• Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter

• Objective: to determine the effectiveness of Carter’s response to decreasing faith in

the US government.

I. Gerald Ford

• Ford’s short presidency

– President Ford granted a full pardon to Richard Nixon for any crime he may have committed.

– Ford tried to cut government spending to curb inflation but the Democratic Congress passed many spending bills against his wishes.

– In foreign affairs, Ford continued the policy of détente and kept Kissinger as secretary of state.

– Congress refused to allow Ford to take part in Vietnam or Cuba, but he did recover the cargo ship—the Mayaguez—from the Cambodian navy.

I. Ford

• Loss of Public Confidence– Ford was perceived as a comical figure

• LBJ’s remark

– Pardon of Nixon made his popularity plummet• High 60s to low 30s in the polls

II. The Economy of the 1970s

• Out of control inflation!– Inflation rose to over ten percent for much of

the decade. – Stagflation: inflation high, GDP growth low– Occurred primarily during the Nixon and Ford

presidencies, but greatly shaped the Carter presidency

• Causes: wage and price controls (shortages) under Nixon, Oil embargo

II. The Economy of the 1970s

• Decaying Cities– White Flight (“Donut Hole Effect”)– Fleeing Factories

• Rust Belt in the North, declining South• Factories moved to Latin America, South East Asia• Foreign competition, e.g. auto industry• Labor suffers, e.g. AFL-CIO loses 30% of its

membership

III. Jimmy Carter

• Candidate Carter– Jimmy Carter came across as an honest man of deep

religious faith who promised not to lie to the American people.

– Carter immediately tried to help the nation heal some of the wounds of the past.

• Ex. He issued a pardon to thousands of Vietnam War draft dodgers.

– Carter tackled problems in the economy and with energy.

– Finally, Carter tried to deal with environmental issues.

III. Jimmy Carter

• Carter the Reformer– “Studied Informality”– Pardoned draft dodgers– Removed funding for the B-1 Bomber – Established the “Superfund”

– Carter made the development of a national energy policy a priority.

III. Jimmy Carter

• Energy Policy– Created the Department of Energy

• Fund research for alternative fuels• Regulate energy producers

– Emergency Natural Gas Act– However, his successes were largely

forgotten by 1979 during another gas shortage (Iranian Revolution)

III. Jimmy Carter

Environmental Successes

– Believed that conserving fuel was a key way to avoid plundering the environment

– Passed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act

• The act protected more than 100 million acres of land and doubled the size of the nation’s park and wildlife refuge system.

III. Jimmy Carter

Environmental Losses

• In 1979 a mishap at a nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island terrified the nation.

• Although little radiation was released, public concern about the safety of nuclear power grew.

• Chemicals that a company dumped in New York began to seep up through the ground at Love Canal and were linked to high rates of birth defects.

• Experts warned that there were likely many more toxic waste sites around the nation.

III. Jimmy Carter

Carter and the Economy

– Carter was unable to bring down inflation.

– Carter’s energy policies were successful at helping reduce American dependence on foreign oil but this was not immediately apparent

• American production of energy increased under Carter.

III. Jimmy Carter

• Public Confidence plummets– Foreign policy disasters– Energy program too complex– Really, really unfortunate press coverage– High prices and run away inflation

• “Malaise” Speech in 1979