation and increased federal hiring of minorities
as accomplishments.
Yet, his economic policy was largely unimpressive.
Upon entering office, Carter promised to break the stagnant economy, lower unemployment and
balance the budget.
Unfortunately, Carter's economic plan failed on a number of levels, leaving most Americans
believing, that by 1980, the economy was in serious peril.
Rising unemployment, large city bankruptcy, booming inflation and the rise of oil prices
all caused the American economy to contract during the Carter years.
Now, Carter attempted to atone for the regression by cutting spending on environmental programs
and deregulating certain industries, but it was not enough.
He encouraged Congress to adopt his legislation that called for a large stimulus package in
addition to federally-created jobs, yet the plan was rejected.
Carter then decided to take on skyrocketing oil prices by reducing American reliance on
foreign oil, issuing new taxes to reduce gasoline consumption, promoting alternative energy
(coal, for instance) and deregulating natural gas.
Carter attempted to circumvent Congress and appeal to the American public on his energy
plan, but Congress had the final vote.
Needless to say, Congress once again rejected Carter's plan, citing the unwillingness to
issue new gasoline taxes and deregulate gasoline production.
Without economic controls, inflation, unemployment and increased consumer costs caused the further
regression of the American economy between the 1976 and 1980 elections.
America's disappointment with Carter and its overall dismay concerning the stagnant economy
led to Ronald Reagan winning the 1980 Presidential Election in a land slide.
Reagan, running on the Republican ticket, defeated Carter 489 to 49 in the electoral
vote and by a margin of eight million popular votes.
President James 'Jimmy' Carter's road to the White House began as a businessman on his
family's peanut farm in Georgia.
Eventually, Carter entered into state politics and managed to be elected governor of Georgia
as a member of the Democratic Party.
Carter then envisioned a presidential run in 1974 and officially threw his hat into
the ring during the 1976 Presidential Election.
Carter narrowly defeated President Gerald Ford.
Carter's time in office was mired in mediocrity.
Within the international arena, Carter's foreign policy became synonymous with 'post-Vietnam
syndrome;' that is, lacking the desire to engage the United States in a conflict.
The Iran hostage situation and the failure to address the Soviet-Afghan War, both in
1979, caused many to doubt Carter's ability as a diplomatic strategist.
Carter did, however, have some small accomplishments in ratifying a treaty to turn the Panama Canal
back over to Panama, negotiating the Camp David Accordsbetween Israel and Egypt and
encouraging humanitarian efforts abroad.
Similar to his foreign policy, Carter's domestic agenda achieved minor successes and notable
failures.
He was able to deregulate certain industries, enlarge environmental legislation and increase
social welfare programs, but he struggled in other realms.
The economy, for instance, was an unmitigated disaster during the 1970s, especially during
the Carter Administration.
Carter tried valiantly to lower inflation and unemployment and end economic stagnation
by primarily tackling the oil industry.
Yet, his crusade was fruitless, since Congress and various interest groups defeated his economic
legislative agenda.
Eventually, Americans showed their dismay with Carter at the polls during the 1980 presidential
election by overwhelmingly voting for Republican Ronald Reagan.