, Washington, D.C. Portrait by Robert Templeton. Carter was inaugurated as the 39th president on January 20, 1977. One of Carter's first acts was the fulfillment of a campaign promise by issuing
Proclamation 4483 declaring unconditional
amnesty for
Vietnam War–era
draft evaders. Carter's tenure in office was marked by an economic malaise, a time of continuing inflation and recession and the
1979 energy crisis. Under Carter, in May 1980, the
Federal Trade Commission became "apparently the first agency ever closed by a budget dispute", but Congress took action and the agency opened the next day. Carter attempted to calm various conflicts around the world, most visibly in the Middle East with the signing of the
Camp David Accords;
giving 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.
Domestic policy Holidays and proclamations In 1978, Carter signed into law a bill creating a celebration in May called Asian American Heritage Week. May 7 and 10 were designated for national observance and recognition of the contributions of Asian Americans and Asian immigrants to American society. In 1992, President
George H. W. Bush signed a bill expanding the celebration into
Asian American Heritage Month. In 2021, President
Joe Biden signed a bill renaming this celebration Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Economy and USD, 1971–2009 The first two years of Carter's presidency were a time of intense
stagflation, primarily due to recovery from
a previous recession that had left fixed investment at extreme lows and unemployment at 9%. Under Carter, the unemployment rate declined from 8.1% when he took office to 5.7% by July 1978, but during the
early 1980s recession it returned to its pre-1977 level. His last two years were marked by double-digit inflation, very high interest rates, oil shortages, and slow economic growth. Due to economic stimulus legislation, such as the Public Works Employment Act of 1977, proposed by Carter and passed by Congress, real household median income had grown by 5.2%, with a projection of 6.4% for the next quarter. The 1979 energy crisis ended this period of growth, and as inflation and interest rates rose, economic growth, job creation and
consumer confidence declined sharply.
Federal Reserve Board chairman G. William Miller's relatively loose
monetary policy 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 forced inflation to double-digit levels, averaging 11.3% in 1979 and 13.5% in 1980.
Environment During his 1976 campaign, Carter promised to sign into law any bills Congress passed to regulate
strip mining. In 1977, Carter signed the
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, which regulated strip mining. In 1978, Carter declared a federal emergency in the
Love Canal neighborhood of
Niagara Falls, New York. More than 800 families were evacuated from the neighborhood, which was on top of a
toxic waste landfill. The
Superfund law was created in response to the situation. Federal disaster money was appropriated to demolish about 500 houses and two schools built atop the dump, and to remediate the dump and construct a containment area for the hazardous waste. This was the first time such a process had been undertaken. Carter acknowledged that several more "Love Canals" existed across the country, and that discovering such hazardous dump sites was "one of the grimmest discoveries of our modern era". In December 1978, Carter used the
1906 Antiquities Act and his executive order power to designate of land in Alaska as a national monument. This executive order protected the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge until Congress codified it into law with the
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, which doubled the amount of public land set aside for national parks and wildlife refuges.
US energy crisis nuclear accident, April 1979 Moralism typified much of Carter's action. On April 18, 1977, he delivered a televised speech declaring that the energy crisis was the "moral equivalent of war". He encouraged
energy conservation and installed
solar water heating panels on the White House. He wore a
cardigan 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 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 next month, he called energy "the most important domestic issue that we will face while I am in office". On January 12, 1978, Carter said the continued discussions about his energy reform proposal had been "long and divisive and arduous". 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 the energy reform bill in particular. After much deliberation and modification, Congress approved the Carter energy legislation on October 15, 1978. It 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 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. 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 the 1960s and 1970s, before his presidency. Some later called this his "
malaise speech", and his use of rhetoric.
Relations with Congress 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 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. As 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 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 1978 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 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. On May 10, 1979, the House voted against giving Carter authority to produce a standby gas rationing plan. The following day, Carter described himself as shocked and embarrassed for the US government by the vote and concluded "the majority of the House Members are unwilling to take the responsibility, the political responsibility for dealing with a potential, serious threat to our Nation." He added that most House members were placing higher importance on "local or parochial interests" and challenged the House to compose its own rationing plan in the next 90 days. Carter's remarks were met with criticism by House Republicans, who accused his comments of not befitting the formality a president should have in their public remarks. Others pointed to 106 Democrats voting against his proposal and the bipartisan criticism potentially coming back to haunt him. At a news conference on July 25, 1979, Carter called on believers in the future of the US and his proposed energy program to speak with Congress as it bore the responsibility to impose his proposals. Amid the energy proposal opposition,
The New York Times commented that "as the comments flying up and down Pennsylvania Avenue illustrate, there is also a crisis of confidence between Congress and the President, sense of doubt and distrust that threatens to undermine the President's legislative program and become an important issue in next year's campaign."
Deregulation , 1978 In 1977, Carter appointed
Alfred E. Kahn to lead the
Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). He was part of a push for deregulation of the industry, supported by leading economists, leading think tanks in Washington, a civil society coalition advocating the reform, the head of the regulatory agency, Senate leadership, the Carter administration, and even some in the airline industry. This coalition swiftly gained legislative results in 1978. Carter signed the
Airline Deregulation Act into law on October 24, 1978. The main purpose of the act was to
remove government control over fares, routes and market entry (of new airlines) from
commercial aviation. The Civil Aeronautics Board's powers of regulation were to be phased out, eventually allowing market forces to determine routes and fares. The Act did not remove or diminish the
Federal Aviation Administration's regulatory powers over airline safety. In 1978, Carter signed a bill into law "allowing homebrewing and small-scale craft brewing to operate legally". The new law deregulated the American beer industry by making it legal to sell
malt,
hops, and
yeast to American
home brewers for the first time since the 1920 beginning of
prohibition in the United States. This deregulation led to an increase in home brewing that by the 2000s had developed into a strong craft
microbrew culture in the United States.
Chrysler bailout In the late 1970s, the
Chrysler Cooperation—one of the "
Big Three" automakers in the US—faced near-certain bankruptcy as it projected a loss of $1billion. Carter proposed that the company forgo salary increases and bonuses, saying that it might be done "without decimating the company or putting it on its knees", but the company had already frozen wage increases and bonuses months before, to no avail. In 1979, Congress began working on a
bailout plan for Chrysler, led by Congressman
James J. Blanchard. Carter assembled a team that included Vice President Mondale and Assistant Domestic Policy Adviser
David Rubenstein to secure a $1.5 billion loan guarantee. In December, Congress passed the
Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979 to bail Chrysler out with $3.5billion (equivalent to $billion in ) in aid. The bill turned over $162 million in stock to Chrysler's workers, eliminated around $125 million in wage increases, and gave Chrysler $500 million in bank loans. Carter's proposals on healthcare while in office included a 1977 mandatory health care cost proposal, and a 1979 proposal that provided private health insurance coverage. The 1977 mandatory health care cost proposal was passed in the Senate, but later defeated in the House. During 1978, he met with Kennedy over a compromise healthcare law that proved unsuccessful. He later said Kennedy's disagreements thwarted his plan to provide a comprehensive American health care system. In 1980, Carter signed into law the
Mental Health Systems (MHSA) Act, which allocated
block grants to states to bolster community health services and provided funding to states to create and implement community-based health services. The MHSA was considered landmark legislation in mental health care. By September 1981, the Reagan administration had repealed most of the law.
Education Early into his term, Carter collaborated with Congress to fulfill his campaign promise to create a cabinet-level education department. In an address from the White House on February 28, 1978, Carter argued "Education is far too important a matter to be scattered piecemeal among various government departments and agencies, which are often busy with sometimes dominant concerns." On February 8, 1979, the Carter administration released an outline of its plan to establish an education department and asserted enough support for the enactment to occur by June. On October 17, the same year, Carter signed the
Department of Education Organization Act into law, establishing the
United States Department of Education. Carter added 43,000 children and families to the
Head Start program, while the percentage of nondefense dollars spent on education was doubled. In a speech on November 1, 1980, Carter stated his administration had extended Head Start to migrant children.
LGBTQ rights During Carter's administration, the United States Foreign Service "lifted its ban on gay and lesbian personnel". In 1977, the Carter administration became the first US presidential administration to invite gay and lesbian rights activists to the White House to discuss federal policy with regard to ending employment discrimination in the federal government on the basis of sexual orientation and related issues.
Foreign policy Israel and Egypt , during his 1979 visit From the onset of his presidency, Carter attempted to mediate the
Arab–Israeli conflict. After a failed attempt to seek a comprehensive settlement in 1977 (through reconvening the
1973 Geneva conference), Carter invited the Egyptian president
Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister
Menachem Begin to the presidential lodge Camp David in September 1978, in hopes of creating a definitive peace. While the two sides could not agree on Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, the negotiations resulted in Egypt formally recognizing Israel, and the creation of an elected government in the West Bank and Gaza. This resulted in the Camp David Accords, which ended the war between Israel and Egypt. The accords were a source of great domestic opposition in both Egypt and Israel. Historian Jørgen Jensehaugen argues that by the time Carter left office in January 1981, he was "in an odd position—he had attempted to break with traditional U.S. policy but ended up fulfilling the goals of that tradition, which had been to break up the Arab alliance, sideline the Palestinians, build an alliance with Egypt, weaken the Soviet Union and secure Israel."
Africa , Tanzanian leader
Julius Nyerere, and Carter, 1977 In an address to the African officials at the United Nations on October 4, 1977, Carter stated the US's interest to "see a strong, vigorous, free, and prosperous Africa with as much of the control of government as possible in the hands of the residents of your countries" and pointed to their unified efforts on "the problem of how to resolve the Rhodesian, Zimbabwe question." At a news conference later that month, Carter said the US wanted to "work harmoniously with South Africa in dealing with the threats to peace in Namibia and in Zimbabwe in particular", to do away with racial issues such as apartheid, and to work for equal opportunities in other facets of society in the region. Despite human rights concerns, Carter continued US support for
Mobutu Sese Seko of
Zaire. Zaire received nearly half the foreign aid Carter allocated to sub-Saharan Africa. Under Carter an alliance with Liberia's
Samuel Doe, who had come to power in a
1980 coup, was pursued. on April 1, 1978|left Carter visited Nigeria from March 31 to April 3, 1978, to improve relations, the first US president to do so. He reiterated interest in convening a peace conference on Rhodesia that involved all parties. The elections of
Margaret Thatcher as
prime minister of the United Kingdom and
Abel Muzorewa for
Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia, South Africa turning down a plan for
South West Africa's independence, and domestic opposition in Congress were seen as a heavy blow to the Carter administration's policy toward South Africa. On May 16, 1979, the Senate voted in favor of lifting economic sanctions against
Rhodesia, seen by some Rhodesians and South Africans as a potentially fatal blow to joint diplomacy efforts and any compromise between the Salisbury leaders and guerrillas. On December 3, Secretary of State
Cyrus Vance promised Senator
Jesse Helms that when the British governor arrived in
Salisbury to implement an agreed Lancaster House settlement and the electoral process began, the President would take prompt action to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe Rhodesia.
East Asia with Carter in 1979 Carter sought closer relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC), continuing the Nixon administration's drastic policy of rapprochement. The two countries increasingly collaborated against the Soviet Union, and the Carter administration tacitly consented to the
Chinese invasion of Vietnam. In December 1978, he announced the United States' intention to formally recognize and establish full diplomatic relations with the PRC starting on January 1, 1979, while severing ties with
Taiwan, including revoking a mutual defense treaty with the latter. In 1979, Carter extended formal diplomatic recognition to the PRC for the first time. This decision led to a boom in trade between the United States and the PRC, which was pursuing economic reforms under the leadership of
Deng Xiaoping. Carter supported the China-allied
Khmer Rouge regime in
Cambodia fighting the Soviet-backed
Vietnamese invasion. at the White House After the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Carter allowed the sale of military supplies to China and began negotiations to share military intelligence. In January 1980, Carter unilaterally revoked the
Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty with the
Republic of China (ROC). Conservative Republicans challenged Carter's abrogation of the treaty in court, but the Supreme Court ruled that the issue was a non-justiciable
political question in
Goldwater v. Carter. The US continued to maintain quasi-diplomatic contacts with the ROC through the 1979
Taiwan Relations Act. During Carter's presidency, the US continued to support
Indonesia under
Suharto as a Cold War ally, despite
human rights violations in
East Timor. The violations followed Indonesia's
December 1975 invasion of East Timor. Under Carter's administration military assistance to Indonesia increased, peaking in 1978. This was antithetical to Carter's stated policy of "not selling weapons if it would exacerbate a potential conflict in a region". In the
Philippines, Carter supported the regime of President
Ferdinand Marcos. During a news conference on March 9, 1977, Carter reaffirmed his interest in having a gradual withdrawal of American troops from
South Korea. On May 19,
The Washington Post quoted Chief of Staff of US forces in South Korea
John K. Singlaub as criticizing Carter's withdrawal of troops from the Korean peninsula. Carter relieved Singlaub of his duties on May 21. During a news conference on May 26, 1977, Carter said South Korea could defend itself with reduced American troops in case of conflict. From June 30 to July 1, 1979, Carter held meetings with
president of South Korea Park Chung Hee for a discussion on relations between the US and South Korea as well as Carter's interest in preserving his policy of worldwide tension reduction. On April 21, 1978, Carter announced a reduction in American troops in South Korea scheduled to be released by the end of the year by two-thirds, citing lack of action by Congress in regard to a compensatory aid package for the South Korean government. He supported South Korean President
Chun Doo-hwan during the suppression of the
Gwangju Uprising in May 1980. South Korean pro-democracy activist
Kim Dae-jung was sentenced to death in September 1980, but his sentence was commuted after the intervention of presidents Carter and Reagan.
Iran of Jordan, the
Shah and
Shahbanou of
Iran in 1977 On November 15, 1977, Carter pledged that his administration would continue positive relations between the US and Iran, calling its contemporary status "strong, stable and progressive". On December 31, 1977, he called Iran under the Shah an "island of stability". Carter praised the Shah's "great leadership" and spoke of "personal friendship" between them. American support for the unpopular Shah increased anti-American sentiment in Iran, which intensified after the Shah, who was dying of cancer,
left Iran for the last time in January 1979 and Carter allowed him to be admitted to the
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York on October 22, 1979. On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian students took over the
US Embassy in Tehran. The students belonged to the
Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line and supported the
Iranian revolution. Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens were held hostage for the next 444 days. They were freed immediately after Ronald Reagan succeeded Carter as president on January 20, 1981. During the crisis, Carter remained in isolation in the White House for more than 100 days. A month into the affair, Carter announced his commitment to resolving the dispute without "any military action that would cause bloodshed or arouse the unstable captors of our hostages to attack them or to punish them". On April 7, 1980, he issued Executive Order 12205, imposing economic sanctions against Iran, and announced further government measures he deemed necessary to ensure a safe release. On April 24, 1980, Carter ordered
Operation Eagle Claw to try to free the hostages. The mission failed, leaving eight American servicemen dead and two aircraft destroyed. The failure led Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who had opposed the mission, to resign. Released in 2017, a declassified memo produced by the CIA in 1980 concluded "Iranian hardliners—especially
Ayatollah Khomeini" were "determined to exploit the hostage issue to bring about President Carter's defeat in the November elections." Additionally, Tehran in 1980 wanted "the world to believe that Imam Khomeini caused President Carter's downfall and disgrace."
Soviet Union signing the SALT II treaty at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, June 18, 1979 On February 8, 1977, Carter said he had urged the Soviet Union to align with the US in forming "a comprehensive test ban to stop all nuclear testing for at least an extended period of time", and that he was in favor of the Soviet Union ceasing deployment of the
RSD-10 Pioneer. At a June 13 press conference, he announced that the US would "work closely with the Soviet Union on a comprehensive test ban treaty to prohibit all testing of nuclear devices underground or in the atmosphere", and that
Paul Warnke would negotiate demilitarization of the Indian Ocean with the Soviet Union. At a December 30 news conference, Carter said that during "the last few months, the United States and the Soviet Union have made great progress in dealing with a long list of important issues, the most important of which is to control the deployment of strategic nuclear weapons", and that the two countries sought to conclude SALT II talks by the spring of the next year. The talk of a comprehensive test ban treaty materialized with the signing of the
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II by Carter and Leonid Brezhnev on June 18, 1979. , in Washington, D.C., September 6, 1977. Pinochet was an ally of the United States in the
fight against Soviet-backed
communist movements in Latin America. In 1979, the Soviets intervened in the
Second Yemenite War. The Soviet backing of
South Yemen constituted a "smaller shock", in tandem with tensions that were rising due to the Iranian Revolution. This played a role in making Carter's stance on the Soviet Union more assertive, a shift that finalized with the impending Soviet-Afghan War. In his
1980 State of the Union Address, Carter emphasized the significance of relations between the two regions: "Now, as during the last 3½ decades, the relationship between our country, the United States of America, and the Soviet Union is the most critical factor in determining whether the world will live at peace or be engulfed in global conflict."
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan Communists under the leadership of
Nur Muhammad Taraki seized power in Afghanistan on April 27, 1978. Due to the regime's improvement of secular education and redistribution of land coinciding with mass executions and political oppression, Taraki was deposed by rival
Hafizullah Amin in September. Amin was considered a "brutal
psychopath" by foreign observers and had lost control of much of the country, prompting the Soviet Union to
invade Afghanistan on December 24, 1979, execute Amin, and install
Babrak Karmal as president. These concerns led Carter to expand collaboration between the CIA and Pakistan's
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which had begun in July 1979, when the CIA started providing $695,000 worth of non-lethal assistance to the
Afghan mujahideen. and Carter in October 1978|left According to a 2020 review of declassified US documents by Conor Tobin in the journal
Diplomatic History: The primary significance of this small-scale aid was in creating constructive links with dissidents through Pakistan's ISI that could be utilized in the case of an overt Soviet intervention ... The small-scale covert program that developed
in response to the increasing Soviet influence was part of a contingency plan
if the Soviets did intervene militarily, as Washington would be in a better position to make it difficult for them to consolidate their position, but not designed to induce an intervention. On December 28, 1979, Carter signed a presidential finding explicitly allowing the CIA to transfer "lethal military equipment either directly or through third countries to the Afghan opponents of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan" and to arrange "selective training, conducted outside of Afghanistan, in the use of such equipment either directly or via third country intermediation." Carter was determined to respond harshly to what he considered a dangerous provocation. In a televised speech on January 23, 1980, he announced sanctions on the Soviet Union, promised renewed aid and registration to Pakistan and the
Selective Service System, and
committed the US to the Persian Gulf's defense. Carter imposed an embargo on grain shipments to the USSR, tabled SALT II, requested a 5% annual increase in defense spending, and called for a boycott of the
1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, which was ultimately joined by 65 other nations. In early 1980, Carter determined the thrust of US policy for the duration of the war: he initiated
a program to arm the mujahideen through Pakistan's ISI and secured a pledge from Saudi Arabia to match US funding for this purpose. Despite huge expenditure, the Soviet Union was unable to quell the insurgency and
withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989. He was the first president to make a state visit to Sub-Saharan Africa when he went to Nigeria in 1978. Carter gave his "
Island of Stability" speech during this visit.
Allegations and investigations On September 21, 1977, the Carter administration's OMB director
Bert Lance resigned amid allegations of improper banking activities before his tenure.
United States Attorney General Griffin Bell appointed
Paul J. Curran as a special counsel to investigate loans made to the peanut business Carter owned by a bank controlled by Lance, and Carter became the first sitting president to testify under oath as part of an investigation of him. In October 1979, Curran announced that no evidence had been found to support allegations that funds loaned from the National Bank of Georgia had been diverted to Carter's 1976 presidential campaign, ending the investigation.
1980 presidential campaign , Ohio, on October 28, 1980 Carter's reelection campaign was based primarily on attacking Ronald Reagan. The campaign frequently pointed out and mocked Reagan's proclivity for gaffes, using his age and perceived lack of connection to his native California voter base against him. Later, the campaign used similar rhetoric as
Lyndon Johnson's 1964 presidential campaign, portraying Reagan as a warmonger who could not be trusted with the nuclear arsenal. Carter attempted to deny the
Reagan campaign $29.4 million (equivalent to $ in ) in campaign funds, due to dependent conservative groups already raising $60 million to get him elected—an amount that exceeded the limit of campaign funds. Carter's attempt was later denied by the
Federal Election Commission. Carter announced his reelection campaign in December 1979. A month earlier, Senator Ted Kennedy had announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination. During the
Democratic presidential primaries, questions about Kennedy were a frequent subject of Carter's press conferences. Despite winning key states such as California and New York, Kennedy surprised his supporters by running a weak campaign. Carter won most of the primaries and secured renomination. He later wrote that the strongest opposition to his policies came from the Democratic Party's liberal wing, which he attributed to Kennedy. Kennedy had mobilized the liberal wing, which weakened Carter's support in the general election. Carter and Mondale were formally nominated at the
1980 Democratic National Convention in New York City. Carter delivered a speech notable for its tribute to the late
Hubert Humphrey, whom he initially called "Hubert
Horatio Hornblower", and Kennedy made "
The Dream Shall Never Die" speech, in which he criticized Reagan and did not endorse Carter. by
Ronald Reagan. Along with Reagan and Kennedy, Carter was opposed by centrist
John B. Anderson, who had previously contested the
Republican presidential primaries, and upon losing to Reagan, reentered the race as an independent. Anderson advertised himself as a more liberal alternative to Reagan's conservatism. As the campaign went on, Anderson's polling numbers dropped and his base was gradually pulled to Carter or Reagan. Carter had to run against his own "stagflation"-ridden economy, while the hostage crisis in Iran dominated the news. He was attacked by conservatives for failing to "prevent Soviet gains" in less-developed countries, as pro-Soviet governments had taken power in countries including Angola, Ethiopia, Nicaragua and Afghanistan. His brother, Billy Carter, caused controversy due to his association with
Muammar Gaddafi's regime in
Libya. Carter alienated many liberal college students, who were expected to be one of his strongest support bases, by reactivating the Selective Service System on July 2, 1980, reinstating registration for the military draft. His campaign manager,
Timothy Kraft, stepped down five weeks before the general election amid what turned out to be an uncorroborated allegation of
cocaine use. On October 28, Carter and Reagan participated in the sole presidential debate of the election cycle in which they were both present, due to Carter refusing to participate in debates that included Anderson. Though initially trailing Carter by several points, Reagan experienced a surge in polling after the debate. This was in part influenced by Reagan deploying the phrase "
There you go again", which became the election's defining phrase. It was later discovered that in the final days of the campaign, Reagan's team
acquired classified documents Carter used to prepare for the debate. Reagan and his running mate (George H. W. Bush) defeated Carter and Mondale in a landslide, winning 489 electoral votes. The Senate
went Republican for the first time since 1952. Carter's 49 electoral votes were the second-fewest for an incumbent president seeking reelection. In his concession speech, Carter admitted that he was hurt by the election's outcome but pledged "a very fine transition period" with President-elect Reagan. == Post-presidency (1981–2024) ==