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Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford. The First Unelected President. Gerald Ford. Mr. Ford’s Handicaps . Parodied as a bumbling dim-wit by his critics Chevy Chase opens Saturday Night Live with a classic Ford pratfall. Mr. Ford’s Handicaps . Since he was appointed his administration has an air of illegitimacy.

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Gerald Ford

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  1. Gerald Ford The First Unelected President

  2. Gerald Ford

  3. Mr. Ford’s Handicaps • Parodied as a bumbling dim-wit by his critics • Chevy Chase opens Saturday Night Live with a classic Ford pratfall

  4. Mr. Ford’s Handicaps

  5. Since he was appointed his administration has an air of illegitimacy

  6. The Pardon • September 1974: Ford’s pardon of Nixon leads to cries of a “buddy deal”

  7. WIN Buttons • “Stagflation” • Ford vetoed congressional spending bills intended to end a current recession • Ford started a campaign to end inflation called WIN – “Whip Inflation Now”

  8. The Helsinki Accords • July 1975: US & 34 nations signed a human rights agreement that began the first small flames of dissent in the Eastern Bloc

  9. Détente Withers • US conservatives complain that détente was a one way street • Cuban aggression plus Soviet’s hard-line with dissidents & Jewish immigrants cooled relations

  10. The Fall of Saigon • 1975: NVA & VC offensive explodes • April: Saigon falls & 140,000 Vietnamese are evacuated • US forced to evacuate last remaining troops & employees off US Embassy roof

  11. Fall of Saigon

  12. The Final Cost • $150 billion • 58,000 dead • 300,000 wounded • Larger “credibility gap”

  13. Mayaguez Incident • May 1975: Cambodian communists, Khmer Rouge, seized an American merchant ship & its 39 crew members • Marines re-captured the ship at the cost of 39 marine lives

  14. 1976: The Bicentennial Election • Democrats nominate James Earl Carter of Georgia

  15. “Hi, my name’s Jimmy Carter and I’m running for President.”

  16. The honest, born-again, southern Baptist touched people with his honesty • He promised, “I’ll never lie to you” & that he would clean up Washington

  17. Carter Walks to Victory • Carter wins 51% of the popular vote against Ford & Nelson Rockefeller • Refuses limousine & walks to White House from Congress

  18. Jimmy Carter 1977-1980

  19. End to Stalemate? • Democratic President & Congress should mean success for Carter • Carter establishes the Department of Energy & calls for a tax reform bill

  20. Carter the “Outsider” • Carter’s anti-Washington rhetoric ended the honeymoon with Congress • He appeared isolated behind a cadre of Georgia “good ole’ boys”

  21. The Human Rights President • Called for human rights to be the guiding philosophy behind American foreign policy • Called for the end of American aid to dictators (except in the Philippines & South Korea)

  22. Championed the black minorities in Rhodesia & South Africa • Appointed Andrew Young, an African-American, as ambassador to the United Nations

  23. Panama Canal • Carter shocked many Americans when he agreed to hand over the Panama Canal to Panama

  24. Camp David Accords • Carter negotiated separate peace settlement between Anwar Sadat of Egypt & Menachim Begin of Israel

  25. China Recognized • Carter also extended full diplomatic relations with China in 1979

  26. Carter goes on a retreat… • Carter holes up at Camp David & solicits the advice of hundreds of Americans on the problems facing America, especially the energy crisis

  27. Malaise Speech • Makes a major televised address to the nation to discuss the energy problems • Tells America there is “moral & spiritual crisis” in the country & “spirit of malaise” afflicting the country

  28. The Energy Program • Called for the creation of a $140 billion federal energy program for conservation & the creation of synthetic fuels • Then shocked the nation by firing 4 Cabinet members

  29. SALT II • Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev met Carter in Vienna to sign the SALT II agreement • Conservative resistance, Soviets in Cuba, & the oil crisis killed SALT II in the Senate

  30. Iran • Shah Reza Pahalavi of Iran is overthrown & flees the country • He is allowed to enter the US for medical treatment • Iranian militants stormed the US embassy in Teheran taking Americans hostage

  31. Iranian Hostage Crisis 1979

  32. Middle East Instability • USSR reacts to the rise of Muslim militancy by invading Afghanistan • Carter slaps an embargo on the USSR & forced a US Boycott of the summer Olympics in Moscow

  33. Delta Force • Carter creates a anti-terrorist “Rapid Deployment Force” called the Delta Force • Delta Force’s rescue attempt of the hostages failed in the deserts of Iran

  34. Failed Rescue Attempt

  35. 1980 Election • Hostage humiliation, high inflation rates, & reaction to the “malaise” in America cost Carter the election to Ronald Reagan

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