5 Key Events That Shaped Jimmy Carter’s Presidency

Former President Jimmy Carter passed away at his residence in Plains, Georgia, on December 29, at the age of 100. His life encompassed a career dedicated to public service, highlighted by a single term as president from 1977 to 1981.

Following his departure from public office, Carter continued to cultivate his humanitarian legacy, although his time in the presidency was characterized by efforts to combat inflation and address a domestic energy crisis. On the global stage, the 39th U.S. president aimed to enhance diplomatic relations with Russia and China while advocating for peace in the Middle East.

Camp David

Carter’s foreign policy initiatives included efforts to strengthen relations between Israel and its neighboring countries.

Establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and Egypt became a pivotal aspect of his Middle East peace strategy.

However, internal pressures from Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin complicated the process. As signs indicated that Sadat might withdraw from discussions with Israel, Carter convened a summit at the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland.

Carter, Sadat, and Begin engaged in discussions for 12 days in September 1978, focusing on Israeli–Egyptian relations and the complexities surrounding Palestinian self-governance.

The Camp David meetings produced two accords: one outlining a general peace framework between Israel and Egypt, and another detailing a plan for Palestinian governance in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

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The framework established for Israeli–Egyptian peace set the groundwork for a treaty between the two nations in March 1979.

The United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a series of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) beginning in November 1969. These discussions led to a preliminary agreement that halted the production of new nuclear arms on both sides and laid the groundwork for the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 1972.

A subsequent round of arms control talks, designated SALT II, progressed from 1972 until 1979. Carter hoped to establish further control measures through these negotiations.

He and Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev eventually signed the SALT II treaty in Vienna, Austria, in June 1979. The agreement imposed specific limitations on the number of nuclear weapons delivery systems that each country could possess.

Carter presented SALT II to the Senate for ratification but retracted it in January 1980 following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Nevertheless, Carter indicated that the United States would adhere to the treaty’s terms as long as the Soviet Union did so as well.

In the wake of the Soviet invasion, Carter organized an international boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow.

One China

Carter’s initiatives to bolster relations between the United States and China helped reinforce the regime’s goals to exert greater influence over the Taiwan Strait.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) views Taiwan as part of China. In contrast, Taiwan has maintained its de facto independence from the Chinese mainland, operating as the Republic of China (ROC).

While affirming the PRC as the rightful government of China, Carter maintained that the United States would uphold cultural, commercial, and various unofficial relationships with the citizens of Taiwan. He reiterated Nixon’s call for peaceful resolution of differences between mainland China and Taiwan.

Carter also enacted the Taiwan Relations Act, which has facilitated ongoing arms sales from the United States to Taiwan among other provisions.

Since the establishment of relations with China, the United States has adopted a policy of strategic ambiguity regarding Taiwan. Although successive administrations have encouraged a peaceful resolution to the sovereignty dispute, they have kept the potential for U.S. intervention unclear if China were to attempt forcibly taking over Taiwan.

Crisis of Confidence

Domestically, Carter’s presidency was plagued by soaring inflation and interest rates, rising unemployment, and ongoing energy shortages throughout the 1970s.

In 1977, Carter established the Department of Energy in an effort to consolidate existing U.S. energy regulatory bodies and to better tackle energy crises.

Despite his attempts, energy and economic issues hampered Carter’s presidency. In a July 1979 address, he acknowledged the ongoing troubles facing Americans.

Carter further expressed that the United States was experiencing a “crisis of confidence” that threatened to undermine the nation’s social and political foundation.

While trying to unite Americans during his July 1979 address, Carter continued to face difficulties in garnering support.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, was removed from power during the Iranian Revolution and went into exile in early 1979, which left U.S.–Iranian relations in disarray. The Carter administration permitted the Iranian leader to enter the United States for medical care in October 1979, a decision that further incited anger among Iran’s Shia Islamic revolutionaries.

On November 4, 1979, supporters of the Iranian Revolution stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage.

Initially, Carter supported negotiating for the hostages’ release but ultimately shifted to backing a rescue operation by U.S. special forces. By April 1980, the Carter administration opted for a rescue plan known as “Operation Eagle Claw.” This mission involved a pre-arranged rendezvous in the desert that included eight Navy helicopters and six transport planes. However, visibility issues due to a sandstorm and hydraulic malfunctions led to a collision between a helicopter and a cargo plane full of fuel, resulting in an explosion that killed eight U.S. troops. Carter subsequently ordered the mission to be aborted.

Following the unsuccessful operation, negotiations resumed, but a swift resolution remained elusive.