Ford and Carter73-80

Question 1

After the Nixon fiasco, what would Americans want from a President?

Answer 1

-social stability
-political/economic stability
-improve international relations
-improve domestic relations
-end of imperial presidency

Question 2

what was the Republican alternative to the Great Society put forward by Ford?

Answer 2

Constructive
Republican
Alternative
Policy
(CRAP)

Question 3

why was Ford an unusual president?

Answer 3

He rose to presidency after Nixon resigned so he was never voted in. In itself this was not unheard of, but Ford had never even been voted in as Vice President. He had only been in the job because Spiro Agnew resigned.

Question 4

What pressure did Ford have at the start of presidency

Answer 4

-to adopt a different style of leadership
-co-operate with congress
-distance himself from the imperial style of Nixon

Question 5

Fords approval rating at the start of presidency

Answer 5

70%

Question 6

What made Ford unpopular

Answer 6

pardoning Nixon

Question 7

Ford popularity after pardoning Nixon

Answer 7

50%

Question 8

consequence of Ford pardoning Nixon

Answer 8

In 1974 Democrats took control of both houses of congress (equally this could be due to watergate)

Question 9

What did the pardon of Nixon suggest to the American people

Answer 9

-Ford will be similar to Nixon
-Doesn’t pardon those who dodged the draft (Carter does on his first day of office.)

Question 10

Journalists label for Ford

Answer 10

Bozo the Clown

Question 11

How did journalist treat Ford

Answer 11

often making fun of him, as president this was unheard of.
-they made fun of him falling down the stairs, and bizzaare comments on Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe (saying there was none)
SNL often went after Ford

Question 12

OPEC oil 1973

Answer 12

they place an embargo on America for their support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War. This increased economic problems like rising inflation

Question 13

What contextual (out of his control) factors made it difficult for Ford?

Answer 13

-South Vietnam falling to Communism 1975
-watergate scandal
-OPEC oil embargo -> inflation (countries in the Middle East stop selling Oil to America)
-economic problems
-peoples disillusionment with presidcency
-congress fights back- War Powers Act
-media scrutiny/hostility

Question 14

What factors linked to Ford made it more difficult for Ford

Answer 14

-clumsy, not really charismatic
-pardoning Nixon (he didnt have to but he did)
-no one voted for him as president or Vice president

Question 15

what percent of eligible voters voted in the 1976 election

Answer 15

54%
this shows how many had lost faith in the government and the lowest turnout since WW2

Question 16

1976 election result

Answer 16

Carter won! by a narrow margin of 57 electoral college votes.

Question 17

what does the 1976 election suggest what the american people thought about presidency

Answer 17

-Jimmy Carter fell out with congress
-there was no big belief in Carter coming in and rescuing as he barely won against Ford who was incredibly unpopular.

Question 18

Jimmy Carter Background/ potential

Answer 18

moderate democrat, reformed the welfare programme
outsider, never before worked in washington, what the public wanted but congress disliked him
Tip O’Niell said Carter does not understand how congress works
Walter Mondale for VP who worked witht eh senate for 10 years
A faithful baptist christian
background in the millitary

Question 19

How many American were taken hostage in the Iranian hostage crisis

Answer 19

in 1979, 60 were taken hostage

Question 20

attempts at freeing the hostages

Answer 20

attempts often ended in disaster, with one helicopter crashing, killing 8 american airmen. (operation Evil claw)
Carter continued to negotiate and won the release of the hostages but only once Reagan had won the election
hostages gone for 444 days

Question 21

enviromental concerns

Answer 21

concern had been growing since the publication of silent spring. But also because of things like the Cuyahoga river catching fire in 1969
in 1970nthe Environmental Protection Agency was formed, and it passed the Clean Waters Act 1972

Question 22

EPA

Answer 22

Environmental Protection Agency formed in 1970

Question 23

Clean Water Act 1972

Answer 23

mandated all rivers througout the United States be hygenic enough to safely allow mass amounts of swimmers and fish in the water by 1983

Question 24

Three Mile Island

Answer 24

1979
Radiation levels reached 8x more than needed to kill, cancer rates in this area still remain really high
radiation detected more than a mile away
water coolers for reactor 2 cut out

Question 25

what happened at the Love canal disaster

Answer 25

1978 20,000 tonnesToxic chemicals were in the river by the Hooker company, and these leaked into peoples homes. 11 chemicals found caused cancer and the state advised that children and pregnant women should move, and the first two streets were given money to move. the rest of the streets campaigned for relocation. EPA had a study leaked which claimed that it caused chromosomal defects. The home owners took federal agents hostage to prove if its not safe for them its not safe for anyone. Five hours later Jimmy Carter steps in and buys the home owners out.

Question 26

home owner at love canal

Answer 26

Louise Gibbs

Question 27

Significance of love canal

Answer 27

1988 rehabilitation at Love canal began. All homes found an owner at below market prices

Question 28

Good things Carter did as president

Answer 28

-Malaise speech -oversaw the release of the Iranian hostages

Question 29

bad things carter did as president

Answer 29

-firing his cabinet (poor decision) -operation evil claw (unlucky) -the environment (unlucky but poor in how he dealt with it)

Question 30

Malaise speech

Answer 30

Carter invited dozens of American politicians and ordinary citizens to the presidential retreat at Camp David to voice their concerns. They not only told him about the problems the nation was facing with energy . Carter took these criticisms to heart, and on July 15, 1979, he addressed the nation from the Oval Office about the crisis of confidence in the nation. Although he never used the term, critics soon dubbed this address the “malaise” speech. It was as honest and soul-searching a speech as any modern president ever delivered. Carter called the problems facing the nation a “crisis of confidence”: