James Carter, Jr.
(January 20, 1977 to January 20, 1981)

Born: October 1, 1924


Political Party: Democrat
Previous Occupation: Farmer, public official

Elected From: Georgia
Vice President: Walter F. Mondale (1977-81)
Cabinet Members: view list

Other Government Positions:
· Georgia State Senator, 1963-66
· Governor of Georgia, 1971-75

Inaugural Address: 1977
Biography: view

Presidential Highlights:
· Gave full pardons to Vietnam War draft evaders.

· Encouraged energy conservation and research into synthetic fuels. Approved a bill ending price controls on natural gas (also gave credits to taxpayers for fuel conservation).

· Approved a bill banning companies from dumping raw sewage into water bodies.

· Reserved millions of acres in Alaska for national parks and wilderness areas.

· Approved the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act (requires the president to set goals to reduce unemployment). Approved a food stamps bill (food stamps are provided at no cost to eligible recipients).

· Cut off U.S. foreign aid to countries that violated human rights.

· Approved a treaty returning the Panama Canal to Panama on December 31, 1999.

· Camp David Accords. Invited Answar Sadat (president of Egypt) and Menauchem Begin (prime minister of Israel) to Camp David for peace negotiations. They signed two peace agreements. One set conditions for general peace talks in the Middle East. The other set conditions for peace talks between Egypt and Israel.

· Iranian Hostage Crisis. In 1979, President Carter allowed the Shah of Iran (the former ruler of Iran) to enter the U.S. for cancer treatments. Ayotollah Khomeini (Irans new ruler) seized the U.S. embassy in Teheran. They held 52 American hostages, and demanded that President Carter extradite the Shah to Iran to stand trial. President Carter refused, and imposed economic sanctions on Iran. On April 24, 1980, President Carter ordered a military rescue of the hostages. The mission failed. The Shah died in July, 1980, but this crisis did not end. Iran demanded that their assets be returned. President Carter unfroze Iran’s assets. Iran decided to humiliate President Carter by releasing the hostages on January 20, 1981 (President Reagan’s inauguration day). The American hostages had been held for 444 days.

Presidential Election:
1976
James Carter, Jr.297
Gerald Ford240
Ronald Reagan1

Pop Out Into New Window