Ford and Carter73-80 Flashcards
After the Nixon fiasco, what would Americans want from a President?
-social stability
-political/economic stability
-improve international relations
-improve domestic relations
-end of imperial presidency
what was the Republican alternative to the Great Society put forward by Ford?
Constructive
Republican
Alternative
Policy
(CRAP)
why was Ford an unusual president?
He rose to presidency after Nixon resigned so he was never voted in. In itself this was not unheard of, but Ford had never even been voted in as Vice President. He had only been in the job because Spiro Agnew resigned.
What pressure did Ford have at the start of presidency
-to adopt a different style of leadership
-co-operate with congress
-distance himself from the imperial style of Nixon
Fords approval rating at the start of presidency
70%
What made Ford unpopular
pardoning Nixon
Ford popularity after pardoning Nixon
50%
consequence of Ford pardoning Nixon
In 1974 Democrats took control of both houses of congress (equally this could be due to watergate)
What did the pardon of Nixon suggest to the American people
-Ford will be similar to Nixon
-Doesn’t pardon those who dodged the draft (Carter does on his first day of office.)
Journalists label for Ford
Bozo the Clown
How did journalist treat Ford
often making fun of him, as president this was unheard of.
-they made fun of him falling down the stairs, and bizzaare comments on Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe (saying there was none)
SNL often went after Ford
OPEC oil 1973
they place an embargo on America for their support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War. This increased economic problems like rising inflation
What contextual (out of his control) factors made it difficult for Ford?
-South Vietnam falling to Communism 1975
-watergate scandal
-OPEC oil embargo -> inflation (countries in the Middle East stop selling Oil to America)
-economic problems
-peoples disillusionment with presidcency
-congress fights back- War Powers Act
-media scrutiny/hostility
What factors linked to Ford made it more difficult for Ford
-clumsy, not really charismatic
-pardoning Nixon (he didnt have to but he did)
-no one voted for him as president or Vice president
what percent of eligible voters voted in the 1976 election
54%
this shows how many had lost faith in the government and the lowest turnout since WW2
1976 election result
Carter won! by a narrow margin of 57 electoral college votes.
what does the 1976 election suggest what the american people thought about presidency
-Jimmy Carter fell out with congress
-there was no big belief in Carter coming in and rescuing as he barely won against Ford who was incredibly unpopular.
Jimmy Carter Background/ potential
moderate democrat, reformed the welfare programme
outsider, never before worked in washington, what the public wanted but congress disliked him
Tip O’Niell said Carter does not understand how congress works
Walter Mondale for VP who worked witht eh senate for 10 years
A faithful baptist christian
background in the millitary
How many American were taken hostage in the Iranian hostage crisis
in 1979, 60 were taken hostage
attempts at freeing the hostages
attempts often ended in disaster, with one helicopter crashing, killing 8 american airmen. (operation Evil claw)
Carter continued to negotiate and won the release of the hostages but only once Reagan had won the election
hostages gone for 444 days
enviromental concerns
concern had been growing since the publication of silent spring. But also because of things like the Cuyahoga river catching fire in 1969
in 1970nthe Environmental Protection Agency was formed, and it passed the Clean Waters Act 1972
EPA
Environmental Protection Agency formed in 1970
Clean Water Act 1972
mandated all rivers througout the United States be hygenic enough to safely allow mass amounts of swimmers and fish in the water by 1983
Three Mile Island
1979
Radiation levels reached 8x more than needed to kill, cancer rates in this area still remain really high
radiation detected more than a mile away
water coolers for reactor 2 cut out
what happened at the Love canal disaster
1978
20,000 tonnesToxic chemicals were in the river by the Hooker company, and these leaked into peoples homes.
11 chemicals found caused cancer and the state advised that children and pregnant women should move, and the first two streets were given money to move.
the rest of the streets campaigned for relocation.
EPA had a study leaked which claimed that it caused chromosomal defects.
The home owners took federal agents hostage to prove if its not safe for them its not safe for anyone. Five hours later Jimmy Carter steps in and buys the home owners out.
home owner at love canal
Louise Gibbs
Significance of love canal
1988
rehabilitation at Love canal began. All homes found an owner at below market prices
Good things Carter did as president
-Malaise speech
-oversaw the release of the Iranian hostages
bad things carter did as president
-firing his cabinet (poor decision)
-operation evil claw (unlucky)
-the environment (unlucky but poor in how he dealt with it)
Malaise speech
Carter invited dozens of American politicians and ordinary citizens to the presidential retreat at Camp David to voice their concerns. They not only told him about the problems the nation was facing with energy .
Carter took these criticisms to heart, and on July 15, 1979, he addressed the nation from the Oval Office about the crisis of confidence in the nation. Although he never used the term, critics soon dubbed this address the “malaise” speech.
It was as honest and soul-searching a speech as any modern president ever delivered. Carter called the problems facing the nation a “crisis of confidence”:
