Ford and Carter FP Flashcards
Congress cuts to Vietnam
aid cut by 50% in 1973 and again in 1974
Ford funding to Vietnam
infused $700 mil in military and humanitarian aid
Fall of Saigon
April 1975, communist forces entered Saigon. Ford ordered evacuation of all US personnel and South Vietnamese linked to US
2,800 SV in US embassy
helicopters took off from embassy as desperate SV tried to break in and join evacuation
Mayaguez
May 1975 Ford ordered US marines to retake an American Cargo ship which had been seized by Cambodian govt. 40 died but ship was retaken
approval soared
formal recognition of China
Carter 1st Jan 1979
Taiwan
revoked 1955 Mutual Defense Treaty for China. relations continued on an unofficial level Taiwan Relations Act and creating an American Institution in Taiwan staffed by retired US diplomats
China détente outcomes
reduced tensions in SE Asia allowing trade to flourish. Successful decoupling with USSR satisfied China
Helsinki Accords
August 1975 signed by USSR US and other Eu leaders. Recognised existing boundaries of Eu countries established at end of WW2. There’d be more trade and cooperation in economic scientific and technological endeavours
Also included statements in support of HR
Vladivostok Accords
Nov 1974 outline for SALT 2
Carter Soviet detente
resented Carters criticism of their HR record and exclusion from Middle East peace process
Considered Carter too friendly with China
SALT II
signed 1979 but not ratified by US when USSR invaded Afghanistan
Camp David Accords
March 1979 Carter helped negotiate a historic agreement between Israel and Egypt. Said:
Israel would withdraw from Sinai Peninsula
US would monitor to ensure neither side attacked
Would recognise eachothers govts
Israel pledged to negotiate with Palestinians
Cause of hostage crisis
Carter allowed the Shah to be treated for cancer in the US. Outraged Ayotollahs followers who were demanding his return to stand trial. Shahs stay lasted 6 weeks
Hostage crisis
Nov 1979, Islamic student militants took control of US embassy in Tehran and took 66 Americans hostage (became 52) demanding the Shah’s return to stand trial along with money and property that Shah stashed outside of Iran. And an apology from US
Options for Carter- Iran
negotiating would make him look weak, attacking would provoke further fundamentalist islamic renames in the middle east and risk deaths of hostages
media and Iran
continuous footage of Iranian mobs burning stars and stripes and chanting ‘death to America’
Carter mission Iran
April 1980 approved secret military incursion to free hostages using 8 helicopters, none of them reached Tehran. 3 had mechanical problems and one crashed into a transport aircraft in a desert, killing 8 soldiers. Ayatollah claimed divine intervention and split up the hostages
When were hostages released?
Reagans inauguration day
Afghanistan
Dec 1978 Soviets invaded to avoid an anti-soviet state on its borders. US thought it signalled a new phase of of soviet expansion. Issued embargo’s on grain sales to USSR and boycotted 1980 summer olympics in Moscow. Began to channel funds to Mujahideen
