Lecture # 13
1970s: Great Intentions of A Bumbler and A Provincial
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
1. What were the hopes, achievements, and failures of Gerald Ford’s presidency?
2. What were the hopes, achievements, and failures of Jimmy Carter’s presidency?
3. What were the fundamental socio-economic and international issues of the 1970s?
OVERVIEW:
RMN’s successors, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, struggled with lingering economic troubles.
BIG IDEA:
Beginning in the early 1970s, conservatism replaced liberalism in American politics. During this
period: 1) POTUS Ford pardoned POTUS Nixon following his resignation over the Watergate
Affair and 2) the Cold War continued.
KEY THEMES AND CONCEPTS: PRESTIGE
1) Economic Systems: How did the economic problems of the 1970s present unique
challenges to the Ford and Carter administrations?
2) Constitutional/Political Issues: How did Ford gain the presidency? Why did he
lose it? What was the “Carter Approach” to the presidency?
KEY PEOPLE:
Gerald Ford, Nelson Rockefeller, Jimmy Carter
KEY TERMS:
SIGNIFICANT SCOTUS CASES
A. The Appointive Presidency: Ford and Rockefeller
1. Disillusionment from Watergate and Vietnam
2. Public Relations Goal:
a. Cast out image/reality of Nixon’s “Imperial Presidency”
b. Restore honor to the White House/DC; reality and image of a bumbler
3. Ford’s Domestic Policies
a. Pardon of Nixon: -: so many advisors stood trial and served time
b. Amnesty Plan: +/- : 1000s of men broke draft law, fled the US, and deserted
c. Inflation: OPEC doubled price of oil, increased inflation
1) Rationing, federal incentive for energy researched helped, but
dependence on foreign oil continued. Inflation at 10%. Worst recession
since WWII.
4. Ford’s Foreign Policies
a. Henry Kissinger remained as Sec of State:
1) negotiated a cease-fire agreement between Egypt and Israel, thus 973
Yom Kippur War and OPEC oil embargo
2) Continue policy of Détente with SU, including sale of grain and hookup
of Soviet and American space capsules
3) Oversee the end of the Vietnam War, including the withdrawal of the
last American personnel from Saigon in 1975. Along with Le Duc Tho of
North Vietnam, Kissinger winds the Noble Peace Prize.
B. Election of 1976
1. Republican Primary? (Incumbent!) Ford narrowly defeats Governor Ronald Reagan.
2. Jimmy Carter: Democrat, former Georgia Governor, folksy, religious, DC outsider
3. Despite nation’s bicentennial, Ford lost because of his relationship with Nixon and
poor economy. Carter’s ‘down home’ values promised more honesty, integrity, and
responsiveness from DC. The reality is that he was kept outside (he kept himself
outside) and didn’t make strong connections in Congress. He was a poor leader.
C. Carter Administration
1. Domestic Policies
a. Stagflation (inflation & stagnant economy)
1) Also costs of government programs (like welfare) increased
2) unemployment rose
b. Energy Problems
1) US = learning industrial power also used most energy. Imported 40% of
its oil and OPEC kept prices high, so US dollars went overseas instead of
circulating here. This is a trade deficit that hurts one nation, but helps
another.
c) Corporate bailouts
1) “The 1st Too Big To Fail”: Lockheed Aircraft and Chrysler Corporation
faced bankruptcy, so gov’t bailed out with loans to stabilize economy
(prevent layoffs). National security measure (?)
d) Environmental Problems Persist
1) Acid rain (etc) damaged and threatened the nation’s people and
resources. Nixon’s EPA and Clean Air Act (i.e., requiring auto emissions
tests) were a start, but reliance on coal during oil crisis and lack of
funding hindered ability to clean the air.
e) Nuclear Energy: TMI Incident
1) March 1979 “situation” disturbed most Americans and displaced many
in this area. Was it a safer alternative to coal or oil? POTUS Carter showed
great courage in touring the dangerous (radioactive?) facility.
2. Foreign Policies: Many Issues
a) Helsinki Accords
1) 1975: US, SU, others committed to protecting human rights. Carter
wanted to withhold aid to nations that didn’t.
b) Camp David Accords
1) 1977: Carter invited Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli
Prime Minister Menachem Begin to Camp David (Presidential Retreat) in
Maryland to broker peace in Middle East, but only Egypt recognized
Israel.
c) Panama Canal Treaties
1) 1977: Bowing to nationalism and concern for reducing America’s
imperialist image, Carter and (narrowly) Senate ratify two treaties that
give control of this strategic canal/zone to Panama. US retained priority
in passage.
d) Détente Breaks Down
1) 1979: Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev (eyebrows) negotiated
and signed the SALT II Treaty. But with Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in
December 1979, he withdrew it from the Senate’s consideration, cut off
grain shipments to the SU, and boycotted the 1980Moscow Olympic
Games.
2) Both sides abided this signed, but ungratified treaty in the 1980s.
Critics (hawks?) said that Carter sold out to the Soviets; he said it was a
fair deal for both sides.
e) **Iranian Hostage Crisis**
1) Biggest foreign policy crisis: 1979: a revolution led by Islamic
fundamentalist toppled the pro-American shah (dictator?), Reza Pahlavi.
The Shah, suffering from terminal cancer, requested from and received
treatment in the US. Islamic rebels struck back by seizing the US embassy
in Teheran and holding more than 50 Americans hostage
D. Election of 1980
1. During the campaign, Carter was haunted the continuing hostage crisis, persistent
energy shortages, and lingering inflation. The conservative Republican candidate, former
California governor Ronald Reagan, promised Americans a “new beginning” and a
restoration of confidence at home and abroad. Reagan swept (9 to 1 EC votes) to victory
and on the day of his inauguration, Iran released the hostages after more than a year of
captivity.