Chapter 21- Ford and Carter as Presidents Flashcards
Carter as president
he was a Governor from Georgia
he defeated Ford in 1976, he was able to gain support in both the North and South by being a christian and an effective campaigner. he was a relentless campaigner and travelled over 50000 miles and visited over 37 states and delivered 200 speeches. He was portrayed as the Washington Outsider. He received favourable coverage, for example he signed “I love you” to a group of deaf supporters. Carter saw himself as reformer and a progressive person- he wanted to heal divided so he pardoned he Vietnam draft-resisters. He was not willing to make friends in Congress the usual way by promising federal spending in certain states- he established a pattern of distrust with Congress.
what was the significance of SNL?
this parodied American Culture and politics
Gerald Ford as president
he aimed to put the political events such as Watergate and Vietnam behind him, though throughout this time inflation and unemployment were rising.
Ford had gained popularity in the house of representatives, he was seen to be the “man of the people”. Though, he was impersonated in the comedy on SNL
Journalists joined in, Quoting Johnson that “Jerry Ford is so dumb be can’t fart and chew at the same time”.
His pardon of Nixon also increased the comedic attacks against him, as many wanted Nixon to be punished
how was Carter limited?
his success in fp were not valued by the population, he lacked the media skill and Charisma of the Kennedy.
he wanted to assert his authority as he fired 4 cabinet secretaries, this meant that he was soon attacked with being “malaise”
October 1979 the president collapses while jogging, which gave the view that the president was weak
March 1979 there was the 3-mile island reactor in Pennsylvania, this led to large protests.
There was also the corruption of the OMB which gave the key idea that Carter is politically weak- this leads to problems with the AD
Though, Johnson was able to pass 29 new pieces of legislation, whilst they weren’t landmark legislation, he was able to make progress
key points from the “malaise speech”
15 July 1979, it saw C’s AR rise by 11%
“it is the crisis of confidence”
“what can we do?”
what were the responses to social division? (1)
Ford had limited social division during his presidency. This did not happen for Carter as his speech in July 1976 he tried to address America’s growing distrust of Government- though there were a series of cases that made it infront of the sc.
in 1976 Bryan v Itasca- the sc ruled that the state did not have the right to assess the tax on the property of an idigenous person
in 1977 LGBT activists were inited to the WH for the first time but in March 1980 Carter refused to issue an Executive Order banning LGBT discrimination in federal government- Carter was not willing to risk his political capital.
what were the responses to social division- 2?
legislation was easier to pass with regards to women, by 1980 more women than men voted in the election. in the 1975 case Taylor vs Louisiana it was ruled that excluding women from the jury pool was illegal.
Betty Ford was able to make an impact on women’s rights, in 1976 she spoke at a luncheon that was sponsored by the Republican Women Power of Illisnois.
Ford was limited by time to pass significant change, though in 1978 Carter was able to pass the pregnancy discrimination act, 5 US secret academies were required to admit more than 300 of whom applied in 1976.
Under Carter there were also shelters for female victims of domestic violence- in 1975 there was the first law against marital rape.
Carter and Ford’s progressive stance on women’s rights is a clear example of their trying to adopt change to the country
Though, there was a growing right-wing Christian lobby- by 1980 there was a growing belief in the importance of religion. This was evident when laws that were designed to protect women against domestic violence failed to pass through congress.
With regards to minorities Carter polled well among the religious- south and that affected his policy.
corruption under Ford
pardoning of Richard Nixon
the church committee revealed the failure of the CIA
There were racist comments that were made by Bultz
and the imprisonment of Kenrt for Bribery whilst he was the Governor of Illisnois.
Hiag was appointed as commander of NATO for Europe.
Ford had difficulty of working with Congress, the pardon of Nixon led to Democrat gains in 1974, winning the whole of congress
Corruption under Carter
Lance was fired when it was revealed that he had dubious banking practices- despite being found not guilt be tainted the impression of the Carter presidency.
It was also regarded that Jordan was a cocaine user
There was “Koreagate” in Congress when 30 congressmen were accused of taking bribes Richard Hanna served a year in prison as a part of the fallout.
Ruth Carter was pictured with Larry Flynt and she had association with Hustler
the loss of national self-confidence
There was doubt cast over the AD in the 70’s as 70% of new jobs that were created were low-income ones, there was also 10-15% inflation.
in 1975 the Trilateral Commission published a report which was titled the crisis of democracy which stated that the political system has benefitted from apathy and some level of non-involvement.
The country had seemingly lost confidence, in the 1974/8 mid-terms there was a 30-year low in the voter participation.
How did the Nixon pardon tear the Ford administration apart?
he did not want the trial of a president, he believed that it would re-open old wounds.
The pardon of Nixon cost Ford professionally as it was believed that he might not have told the whole truth about the pardon
“the ghosts of Watergate did not depart as quickly as he hoped”
what were the approval ratings of Nixon, Ford and Carter?
by 1974 the AR of Nixon were 22%
Ford- 65-50
Carter- 65- 30% in 1979- 50% in 1980
what were the results of the 1976 and 80 elections?
1976:
Carter got 50% of PV and 297 of EC.
1980:
Reagan: 50% pv and 489 of EC
inflation rate throughout the 70’s?
74- 10%
76- 6%
78- 7%
80- 15%
The positive/negative qualities of Ford?
Positive:
he was an experienced congressman and was popular with the people
some domestic policy experience
Negative:
he was not elected, no mandate- no mandate to do pardon
struggle to unify party and he was close to Nixon
Positive/negative qualities of Carter?
Positive:
he came from humble beginnings
had some success with fp
was an outsider to Washington
Negative:
he had limited relations with Washington
limited experience- Governor
successes were with fp- were not understood by the people.
what was the significance of the involvement of Betty Ford?
She signifies that little has truly changed, she will mention the “most basic issue of equal pay”- this will be a dig at the 1973 EPA
Her work is useful for the federal government to create change
Her publicity around her breast cancer diagnosis also aided the momentum with early detection is key.
Her work helped to humanise the American family
Ford displays humanity which is different to Nixon.
key moments throughout the presidency of Ford?
October- November 1974- he proposed a 5% tax increase on high earning corporation.
he did work with the Democrats for the FECA
March 1975- There was the tax reduction act- $22 billion, unemployment rises to 8.4%
November 1975: “Sunday morning massacre”
Key moments throughout the presidency of Carter?
March 1978: will invoke Taft Hartley Act
October 1978: passes energy, employment bills
July 1979- accept resignation of 6 people.
why did Carter become an unpopular president?
he lost the support of congress
lacked the charms of Kennedy
his successes weren’t understood by the pop
national diaster- 3 mile island accident
