chapter 23 new challenges
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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% - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Chapter 23New
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%–1974= 11%
Above: Ford addresses the nation; below: a cartoon suggests Congress will be Ford’s toughest foe
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
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– US steel plants out of date, used lots of oil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
Capture from clip on industry in the 1970s
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
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
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
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
Clip on Carter’s cold winters and economic hardship of the 1970s
What happened at Three-Mile Island?
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!
Capture from clip on Three Mile Island
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
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
Capture from clip about the Shah and Iranian Revolution
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
Capture from clip on the Iranian Hostages and the Carter/Reagan transition