Download Modern America I Unit 16 Energy Crisis and Problems Abroad As

MODERN AMERICA I
UNIT 16
ENERGY CRISIS AND PROBLEMS ABROAD
As many began to distrust the government with corruption found through the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal,
America’s attention focused more on growing issues in domestic policies and began to direct their foreign focus not on
Europe or Asia, but on the Middle East.
A STAGNANT ECONOMY
Yom Kipper War (1973) – war between Israel (supported by America) and the Arab Nation of Egypt, Syria, Iraq and
other Arab nations ending in an Israeli victory after the U.S. pressured them not to advance into Egypt
OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) announced that it would begin a brief embargo (ban
on trade) against the allies of Israel including the United States
- when the embargo ended, OPEC raised the price of oil nearly 400% ($3per barrel 1973 – $30 1980)
leading to a recession due to the high price of fuel with less money to spend on goods
- prices rose due to increased fuel cost and led to inflation along with a stagnate economy caused by
international competition (Europe and Japan) entering the U.S. dominated industrial economy
stagflation – term used to describe the stagnate economy combined with rising inflation and high unemployment
- the 70s were not a good economic time in America (increase spending would end the recession but increase
inflation – raising taxes and interest rates might slow inflation but would keep the economy in recession )
The OPEC oil crisis showed the West’s dependency on Middle Eastern oil and was a warning of the cost of losing access
to the region’s natural resources.
FORD’S PRESIDENCY
Now the task of fixing the economy feel to President Ford (only president never elected) who was appointed vice president
by Nixon, (after former vice president Spiro Agnew resigned (due to tax fraud)), and rose to the presidency following Nixon’s
unprecedented resignation. Now, President Ford had to deal with an untrusting nation in the midst of an economic crisis.
Nixon’s Pardon (1974) – with such a distraction as the national scandal of Watergate and a criminal indictment
underway in Congress against Nixon, attempting to get anything done in Congress was nearly impossible
- a month after taking office, President Ford granted Richard Nixon “a full, free, and absolute pardon” for any
wrong doing he may have committed as president put the matter to rest once and for all
- Ford’s popularity dropped from 71% to 50% and never fully recovered
WIN (1975) – President Ford’s “Whip inflation now” program attempted to reduce oil and gas consumption to bring
down prices by reducing demand for them by voluntary means  it fails
Helsinki Accords (1975) – treaty signed by Gerald Ford and leaders of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, which required
NATO to recognize the borders of the Eastern European countries established after World War II, while the
Soviets had to guarantee certain basic human rights including the right to move across national borders
- while the U.S. and its allies upheld their end of the deal the Soviet did not restricting movement across
communist borders behind the “iron curtain”
CARTER’S PRESIDENCY
Elected as a Washington outsider (someone uncorrupted by Washington politics) and on a promise that he would “never lie
to the American people, former Democrat governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, wins the election of 1976 against
incumbent Gerald Ford.
Like Nixon and Ford before him, Carter came into presidency with a major energy crisis that was caused in part by the
rising price of fuel. To address this issue and gain advice, President Carter created a new cabinet position.
Department of Energy (1977) –created for the purpose of trying to get the country to cut down on its consumption of
energy (fossil fuels) and look to more efficient energy sources such as solar, wind and nuclear power
malaise speech (1979) – President Carter made a televised addressed to the nation complaining about a “crisis in
confidence” that plagued the nation asking people to take necessary steps to conserve energy which many felt
was Carter blaming them for America’s problems and his failings
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During the 1970s, the Civil Rights Movement began to change as most legal forms of discrimination had been outlawed.
Now the movement began to focus on equal opportunities in the workplace and school for blacks and other minorities.
affirmative action – policy of favoring minorities in positions of employment or school to readdress previous
discrimination and make for a level playing field
- many argue that making and holding positions for minorities that denied equal or more qualified whites was
a form of “reverse discrimination” (discrimination of majorities to make opportunities for minorities)
Univ. of California Regents v. Bakke (1978) – Alan Bakke had twice been denied entrance into Medical
School despite having higher board scores than many other minorities who had been accepted
- he sued saying affirmative action violated his rights and discriminated against him based on his race
- the Supreme Court ruled Bakke’s rights had been violated but upheld affirmative action as long as there
was no racial quota and that race wasn’t the only factor in admitting someone
bilingual education – as more non-English speaking immigrant children entered the U.S., education programs were set
up in schools to teach classes of immigrants in their native language until they were ready to transfer to ordinary
classes
CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
President Carter was a huge advocate for human rights and made it a point to lead the world in stopping human rights
violations. It was this principle that made guided Carter in his handle of foreign policy and problems abroad.
Panama Canal turnover (1978) – President Carter pushed to turn over control of the Panama Canal (controlled by the
U.S. since 1903) to the people Panama by 1999 ending the United States’ interventionist control in the region.
Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (1979) – most frequently called out by Carter as a violator of human rights, the Afghan
invasion by the Soviet Union sparked an embargo of U.S. grain to the Soviet Union
- the following year the U.S. boycotted the Summer Olympics of 1980 held in Moscow  the Soviets
retaliated by boycotting the following Summer Olympic of 1984 held in Los Angles
- against Taliban rebels supported by the United States, the invasion of Afghanistan became the Soviets
“Vietnam” producing an unpopular war that greatly weakened the Soviet government
While tensions rose between the Soviets and the United States, the growing tensions in the Middle East got the most
attention of the Carter administration and helped him gain his greatest achievement and failure in foreign policy.
Camp David Accords (1978) – meetings between President Jimmy Carter, Egyptian President Sadat and Israeli Prime
Minister Begin to discuss a peace treaty between them lasting for two weeks which eventually is passed
- President Sadat was the first Arab leader to recognize Israel as a legitimate nation, which has been the first
step for peace in the Middle East (later Sadat was assassinated – Benin was a holocaust survivor)
The United States had supported the Shah of Iran after covertly disposing of the previous Iranian leader in the 1950s.
However, the Shah’s focus on modernizing Iran to Western culture and his brutal tactics to suppress Muslim leaders and
discourage the religion led him to be forced out of his country and into exile by growing Muslim fundamentalists.
Ayatollah Khomeini – a Islamic fundamentalist (one who follows strict devotion to religious teachings) religious leader who
helped overthrow the Shah in 1979 and take control of the Iranian government turning it into a fundamentalist
Islamic Republic
Iran Hostage Crisis (1979) – after the U.S. allowed the Shah of Iran to come to America for medical treatment, upset
Iranian students overtook the U.S. embassy in Iran capturing 52 Americans and holding them hostage for 444
days threatening to kill them as American watched them paraded on television
- President Carter made two attempts to free the hostages that resulted in disaster
- the hostages were released the day President Carter left office in 1980 discontent
The difficult presidencies of Ford and Carter had not helped the U.S. recover its economic crisis nor did they help
heal the nation from the effects of the Vietnam War and Watergate. Out of these frustrations and the growing
discontent with the liberal decades of the 1960s and 70s rose a resurgence of conservatism that would dominate
the 1980s.
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