The Ford and Carter Years - Weebly

1 1016 CHAPTER32 One American's StoryThe ford and Carter YearsJames D. Denney couldn t believe what he was a month after Richard Nixon had resigned amid theWatergate scandal, President Gerald R. Fordhad grant-ed Nixon a full pardon. [S]omeone must write, TheEnd, ford had declared in a televised statement. I haveconcluded that only I can do that. Denney wrote a letterto the editors of Timemagazine, in which he voiced hisanger at ford s PERSONALVOICEJAMES D. DENNEY Justice may certainly be tempered by mercy, but therecan be no such thing as mercy until justice has beenaccomplished by the courts. Since it circumvented jus-tice, Mr. ford s act was merely indulgent favoritism, abland and unworthy substitute for mercy.

2 Time,September 23, 1974 James Denney s feelings were typical of the anger and the disillusion-ment with the presidency that many Americans felt in the aftermath of theWatergate scandal. During the 1970s, Presidents Gerald ford and JimmyCarter sought to restore America s faith in its leaders. At the same time,both men had to focus much of their attention on battling the nation sworsening economic Travels a Rough RoadUpon taking office, Gerald R. ford urged Americans to put the Watergate scan-dal behind them. Our long national nightmare is over, he declared. Thenation s nightmarish economy persisted, however, and ford s policies offeredlittle & NamesTerms & NamesMAIN IDEAMAIN IDEA Gerald R.

3 ford Jimmy Carter National Energy Act human rights Camp DavidAccords Ayatollah RuhollahKhomeiniThe ford and Carteradministrations attempted toremedy the nation s worsteconomic crisis in decades. Maintaining a stable nationaleconomy has remained a toppriority for every president sinceFord and IT MATTERS NOWWHY IT MATTERS NOW Two womenprotest PresidentFord s pardon ofRichard 10/17/02 9:26 AM Page 1016A A ford , NOT A LINCOLN Gerald ford seemed tomany to be a likable and honest man. Upon becomingvice president after Spiro Agnew s resignation, ford can-didly admitted his limitations. I m a ford , not a Lincoln, he remarked. On September 8, 1974, President ford par-doned Richard Nixon in an attempt to move the countrybeyond Watergate.

4 The move cost ford a good deal of pub-lic TRIES TO WHIP INFLATIONBy the time Fordtook office, America s economy had gone from bad toworse. Both inflation and unemployment continued torise. After the massive OPEC oil-price increases in 1973,gasoline and heating oil costs had soared, pushing infla-tion from 6 percent to over 10 percent by the end of responded with a program of massive citizen action,called Whip Inflation Now or WIN. The president calledon Americans to cut back on their use of oil and gas andto take other energy-saving measures. In the absence of incentives, though, the plan fellflat. ford then tried to curb inflation through a tightmoney policy.

5 He cut government spending and encour-aged the Federal Reserve Board to restrict credit throughhigher interest rates. These actions triggered the worsteconomic recession in 40 Years . As ford implemented hiseconomic programs, he continually battled a DemocraticCongress intent on pushing its own economic his two Years as president, ford vetoed more than50 pieces of s Foreign PolicyFord fared slightly better in the international arena. Herelied heavily on Henry Kissinger, who continued to holdthe key position of secretary of state. CARRYING OUT NIXON'S FOREIGN POLICIESF ollowingKissinger s advice, ford pushed ahead with Nixon s policyof negotiation with China and the Soviet Union.

6 InNovember 1974, he met with Soviet premier LeonidBrezhnev. Less than a year later, he traveled to Helsinki,Finland, where 35 nations, including the Soviet Union,signed the Helsinki Accords a series of agreements thatpromised greater cooperation between the nations ofEastern and Western Europe. The Helsinki Accords wouldbe ford s greatest presidential TURMOIL IN SOUTHEAST ASIALike presidents before him, Fordencountered trouble in Southeast Asia. The 1973 cease-fire in Vietnam had brokendown. Heavy fighting resumed and ford asked Congress for over $722 million tohelp South Vietnam. Congress refused. Without American financial help, SouthVietnam surrendered to the North in 1975.

7 In the same year , the Communist gov-ernment of Cambodia seized the merchant ship Mayag ezin the Gulf of ford responded with a massive show of military force to rescue 39 crewmembers aboard the ship. The operation cost the lives of 41 troops. Criticsargued that the mission had cost more lives than it had Age of Limits1017 DIFFICULTDIFFICULTDECISIONSDECISIONSPARD ONING PRESIDENT NIXONP resident ford s pardon ofRichard Nixon outraged manyAmericans. But President Fordargued that the pardon ofRichard Nixon was in the coun-tr y s best interest. In the event of a Watergate trial, ford argued, ugly passions would again bearoused.. And the credibilityof our free institutions .. wouldagain be challenged at home andabroad.

8 ford called the pardondecision the most difficult of mylife, by far. In 2001, after more than 25years, ford received the John Profiles in CourageAward for his courageous decision in the face of might the countr y havebeen affected if a formerUnited States president hadgone on trial for possiblecriminal wrongdoing? you had been in PresidentFord s position, would youhave pardoned RichardNixon? Why or why not?A. AnswerManyAmericans hadlittle faith intheir govern-ment and sowere less likelyto make person-al sacrifices IDEAMAIN IDEAAM akingInferencesWhy wasFord s call forvoluntar y actionsto help theeconomyunsuccessful?p1016-1023aspe-09 32s3 10/17/02 9:26 AM Page 1017 Carter Enters the White HouseGerald ford won the Republican nomination for presidentin 1976 after fending off a powerful conservative challengefrom former California governor Ronald Reagan.

9 Becausethe Republicans seemed divided over ford s leadership, theDemocrats confidently eyed the White House. We couldrun an aardvark this year and win, predicted oneDemocratic leader. The Democratic nominee was indeed asurprise: a nationally unknown peanut farmer and formergovernor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter GOES TO WASHINGTOND uring the post-Watergate era, cynicism toward the Washington establish-ment ran high. The soft-spoken, personable man fromPlains, Georgia, promised to restore integrity to the nation shighest office, I will never tell a lie to the American people. Throughout the presidential campaign, Carter and Fordsquared off over the key issues of inflation, energy, andunemployment.

10 On Election Day, Jimmy Carter won by anarrow margin, claiming million popular votes toFord s the very beginning, the new first family broughta down-to-earth style to Washington. After settling intooffice, Carter stayed in touch with the people by holdingRoosevelt-like fireside chats on radio and television. Carter failed to reach out to Congress in a similar way,refusing to play the insider game of deal making. Relyingmainly on a team of advisers from Georgia, Carter evenalienated congressional Democrats. Both parties on CapitolHill often joined to sink the president s budget proposals, aswell as his major policy reforms of tax and welfare programs. Carter s Domestic AgendaLike Gerald ford , President Carter focused much of hisattention on battling the country s energy and economiccrises but was unable to bring the United States out of itseconomic THE ENERGY CRISISC arter consideredthe energy crisis the most important issue facing thenation.