250-533: Jimmy Carter 's tenure as the 39th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1977, and ended on January 20, 1981. Carter, a Democrat from Georgia , took office following his narrow victory over Republican incumbent president Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election . His presidency ended following his landslide defeat in the 1980 presidential election to Republican Ronald Reagan , after one term in office. At age 100, he
500-778: A Santa Fe September 13 rally, Humphrey said the Goldwater-led Republican Party was seeking "to divide America so that they may conquer" and that Goldwater would pinch individuals in his reduction of government. On September 16, Humphrey said the Americans for Democratic Action supported the Johnson administration's economic sanctions against Cuba, and that the organization wanted to see a free Cuban government. The following day in San Antonio , Texas, Humphrey said Goldwater opposed programs favored by most Texans and Americans. During
750-720: A bookkeeper and graduate of local Huron College. They were married from 1936 until Humphrey's death nearly 42 years later. They had four children: Nancy Faye, Skip Humphrey , Robert Andrew, and Douglas Sannes. Money was an issue that plagued the Humphreys consistently. One biographer noted, "For much of his life he was short of money to live on, and his relentless drive to attain the White House seemed at times like one long, losing struggle to raise enough campaign funds to get there." To help boost his salary, Humphrey frequently took paid outside speaking engagements. Through most of his years as
1000-572: A born again Christian, and his last child, Amy , was born during this time. In the 1970 gubernatorial election, liberal former governor Carl Sanders became Carter's main opponent in the Democratic primary. Carter ran a more modern campaign, employing printed graphics and statistical analysis. Responding to polls, he leaned more conservative than before, positioning himself as a populist and criticizing Sanders for both his wealth and perceived links to
1250-553: A dark-horse candidate not well known outside Georgia, Carter won the Democratic Party’s nomination and narrowly defeated the incumbent president, Gerald Ford of the Republican Party , in the 1976 presidential election . Carter pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders on his second day in office. He created a national energy policy that included conservation, price control, and new technology. Carter successfully pursued
1500-510: A general store and was an investor in farmland. Carter's father had previously served as a reserve second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps during World War I . During Carter's infancy, his family moved several times, settling on a dirt road in nearby Archery , which was almost entirely populated by impoverished African American families. His family eventually had three more children: Gloria , Ruth , and Billy . Carter got along well with his parents even though his mother
1750-409: A guaranteed minimum income , a federal job guarantee for the unemployed, a negative income tax , and direct cash payments to aid recipients. In early 1977, Secretary Califano presented Carter with several options for welfare reform, all of which Carter rejected because they increased government spending. In August 1977, Carter proposed a major jobs program for welfare recipients capable of working and
2000-683: A hot rod . Carter's truancy was mentioned in a local newspaper, although it is not clear he would have otherwise been valedictorian. As an adolescent, Carter played on the Plains High School basketball team, and also joined Future Farmers of America , which helped him develop a lifelong interest in woodworking. Carter had long dreamed of attending the United States Naval Academy . In 1941, he started undergraduate coursework in engineering at Georgia Southwestern College in nearby Americus, Georgia. The next year, Carter transferred to
2250-489: A national health insurance system, challenged Carter in the 1980 Democratic primaries . Boosted by public support for his policies in late 1979 and early 1980, Carter rallied to defeat Kennedy and win re-nomination. He lost the 1980 presidential election in a landslide to Republican nominee Ronald Reagan. Polls of historians and political scientists generally rank Carter as a below-average president, although his post-presidential activities are viewed more favorably. Carter
2500-541: A "crisis stage"; both inflation and short-term interest rates reached 18 percent in February and March 1980. In March, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell to its lowest level since mid-1976, and the following month unemployment rose to seven percent. The economy entered into another recession , its fourth in little more than a decade, and unemployment quickly rose to 7.8 percent. This " V-shaped recession " and
2750-693: A "decent income" to those who were incapable of working. Carter was unable to win support for his welfare reform proposals, and they never received a vote in Congress. In October 1978, Carter helped convince the Senate to pass the Humphrey–Hawkins Full Employment Act , which committed the federal government to the goals of low inflation and low unemployment. To the disappointment of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and organized labor,
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#17328455076213000-555: A $ 227 billion windfall profits tax and passed the Energy Security Act . The Energy Security Act established the Synthetic Fuels Corporation , which was charged with developing alternative energy sources. Despite those legislative victories, in 1980 Congress rescinded Carter's imposition of a surcharge on imported oil, and rejected his proposed Energy Mobilization Board, a government body that was designed to facilitate
3250-558: A $ 50 tax rebate, cut corporate taxes by $ 900 million, and increase spending on public works. The limited spending involved in the package reflected Carter's fiscal conservatism, as he was more concerned with avoiding inflation and balancing the budget than addressing unemployment. Carter's resistance to higher federal spending drew attacks from many members of his own party, who wanted to lower the unemployment rate through federal public works projects. Carter signed several measures designed to address unemployment in 1977, including an extension of
3500-491: A Fair Debt Collection Practices Act was passed with the aim of prohibiting "abusive and unfair techniques of debt collection." The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 was passed with the intention of enabling the coal industry to develop coal resources without damaging other natural resources in the process, while the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 was aimed at safeguarding mineworkers from harm in
3750-524: A George Reed memo with the allegation that the president would die within six months from an already acquired fatal heart disease. The same day, during a speech in Washington, Johnson announced Humphrey would have the position of giving assistance to governmental civil rights programs. On January 19, 1965, the day before the inauguration, Humphrey told the Democratic National Committee that
4000-643: A July 28 news conference, assessing the first six months of his presidency, Carter spoke of his improved understanding of Congress: "I have learned to respect the Congress more in an individual basis. I've been favorably impressed at the high degree of concentrated experience and knowledge that individual members of Congress can bring on a specific subject, where they've been the chairman of a subcommittee or committee for many years and have focused their attention on this particular aspect of government life which I will never be able to do." Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978)
4250-456: A November 20 interview, Humphrey announced he would resign his Senate seat midway through the next month so that Walter Mondale could assume the position. On December 10, 1964, Humphrey met with Johnson in the Oval Office, the latter charging the vice president-elect with "developing a publicity machine extraordinaire and of always wanting to get his name in the paper." Johnson showed Humphrey
4500-706: A September 27 appearance in Cleveland , Ohio, Humphrey said the Kennedy administration had led America in a prosperous direction and called for voters to issue a referendum with their vote against "those who seek to replace the Statue of Liberty with an iron-padlocked gate." At an October 1 rally in Tacoma , Washington, Humphrey attacked Goldwater as a radical who opposed the 1960 GOP platform and true conservatism, which in Humphrey's opinion meant
4750-566: A U.S. senator and vice president, he lived in a middle-class suburban housing development in Chevy Chase, Maryland . In 1958, the Humphreys used their savings and his speaking fees to build a lakefront home in Waverly, Minnesota , about 40 miles west of Minneapolis. During World War II , Humphrey tried three times to join the armed forces but failed. His first two attempts were to join the Navy, first as
5000-478: A balance of tradition and progress. At Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, on October 2, Humphrey said the general election would give voters a choice between his running mate and a candidate "who curses the darkness and never lights a candle". During an October 9 Jersey City, New Jersey , appearance, Humphrey responded to critics of the administration, who he called "sick and tired Americans", by touting
5250-464: A bill that combined several of the projects that Carter objected to with economic stimulus measures that Carter favored. Carter chose to sign the bill, but his criticism of the alleged "pork barrel" projects cost him support in Congress. These struggles set a pattern for Carter's presidency, and he would frequently clash with Congress for the remainder of his tenure. On taking office, Carter proposed an economic stimulus package that would give each citizen
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#17328455076215500-470: A campaign promise by issuing a "full complete and unconditional pardon" (amnesty) for Vietnam War-era draft evaders . Though Carter had campaigned against Washington insiders, many of his top appointees had served in previous presidential administrations. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance , Secretary of Defense Harold Brown , and Secretary of the Treasury W. Michael Blumenthal had been high-ranking officials in
5750-483: A campaign promise to teachers' unions to create a cabinet-level Department of Education. Carter argued that the establishment of the department would increase efficiency and equal opportunity, but opponents in both parties criticized it as an additional layer of bureaucracy that would reduce local control and local support of education. In October 1979, Carter signed the Department of Education Organization Act , establishing
6000-507: A commissioned officer and then as an enlisted man. He was rejected both times for color blindness. He then tried to enlist in the Army in December 1944 but failed the physical exam because of a double hernia, color blindness, and calcification of the lungs. Despite his attempts to join the military, one biographer would note that "all through his political life, Humphrey was dogged by the charge that he
6250-657: A few cities in the United States to prohibit racial discrimination in the workforce. Humphrey and his publicists were proud that the Council on Human Relations brought together individuals of varying ideologies. In 1960, Humphrey told journalist Theodore H. White , "I was mayor once, in Minneapolis ... a mayor is a fine job, it's the best job there is between being a governor and being the President." A 1993 survey of historians, political scientists and urban experts by Melvin G. Holli of
6500-528: A four-year college program by the state, and Carter saw Callaway—who had switched to the Republican Party —as a rival who represented aspects of politics he despised. Carter was reelected to a second two-year term in the state Senate, where he chaired its Education Committee and sat on the Appropriations Committee toward the end of the term. He contributed to a bill expanding statewide education funding and getting Georgia Southwestern State University
6750-544: A four-year program. He leveraged his regional planning work, giving speeches around the district to make himself more visible to potential voters. On the last day of the term, Carter announced his candidacy for the House of Representatives. Callaway decided to run for governor instead; Carter changed his mind, deciding to run for governor too. In the 1966 gubernatorial election, Carter ran against liberal former governor Ellis Arnall and conservative segregationist Lester Maddox in
7000-603: A key aide and adviser. Other appointees from Georgia included Jody Powell as White House Press Secretary , Jack Watson as cabinet secretary, and Stuart E. Eizenstat as head of the Domestic Policy Staff. To oversee the administration's foreign policy, Carter relied on several members of the Trilateral Commission , including Vance and National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski . Brzezinski emerged as one of Carter's closest advisers, and Carter made use of both
7250-512: A local anesthetic, so that even if the sniffles didn't get better, you felt it less." The various "Humphrey cures ... worked well enough and constituted an important part of the family income ... the farmers that bought the medicines were good customers." Over time Humphrey's Drug Store became a profitable enterprise and the family again prospered. While living in Huron, Humphrey regularly attended Huron's largest Methodist church and became scoutmaster of
7500-399: A long tribute to the President, then hit his stride as he began a rhythmic jabbing and chopping at Barry Goldwater . "Most Democrats and Republicans in the Senate voted for an $ 11.5 billion tax cut for American citizens and American business," he cried, "but not Senator Goldwater. Most Democrats and Republicans in the Senate – in fact four-fifths of the members of his own party – voted for
7750-452: A lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times." This response and his admission in another interview that he did not mind if people uttered the word "fuck" led to a media feeding frenzy and critics lamenting the erosion of boundary between politicians and their private intimate lives. Carter once had a sizable lead over Ford in national polling, but by late September his lead had narrowed to only several points. In
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8000-552: A member of the Baptist Church and chairman of the Sumter County school board. In 1962, he announced his campaign for an open Georgia State Senate seat 15 days before the election. Rosalynn, who had an instinct for politics and organization, was instrumental to his campaign. While early counting of the ballots showed Carter trailing his opponent, Homer Moore, this was later proven to be the result of fraudulent voting. The fraud
8250-410: A methodical approach to his transition, and having a larger and more formal operation than past presidential transitions had. In his inaugural address, Carter said, "We have learned that more is not necessarily better, that even our great nation has its recognized limits, and that we can neither answer all questions nor solve all problems." Carter had campaigned on a promise to eliminate the trappings of
8500-637: A mid-1979 cabinet shake-up, Carter named Paul Volcker as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board . Volcker pursued a tight monetary policy to bring down inflation, but this policy also had the effect of slowing economic growth even further. Author Ivan Eland points out that this came during a long trend of inflation, saying, "Easy money and cheap credit during the 1970s, had caused rampant inflation, which topped out at 13 percent in 1979." Carter enacted an austerity program by executive order , justifying these measures by observing that inflation had reached
8750-462: A moderate when it became clear Wallace could not win the region. In the North, Carter appealed largely to conservative Christian and rural voters. While he did not achieve a majority in most Northern states, he won several by building the largest singular support base. Although Carter was initially dismissed as a regional candidate, he would clinch the Democratic nomination. In 1980, Lawrence Shoup noted that
9000-535: A new emphasis on human rights , democratic values , nuclear proliferation , and global poverty. The Carter administration's human rights emphasis was part of a broader, worldwide focus on human rights in the 1970s, as non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch became increasingly prominent. Carter nominated civil rights activist Patricia M. Derian as Coordinator for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, and in August 1977, had
9250-402: A news conference on July 13, 1971, Carter announced that he had ordered department heads to reduce spending to prevent a $ 57-million deficit by the end of the 1972 fiscal year, specifying that each state department would be affected and estimating that 5 percent over government revenue would be lost if state departments continued to fully use allocated funds. On January 13, 1972, he requested that
9500-683: A period of " stagflation ", as the economy experienced both high inflation and low economic growth. The U.S. had recovered from the 1973–75 recession , but the economy, and especially inflation, continued to be a top concern for many Americans in 1977 and 1978. The economy had grown by 5% in 1976, and it continued to grow at a similar pace during 1977 and 1978. Unemployment declined from 7.5% in January 1977 to 5.6% by May 1979, with over 9 million net new jobs created during that interim, and real median household income grew by 5% from 1976 to 1978. In October 1978, responding to worsening inflation, Carter announced
9750-432: A plan to address the energy crisis. In an address to the nation of April 18, 1977, Carter called the energy crisis as, apart from preventing war, "the greatest challenge that our country will face during our lifetime." He called for energy conservation, increased use of U.S. coal reserves, and carefully controlled expansion of nuclear power. His chief goals were to limit the growth of energy demand to an increase of two percent
10000-521: A plurality of the vote but less than a majority, allowing the Democratic-majority Georgia House of Representatives to elect Maddox as governor. This resulted in a victorious Maddox, whose victory—due to his segregationist stance—was seen as the worst outcome for the indebted Carter. Carter returned to his agriculture business, carefully planning his next campaign. This period was a spiritual turning point for Carter; he declared himself
10250-409: A portion of the 88th Congress . Initially, Humphrey's support of civil rights led to his being ostracized by Southern Democrats, who dominated Senate leadership positions and wanted to punish him for proposing the civil rights platform at the 1948 Convention. Senator Richard Russell Jr. of Georgia, a leader of Southern Democrats, once remarked to other senators as Humphrey walked by, "Can you imagine
Presidency of Jimmy Carter - Misplaced Pages Continue
10500-577: A president to pursue what had traditionally been the role of Congress. Carter was also weakened by signing a bill that contained many of the "hit list" projects he had intended to veto. In an address to a fundraising dinner for the Democratic National Committee on June 23, 1977, Carter said, "I think it's good to point out tonight, too, that we have evolved a good working relationship with the Congress. For eight years we had government by partisanship. Now we have government by partnership." At
10750-547: A presidential bid for 1976 together. He tried unsuccessfully to become chairman of the National Governors Association to boost his visibility. On David Rockefeller 's endorsement, he was named to the Trilateral Commission in April 1973. The next year, he was named chairman of both the Democratic National Committee 's congressional and gubernatorial campaigns. In May 1973, Carter warned his party against politicizing
11000-517: A press conference on February 23, 1977, Carter stated that it was "inevitable" that he would come into conflict with Congress and added that he had found "a growing sense of cooperation" with Congress and met in the past with congressional members of both parties. Carter developed a bitter feeling following an unsuccessful attempt at having Congress enact the scrapping of several water projects, which he had requested during his first 100 days in office and received opposition from members of his party. As
11250-432: A press conference, Carter said the continued discussions about his energy reform proposal had been "long and divisive and arduous" as well as hindering to national issues that needed to be addressed with the implementation of the law. In an April 11, 1978, news conference, Carter said his biggest surprise "in the nature of a disappointment" since becoming president was the difficulty Congress had in passing legislation, citing
11500-734: A pro-civil rights agenda. The move backfired: although the civil rights plank cost Truman the Dixiecrats' support, a significant number of black voters switched their support from Henry A. Wallace to him. As a result, Truman won an upset victory over his Republican opponent, Thomas E. Dewey . The result demonstrated that the Democratic Party could win presidential elections without the "Solid South" and weakened Southern Democrats. Pulitzer Prize -winning historian David McCullough has written that Humphrey probably did more to get Truman elected in 1948 than anyone other than Truman himself. Humphrey
11750-460: A protégé of Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas . Humphrey became known for his advocacy of liberal causes (such as civil rights , arms control , a nuclear test ban , food stamps , and humanitarian foreign aid ), and for his long and witty speeches. Humphrey was a liberal leader who fought to uphold Truman's veto of the McCarran Act of 1950 . The bill was designed to suppress
12000-691: A purveyor of fairy tales. In a September address to the National Stationery and Office Equipment Association, Humphrey called for further inspection of Khrushchev's "live and let live" doctrine and maintained the Cold War could be won by using American "weapons of peace". In June 1963, Humphrey accompanied his longtime friend labor leader Walter Reuther on a trip to Harpsund , the Swedish Prime Minister's summer country retreat, to meet with European socialist leaders for an exchange of ideas. Among
12250-520: A reorganization plan submitted in January 1972. Despite initially having a cool reception in the legislature, the plan passed at midnight on the last day of the session. Carter merged about 300 state agencies into 22, although it is disputed whether that saved the state money. On July 8, 1971, during an appearance in Columbus, Georgia , he stated his intention to establish a Georgia Human Rights Council to help solve issues ahead of any potential violence. In
12500-619: A resolution calling for the US to urge free elections in Germany in response to the anti-Communist riots in East Berlin . In December 1958, after receiving a message from Nikita Khrushchev during a visit to the Soviet Union, Humphrey returned insisting that the message was not negative toward America. In February 1959, Humphrey said American newspapers should have ignored Khrushchev's comments calling him
12750-534: A rift ensued between the White House and Congress afterward, Carter noted that the Democratic Party's liberal wing opposed his policies the most ardently, attributing this to Ted Kennedy's wanting the presidency . Thinking he had support from 74 Congressmen, Carter issued a "hit list" of 19 projects that he claimed were "pork barrel" spending that he said he would veto if they were included in legislation. He found himself again at odds with Congressional Democrats, as House Speaker Tip O'Neill found it inappropriate for
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#173284550762113000-519: A second round of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT), which had set upper limits on the number of nuclear weapons possessed by both the United States and the Soviet Union. Carter hoped to extend these talks by reaching an agreement to reduce, rather than merely set upper limits on, the nuclear arsenals of both countries. At the same time, he criticized the Soviet Union's record with regard to human rights, partly because he believed
13250-581: A simulated war patrol to the western Pacific and Chinese coast from January to March of that year. In 1951, Carter was assigned to the diesel/electric USS K-1 (SSK-1) , qualified for command, and served in several positions, to include executive officer. In 1952, Carter began an association with the Navy's fledgling nuclear submarine program, led then by captain Hyman G. Rickover . Rickover had high standards and demands for his men and machines, and Carter later said that, next to his parents, Rickover had
13500-598: A sounding board, advisor, and surrogate for the president. She traveled abroad to negotiate foreign policy, and some polling found that she was tied with Mother Teresa as the most admired woman in the world. Carter shook up the White House staff in mid-1978, bringing in advertising executive Gerald Rafshoon to serve as the White House Communications Director and Anne Wexler to lead the Office of Public Liaison . Carter implemented broad personnel changes in
13750-670: A speech in Georgia. Carter's appeal to racism became more blatant over time, with his senior campaign aides handing out a photograph of Sanders celebrating with Black basketball players. Carter came ahead of Sanders in the first ballot by 49 percent to 38 percent in September, leading to a runoff election. The subsequent campaign was even more bitter; despite his early support for civil rights, Carter's appeal to racism grew, and he criticized Sanders for supporting Martin Luther King Jr. Carter won
14000-487: A stiff tax increase to prevent borrowing. In a January 1951 letter to President Truman, Humphrey wrote of the necessity of a commission akin to the Fair Employment Practices Commission that would be used to end discrimination in defense industries and predicted that establishing such a commission by executive order would be met with high approval by Americans. On June 18, 1953, Humphrey introduced
14250-625: A strong stance against white minority rule in Rhodesia and South Africa. With Carter's support, the United Nations passed Resolution 418 , which placed an arms embargo on South Africa. Carter won the repeal of the Byrd Amendment , which had undercut international sanctions on the Rhodesian government of Ian Smith . He also pressured Smith to hold elections, leading to the 1979 Rhodesia elections and
14500-510: A successful Viet Cong hit-and-run attack on a U.S. military installation at Pleiku on February 7, 1965 (where 7 Americans were killed and 109 wounded), Humphrey returned from Georgia to Washington D.C., to attempt to prevent further escalation. He told President Johnson that bombing North Vietnam was not a solution to the problems in South Vietnam , but that bombing would require the injection of US ground forces into South Vietnam to protect
14750-513: A system. He delayed consideration of health care through 1977, and ultimately decided that he would not support Kennedy's proposal to establish an NHI system that covered all Americans. Kennedy met repeatedly with Carter and White House staffers in an attempt to forge a compromise health care plan, but negotiations broke down in July 1978. Though Kennedy and Carter had previously been on good terms, differences over health insurance led to an open break between
15000-509: A televised joint appearance with Florida governor Reubin Askew on January 31, 1973, and co-sponsored an anti-busing resolution with Wallace at the 1971 National Governors Conference. After the U.S. Supreme Court threw out Georgia's death penalty statute in Furman v. Georgia (1972), Carter signed a revised death-penalty statute that addressed the court's objections, thus reintroducing the practice in
15250-510: A televised speech declaring that the current energy crisis was the "moral equivalent of war". He encouraged energy conservation and installed solar water heating panels on the White House . He wore sweaters to offset turning down the heat in the White House. On August 4, 1977, Carter signed the Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977 , forming the Department of Energy, the first new cabinet position in eleven years. Carter emphasized that
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#173284550762115500-450: A year from now or a month from now, right now", and "You take care of the law enforcement. I'll take care of the politics." Humphrey served as mayor from 1945 to 1948, winning reelection in 1947 by the largest margin in the city's history to that time. Humphrey gained national fame by becoming one of the founders of the liberal anticommunist Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), and he served as chairman from 1949 to 1950. He also reformed
15750-657: A year, cut oil imports in half, and establish a new strategic petroleum reserve containing a six-month supply. Carter won congressional approval for the creation of the Department of Energy , and he named Schlesinger as the first head of that department. Schlesinger presented an energy plan that contained 113 provisions, the most important of which were taxes on domestic oil production and gasoline consumption. The plan also provided for tax credits for energy conservation, taxes on automobiles with low fuel efficiency , and mandates to convert from oil or natural gas to coal power. The House approved much of Carter's plan in August 1977, but
16000-548: A year, he, Rosalynn, and their three sons lived in public housing in Plains. Carter was knowledgeable in scientific and technological subjects, and he set out to expand the family's peanut-growing business. Transitioning from the Navy to an agribusinessman was difficult as his first-year harvest failed due to a drought, and Carter had to open several bank lines of credit to keep the farm afloat. Meanwhile, he took classes and studied agriculture while Rosalynn learned accounting to manage
16250-606: Is an American politician and humanitarian who served from 1977 to 1981 as the 39th president of the United States . A member of the Democratic Party , he served from 1963 to 1967 in the Georgia State Senate and from 1971 to 1975 as the 76th governor of Georgia . Carter is the longest-lived president in U.S. history and the first to live to 100 years of age . Carter was born and raised in Plains, Georgia . He graduated from
16500-540: Is an infringement on states' rights, I say this: the time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadow of states' rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights!" Humphrey and his allies succeeded: the convention adopted the pro-civil-rights plank by a vote of 651 + 1 ⁄ 2 to 582 + 1 ⁄ 2 . After the convention's vote, the Mississippi delegation and half of
16750-603: Is often credited for creating the Peace Corps , Humphrey introduced the first bill to create the Peace Corps in 1957—three years before Kennedy's University of Michigan speech. A trio of journalists wrote of Humphrey in 1969 that "few men in American politics have achieved so much of lasting significance. It was Humphrey, not Senator [Everett] Dirksen, who played the crucial part in the complex parliamentary games that were needed to pass
17000-471: Is the oldest living, longest-lived and longest-married president, and has the longest post-presidency. He is also the fourth-oldest living former state leader . Carter took office during a period of " stagflation ", as the economy experienced a combination of high inflation and slow economic growth. His budgetary policies centered on taming inflation by reducing deficits and government spending. Responding to energy concerns that had persisted through much of
17250-477: The 1940 presidential campaign Humphrey and future University of Minnesota president Malcolm Moos debated the merits of Franklin D. Roosevelt , the Democratic nominee, and Wendell Willkie , the Republican nominee, on a Minneapolis radio station. Humphrey supported Roosevelt. Humphrey soon became active in Minneapolis politics, and as a result never finished his PhD. In 1934, Humphrey began dating Muriel Buck ,
17500-477: The 1948 Democratic National Convention , the party platform reflected the division by containing only platitudes supporting civil rights. The incumbent president, Harry S. Truman , had shelved most of his 1946 Commission on Civil Rights's recommendations to avoid angering Southern Democrats. But Humphrey had written in The Progressive magazine, "The Democratic Party must lead the fight for every principle in
17750-622: The 1964 presidential campaign began, Humphrey made clear his interest in becoming Lyndon Johnson's running mate. At the 1964 Democratic National Convention , Johnson kept the three likely vice-presidential candidates, Connecticut Senator Thomas Dodd , fellow Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy , and Humphrey, as well as the rest of the nation, in suspense before announcing his choice of Humphrey with much fanfare, praising his qualifications at considerable length before announcing his name. The following day Humphrey's acceptance speech overshadowed Johnson's own acceptance address: Hubert warmed up with
18000-647: The 1968 presidential election , which he lost to Republican nominee Richard Nixon . Born in Wallace, South Dakota , Humphrey attended the University of Minnesota . In 1943, he became a professor of political science at Macalester College and ran a failed campaign for mayor of Minneapolis . He helped found the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) in 1944; the next year he was elected mayor of Minneapolis, serving until 1948 and co-founding
18250-566: The Alabama delegation walked out of the hall. Many Southern Democrats were so enraged at this affront to their "way of life" that they formed the Dixiecrat party and nominated their own presidential candidate, Governor Strom Thurmond of South Carolina . The Dixiecrats' goal was to take Southern states away from Truman and thus cause his defeat. They reasoned that after such a defeat, the national Democratic Party would never again aggressively pursue
18500-573: The American Communist Party . With a small group of liberals he supported the Kilgore substitute that would allow the president to lock up subversives, without trial, in a time of national emergency. The model was the internment of West Coast Japanese in 1942 . The goal was to split the McCarran coalition. For years critics charged that Humphrey supported concentration camps. The ploy failed to stop
18750-690: The Camp David Accords , the Panama Canal Treaties , and the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks . He also confronted stagflation . His administration established the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of Education . The end of his presidency was marked by the Iran hostage crisis , an energy crisis , the Three Mile Island accident , the Nicaraguan Revolution , and
19000-463: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 . It was Humphrey, not John Kennedy, who first proposed the Peace Corps. The Food for Peace program was Humphrey's idea, and so was Medicare , passed sixteen years after he first proposed it. He worked for Federal aid to education from 1949, and for a nuclear-test ban treaty from 1956. These are the solid monuments of twenty years of effective work for liberal causes in
19250-588: The Cold War , a sustained period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union . During the late 1960s and early 1970s, relations between the two superpowers had improved through a policy known as detente . In a reflection of the waning importance of the Cold War, some of Carter's contemporaries labeled him as the first post-Cold War president, but relations with the Soviet Union would continue to be an important factor in American foreign policy in
19500-668: The Community Reinvestment Act , which sought to prevent banks from denying credit and loans to poor communities. The Child Nutrition Amendments of 1978 introduced a national income standard for program eligibility based on income standards prescribed for reduced-price school lunches. The Act also strengthened the nutrition education component of the WIC program by requiring the provision of nutritional education to all program participants. Urban development Action grants supplied nearly $ 5 million for some 3,300 projects in declining cities, and
19750-522: The Comprehensive Employment and Training Act , but he continued to focus primarily on reducing deficits and inflation. In November 1978, Carter signed the Revenue Act of 1978 , a $ 19 billion tax cut. Federal budget deficits throughout Carter's term remained at around the $ 70 billion level reached in 1976, but as a percentage of GDP the deficits fell from 4% when he took office to 2.5% in
20000-487: The Executive Office of the President . He initially offered the position of White House Chief of Staff to two of his advisers, Hamilton Jordan and Charles Kirbo , but both declined. Carter decided not to have a chief of staff, instead implementing a system in which cabinet members would have more direct access to the president. Bert Lance was selected to lead the Office of Management and Budget , while Jordan became
20250-608: The Federal Trade Commission . In 1980, Carter signed Law H.R. 5860 aka Public Law 96–185, known as The Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979 , to bail out the Chrysler Corporation with $ 3.5 billion (equivalent to $ 12.94 billion in 2023) in aid. Carter attempted to calm various conflicts around the world, most visibly in the Middle East with the signing of the Camp David Accords ; giving back
20500-514: The Gallup poll found only 14 percent of the public believed that America was in an actual energy shortage. The other 77 percent believed that this was brought on by oil companies just to make a profit. Carter paired the deregulation proposal with a windfall profits tax , which would return about half of the new profits of the oil companies to the federal government. Carter used a provision of EPCA to phase in oil controls, but Congress balked at implementing
20750-645: The Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, where civil rights icon Blake Van Leer was president. While at Georgia Tech, Carter took part in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps . In 1943, he received an appointment to the Naval Academy from U.S. Representative Stephen Pace , and Carter graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1946. He was a good student but was seen as reserved and quiet, in contrast to
21000-526: The House and Senate . Preliminary planning for Carter's presidential transition had already been underway for months before his election. Carter was the first presidential candidate to allot significant funds and a significant number of personnel to a pre-election transition planning effort, which subsequently would become standard practice. Carter made an innovation with his presidential transition that would influence all subsequent presidential transitions, taking
21250-529: The Israeli–Palestinian conflict . Polls of historians and political scientists generally rank Carter as a below-average president, though scholars and the public more favorably view his post-presidency , which is the longest in U.S. history. James Earl Carter Jr. was born October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia , at the Wise Sanitarium , where his mother worked as a registered nurse. Carter thus became
21500-894: The Motor Carrier Act (1980), which gradually withdrew the government from controlling access, rates, and routes in the trucking industry; the Staggers Rail Act (1980), which loosened railroad regulations by allowing railroad executives to negotiate mergers with barge and truck lines; and the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (1980), which removed ceilings on interest rates and permitted savings and commercial banks to write home mortgages , extend business loans , and underwrite securities issues. The Housing and Community Development Act of 1977 set up Urban Development Action Grants, extended handicapped and elderly provisions, and established
21750-497: The National Security Council and Vance's State Department in developing and implementing foreign policy. The hawkish Brzezinski clashed frequently with Vance, who pushed for detente with the Soviet Union . Vice President Mondale served as a key adviser on both foreign and domestic issues. First Lady Rosalynn Carter emerged as an important part of the administration, sitting in on several Cabinet meetings and serving as
22000-623: The Progressive Era . He was thus much more conservative than the dominant liberal wing of the party could accept. British historian Iwan Morgan argues: Carter successfully campaigned as a Washington "outsider" critical of both President Gerald Ford and the Democratic Congress; as president, he continued this theme. This refusal to play by the rules of Washington contributed to the Carter administration's difficult relationship with Congress. After
22250-631: The Select Committee on Disarmament ( 84th and 85th Congresses). In February 1960 he introduced a bill to establish a National Peace Agency. With another former pharmacist, Representative Carl Durham , Humphrey cosponsored the Durham-Humphrey Amendment , which amended the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act , defining two specific categories for medications, legend ( prescription ) and over-the-counter (OTC). As Democratic whip in
22500-493: The Senate Finance Committee to support an employer mandate to provide catastrophic coverage and the addition of catastrophic coverage to Medicare. These efforts were abandoned in 1980 due to budget constraints. Carter sought a comprehensive overhaul of welfare programs in order to provide more cost-effective aid; Congress rejected almost all of his proposals. Proposals contemplated by the Carter administration include
22750-628: The Social Security Act , and having a balanced budget by the end of his first term of office. On July 15, 1976, Carter chose U.S. senator Walter Mondale as his running mate. Carter and Ford faced off in three televised debates, the first United States presidential debates since 1960. For the November 1976 issue of Playboy , which hit newsstands a couple of weeks before the election, Robert Scheer interviewed Carter. While discussing his religion's view of pride, Carter said: "I've looked on
23000-569: The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, he reversed his conciliatory policies towards the Soviet Union and began a period of military build-up and diplomatic pressure such as pulling out of the Moscow Olympics . The final fifteen months of Carter's presidential tenure were marked by several additional major crises, including the Iran hostage crisis and economic malaise. Ted Kennedy , a prominent liberal Democrat who protested Carter's opposition to
23250-557: The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan . In response to the invasion, Carter escalated the Cold War by ending détente , imposing a grain embargo against the Soviets , enunciating the Carter Doctrine , and leading the multinational boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. He lost the 1980 presidential election in a landslide to Ronald Reagan , the Republican nominee. After leaving
23500-659: The Supreme Court . Carter appointed 56 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals , and 203 judges to the United States district courts . Two of his circuit court appointees – Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg – were later promoted to the Supreme Court by Bill Clinton . Carter was the first president to make demographic diversity a key priority in the selection of judicial nominees. During Carter's presidency,
23750-488: The U.S. Naval Academy in 1946 and joined the U.S. Navy 's submarine service. Carter returned home after his military service and revived his family's peanut-growing business. Opposing racial segregation , Carter supported the growing civil rights movement , and became an activist within the Democratic Party. He served in the Georgia State Senate from 1963 to 1967 and then as Governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975. As
24000-521: The United States Department of Education . Carter appointed Shirley Mount Hufstedler , a liberal judge from California, as the first Secretary of Education. Carter also expanded the Head Start program with the addition of 43,000 children and families. During his tenure, education spending as a share of federal, non-defense spending was doubled. Carter opposed tax breaks for Protestant schools in
24250-439: The University of Illinois at Chicago ranked Humphrey as the 28th-best American big-city mayor to have served between 1820 and 1993. The Democratic Party of 1948 was split between those, mainly Northerners, who thought the federal government should actively protect civil rights for racial minorities, and those, mainly Southerners, who believed that states should be able to enforce racial segregation within their borders. At
24500-539: The Watergate scandal , which he attributed to president Richard Nixon 's isolation from Americans and secretive decision-making. On December 12, 1974, Carter announced his presidential campaign at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. His speech contained themes of domestic inequality, optimism, and change. Upon his entrance in the Democratic primaries, he was competing against sixteen other candidates, and
24750-563: The dust storms , the conflict between my desire to do something and be somebody and my loyalty to him ... he replied 'Hubert, if you aren't happy, then you ought to do something about it'." Humphrey returned to the University of Minnesota in 1937 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1939. He was a member of Phi Delta Chi , a pharmacy fraternity. He also earned a master's degree from Louisiana State University in 1940, serving as an assistant instructor of political science there. One of his classmates
25000-494: The left-wing non-communist group Americans for Democratic Action in 1947. In 1948, he was elected to the U.S. Senate and successfully advocated for the inclusion of a proposal to end racial segregation in the 1948 Democratic National Convention 's party platform. Humphrey served three terms in the Senate from 1949 to 1964, and was the Senate Majority Whip for the last four years of his tenure. During this time, he
25250-488: The " Imperial Presidency ," and began taking action according to that promise on Inauguration Day, breaking with recent history and security protocols by walking from the Capitol to the White House in his inaugural parade. His first steps in the White House went further in this direction: Carter cut the size of the 500-member White House staff by one-third and reduced the perks for the president and cabinet members. He also fulfilled
25500-478: The 1960s and 1970s, before his presidency. Some later called this his " malaise speech", memorable for mixed reactions and his use of rhetoric. The speech's negative reception centered on a view that he did not emphasize his own efforts to address the energy crisis and seemed too reliant on Americans. In 1978, Carter declared a federal emergency in the neighborhood of Love Canal in the city of Niagara Falls, New York . More than 800 families were evacuated from
25750-578: The 1970s, his administration enacted a national energy policy designed for long-term energy conservation and the development of alternative resources. In the short term, the country was beset by an energy crisis in 1979 which was overlapped by a recession in 1980. Carter sought reforms to the country's welfare, health care, and tax systems, but was largely unsuccessful, partly due to poor relations with Democrats in Congress . Carter reoriented U.S. foreign policy towards an emphasis on human rights . He continued
26000-541: The 1976 Democratic presidential nomination in December 1974 and swore "to never lie to the American people." As Democratic leaders such as 1968 nominee Hubert Humphrey , Senator Walter Mondale of Minnesota, and Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts declined to enter the race, there was no clear favorite in the Democratic primaries . Mo Udall , Sargent Shriver , Birch Bayh , Fred R. Harris , Terry Sanford , Henry M. Jackson , Lloyd Bentsen , and George Wallace all sought
26250-521: The 1980–81 fiscal year. The national debt of the United States increased by about $ 280 billion, from $ 620 billion in early 1977 to $ 900 billion in late 1980. However, because economic growth outpaced the growth in nominal debt, the federal government's debt as a percentage of gross domestic product decreased slightly, from 33.6% in early 1977 to 31.8% in late 1980. In 1973, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), based in
26500-528: The 39th president on January 20, 1977. One of Carter's first acts was the fulfillment of a campaign promise by issuing an executive order declaring unconditional amnesty for Vietnam War -era draft evaders , Proclamation 4483 . Carter's tenure in office was marked by an economic malaise, a time of continuing inflation and recession and a 1979 energy crisis . Under Carter, the U.S. experienced its first ever government shutdown in May 1980, though it affected only
26750-600: The American public. Carter became the front-runner early on by winning the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary . His strategy involved reaching a region before another candidate could extend influence there, traveling over 50,000 miles (80,000 kilometres), visiting 37 states, and delivering over 200 speeches before any other candidate had entered the race. In the South, he tacitly conceded certain areas to Wallace and swept them as
27000-492: The Civil Rights Act, but not Senator Goldwater." Time after time, he capped his indictments with the drumbeat cry: "But not Senator Goldwater!" The delegates caught the cadence and took up the chant. A quizzical smile spread across Humphrey's face, then turned to a laugh of triumph. Hubert was in fine form. He knew it. The delegates knew it. And no one could deny that Hubert Humphrey would be a formidable political antagonist in
27250-776: The Communists from the DFL. After the war, Humphrey again ran for mayor of Minneapolis; this time, he won the June 1945 general election with 61% of the vote. As mayor, he helped ensure the appointment of a friend and previous neighbor, Edwin Ryan, as head of the police department, as he needed a "police chief whose integrity and loyalty would be above reproach." Though they had differing views of labor unions, Ryan and Humphrey worked together to crack down on crime in Minneapolis. Humphrey told Ryan, "I want this town cleaned up and I mean I want it cleaned up now, not
27500-400: The Democratic primary. In a press conference, he described his ideology as "Conservative, moderate, liberal and middle-of-the-road ... I believe I am a more complicated person than that." He lost the primary but drew enough votes as a third-place candidate to force Arnall into a runoff election with Maddox, who narrowly defeated Arnall. In the general election, Republican nominee Callaway won
27750-462: The European leaders who met with Humphrey and Reuther were the prime ministers of Britain, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, as well as future German chancellor Willy Brandt . Humphrey ran for the Democratic presidential nomination twice before his election to the vice presidency in 1964. The first time was as Minnesota's favorite son in 1952; he received only 26 votes on the first ballot. The second time
28000-450: The House of Representatives had "adopted almost all" of the energy proposal he had made five months earlier and called the compromise "a turning point in establishing a comprehensive energy program." The following month, on October 13, Carter stated he believed in the Senate's ability to pass the energy reform bill and identified energy as "the most important domestic issue that we will face while I am in office." On January 12, 1978, during
28250-408: The Humphreys had become manufacturers ... of patent medicines for both hogs and humans. A sign featuring a wooden pig was hung over the drugstore to tell the public about this unusual service. Farmers got the message, and it was Humphrey's that became known as the farmer's drugstore." One biographer noted, "while Hubert Jr. minded the store and stirred the concoctions in the basement, Hubert Sr. went on
28500-595: The Interior Cecil Andrus convinced Carter to withdraw over 100 million acres of public domain land in Alaska from commercial use by designating the land as conservation areas. The 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act doubled the amount of public land set aside for national parks and wildlife refuges. Business and conservative interests complained that economic growth would be hurt by these conservation efforts. Early in his term, Carter worked to fulfill
28750-591: The Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Other notable appointments included Charles Schultze as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers , former Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger as a presidential assistant on energy issues, federal judge Griffin Bell as Attorney General, and Patricia Roberts Harris , the first African-American woman to serve in the cabinet, as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Carter appointed several close associates from Georgia to staff
29000-574: The Kennedys had bought the West Virginia primary by bribing county sheriffs and other local officials to give Kennedy the vote. Humphrey later wrote, "as a professional politician I was able to accept and indeed respect the efficacy of the Kennedy campaign. But underneath the beautiful exterior, there was an element of ruthlessness and toughness that I had trouble either accepting or forgetting." Kennedy defeated Humphrey soundly in West Virginia with 60.8% of
29250-423: The Middle East, had reduced output to raise world prices and to hurt Israel and its allies, including the United States. This sparked the 1973 Oil Crisis , a period of high oil prices, which in turn forced higher prices throughout the American economy and slowed economic growth. The United States continued to face energy issues in the following years, and during the winter of 1976–1977 natural gas shortages forced
29500-477: The Minneapolis police force. The city had been named the " anti-Semitism capital" of the country, and its small African-American population also faced discrimination. Humphrey's mayoralty is noted for his efforts to fight all forms of bigotry. He formed the Council on Human Relations and established a municipal version of the Fair Employment Practice Committee , making Minneapolis one of only
29750-549: The Navy. He signed several significant bills to protect the environment, such as the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 , which regulates strip mining. In 1980 Carter signed into law a bill that established Superfund , a federal program designed to clean up mining or factory sites contaminated with hazardous substances. Other environmental laws signed by Carter addressed energy conservation, federal mine safety standards, and control of pesticides. Secretary of
30000-575: The New Hampshire primary, which he also won. Carter's subsequent victory over Wallace in the Florida and North Carolina primaries eliminated Carter's main rival in the South. With a victory over Jackson in the Pennsylvania primary, Carter established himself as the clear front-runner. Despite the late entrance of Senator Frank Church and Governor Jerry Brown into the race, Carter clinched the nomination on
30250-617: The Office of Management James Lynn and United States secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld at the Blair House , and holding an afternoon meeting with President Ford at the White House . The next day, he conferred with congressional leaders, expressing that his meetings with cabinet members had been "very helpful" and saying Ford had requested he seek out his assistance if needing anything. Relations between Ford and Carter were relatively cold during
30500-667: The Panama Canal to Panama; and signing the SALT II nuclear arms reduction treaty with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev . His final year was marred by the Iran hostage crisis , which contributed to his losing the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan . Whistleblowers have alleged, most recently in 2023, that people working on the Reagan campaign's behalf convinced Iran to prolong the crisis to reduce Carter's chance of reelection. Moralism typified much of Carter's action. On April 18, 1977, he delivered
30750-446: The Senate in 1964, Humphrey was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act that year. He was a lead author of its text, alongside Senate Republican Minority Leader Everett Dirksen of Illinois. Humphrey's consistently cheerful and upbeat demeanor, and his forceful advocacy of liberal causes, led him to be nicknamed "The Happy Warrior" by many of his Senate colleagues and political journalists. While President John F. Kennedy
31000-507: The Senate passed a series of watered-down energy bills that included few of Carter's proposals. Negotiations with Congress dragged on into 1978, but Carter signed the National Energy Act in November 1978. Many of Carter's original proposals were not included in the legislation, but the act deregulated natural gas and encouraged energy conservation and the development of renewable energy through tax credits. Another energy shortage hit
31250-492: The Senate." President Johnson once said that "Most Senators are minnows ... Hubert Humphrey is among the whales." In his autobiography, The Education of a Public Man , Humphrey wrote: There were three bills of particular emotional importance to me: the Peace Corps , a disarmament agency, and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The President, knowing how I felt, asked me to introduce legislation for all three. I introduced
31500-595: The South, a position that alienated some on the Religious Right . He also helped defeat the Moynihan-Packwood Bill, which called for tuition tax credits for parents to use for nonpublic school education. Carter took a stance in support of decriminalization of cannabis, citing the legislation passed in Oregon in 1973 . In a 1977 address to Congress, Carter submitted that penalties for cannabis use should not outweigh
31750-682: The South, and ending job discrimination based on skin color. Also strongly backing the minority plank were Democratic urban bosses like Ed Flynn of the Bronx , who promised the votes of northeastern delegates to Humphrey's platform, Jacob Arvey of Chicago, and David Lawrence of Pittsburgh . Although seen as conservatives, the urban bosses believed that Northern Democrats could gain many black votes by supporting civil rights, with only comparatively small losses from Southern Democrats. Although many scholars have suggested that labor unions were leading figures in this coalition, no significant labor leaders attended
32000-454: The Treasury, Benjamin Civiletti took office as Attorney General, and Charles Duncan Jr. became Secretary of Energy. After Vance resigned in 1980, Carter appointed Edmund Muskie , a well-respected Senator with whom Carter had developed friendly relations, to serve as Secretary of State. Among presidents who served at least one full term, Carter is the only one who never made an appointment to
32250-468: The United Nations, Andrew Young , was the first African American to hold a high-level diplomatic post. Along with Carter, he sought to change U.S. policy towards Africa, emphasizing human rights concerns over Cold War issues. In 1978, Carter became the first sitting president to make an official state visit to sub-Saharan Africa , a reflection of the region's new importance under the Carter administration's foreign policy. Unlike his predecessors, Carter took
32500-568: The United States Senate in the past decade" that Goldwater had voted incorrectly on as a Senator. In an October 26 speech in Chicago, Humphrey called Goldwater "neither a Republican nor a Democrat" and "a radical". The Johnson-Humphrey ticket won the election overwhelmingly, with 486 electoral votes out of 538. Only five Southern states and Goldwater's home state of Arizona supported the Republican ticket. In October Humphrey had predicted that
32750-560: The United States in 1979, forcing millions of frustrated motorists into long waits at gasoline stations. In response, Carter asked Congress to deregulate the price of domestic oil. At the time, domestic oil prices were not set by the world market, but rather by the complex price controls of the 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA). Oil companies strongly favored the deregulation of prices, since it would increase their profits, but some members of Congress worried that deregulation would contribute to inflation. In late April and early May
33000-425: The White House and cabinet in mid-1979. Five cabinet secretaries left office, including Blumenthal, Bell, and Joseph Califano , the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Jordan was selected as the president's first chief of staff, while Alonzo L. McDonald , formerly of McKinsey & Company , became the White House staff director. Federal Reserve Chairman G. William Miller replaced Blumenthal as Secretary of
33250-424: The academy's culture of aggressive hazing of freshmen. While at the Academy, Carter fell in love with Rosalynn Smith , a friend of his sister Ruth. The two wed shortly after his graduation in 1946, and were married until her death on November 19, 2023. Carter was a sprint football player for the Navy Midshipmen . He graduated 60th out of 821 midshipmen in the class of 1947 with a Bachelor of Science degree and
33500-457: The accomplishments of both Kennedy's and Johnson's presidencies. In Tampa, Florida , on October 18, a week after the resignation of Walter Jenkins amid a scandal, Humphrey said he was unaware of any potential security leaks relating to the case. In Minneapolis on October 24, Humphrey listed the censure vote toward Senator Joseph McCarthy , the civil rights bill, and the nuclear test ban treaty as "three great issues of conscience to come before
33750-413: The active contenders for the presidential nomination, but against incumbent Republican president Gerald Ford by a few percentage points. As the Watergate scandal was still fresh in the voters' minds, Carter's position as an outsider, distant from Washington, D.C. proved helpful. He promoted government reorganization. In June, Carter published a memoir titled Why Not the Best? to help introduce himself to
34000-411: The actual harms of cannabis consumption. Carter retained pro-decriminalization advisor Robert DuPont , and appointed pro-decriminalization British physician Peter Bourne as his drug advisor (or "drug czar") to head up his newly formed Office of Drug Abuse Policy . However, law enforcement, conservative politicians, and grassroots parents' groups opposed this measure, and the War on Drugs continued. At
34250-518: The administration refuse to recognize the new Cambodian government due to its support by the Soviet Union. Despite human rights concerns, Carter continued U.S. support for Joseph Mobutu of Zaire , who defeated Angolan -backed insurgents in conflicts known as Shaba I and Shaba II . His administration also generally refrained from criticizing human rights abuses in the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea, Iran, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and North Yemen . Ford and Nixon had sought to reach agreement on
34500-424: The aftermath of the tumultuous 1960s. Above all, Carter attacked the political system, defining himself as an "outsider" who would reform Washington in the post-Watergate era. In response, Ford attacked Carter's supposed "fuzziness", arguing that Carter had taken vague stances on major issues. Carter and President Ford faced off in three televised debates during the 1976 election, the first such debates since 1960. Ford
34750-402: The airbases. Presciently, he noted that a military solution in Vietnam would take several years, well beyond the next election cycle. In response to this advice, President Johnson punished Humphrey by treating him coldly and restricting him from his inner circle for a number of months, until Humphrey decided to "get back on the team" and fully support the war effort. As vice president, Humphrey
35000-421: The assassinations of major leaders in the 1960s, the Vietnam War , and the Watergate scandal. Though most of his other top advisers urged him to continue to focus on inflation and the energy crisis, Carter seized on Caddell's notion that the major crisis facing the country was a crisis of confidence. On July 15, Carter delivered a nationally televised speech in which he called for long-term limits on oil imports and
35250-417: The attention of environmentalists nationwide. Civil rights were a high priority for Carter, who added black state employees and portraits of three prominent black Georgians to the capitol building: Martin Luther King Jr., Lucy Craft Laney , and Henry McNeal Turner . This angered the Ku Klux Klan . He favored a constitutional amendment to ban busing for the purpose of expediting integration in schools on
35500-810: The beginning of "phase two" of his anti-inflation campaign on national television. He appointed Alfred E. Kahn as the Chairman of the Council on Wage and Price Stability (COWPS), and COWPS announced price targets for industries and implemented other policies designed to lower inflation. The 1979 energy crisis ended a period of growth; both inflation and interest rates rose, while economic growth, job creation, and consumer confidence declined sharply. The relatively loose monetary policy adopted by Federal Reserve Board Chairman G. William Miller , had already contributed to somewhat higher inflation, rising from 5.8% in 1976 to 7.7% in 1978. The sudden doubling of crude oil prices by OPEC forced inflation to double-digit levels, averaging 11.3% in 1979 and 13.5% in 1980. Following
35750-441: The business's books. Though they barely broke even the first year, the Carters grew the business and became quite successful. As racial tension inflamed in Plains by the 1954 Supreme Court of the United States ruling in Brown v. Board of Education , Carter favored racial tolerance and integration but often kept those feelings to himself to avoid making enemies. By 1961, Carter began to speak more prominently of integration as
36000-430: The church's Boy Scout Troop 6. He "started basketball games in the church basement ... although his scouts had no money for camp in 1931, Hubert found a way in the worst of that summer's dust-storm grit, grasshoppers, and depression to lead an overnight [outing]." Humphrey did not enjoy working as a pharmacist, and his dream remained to earn a doctorate in political science and become a college professor. His unhappiness
36250-406: The closure of many schools and factories, leading to the temporary layoffs of hundreds of thousands of workers. By 1977, energy policy was one of the greatest challenges facing the United States. Oil imports had increased 65% annually since 1973, and the U.S. consumed over twice as much energy, per capita, as other developed countries . Upon taking office, Carter asked James Schlesinger to develop
36500-407: The concept that was to become AirLand Battle , Carter and his administration approved the initial outlays for the A-10 , AH-64 , HIMARS , Bradley IFV , M109 Paladin , Patriot missile , M1 Abrams , and the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk . Carter believed that previous administrations had erred in allowing the Cold War concerns and Realpolitik to dominate foreign policy. His administration placed
36750-423: The conciliatory late Cold War policies of his predecessors, normalizing relations with China and pursuing further Strategic Arms Limitation Talks with the Soviet Union . In an effort to end the Arab–Israeli conflict , he helped arrange the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt . Through the Torrijos–Carter Treaties , Carter guaranteed the eventual transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama. Denouncing
37000-422: The conservative and anti-McGovern voters. He was fairly obscure at the time, and his attempt at triangulation failed; the 1972 Democratic ticket was McGovern and senator Thomas Eagleton . On August 3, Carter met with Wallace in Birmingham, Alabama , to discuss preventing the Democrats from losing in a landslide, but they did. Carter regularly met with his fledgling campaign staff and decided to begin putting
37250-462: The construction of power plants. Nonetheless, Kaufman and Kaufman write that policies enacted under Carter represented the "most sweeping energy legislation in the nation's history." Carter's policies contributed to a decrease in per capita energy consumption, which dropped by 10 percent from 1979 to 1983. Oil imports, which had reached a record 2.4 billion barrels in 1977 (50% of supply), declined by half from 1979 to 1983. Carter took office during
37500-545: The convention, except for the heads of the Congress of Industrial Organizations Political Action Committee ( CIO-PAC ), Jack Kroll and A.F. Whitney. Despite Truman's aides' aggressive pressure to avoid forcing the issue on the Convention floor, Humphrey spoke for the minority plank. In a renowned speech, Humphrey passionately told the convention, "To those who say, my friends, to those who say that we are rushing this issue of civil rights, I say to them we are 172 years (too) late! To those who say this civil rights program
37750-536: The countries they worked. That may be true, but it ought not demean their work. They touched many lives and made them better. On April 9, 1950, Humphrey predicted that President Truman would sign a $ 4 billion housing bill and charge Republicans with having removed the bill's main middle-income benefits during Truman's tours of the Midwest and Northwest the following month. On January 7, 1951, Humphrey joined Senator Paul Douglas in calling for an $ 80 billion federal budget to combat Communist aggression along with
38000-415: The creation of a federal consumer protection agency, creating a separate cabinet-level department for education, signing a peace treaty with the Soviet Union to limit nuclear weapons, reducing the defense budget, a tax proposal implementing "a substantial increase toward those who have the higher incomes" alongside a levy reduction on taxpayers with lower and middle incomes, making multiple amendments to
38250-399: The crippled reactor. When Carter was lowered in, his job was simply to turn a single screw. During and after his presidency, Carter said that his experience at Chalk River had shaped his views on atomic energy and led him to cease the development of a neutron bomb . In March 1953, Carter began a six-month course in nuclear power plant operation at Union College in Schenectady. His intent
38500-534: The development of synthetic fuels . But he also stated, "all the legislation in the world can't fix what's wrong with America. What is lacking is confidence and a sense of community." The speech, named A Crisis of Confidence , came to be known as his "malaise" speech, although Carter never used the word in the speech. The initial reaction to Carter's speech was generally positive, but Carter erred by forcing out several cabinet members, including Secretary of Energy Schlesinger, later in July. Nonetheless, Congress approved
38750-502: The election, the President demanded the power to reorganize the executive branch, alienating powerful Democrats like Speaker Tip O'Neill and Jack Brooks . During the Nixon administration , Congress had passed a series of reforms that removed power from the president, and most members of Congress were unwilling to restore that power even with a Democrat now in office. Unreturned phone calls, verbal insults, and an unwillingness to trade political favors soured many on Capitol Hill and affected
39000-426: The election. Ford phoned Carter to congratulate him shortly after the race was called. He was unable to concede in front of television cameras due to bad hoarse voice , and so First Lady Betty did so for him. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller oversaw the certification of election results on January 6, 1977. Although Ford carried Washington, Mike Padden , an elector from there, cast his vote for Ronald Reagan ,
39250-469: The eleventh grade since the school did not have a twelfth grade. By that time, Archery and Plains had been impoverished by the Great Depression , but the family benefited from New Deal farming subsidies, and Carter's father took a position as a community leader. Carter himself was a diligent student with a fondness for reading. A popular anecdote holds that he was passed over for valedictorian after he and his friends skipped school to venture downtown in
39500-473: The energy reform bill in particular: "I never dreamed a year ago in April when I proposed this matter to the Congress that a year later it still would not be resolved." The Carter energy legislation was approved by Congress after much deliberation and modification on October 15, 1978. The measure deregulated the sale of natural gas, dropped a longstanding pricing disparity between intra- and interstate gas, and created tax credits to encourage energy conservation and
39750-425: The establishment of a universal national health insurance (NHI) system. Though most Americans had health insurance through Medicare , Medicaid , or private plans, approximately ten percent of the population did not have coverage in 1977. The establishment of an NHI plan was the top priority of organized labor and many liberal Democrats, but Carter had concerns about cost, as well as the inflationary impact, of such
40000-430: The eventual creation of Zimbabwe . The more assertive human rights policy championed by Derian and State Department Policy Planning Director Anthony Lake was somewhat blunted by the opposition of Brzezinski. Policy disputes reached their most contentious point during the 1979 fall of Pol Pot 's genocidal regime of Democratic Kampuchea following the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia , when Brzezinski prevailed in having
40250-423: The family's financial struggles, Humphrey had to leave the University of Minnesota after just one year. He earned a pharmacist's license from the Capitol College of Pharmacy in Denver , Colorado (completing a two-year licensure program in just six months), and helped his father run his store from 1931 to 1937. Both father and son were innovative in finding ways to attract customers: "to supplement their business,
40500-399: The few states that had backed him in his losing race for vice-president four years earlier ... West Virginia was more rural than urban, [which] seemed to invite Humphrey's folksy stump style. The state, moreover, was a citadel of labor. It was depressed; unemployment had hit hard; and coal miners' families were hungry. Humphrey felt he could talk to such people, who were 95% Protestant (Humphrey
40750-496: The final act did not include a provision authorizing the federal government to act as an employer of last resort in order to provide for full employment . Carter also sought tax reform in order to create a simpler, more progressive taxation system. He proposed taxing capital gains as ordinary income, eliminating tax shelters, limiting itemized tax deductions, and increasing the standard deduction . Carter's taxation proposals were rejected by Congress, and no major tax reform bill
41000-434: The final day of the primaries. The 1976 Democratic National Convention proceeded harmoniously and, after interviewing several candidates, Carter chose Mondale as his running mate. The selection of Mondale was well received by many liberal Democrats, many of whom had been skeptical of Carter. The Republicans experienced a contested convention that ultimately nominated incumbent President Gerald Ford , who had succeeded to
41250-438: The final days before the election, several polls showed that Ford had tied Carter, and one Gallup poll found that he was now slightly ahead. Most analysts agreed that Carter was going to win the popular vote , but some argued Ford had an opportunity to win the electoral college and thus the election. Carter ultimately won, receiving 297 electoral votes and 50.1% of the popular vote to Ford's 240 electoral votes and 48.0% of
41500-425: The first American president born in a hospital. He is the eldest child of Bessie Lillian Gordy and James Earl Carter Sr. , and a descendant of English immigrant Thomas Carter, who settled in the Colony of Virginia in 1635. In Georgia, numerous generations of Carters worked as cotton farmers. Plains was a boomtown of 600 people at the time of Carter's birth. His father was a successful local businessman who ran
41750-488: The first Peace Corps bill in 1957. It did not meet with much enthusiasm. Some traditional diplomats quaked at the thought of thousands of young Americans scattered across their world. Many senators, including liberal ones, thought the idea was silly and unworkable. Now, with a young president urging its passage, it became possible and we pushed it rapidly through the Senate. It is fashionable now to suggest that Peace Corps Volunteers gained as much or more, from their experience as
42000-411: The first female Hispanic district court judge, Carmen Consuelo Cerezo . Federal Judicial Center data shows that Carter appointed more women (41) and people of color (57) than had been appointed by all past presidents combined (10 women and 35 people of color). President Carter was not a product of the New Deal traditions of liberal Northern Democrats. Instead he traced his ideological background to
42250-493: The first months of his presidency. Democrats in Congress were displeased with his moralistic, executive-oriented, rational approach to decision-making and his reluctance to accept standard congressional methods of compromise, patronage, and log-rolling. A few months after his term started, Carter issued a "hit list" of 19 projects that he claimed were " pork barrel " spending. He said that he would veto any legislation that contained projects on this list. Congress responded by passing
42500-459: The greatest influence on his life. Carter was sent to the Naval Reactors Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, D.C., for three-month temporary duty, while Rosalynn moved with their children to Schenectady, New York . On December 12, 1952, an accident with the experimental NRX reactor at Atomic Energy of Canada 's Chalk River Laboratories caused a partial meltdown, resulting in millions of liters of radioactive water flooding
42750-426: The growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation... Jimmy Carter In July 1979, as the energy crisis continued, Carter met with a series of business, government, labor, academic, and religious leaders in an effort to overhaul his administration's policies. His pollster, Pat Caddell , told him that the American people faced a crisis of confidence stemming from
43000-422: The inactive Navy Reserve until 1961 and left the service with the rank of lieutenant . Carter's awards include the American Campaign Medal , World War II Victory Medal , China Service Medal , and National Defense Service Medal . As a submarine officer, he also earned the "dolphin" badge . After debt settlements and division of his father's estate among its heirs, Jimmy inherited comparatively little. For
43250-411: The issue at first, even as it polarized much of the county, to avoid alienating his segregationist colleagues. Carter did speak up on a few divisive issues, giving speeches against literacy tests and against an amendment to the Georgia Constitution that he felt implied a compulsion to practice religion. Carter entered the state Democratic Executive Committee two years into office, where he helped rewrite
43500-415: The late 1970s and the 1980s. Many of the leading officials in the Carter administration, including Carter himself, were members of the Trilateral Commission, which de-emphasized the Cold War. The Trilateral Commission instead advocated a foreign policy focused on aid to Third World countries and improved relations with Western Europe and Japan. The central tension of the Carter administration's foreign policy
43750-418: The legislature, providing equal state aid to schools in Georgia's wealthy and poor areas, setting up community centers for mentally disabled children, and increasing educational programs for convicts. Under this program, all such appointments were based on merit rather than political influence. In one of his more controversial decisions, he vetoed a plan to build a dam on Georgia's Flint River , which attracted
44000-410: The malaise accompanying it coincided with Carter's 1980 re-election campaign, and contributed to his unexpectedly severe loss to Ronald Reagan . Not until March 1981 did GDP and employment totals regain pre-recession levels. During the 1976 presidential campaign, Carter proposed a health care reform plan that included key features of a bipartisan bill, sponsored by Senator Ted Kennedy, that provided for
44250-578: The momentum of the latter's campaign. Kennedy's attractive brothers, sisters, and wife Jacqueline combed the state for votes. At one point Humphrey memorably complained that he "felt like an independent merchant competing against a chain store". Humphrey later wrote in his memoirs that "Muriel and I and our 'plain folks' entourage were no match for the glamour of Jackie Kennedy and the other Kennedy women, for Peter Lawford ... and Frank Sinatra singing their commercial 'High Hopes'. Jack Kennedy brought family and Hollywood to Wisconsin. The people loved it, and
44500-466: The national Democratic Party. He also accused Sanders of corruption, but when pressed by the media, he did not provide evidence. Throughout his campaign, Carter sought both the black vote and the votes of those who had supported prominent Alabama segregationist George Wallace . While he met with black figures such as Martin Luther King Sr. and Andrew Young and visited many black-owned businesses, he also praised Wallace and promised to invite him to give
44750-464: The national news media discovered and promoted Carter, and stated: What Carter had that his opponents did not was the acceptance and support of elite sectors of the mass communications media. It was their favorable coverage of Carter and his campaign that gave him an edge, propelling him rocket-like to the top of the opinion polls. This helped Carter win key primary election victories, enabling him to rise from an obscure public figure to President-elect in
45000-402: The neighborhood, which had been built on top of a toxic waste landfill. The Superfund law was created in response to the situation. Federal disaster money was appropriated to demolish the approximately 500 houses, the 99th Street School, and the 93rd Street School, which had been built on top of the dump; and to remediate the dump and construct a containment area for the hazardous wastes. This
45250-419: The new law; the Senate voted 57 to 10 to overturn Truman's veto. In 1954 he proposed to make membership in the Communist Party a felony. It was another ploy to derail a bill that would hurt labor unions. Humphrey's proposal did not pass. Humphrey was the author of the first humane slaughter bill introduced in the U.S. Congress and chief Senate sponsor of the Humane Slaughter Act of 1958. Humphrey chaired
45500-493: The next Democratic Convention. However, Humphrey's critics were vocal and persistent: even his nickname, "the Happy Warrior", was used against him. The nickname referred not to his military hawkishness, but rather to his crusading for social welfare and civil rights programs. After his narrow defeat in the 1968 presidential election, Humphrey wrote that "After four years as Vice-President ... I had lost some of my personal identity and personal forcefulness. ... I ought not to have let
45750-411: The nomination, and many of these candidates were better known than Carter. Carter sought to appeal to various groups in the party; his advocacy for cutting defense spending and reining in the CIA appealed to liberals, while his emphasis on eliminating government waste appealed to conservatives. Carter won the most votes of any candidate in the Iowa caucus , and he dominated media coverage in advance of
46000-460: The number of female circuit court judges increased from one to twelve, the number of non-white male circuit judges increased from six to thirteen, the number of female district court judges increased from four to 32, and the number of non-white male district court judges increased from 23 to 55. Carter appointed the first female African-American circuit court judge, Amalya Lyle Kearse , the first Hispanic circuit court judge, Reynaldo Guerra Garza , and
46250-421: The odds of defeating a Republican with statewide support. Humphrey's father died that year, and Humphrey stopped using the "Jr." suffix on his name. He was reelected in 1954 and 1960 . His colleagues selected him as majority whip in 1961, a position he held until he left the Senate on December 29, 1964, to assume the vice presidency. Humphrey served from the 81st to the 87th sessions of Congress, and in
46500-439: The party had unified because of the national consensus established by the presidential election. Humphrey took office on January 20, 1965, ending the 14-month vacancy of the vice president of the United States, which had remained empty when then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson assumed the presidency after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963. He was an early skeptic of the then growing Vietnam War . Following
46750-416: The people of Minnesota sending that damn fool down here to represent them?" Humphrey was reportedly "crushed", so hurt by the remark that he broke into tears while driving home. But he refused to be intimidated and stood his ground; his integrity, passion and eloquence eventually earned him the respect of even most of the Southerners. The Southerners were also more inclined to accept Humphrey after he became
47000-408: The policy of affirmative action , and his administration submitted an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court while it heard the case of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke . The Supreme Court's holding, delivered in 1978, upheld the constitutionality of affirmative action but vetoed the use of racial quotas in college admissions. First Lady Rosalynn Carter publicly campaigned for
47250-451: The popular vote and 297 electoral votes , while Ford won 48% of the popular vote and 240 electoral votes. The 1976 presidential election represents the lone Democratic presidential election victory between the elections of 1964 and 1992 . Carter fared particularly well in the Northeast and the South, while Ford swept the West and won much of the Midwest. In the concurrent congressional elections , Democrats increased their majorities in both
47500-461: The popular vote but lost the electoral vote by a wide margin. After the defeat, he returned to the Senate and served from 1971 until his death in 1978. He ran again in the 1972 Democratic primaries but lost to George McGovern and declined to be McGovern's running mate. From 1977 to 1978, he served as Deputy President pro tempore of the United States Senate . Humphrey was born in a room over his father's drugstore in Wallace, South Dakota . He
47750-417: The popular vote. Carter's victory was attributed in part to his overwhelming support among black voters in states decided by close margins, such as Louisiana , Texas , Pennsylvania , Missouri , Mississippi , Wisconsin , and Ohio . In Ohio and Wisconsin, where the margin between Carter and Ford was under two points, the black vote was crucial for Carter; if he had not won both states, Ford would have won
48000-695: The post elevated to that of Assistant Secretary of State . Derian established the United States' Country Reports on Human Rights Practices , published annually since 1977. Latin America was central to Carter's new focus on human rights. The Carter administration ended support to the historically U.S.-backed Somoza regime in Nicaragua and directed aid to the new Sandinista National Liberation Front government that assumed power after Somoza's overthrow. Carter also cut back or terminated military aid to Augusto Pinochet of Chile , Ernesto Geisel of Brazil, and Jorge Rafael Videla of Argentina, all of whom he criticized for human rights violations. Carter's ambassador to
48250-443: The presidency . Loyal to the Johnson administration's policies on the Vietnam War , he received opposition from many within his own party and avoided the primaries to focus on winning the delegates of non-primary states at the Democratic National Convention . His delegate strategy succeeded in clinching the nomination, and he chose Senator Edmund Muskie as his running mate. In the general election, he nearly matched Nixon's tally in
48500-414: The presidency in 1974 after the resignation of Richard Nixon due to the latter's involvement in the Watergate scandal . With the Republicans badly divided, and with Ford facing questions over his competence as president, polls taken in August 1976 showed Carter with a 15-point lead. In the general election campaign, Carter continued to promote a centrist agenda, seeking to define new Democratic positions in
48750-527: The presidency, Carter established the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights; in 2002 he received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in relation to it. He traveled extensively to conduct peace negotiations, monitor elections , and further the eradication of infectious diseases. Carter is a key figure in the nonprofit housing organization Habitat for Humanity . He has also written numerous books , ranging from political memoirs to poetry, while continuing to comment on global affairs, including two books on
49000-443: The president remarked, "will guarantee that from 1980 to the year 2030, the social security funds will be sound". Carter supported many of the goals of the environmentalist movement, and appointed prominent environmentalists to high positions. As president his rhetoric strongly supported environmentalism, with a certain softness regarding his acceptance of nuclear energy – he had been trained in nuclear energy with atomic submarines in
49250-522: The president's ability to enact his agenda. In many cases, these failures of communication stemmed not from intentional neglect, but rather from poor organization of the administration's congressional liaison functions. President Carter attempted to woo O'Neill, Senate Majority Leader Robert Byrd , and other members of Congress through personal engagement, but he was generally unable to rally support for his programs through these meetings. Carter also erred in focusing on too many priorities at once, especially in
49500-491: The press ate it up." Kennedy won the Wisconsin primary, but by a smaller margin than anticipated. Some commentators argued that Kennedy's victory margin had come almost entirely from areas with large Roman Catholic populations, and that Protestants had supported Humphrey. As a result, Humphrey refused to quit the race and decided to run against Kennedy again in the West Virginia primary. According to one biographer, "Humphrey thought his chances were good in West Virginia, one of
49750-461: The proposed tax. I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to American democracy ... I do not refer to the outward strength of America, a nation that is at peace tonight everywhere in the world, with unmatched economic power and military might. The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in
50000-534: The public would not support negotiations with the Soviets if the president seemed too willing to accommodate the Soviets. Carter and Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev reached an agreement in June 1979 in the form of SALT II, but Carter's waning popularity and the opposition of Republicans and neoconservative Democrats made ratification difficult. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan severely damaged U.S.-Soviet relations and ended any hope of ratifying SALT II. Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924)
50250-474: The ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment , and the president supported the extension of the ratification period for that amendment. Carter presided over the deregulation of several industries, which proponents hoped would help revive the sluggish economy. The Airline Deregulation Act (1978) abolished the Civil Aeronautics Board over six years, provided for the free entry of airlines into new routes, and opened air fares up to competition. Carter also signed
50500-446: The reactor building's basement. This left the reactor's core ruined. Carter was ordered to Chalk River to lead a U.S. maintenance crew that joined other American and Canadian service personnel to assist in the shutdown of the reactor. The painstaking process required each team member to don protective gear and be lowered individually into the reactor for 90 seconds at a time, limiting their exposure to radioactivity while they disassembled
50750-552: The report. It is all or nothing." A diverse coalition opposed the convention's tepid civil rights platform, including anticommunist liberals like Humphrey, Paul Douglas and John F. Shelley , all of whom would later become known as leading progressives in the Democratic Party. They proposed adding a "minority plank" to the party platform that would commit the Democratic Party to more aggressive opposition to racial segregation . The minority plank called for federal legislation against lynching , an end to legalized school segregation in
51000-415: The road selling 'Humphrey's BTV' (Body Tone Veterinary), a mineral supplement and dewormer for hogs, and 'Humphrey's Chest Oil' and 'Humphrey's Sniffles' for two-legged sufferers." Humphrey later wrote, "we made 'Humphrey's Sniffles', a substitute for Vick's Nose Drops. I felt ours were better. Vick's used mineral oil, which is not absorbent, and we used a vegetable-oil base, which was. I added benzocaine ,
51250-419: The runoff election with 60 percent of the vote and won the general election against Republican nominee Hal Suit . Once elected, Carter changed his tone and began to speak against Georgia's racist politics. Leroy Johnson , a black state senator, voiced his support for Carter: "I understand why he ran that kind of ultra-conservative campaign. I don't believe you can win this state without being a racist." Carter
51500-425: The same time, cannabis consumption in the United States reached historically high levels. Carter was the first president to address the topic of gay rights, and his administration was the first to meet with a group of gay rights activists. Carter opposed the Briggs Initiative , a California ballot measure that would have banned gays and supporters of gay rights from being public school teachers. Carter supported
51750-512: The short space of 9 months. During an interview in April 1976, Carter said, "I have nothing against a community that is... trying to maintain the ethnic purity of their neighborhoods." His remark was intended as supportive of open housing laws, but specifying opposition to government efforts to "inject black families into a white neighborhood just to create some sort of integration ". Carter's stated positions during his campaign included public financing of congressional campaigns, his support for
52000-698: The son of the former president, stumped for Kennedy in West Virginia and raised the issue of Humphrey's failure to serve in the armed forces in World War II. Roosevelt told audiences, "I don't know where he [Humphrey] was in World War Two," and handed out flyers charging that Humphrey was a draft dodger. Historian Robert Dallek has written that Robert F. Kennedy , who was serving as his brother's campaign manager, came into "possession of information that Humphrey may have sought military deferments during World War Two ... he pressed Roosevelt to use this." Humphrey believed Roosevelt's draft-dodger claim "had been approved by Bobby [Kennedy], if not Jack". The claims that Humphrey
52250-415: The standby gasoline rationing plan and called on Congress to pass the several other standby energy conservation plans he had proposed. On July 15, 1979, Carter delivered a nationally televised address in which he identified what he believed to be a " crisis of confidence " among American people, under the advisement of pollster Pat Caddell who believed Americans faced a crisis in confidence from events of
52500-428: The state legislature fund an early childhood development program along with prison reform programs and $ 48 million (equivalent to $ 349,632,458 in 2023) in paid taxes for nearly all state employees. On March 1, 1972, Carter said he might call a special session of the general assembly if the Justice Department opted to turn down any reapportionment plans by either the House or Senate. He pushed several reforms through
52750-442: The state party's rules. He became the chairman of the West Central Georgia Planning and Development Commission, which oversaw the disbursement of federal and state grants for projects such as historic site restoration. When Bo Callaway was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1964, Carter immediately began planning to challenge him. The two had previously clashed over which two-year college would be expanded to
53000-456: The state. He later regretted endorsing the death penalty, saying, "I didn't see the injustice of it as I do now." Ineligible for reelection, Carter looked toward a potential presidential run and engaged in national politics. He was named to several southern planning commissions and was a delegate to the 1972 Democratic National Convention , where liberal U.S. Senator George McGovern was the likely nominee. Carter tried to ingratiate himself with
53250-625: The then-governor of California and Carter's eventual successor. Preliminary planning for Carter's presidential transition had already been underway for months before his election. Carter had been the first presidential candidate to allot significant funds and a significant number of personnel to a pre-election transition planning effort, which then became standard practice. He set a mold that influenced all future transitions to be larger, more methodical and more formal than they were. On November 22, 1976, Carter conducted his first visit to Washington, D.C. after being elected, meeting with director of
53500-461: The ticket would win by a large margin but not carry every state. Soon after winning the election, Humphrey and Johnson went to LBJ ranch near Stonewall, Texas . On November 6, 1964, Humphrey traveled to the Virgin Islands for a two-week vacation. News stations aired taped remarks in which Humphrey stated that he had not discussed with Johnson what his role would be as vice president and that national campaigns should be reduced by four weeks. In
53750-412: The transition. During his transition, Carter announced the selection of numerous designees for positions in his administration. A few weeks before his inauguration, Carter moved his peanut business into the hands of trustees to avoid a potential conflict of interest . He also asked incoming members of his administration to divest themselves of assets through blind trusts . Carter was inaugurated as
54000-435: The two Democratic leaders. In June 1979, Carter proposed more limited health insurance reform—an employer mandate to provide private catastrophic health insurance. The plan would also extend Medicaid to the very poor without dependent minor children, and would add catastrophic coverage to Medicare . Kennedy rejected the plan as insufficient. In November 1979, Senator Russell B. Long led a bipartisan conservative majority of
54250-453: The university's recently created international debate department, which focused on the international politics of World War II and the creation of the United Nations. After leaving Macalester in the spring of 1944, Humphrey worked as a news commentator for a Minneapolis radio station until 1945. In 1943, Humphrey made his first run for elective office, for mayor of Minneapolis . He lost, but his poorly funded campaign still captured over 47% of
54500-404: The use of non-fossil fuels. On March 1, 1979, Carter submitted a standby gasoline rationing plan per the request of Congress. On April 5, he delivered an address in which he stressed the urgency of energy conservation and increasing domestic production of energy sources such as coal and solar. During an April 30 news conference, he said it was imperative that the House commerce committee approve
54750-417: The vote. In 1944, Humphrey was one of the key players in the merger of the Democratic and Farmer-Labor parties of Minnesota to form the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). He also worked on President Roosevelt 's 1944 reelection campaign. When Minnesota Communists tried to seize control of the new party in 1945, Humphrey became an engaged anticommunist and led the successful fight to oust
55000-422: The vote. That evening, Humphrey announced that he was leaving the race. By winning West Virginia, Kennedy overcame the belief that Protestant voters would not elect a Catholic to the presidency and thus sewed up the Democratic nomination. Humphrey won the South Dakota and District of Columbia primaries, which Kennedy did not enter. At the 1960 Democratic National Convention , he received 41 votes even though he
55250-540: The weeks ahead. In an address before labor leaders in Youngstown, Ohio , on September 7, 1964, Humphrey said the labor movement had "more at stake in this election than almost any other segment of society". In Jamesburg, New Jersey , on September 10, Humphrey remarked that Goldwater had a "record of retreat and reaction" when it came to issues of urban housing. During a September 12 Denver Democratic rally, Humphrey charged Goldwater with having rejected programs that most Americans and members of his own party supported. At
55500-583: The workplace. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) programs and women's programs were also strengthened, and "common sense priorities" led to focus on major health problems. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act, passed in 1978, prohibited companies or organizations from discriminating against pregnant employees while providing protection in the areas of childbirth and medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth. The National Consumer Cooperative Bank Act of 1978 sought to put funds aside for low-interest loans to start cooperatives. Minimum wage coverage
55750-442: Was Russell B. Long , a future U.S. Senator from Louisiana . He then became an instructor and doctoral student at the University of Minnesota from 1940 to 1941 (joining the American Federation of Teachers ), and was a supervisor for the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Humphrey was a star on the university's debate team; one of his teammates was future Minnesota Governor and US Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman . In
56000-411: Was a Congregationalist ) and deep-dyed Bible-belters besides." Kennedy chose to meet the religion issue head-on. In radio broadcasts, he carefully redefined the issue from Catholic versus Protestant to tolerance versus intolerance. Kennedy's appeal placed Humphrey, who had championed tolerance his entire career, on the defensive, and Kennedy attacked him with a vengeance. Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. ,
56250-452: Was a South Dakota delegate to the 1944 and 1948 Democratic National Conventions. In the late 1920s, a severe economic downturn hit Doland; both banks in the town closed and Humphrey's father struggled to keep his store open. After his son graduated from Doland's high school, Hubert Sr. left Doland and opened a new drugstore in the larger town of Huron, South Dakota (population 11,000), where he hoped to improve his fortunes. Because of
56500-461: Was a draft dodger were inaccurate, because during the war Humphrey had "tried and failed to get into the [military] service because of physical disabilities". After the West Virginia primary, Roosevelt sent Humphrey a written apology and retraction. According to historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. , Roosevelt "felt that he had been used, blaming [the draft-dodger charge] on Robert Kennedy's determination to win at any cost ... Roosevelt said later that it
56750-457: Was a draft dodger" during the war. Humphrey led various wartime government agencies and worked as a college instructor. In 1942, he was the state director of new production training and reemployment and chief of the Minnesota war service program. In 1943 he was the assistant director of the War Manpower Commission . From 1943 to 1944, Humphrey was a professor of political science at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota , where he headed
57000-476: Was a project of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science . Although foreign policy was not his highest priority at first, a series of worsening crises made it increasingly the focus of attention regarding the Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Iran, and the global energy crisis. His handling of the Iranian Revolution and hostage crisis made him very unpopular at home and lowered his historical stature as measured by historians. Carter took office during
57250-473: Was an American politician and statesman who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate , representing Minnesota from 1949 to 1964 and again from 1971 to 1978. As a senator he was a major leader of modern liberalism in the United States . As President Lyndon B. Johnson 's vice president, he supported the controversial Vietnam War . An intensely divided Democratic Party nominated him in
57500-401: Was commissioned as an ensign . From 1946 to 1953, the Carters lived in Virginia , Hawaii , Connecticut , New York , and California , during his deployments in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets . In 1948, he began officer training for submarine duty and served aboard USS Pomfret . Carter was promoted to lieutenant junior grade in 1949, and his service aboard Pomfret included
57750-418: Was considered to have little chance against the more nationally known politicians such as Wallace. His name recognition was very low, and his opponents derisively asked "Jimmy Who?". In response to this, Carter began to emphasize his name and what he stood for, stating "My name is Jimmy Carter, and I'm running for president." This strategy proved successful. By mid-March 1976, Carter was not only far ahead of
58000-591: Was criticized for his complete and vocal loyalty to Johnson and the policies of the Johnson administration, even as many of his liberal admirers opposed the president's policies with increasing fervor regarding the Vietnam War. Many of Humphrey's liberal friends and allies abandoned him because of his refusal to publicly criticize Johnson's Vietnam War policies. Humphrey's critics later learned that Johnson had threatened Humphrey – Johnson told Humphrey that if he publicly criticized his policies, he would destroy Humphrey's chances to become president by opposing his nomination at
58250-442: Was elected as the Governor of Georgia in 1970, and during his four years in office he earned a reputation as a progressive , racially moderate Southern governor. Observing George McGovern 's success in the 1972 Democratic primaries , Carter came to believe that he could win the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination by running as an outsider unconnected to establishment politicians in Washington. Carter declared his candidacy for
58500-444: Was elected to the United States Senate in 1948 on the DFL ticket, defeating James M. Shields in the DFL primary with 89% of the vote, and unseating incumbent Republican Joseph H. Ball in the general election with 60% of the vote. He took office on January 3, 1949, becoming the first Democrat elected senator from Minnesota since before the Civil War . Humphrey wrote that the victory heightened his sense of self, as he had beaten
58750-408: Was enacted. In 1979 Carter opened the first White House Conference on Library and Information Services stating that "libraries must be strengthened and the public made more aware of their potential: Libraries can be community resources for the consumer and small business on matters such as energy and marketing and technological innovation." The White House Conference on Library and Information Services
59000-407: Was extended to farmworkers, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act Amendments of 1978 increased the upper age limit on coverage against age discrimination in non-federal employment and in the private sector from 65 to 70 as a means of extending safeguards against age discrimination. In addition, the purchase requirement for food stamps was abolished and the first-ever national youth employment law
59250-527: Was found to have been orchestrated by Joe Hurst, the chairman of the Democratic Party in Quitman County . Carter challenged the election result, which was confirmed fraudulent in an investigation. Following this, another election was held, in which Carter won against Moore as the sole Democratic candidate, with a vote margin of 3,013 to 2,182. The civil rights movement was well underway when Carter took office. He and his family had become staunch John F. Kennedy supporters. Carter remained relatively quiet on
59500-402: Was generally viewed as the winner of the first debate, but he made a major gaffe in the second debate when he stated there was "no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe ." The gaffe put an end to Ford's late momentum, and Carter helped his own campaign with a strong performance in the third debate. Polls taken just before election day showed a very close race. Carter won the election with 50.1% of
59750-573: Was in 1960. In between these two bids, Humphrey was part of the free-for-all for the vice-presidential nomination at the 1956 Democratic National Convention , where he received 134.5 votes on the first ballot and 74.5 on the second. In 1960 , Humphrey ran for the nomination against fellow Senator John F. Kennedy in the primaries. Their first meeting was in the Wisconsin primary, where Kennedy's well-organized and well-funded campaign overcame Humphrey's energetic but poorly funded effort. Humphrey believed defeating Kennedy in Wisconsin would weaken and slow
60000-399: Was manifested in "stomach pains and fainting spells", though doctors could find nothing wrong with him. In August 1937, he told his father that he wanted to return to the University of Minnesota. Hubert Sr. tried to convince his son not to leave by offering him a full partnership in the store, but Hubert Jr. refused and told his father "how depressed I was, almost physically ill from the work,
60250-421: Was no longer a candidate. Humphrey's defeat in 1960 had a profound influence on his thinking; after the primaries he told friends that, as a relatively poor man in politics, he was unlikely to ever become president unless he served as vice president first. Humphrey believed that only in this way could he attain the funds, nationwide organization, and visibility he would need to win the Democratic nomination. So as
60500-458: Was often absent during his childhood since she worked long hours, and although his father was staunchly pro-segregation , he allowed Jimmy to befriend the black farmhands' children. Carter was an enterprising teenager who was given his own acre of Earl's farmland, where he grew, packaged, and sold peanuts. Carter also rented out a section of tenant housing that he had purchased. Carter attended Plains High School from 1937 to 1941, graduating from
60750-420: Was passed during Carter's presidency. Amid growing public fear that the social security system was in danger of bankruptcy within a few years, Carter signed the Social Security Financing Amendments Act in December 1977, which corrected a flaw that had been introduced into the benefit formula by earlier legislation in 1972, raised Social Security taxes and reduced Social Security benefits. "Now this legislation",
61000-479: Was reflected in the division between Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who sought improved relations with the Soviet Union and the Third World, and National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, who favored confrontation with the Soviet Union on a range of issues. After the disappointment of the Vietnam War a re-focus of the US Army on the Warsaw Pact problem found that technology and teamwork both were in dire need to be upgraded. Guided by General Donn A. Starry and
61250-428: Was sworn in as the 76th governor of Georgia on January 12, 1971. In his inaugural speech, he declared that "the time for racial discrimination is over", shocking the crowd and causing many of the segregationists who had supported him during the race to feel betrayed. Carter was reluctant to engage with his fellow politicians, making him unpopular with the legislature. He expanded the governor's authority by introducing
61500-485: Was the biggest political mistake of his career." Short on funds, Humphrey could not match the well-financed Kennedy operation. He traveled around the state in a rented bus while Kennedy and his staff flew in a large, family-owned airplane. According to his biographer Carl Solberg, Humphrey spent only $ 23,000 on the West Virginia primary while Kennedy's campaign privately spent $ 1.5 million, well over their official estimate of $ 100,000. Unproven accusations claimed that
61750-492: Was the first time that such a process had been undertaken. Carter acknowledged that several more "Love Canals" existed across the country, and that discovering such hazardous dumpsites was "one of the grimmest discoveries of our modern era". Carter typically refused to conform to Washington's rules. He avoided phone calls from members of Congress and verbally insulted them. He was unwilling to return political favors. His negativity led to frustration in passing legislation. During
62000-544: Was the lead author of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 , introduced the first initiative to create the Peace Corps , and chaired the Select Committee on Disarmament . He unsuccessfully sought his party's presidential nomination in 1952 and 1960 . After Lyndon B. Johnson acceded to the presidency, he chose Humphrey as his running mate, and the Democratic ticket won a landslide victory in the 1964 election . In March 1968, Johnson made his surprise announcement that he would not seek reelection, and Humphrey launched his campaign for
62250-413: Was the son of Ragnild Kristine Sannes (1883–1973), a Norwegian immigrant, and Hubert Horatio Humphrey Sr. (1882–1949). Humphrey spent most of his youth in Doland, South Dakota , on the Dakota prairie; the town's population was about 600. His father was a licensed pharmacist and merchant who served as mayor and a town council member. The father also served briefly in the South Dakota state legislature and
62500-596: Was to eventually work aboard USS Seawolf , which was intended to be the second U.S. nuclear submarine. His plans changed when his father died of pancreatic cancer in July, two months before construction of Seawolf began, and Carter obtained a release from active duty so he could take over the family peanut business. Deciding to leave Schenectady proved difficult, as Rosalynn had grown comfortable with their life there. She later said that returning to small-town life in Plains seemed "a monumental step backward." Carter left active duty on October 9, 1953. He served in
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