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Chapter 23 New Challenges

Chapter 23 New Challenges. Ford and Carter Section 23.1. Describe the US as Ford took office:. In Crisis Vietnam and Watergate “The long national nightmare is over.” Economic Recession (Stagflation) US industries beaten by Japanese and W. Germans Annual inflation rate 1972= 3.3%

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Chapter 23 New Challenges

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  1. Chapter 23New Challenges Ford and Carter Section 23.1

  2. Describe the US as Ford took office: • In Crisis • Vietnam and Watergate • “The long national nightmare is over.” • Economic Recession (Stagflation) • US industries beaten by Japanese and W. Germans • Annual inflation rate • 1972= 3.3% • 1974= 11% Above: Ford addresses the nation; below: a cartoon suggests Congress will be Ford’s toughest foe

  3. What caused the energy crisis of 1973-74? • Oil embargo of OPEC • Controlled prices and supply • US acquired 33% of oil it needed from OPEC nations in in 1973 • Yom Kippur War of 1973: • Israel v. Syria, Egypt • S+E attacked on religious holiday and caught Israel unprepared; US aided Israel • Saudi Arabia placed embargo against all Israeli allies • Refused to sell oil to US • OPEC restricted trade with Israeli allies (US) • Gasoline went from < .50 cents to over $1 amid widespread shortages Above: gas station out of gas; below: instead of Ford on the cover, a shivering American

  4. What impact did the oil embargo have on the US economy? • Hurt steel and auto industries • large gas-guzzlers no longer demanded • 1970- Japan sold 17% of cars in US • 1980- Japan sold 37% of cars in US • 300 thousand workers laid off • Steel • US steel plants out of date, used lots of oil • Cost rose 10% annually • 1946- US produced 60% of worlds steel • 1980- 14% Above: A 1970s Cadillac; below: An old steel mill

  5. Capture from clip on industry in the 1970s

  6. How did President Ford deal with the economic crisis? • Tried to reduce inflation • Cut government spending • Health, education, housing • Called for higher interests rates • Americans would spend less and supply of goods would increase, prices would fall • Results • Inflation fell to 6% by 1976 • Unemployment rose to 10% • Recession • Worst since the Great Depression • Already over before ’76 election Above: Ford misinterprets the back end of a hippo; below: Ford becomes the butt of more jokes by falling down steps leaving a plane

  7. Election of 1976 • Obscure Georgia governor and ex-peanut farmer (also ex-nuclear engineer in Navy sub program) beats out several Democrats including the dying Hubert Humphrey and the wheelchair-bound George Wallace for the Dem. Nomination; by Convention time, Humphrey is so ill Carter chooses H.H.H.’s Senate replacement, Walter Mondale, as VP candidate • Ford seen as weak and not conservative enough by Goldwater Republicans; challenged in primaries by ex-governor of California, Ronald Reagan, who almost wins (but Ford’s nominated and picks Sen. Dole of Kansas as running mate) • Nov. election is very close but not controversial: no state goes to a re-count and Carter wins by taking a few southern states (pattern repeated by Clinton and Obama) Below: Americans and Time ask, “Who is Jimmy Carter?” One reason they voted for the unknown is that Ford pardoned Nixon

  8. How did President Jimmy Carter deal with the economic crisis? • Increased government spending and cut taxes • Results: • Reduced unemployment • Re-ignited inflation (10% by 1979) • Called on Americans to conserve energy and endure hardship: • Oil prices had skyrocketed to $30 a barrel • Lower thermometer to 68 • Turn off lights • Businesses and schools reduced hours • Had 29% approval rating, lower than GWB ever did Above: reprise of Time cover; below: some kind of corny ‘Mr. Energy’ Mr. M doesn’t recall

  9. What happened at Love Canal? • Small community near Niagara Falls, NY was contaminated by poison chemicals from nearby factories • EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) declared it a toxic-waste area and evacuated the residents • Results • Laws to protect air, water and forest passed • 100 million acres of Alaskan land placed under federal protection Above: Love Canal on a map; below: environmentalists protest

  10. Clip on Carter’s cold winters and economic hardship of the 1970s

  11. What happened at Three-Mile Island?

  12. What happened at Three-Mile Island? • Accident at a nuclear power-plant • resulted in the release of radioactive material (very small amount) • Reactor core overheated and threatened a nuclear ‘meltdown’ • 100 thousand residents evacuated and area sealed off for 6 years • No new nuclear power plants built in 30+ years in the U.S. (France uses nuclear power for 60% of its electrical needs) • Gulf catastrophe is far, far worse Above: sensational Time cover; below, Time map shows bull’s-eye, as if Harrisburg had been nuked!

  13. Capture from clip on Three Mile Island

  14. Describe Carter’s foreign policy: • Great supporter of Human Rights and Peace • all people had right to free and fair elections, freedom of religion/speech • Boycotted 1980 Moscow Olympics/imposed grain embargo to protest Soviet invasion of Afghanistan • SALT II: • Signed Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II with USSR • Limited amount of offensive nuclear weapons • Never ratified b/c of Afghani War • Gave control of Panama Canal to Panama (1999) Above: Newsweek raises question of Olympic boycott; below: Before Afghanistan, Brezhnev and Carter sign SALT II

  15. What was the Camp David Accord of 1979? • Peace treaty between Israel and Egypt brokered by Carter • 4 wars between Israel and Arab nations since 1948 • Cold War ‘in miniature’ existed between Israel and Egypt • Anwar Sadat (Egypt) and Menachem Begin (Israel) were invited to Camp David, Maryland • In exchange for land, Sadat recognized Israel’s right to exist • Ever since, a ‘cold peace’ Above: map showing Sinai; below: Carter gets his deal

  16. Capture from clip about the Shah and Iranian Revolution

  17. Describe the Iranian Hostage Crisis: • Shah of Iran • Absolute ruler and US ally was overthrown and given asylum in US • Ayatollah Khomeini • Fundamentalist Muslim assumed leadership and demanded Shah be handed over • 11/4/1979 armed students seized Americans in US embassy • Commando rescue mission ended in bitter failure (helicopters crashed into each other in Iranian desert) • Hostages released 1/20/1981 (Ronald Reagan’s inauguration day) Above: Iranian militants take an American hostage; below: wreckage from a burned supply plane

  18. Capture from clip on the Iranian Hostages and the Carter/Reagan transition

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