February 24, 1977 - President Carter announces U.S.
foreign aid will consider human rights.
March 5, 1977 - Dial-a-President radio program,
featuring President Jimmy Carter and CBS news anchorman Walter
Cronkite, airs for the first time. The brainchild of Cronkite and
CBS, the March 5 show was a test-run to see if the program could
be successful. (Carter's official papers refer to the show as Ask
President Carter). After a 20-minute practice session, Carter and
Cronkite went live on the air with Carter answering calls from all
over the country from his desk in the Oval Office. Approximately 9
million calls flooded the CBS radio studio during the first
two-hour broadcast. Questions covered a range of subjects from
Carter's pardon for draft-dodgers to the Panama Canal Treaty to
why Carter chose to let his daughter Amy attend a public school
instead of a private school in Washington, DC. Pronounced a
success. Though it did not air again.
March 7, 1977 - President Jimmy Carter meets
with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. For two days, the
president and Mrs. Carter played host to the prime minister and
his wife during the Israelis’ first trip to Washington, D.C. The
meetings with Rabin led eventually to the Camp David peace talks
held between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Rabin’s
replacement, Menachem Begin, in 1978; consisted of two agreements
that set the framework for further negotiations to resolve armed
conflicts between Israel and Egypt, and to establish an autonomous
area for Palestinians within Israel’s contested borders.
May 9, 1977 - Carter proposed a tax hike aimed at
bolstering Social Security's "fiscal integrity." Along with
bumping the tax rate up from 7 percent to 7.5 percent, the
president's proposal also called for federal funds to be shifted
to Social Security if unemployment ever left the retirement
program impotent; winter 1977 - Congress gave the
green light to the overhauled version of the president's
legislation.
May 18, 1977 - Menachem Begin becomes Israel's Prime
Minister.
May 22, 1977 - President Jimmy Carter, in a speech
delivered at Notre Dame University, reaffirms his commitment to
human rights as a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy and
disparages the "inordinate fear of communism which once led us to
embrace any dictator who joined us in that fear." Carter's speech
marked a new direction for U.S. Cold War policy, one that led to
both accolades and controversy. When long-time dictators Anastacio
Somoza of Nicaragua and the Shah of Iran fell from power in 1979,
critics of Carter's human rights policy blamed the president for
the demise of two governments, which had been strong allies in the
war against communism. Ronald Reagan, in his successful 1980
presidential campaign against Carter, constantly reiterated his
theme that his opponent's policies had severely weakened America
in its struggle against the Soviet Union.
June 6, 1977 - Secretary of State Cyrus Vance
assures skeptics in the United States that the administration of
President Jimmy Carter will hold the Soviet Union accountable for
its actions regarding recent Soviet crackdowns on human rights
activists.
June 16, 1977 - Leonid Ilich Brezhnev, first
secretary of the Soviet Communist Party since 1964, is elected
president of the Supreme Soviet, thereby becoming both head of
party and head of state.
June 20, 1977 - Oil began flowing through the
Alaskan pipeline (authorized in Senate Bill 1081 by Congress in
1973) from the North Slope of Alaska into the port at Valdez,
Alaska, where tankers would then carry the precious cargo into the
continental United States. Although the pipeline increased
domestic oil supplies, America continued to rely primarily on
crude exports from the Middle East.
June 20, 1977 - Menahem Begin (Likud party) forms
Israeli government; became Israel's sixth prime minister.
June 21, 1977 - Former White House chief of staff HR
Haldeman enters prison.
June 22, 1977 - Former Attorney General John N.
Mitchell began serving a sentence for his role in the Watergate
cover-up; 19 months in Alabama prison.
June 24, 1977 - IRS reveals Jimmy Carter paid
no taxes in 1976.
June 28, 1977 - Supreme Court allows Federal control
of Nixon tapes papers.
June 30, 1977 - Jimmy Carter cans B-1A bomber later
"B-1's the B-52".
July 14, 1977 - U.S. House establishes permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence.
August 4, 1977 - President Jimmy Carter signed
the Department of Energy Organization Act,
established the Department of Energy. [DOE Office of History and
Heritage Resources -
http://www.mbe.doe.gov/me70/history/histories.htm].
August 20, 1977 - The United States launched Voyager
2, an unmanned spacecraft carrying a 12-inch copper phonograph
record containing greetings in dozens of languages, samples of
music and sounds of nature.
September 7, 1977 - President Jimmy Carter and
Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos sign the Panama Canal Treaty,
agreeing to transfer control of the Panama Canal from the United
States to Panama at the end of the 20th century. Treaty recognized
Panama as the territorial sovereign in the Canal Zone but gave the
United States the right to continue operating the canal until
December 31, 1999. The Panama Canal Treaty also authorized the
immediate abolishment of the Canal Zone, a 10-mile-wide,
40-mile-long U.S.-controlled area that bisected the Republic of
Panama. October 1979 - treaty went into effect,
canal came under the control of the Panama Canal Commission, an
agency of five Americans and four Panamanians. August 15,
1914 - the Panama Canal was inaugurated with the passage
of the U.S. vessel Ancon, a cargo and passenger ship.
September 10, 1977 - Hamida Djandoubi, a Tunisian
immigrant and a convicted murderer, became the last person in
France executed with the guillotine.
September 12, 1977 - Steven Biko (30), leader of
South Africa's "Black Consciousness Movement," dies of severe head
trauma on the stone floor of a prison cell in Pretoria. Most
influential anti-apartheid leader of the 1970s. As a medical
student in 1968, he founded the all-black South African Students'
Organization with the aim of overcoming the "psychological
oppression of blacks by whites." Black Consciousness Movement
stressed black identity, self-esteem, and self-reliance. In the
1970s, Black Consciousness spread from the university communities
to black communities throughout South Africa.In 1972, Biko helped
organize the Black People's Convention, and in the next year he
was banned from politics by South Africa's white-minority
government (forbidden by law from speaking in public or being
quoted, leaving the area around King William's Town, and being in
the company of more than one person at a time). South African
authorities attempted to cover-up the circumstances of Biko's
death, saying he starved himself on a hunger strike. They later
claimed he died of kidney failure. Finally, when the findings of a
postmortem were made public, they said he might have "hurt his
head when he fell out of bed." Biko was hailed as a martyr in the
anti-apartheid struggle, and his death became an international
rallying point against South Africa's repressive government.
September 21, 1977 - President Jimmy Carter's budget
director, Bert Lance, resigned after weeks of controversy over
past business and banking practices.
October 1, 1977 - Department Of Energy Organization
Act of 1977 created the Department Of Energy; became the 12th
Cabinet-level department in the federal government.
October 26, 1977 - The experimental space shuttle
Enterprise glided to a bumpy but successful landing at Edwards Air
Force Base in California.
November/December 1977 - 5.7 million Chinese,
between ages 13 to 37, took a 2-day nationwide university entrance
exam (first since 1965, shortly before Cultural revolution took
hold); 237,000 (4.7%) test-takers gained admission; became known
as the class of '77, widely regarded as China's best and
brightest; first students in 12 years let into university on merit
2007 - 58% of 9 million exam takers won admission to
universities as opportunities expanded greatly over the years.
November 15, 1977 - President Jimmy Carter welcomes
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran, and his wife, Empress (or
"Shahbanou") Farrah, to Washington. Over the next two days, Carter
and Pahlavi discussed improving relations between the two
countries. Two years later, the two leaders’ political fates would
be further entwined when Islamic fundamentalists overthrew the
shah and took Americans hostage in Tehran. The visit ended on a
positive note and, the next month, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter
traveled to Tehran, where Carter toasted the shah as "an island of
stability" in the Middle East. That stability was rocked when
Pahlavi was deposed by Islamic fundamentalists in January 1979 and
replaced by a regime led by Ayatollah Khomeini.
November 19, 1977 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat
became the first Arab leader to visit Israel. Travels to Jerusalem
to seek a permanent peace settlement with Israel after decades of
conflict. Sadat's visit, in which he met with Israeli prime
minister Menachem Begin and spoke before the Knesset (Parliament),
was met with outrage in most of the Arab world. Despite criticism
from Egypt's regional allies, Sadat continued to pursue peace with
Begin, and in 1978 the two leaders met again in the United States,
where they negotiated a historic agreement with President Jimmy
Carter at Camp David, Maryland. The Camp David Accords, signed in
September 1978, laid the groundwork for a permanent peace
agreement between Egypt and Israel after three decades of
hostilities. The final peace agreement--the first between Israel
and one of its Arab neighbors--was signed in March 1979. The
treaty ended the state of war between the two countries and
provided for the establishment of full diplomatic and commercial
relations. November 20, 1977 - Egyptian President
Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to address Israel's
parliament.
December 20th, 1977 - President Jimmy Carter signed
the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 and the Domestic and
Foreign Investment Improved Disclosure Act of 1077 into law;
prohibited bribing of foreign officials.
April 27, 1978 - Former Nixon aide John D.
Ehrlichman was released from prison after serving 18 months for
Watergate-related crimes.
April 27, 1978 - Afghanistan President Sardar
Mohammed Daoud (ruled Afghanistan since coming to power in a coup
in 1973) is overthrown and murdered in a coup led by procommunist
rebels. The brutal action marked the beginning of political
upheaval in Afghanistan that resulted in intervention by Soviet
troops less than two years later. Nur Mohammed Taraki, head of the
Afghan Communist Party, took over the presidency. December
1978 - Afghanistan signed a 20-year "friendship treaty"
with the Soviet Union, by which increasing amounts of Russian
military and economic assistance flowed into the country. None of
this, however, could stabilize the Taraki government. His
dictatorial style and his decision to turn Afghanistan into a
one-party state alienated many people in the heavily Moslem
country. September 1979 - Taraki was himself
overthrown and murdered. December 1979 - Soviet
troops crossed into Afghanistan and installed a government
acceptable to the Russians, and a war between Afghan rebels and
Soviet troops erupted. The conflict lasted until Russian leader
Mikhail Gorbachev withdrew the Soviet forces in 1988.
May 9, 1978 - Body of former Italian prime minister
Aldo Moro is found, riddled by bullets, in the back of a car in
the center of historic Rome. He was kidnapped by Red Brigade
terrorists on March 16 after a bloody shoot-out near his suburban
home. The Italian government refused to negotiate with the extreme
left-wing group, which, after numerous threats, executed Moro on
May 9. He was a five-time prime minister of Italy and considered a
front-runner for the presidency of Italy in elections due in
December. Aldo Moro was regarded by many as Italy's most capable
post-World War II politician. A centrist leader of the Christian
Democratic Party, he served five times as prime minister in the
1960s and 1970s and promoted cooperation between Italy's disparate
political parties. Red Brigade, established in 1970 by Italian
Renato Curcio, employed bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, and
bank robberies as a means of promoting communist revolution in
Italy.
May 12, 1978 - The U.S. Commerce Department said
hurricanes would no longer be given only female names.
June 6, 1978 - California voters overwhelmingly
approved Proposition 13, a primary ballot initiative calling for
major cuts in property taxes.
June 16, 1978 - President Jimmy Carter and
Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos exchanged the instruments of
ratification for the Panama Canal treaties.
June 28, 1978 - The Supreme Court ordered the
medical school at the University of California at Davis to admit
Allan Bakke, a white man who argued he had been a victim of
reverse discrimination when his application for admission was
rejected.
August 15, 1978 - House of Representatives approves
(233-169), 39-month extension for ERA.
September 17, 1978 - At the White House in
Washington, DC, Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli
Prime Minister Menachem Begin sign the Camp David Accords, laying
the groundwork for a permanent peace agreement between Egypt and
Israel after three decades of hostilities. The accords were
negotiated during 12 days of intensive talks at President Jimmy
Carter's Camp David retreat in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland.
The final peace agreement--the first between Israel and one of its
Arab neighbors--was signed in March 1979.
October 17, 1978 - President Jimmy Carter signed a
bill restoring U.S. citizenship to Confederate President Jefferson
Davis.
October 23, 1978 - China and Japan exchanged treaty
ratification documents in Tokyo, formally ending 40 years of
hostility.
October 26, 1978 - Independent Counsel Act signed
into law.
October 27, 1978 - President Carter signs
Hawkins-Humphrey Equal Opportunity and Full Employment Act.
October 28, 1978 - President Jimmy Carter
signed the Airline Deregulation Act of 1980 into law. Act's main
purposes were to remove government control from commercial
aviation and expose the passenger airline industry to market
forces: the maintenance of safety as the highest priority in air
commerce; placing maximum reliance on competition in providing air
transportation services; the encouragement of air service at major
urban areas through secondary or satellite airports; the avoidance
of unreasonable industry concentration which would tend to allow
one or more air carriers to unreasonably increase prices, reduce
services, or exclude competition; and the encouragement of entry
into air transportation markets by new air carriers, the
encouragement of entry into additional markets by existing air
carriers, and the continued strengthening of small air carriers.
November 18, 1978 - People's Temple leader Jim Jones
leads hundreds of his followers in a mass murder-suicide at their
agricultural commune in remote northwestern Guyana. The few cult
members who refused to take the cyanide-laced fruit-flavored
concoction were either forced to do so at gunpoint or shot as they
fled. The final death toll was 913, including 276 children. Jim
Jones was a charismatic churchman who founded the People's Temple,
a Christian sect, in Indianapolis in the 1950s. He preached
against racism, and his integrated congregation attracted mostly
African Americans. 1965 - he moved the group to
northern California, settling in Ukiah and after 1971 in San
Francisco. In the 1970s, his church was accused by the press of
financial fraud, physical abuse of its members, and mistreatment
of children. 1977 - In response to the mounting
criticism, Jones led several hundred of his followers to South
America and set up a utopian agricultural settlement called
Jonestown in the jungle of Guyana. A year later, a group of
ex-members convinced U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan, a Democrat of
California, to travel to Jonestown and investigate the commune.
November 17, 1978 - Ryan arrived in Jonestown with a
group of journalists and other observers. At first the visit went
well, but the next day, as Ryan's group was about to leave,
several People's Church members approached members of the group
and asked them for passage out of Guyana. Jones became distressed
at the defection of his members, and one of Jones' lieutenants
attacked Ryan with a knife. Ryan escaped from the incident
unharmed, but Jones then ordered Ryan and his companions
ambushed and killed at the airstrip as they attempted to leave.
The congressman and four others were murdered as they attempted to
board their charter planes. Back in Jonestown, Jones directed his
followers in a mass suicide in a clearing in the town. With Jones
exhorting the "beauty of dying" over a loudspeaker, hundreds drank
a lethal cyanide and Kool-Aid drink. Those who tried to escape
were chased down and shot by Jones' lieutenants. Jones died of a
gunshot wound in the head, probably self-inflicted. Guyanese
troops, alerted by a cult member who escaped, reached Jonestown
the next day. Only a dozen or so followers survived, hidden in the
jungle. Most of the 913 dead were lying side by side in the
clearing where Jones had preached to them for the last time.
November 27, 1978 - Former Board of Supervisors
member Dan White murders Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor
Harvey Milk at City Hall in San Francisco, California. White, who
stormed into San Francisco's government offices with a .38
revolver, had reportedly been angry about Moscone's decision not
to reappoint him to the city board. Firing upon the mayor first,
White then reloaded his pistol and turned his gun on his rival
Milk, who was one of the nation's first openly gay politicians and
a much-admired activist in San Francisco. Future California
Senator and then-Supervisor Dianne Feinstein, who was the first to
find Milk's body, found herself addressing a stunned crowd at City
Hall. "As president of the Board of Supervisors, it's my duty to
make this announcement: Both Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey
Milk have been shot and killed. The suspect is supervisor Dan
White." White, who was caught soon after the murders, pleaded a
"diminished capacity" defense, claiming that copious amounts of
junk food, combined with distress over the loss of his job, caused
him to suffer mental problems. The so-called "Twinkie Defense"
appeared to be successful, and, in 1979, White was found guilty of
voluntary manslaughter rather than murder. Public outrage was so
widespread that California revoked the diminished capacity defense
in subsequent cases. Following the murders, both riots and
peaceful candlelight demonstrations took place as the city of San
Francisco publicly mourned the loss of two of its most cherished
and respected civic leaders. For his crime, White received a
five-year prison sentence. After his release, he was unable to
resume a normal life, and he took his own life in 1986.
December 1, 1978 - President Jimmy Carter put
more than 56 million acres of Alaska into the national park
system.
December 5, 1978 - In an effort to prop up an
unpopular pro-Soviet regime in Afghanistan, the Soviet Union signs
a "friendship treaty" with the Afghan government agreeing to
provide economic and military assistance. April 1978 - members of
the Afghan Communist Party overthrew and murdered President Sardar
Mohammed Daoud. Nur Mohammed Taraki, head of the Communist Party,
took over and immediately declared one-party rule in Afghanistan.
The regime was extremely unpopular with many Afghans so the
Soviets sought to bolster it with the December 1978 treaty. The
treaty established a 20-year period of "friendship and
cooperation" between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan. In addition
to increased economic assistance, the Soviet Union promised
continued cooperation in the military field. Soviet leader Leonid
Brezhnev declared that the treaty marked a "qualitatively new
character" of relations between the two nations. September
1979 - Taraki was overthrown and killed by members of the
Afghan Communist Party who were dissatisfied with his rule.
December 1979 - Soviet troops moved into Afghanistan and
established a regime more amenable to Russian desires.
December 16, 1978
- Cleveland became the first U.S. city to default since the
Depression. Plagued by political sniping between its mayor and
city council, as well as an eroding economic base, Cleveland
managed to pile up $14 million in debt to a number of local banks.
December 27, 1978
- Following its approval in a national referendum, King Juan
Carlos ratifies Spain's first democratic constitution in nearly
five decades. 1955 - Juan Carlos returned to Spain
under the invitation of General Francisco Franco, dictator of
Spain since 1936. 1969 - Franco designated Juan
Carlos his successor. 1975 - Juan Carlos became
Spain's acting head of state after Franco conceded that he was too
ill too govern. The 83-year-old dictator had been suffering
serious health problems for nearly a year. Three weeks after Juan
Carlos assumed power, Franco died of a heart attack.
November 22, 1975 - Juan Carlos was crowned king. Despite
having pledged loyalty to General Francisco Franco's authoritarian
regime, King Juan Carlos immediately began a transition to
democracy in Spain. During the next decade, he presided over a
period of extensive democratization in Spain.
December 31, 1978
- U.S. relations with Taiwan officially come to an end; desire for
closer economic relations with communist China and the belief that
diplomatic relations with the PRC might act as a buffer against
Soviet aggression led U.S. officials to view continued relations
with Taiwan as counterproductive; end to nearly 30 years of
American refusal to grant official recognition to the communist
government of mainland China.
January 1, 1979
- The United States officially recognized the government of the
People's Republic of China in Beijing; United States and China
held celebrations in Washington and Beijing to mark the
establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
January 7, 1979
- Vietnamese troops seize the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh,
toppling the brutal regime of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge. A
moderate Communist government was established, and Pol Pot and the
Khmer Rouge retreated into the jungle.
January 16, 1979
- Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the leader of Iran since 1941, is
forced to flee the country. Fourteen days later, the Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of the Islamic revolution,
returned after 15 years of exile and took control of Iran. The
shah saw himself foremost as a Persian king and in 1971 held an
extravagant celebration of the 2,500th anniversary of the
pre-Islamic Persian monarchy. In 1976, he formally replaced the
Islamic calendar with a Persian calendar. October 1979
- entered the United States for medical treatment of cancer after
having traveled to several countries; November 4, 1979
- Islamic militants responded by storming the U.S. embassy and
taking the staff hostage. With the approval of Khomeini, the
militants demanded the return of the shah to Iran to stand trial
for his crimes. The United States refused to negotiate, and 52
American hostages were held for 444 days. Mohammad Reza Shah
Pahlavi died in Egypt in July 1980.
January 29, 1979
- Former Attorney General John Mitchell was released on parole
after serving 19 months in federal prison for Watergate-related
crimes.
January 29, 1979
- President Jimmy Carter welcomed Chinese Vice Premier Deng
Xiaoping to the White House, following the establishment of
diplomatic relations. Signed historic new accords that reverse
decades of U.S. opposition to the People's Republic of China.
January 30, 1979
- The civilian government of Iran announced it had decided to
allow Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to return from nearly 15 years
in exile in France; February 1, 1979 - Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini received a tumultuous welcome in Tehran upon his
return.
February 11, 1979
- Followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran,
nine days after the religious leader returned to his home country
following 15 years of exile. Iran's premier Bakhtiar resigned.
March 26, 1979
- The Camp David peace treaty was signed by Israeli Prime
Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at the
White House (after 31 years as hostile neighbors); put their
signatures on the Arabic, Hebrew and English versions of the first
peace treaty between Israel and an Arab country; President Carter
credited by both leaders for having made the agreement possible.
March 28, 1979
- America's worst commercial nuclear accident occurred inside the
Unit Two reactor at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant
(three-months-old) near Middletown, PA (on an island in the
Susquehanna River about 11 miles south of Harrisburg); released
above-normal levels of radiation into the central Pennsylvania
countryside; officials of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said
radiation outside the plant was far less than that produced by
diagnostic X-rays; some of the 60 employees on duty were
contaminated, did not require hospitalization; 15,000 people
living within a mile of the plant were not evacuated, 'general
emergency' was declared.
April 11, 1979
- Ugandan dictator Idi Amin flees the Ugandan capital of Kampala
as Tanzanian troops and forces of the Uganda National Liberation
Front close in. Two days later, Kampala fell and a coalition
government of former exiles took power. October 1978
- Amin had launched an unsuccessful attack on Tanzania in an
effort to divert attention from Uganda's internal problems.
1971 - Amin, chief of the Ugandan army and air force
from 1966, seized control of the African nation. A tyrant and
extreme nationalist, he launched a genocidal program to purge
Uganda of its Lango and Acholi ethnic groups. He escaped to Libya,
eventually settling in Saudi Arabia, where he died in August 2003.
The deaths of 300,000 Ugandans are attributed to Idi Amin.
May 3, 1979
- Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher, Oxford-educated
chemist and lawyer, became Britain's first female prime minister
as the Tories ousted the incumbent Labor government (Conservatives
won a 44-seat majority) in general parliamentary elections;
May 4, 1979 - sworn in; immediately set about dismantling
socialism in Britain: privatized numerous industries, cutback
government expenditures, gradually reduced rights of trade unions.
I1983 - reelected despite worst unemployment figures for half a
decade.
May 22, 1979
- Canadians voted in parliamentary elections that put the
Progressive Conservative party in power, ending the 11-year tenure
of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
June 13, 1979
- President Jimmy Carter proposed a Superfund to clean up
hazardous waste.
June 18, 1979
- President Jimmy Carter and Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev
signed the SALT II strategic arms limitation treaty in Vienna;
dealing with limitations and guidelines for nuclear weapons. The
treaty, which never formally went into effect, proved to be one of
the most controversial U.S.-Soviet agreements of the Cold War.
Result of many nagging issues left over from the successful SALT-I
treaty of 1972. Though the 1972 treaty limited a wide variety of
nuclear weapons, many issues remained unresolved. Treaty basically
established numerical equality between the two nations in terms of
nuclear weapons delivery systems. It also limited the number of
MIRV missiles (missiles with multiple, independent nuclear
warheads). In truth, the treaty did little or nothing to stop, or
even substantially slow down, the arms race. Nevertheless, it met
with unrelenting criticism in the United States. The treaty was
denounced as a "sellout" to the Soviets, one that would leave
America virtually defenseless against a whole range of new weapons
not mentioned in the agreement. Even supporters of arms control
were less than enthusiastic about the treaty, since it did little
to actually control arms. December 1979 - Soviets launched an
invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet attack effectively killed any
chance of SALT-II being passed, and Carter ensured this by
withdrawing the treaty from the Senate in January 1980.
June 20, 1979
- President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalyn Carter climb to
the White House roof to celebrate the installation of solar-energy
panels there; $28,000 solar-heating system consisted of 32
photovoltaic panels that generated enough energy to provide hot
water for the entire White House. During his term Carter also had
an energy-efficient wood-burning stove installed in the drafty
White House residential quarters; 1986 - President
Reagan had the solar panels removed and put into a federal storage
facility in Virginia, stating that the energy crisis that had
affected both foreign and domestic policy during Carter’s term
would not be a factor during his own; 1992 -
conservation-minded Unity College of Maine installed them to use
for the generation of hot water in the student dining hall.
June 27, 1979
- Supreme Court ruled employers may use quotas to help minorities.
July 9, 1979
- In Nicaragua, General Anastasio Somoza was overthrown by the
Sandinista rebels.
July 15, 1979
- President Jimmy Carter delivered a speech in which he lamented
what he called a ''crisis of confidence'' in America. Though he
didn't use the word, it became known as the ''malaise'' speech.
July 16, 1979
- Saddam Hussein became president of Iraq.
July 17, 1979
- Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza resigned and fled into
exile in Miami. July 19, 1979 - Nicaraguan capital
of Managua fell to Sandinista guerrillas.
July 19, 1979
- President Jimmy Carter nominated G. William Miller to run the
U.S. Treasury Department. A lawyer turned businessman, Miller had
run a few corporations, including Textron Inc., and also served a
stint as the director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. And
Miller, who, at the time of his nomination, was working as the
Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, was well acquainted with
America's financial maladies. August 6, 1979 - sworn
in as the 65th Secretary of the Treasury.
Miller was no match for the economy. By the dawn of 1980 inflation
had ballooned to its highest point in 33 years.
July 24, 1979
- President Carter names Paul Volcker Chairman of
Federal Reserve Board.
September 27, 1979
- Congress approved the establishment of the Department of
Education, the 13th US cabinet agency.
October 1, 1979
- The United States returns sovereignty of the Panama canal to
Panama.
October 6, 1979
- Pope John Paul II became the first pontiff to visit the White
House, where he was received by President Jimmy Carter.
October 14, 1979
- Over 100,000 gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and straight supporters
marched on Washington, D.C., celebrating gay pride and demanding
equal rights.
October 17, 1979
- The Department of Education Organization Act is signed into law,
created the United States Department of Education and United
States Department of Health and Human Services (replace the
Department of Health, Education and Welfare).
October 22, 1979
- The U.S. government allowed the deposed Shah of Iran to
travel to New York for medical treatment - a decision that
precipitated the Iran hostage crisis.
October 26, 1979
- South Korean President Park Chung-hee was shot to death by the
head of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, Kim Jae-kyu.
November 4, 1979
- Student followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini send shock waves
across America when they storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran. The
radical Islamic fundamentalists took 90 hostages. The students
were enraged that the deposed Shah had been allowed to enter the
United States for medical treatment and they threatened to murder
hostages if any rescue was attempted. Days later, Iran's
provincial leader resigned, and the Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader
of Iran's fundamentalist revolutionaries, took full control of the
country--and the fate of the hostages. Two weeks after the
storming of the embassy, the Ayatollah began to release all non-U.S.
captives, and all female and minority Americans, citing these
groups as among the people oppressed by the United States
government. The remaining 52 captives were left at the mercy of
the Ayatollah for the next 14 months. President Jimmy Carter was
unable to diplomatically resolve the crisis; November 6,
1979 - Ayatollah Khomeini's
Islamic Revolutionary Council took power in Iran from the
provisional government; and on April
24, 1980 - Carter ordered a disastrous rescue mission in which
eight U.S. military personnel were killed and no hostages rescued.
Three months later, the former shah died of cancer in Egypt, but
the crisis continued. In November 1980 - Carter lost
the presidential election to Republican Ronald Reagan. Soon after,
with the assistance of Algerian intermediaries, successful
negotiations finally began between the United States and Iran. On
January 20, 1981 - the day of Reagan's
inauguration--the United States freed almost $3 billion in frozen
Iranian assets and promised $5 billion more in financial aid.
Minutes after Reagan was sworn in, the hostages flew out of Iran
on an Algerian airliner, ending their
444-day ordeal. The next day, Jimmy Carter
flew to West Germany to greet them on their way home.
November 12, 1979
- In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, US President
Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all petroleum imports into the
United States from Iran.
November 13, 1979
- Former California Gov. Ronald Reagan announced his candidacy for
the Republican presidential nomination.
November 17, 1979 - Iran's
Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the release of 13 female and minority
hostages being held at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran during the Iran
hostage crisis.
December 21, 1979
- U.S. Congress approved $1.5 billion in loans to the financially
threatened Chrysler Corporation in an effort to save the battered
automotive giant.
December 27, 1979
- Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. President
Hafizullah Amin was overthrown and executed (third Afghan
President to be toppled in the last 20 months). Overthrown
President, who had been denounced by Afghan insurgents as a symbol
of oppression, assumed the Presidency three months ago after a gun
battle in the Presidential Palace in which President Taraki was
mortally wounded. Babrak Karmal, a former Deputy Prime Minister
who had been living in exile in Eastern Europe, was the new
President and Secretary General of the ruling People's Democratic
Party.
January 2, 1980
- In a very strong reaction to the December 1979 Soviet military
intervention into Afghanistan, President Jimmy Carter requests
that the Senate postpone action on the SALT-II nuclear weapons
treaty and recalls the U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, Thomas
J. Watson, Jr. These actions indicated that the U.S.-Soviet
relationship had been severely damaged by the Russian action in
Afghanistan and that the age of detente had ended.
January 7, 1980
- Jimmy Carter signed the Chrysler Loan Guarantee Act of 1979,
authorized $1.2 billion in federal loans to save the failing
Chrysler Corporation = largest federal bailout in history;
required Chrysler to find billions in private financing in order
to receive the federal money.
January 14, 1980
- In a crushing diplomatic rebuke to the Soviet Union, the U.N.
General Assembly votes 104 to 18 to "deplore" the Russian
intervention in Afghanistan; resolution also requested the
"immediate, unconditional and total withdrawal of the foreign
troops from Afghanistan." The immense margin of victory for the
resolution indicated the worldwide disapproval for the December
1979 Soviet invasion and installation of a pro-communist puppet
regime in Afghanistan; General Assembly's resolution had no direct
impact on the Soviet Union's actions; many of the so-called
non-aligned nations and Third World countries were appalled by the
Soviet action and drew closer to the United States.
January 20, 1980
- President Jimmy Carter announces U.S. boycott of Olympics in
Moscow.
January 24, 1980
- 1) U.S. officials announce that America is ready to sell
military equipment (limited to non-weapon materiel related to such
areas as transportation and communications) to communist China
(barely a year after establishing diplomatic relations with the
People's Republic of China) = part of the U.S. effort to build a
closer relationship with the People's Republic of China for use as
leverage against possible Soviet aggression (one of many actions
on the U.S-China front taken in the wake of the Soviet
intervention in Afghanistan in December 1979); 2) Congress
approved most-favored-nation trading status for China; 3)
agreement was signed for the construction of a station in China
that would be able to receive information from an American
satellite (would aid China in such fields as agriculture and
mining).
January 26, 1980
- At the request of President Jimmy Carter, the U.S. Olympic
Committee votes to ask the International Olympic Committee to
cancel or move the upcoming Moscow Olympics. The action was in
response to the Soviet military invasion of Afghanistan the
previous month. President Carter made it clear that if the Soviets
did not disengage from Afghanistan by February 20, a cancellation
of U.S. participation in the Olympics was all but certain. As one
member of the committee stated, the vote reflected "what the
president requested the committee to do." He indicated that the
vote was a message to the Soviets that "their aggression in
Afghanistan will not go unanswered." On the other side of the
argument, a number of U.S. Olympic athletes were highly critical
of both the vote and President Carter's ultimatum, feeling that an
international sports competition should not be a tool for
political statements. The Soviets ignored the vote and the
ultimatum, and the U.S. Olympic Committee decided to boycott the
games. It was the first time in the modern history of the Olympics
that the United States refused to participate.
February 2, 1980
- details of ABSCAM, an FBI operation to uncover political
corruption in the government, are released to the public;
thirty-one public officials were targeted for investigation,
including Representative John Murphy of New York, five other
representatives, and Harrison Williams, a Republican senator of
New Jersey; FBI agents posed as representatives of Abdul
Enterprises, Ltd., a fictional business owned by an Arab sheik;
under FBI video surveillance, the agents met with the officials
and offered them money or other considerations in exchange for
special favors, such as the approval of government contracts for
companies in which the sheik had invested; Senator Williams, and
Representatives Murphy, Michael J. Myers, Richard Kelly, and John
W. Jenrette Jr., were ultimately convicted of bribery and
corruption. All but Richard Kelly, who had his conviction
overturned in 1982 on the basis that the FBI had unlawfully
entrapped him, left Congress. John Murphy, whose term ended in
1981, was saved the fate of expulsion suffered by Williams and
Myers. John Jenrette resigned in 1980.
February 8, 1980
- President Jimmy Carter unveiled a plan to re-introduce draft
registration.
February 15, 1980
- President Jimmy Carter signed the International Air
Transportation Competition Act (IATCA). The IATCA continued to
remove economic regulation of airlines in stages. January 1,
1982 - under the IATCA, the Federal Government could no
longer deny an airline permission to offer a new route and could
exercise control only by refusing to grant an operating
certificate.
March 21, 1980
- President Jimmy Carter informs a group of U.S. athletes that, in
response to the December 1979 Soviet incursion into Afghanistan,
the United States will boycott the 1980 Olympics in Moscow. It
marked the first and only time that the United States has
boycotted the Olympics. Decision to boycott the 1980 Olympic games
had no impact on Soviet policy in Afghanistan (Russian troops did
not withdraw until nearly a decade later), but it did tarnish the
prestige of the games in Moscow. 1973 - Soviet Union
had refused to play Chile in World Cup soccer because of the
overthrow and death of Chile's leftist president earlier that
year.
March 31, 1980
- President Jimmy Carter deregulates banking industry.
April 2, 1980
- President Jimmy Carter signing the Crude Oil Windfall Profits
Tax Act (one year after Carter eliminated controls on oil prices)
to take advantage of the oil industry's rising profits; generated
roughly $227 billion dollars in new taxes.
April 7, 1980
- Jimmy Carter breaks relations with Iran during hostage
crisis.
April 11, 1980
- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued
regulations prohibiting sexual harassment of workers by
supervisors.
April 18, 1980
- Southern Rhodesia became the independent nation of Zimbabwe.
April 24, 1980 - The United
States launched an abortive attempt to free 52 American hostages
in Iran; eight U.S. servicemen died, no hostages rescued.
April 28, 1980
- President Jimmy Carter accepted the resignation of Secretary of
State Cyrus Vance, who had opposed the failed rescue mission aimed
at freeing American hostages in Iran.
May 14, 1980
- President Jimmy Carter established the Department of Health and
Human Services.
May 18, 1980
- Long-dormant Mount St. Helens volcano erupted in Washington
state, hurled ash 15,000 feet into the air and setting off
mudslides and avalanches. The eruptions caused minimal damage in
the sparsely populated area, but about 400 people - mostly loggers
and forest rangers - were evacuated. The explosion was
characterized as the equivalent of 27,000 atomic bombs. The cloud
of ash eventually circled the globe.
May 21, 1980
- President Carter declared a state of emergency at Love Canal in
Niagara Falls, New York. The property had been a dumping site for
Hooker Chemicals and Plastics. 1981 - plans were made to
evacuate 710 families. The evacuation was ordered after a study
reported that 30 percent of the residents in the area had suffered
chromosome damage caused by the toxic chemicals leaking through
the ground into their homes.
June 3, 1980
- Jimmy Carter wins enough delegates for re-nomination.
June 27, 1980
- President Jimmy Carter signed legislation reviving draft
registration.
July 1, 1980
- President Jimmy Carter signed Motor Carrier Act of 1980 into
law; envisioned to be a sweeping de-regulation of the trucking
industry. Act prohibited rate bureaus from interfering with any
carrier's rights to publish its own rates, eliminated most
restrictions on commodities that could be carried, and
de-regulated the routes that motor carriers could use and the
geographic regions they could serve. The law authorized truckers
to price freely within a "zone of reasonableness," meaning that
truckers could increase or decrease rates from current levels by
15 percent without challenge, and encouraged them to make
independent rate filings with even larger price changes. Before
this law was passed, the industry had simply passed along higher
wages and operating costs to shippers. The law would have
far-reaching consequences, causing price competition and lower
profit margins. Number of new firms increased dramatically,
especially low-cost, non-union carriers. 1990 -
number of licensed carriers exceeded forty thousand (double the
number in 1980). Combined with the Staggers Act (1980), intermodal
carriage surged, expanding 70 percent between 1981 and 1986.
Deregulation allowed manufacturers to reduce inventories, move
their products more quickly, and be more responsive to customers.
Consumers indirectly benefited from the more efficient, lower-cost
transport of goods.
July 1, 1980
- 'O Canada'' was proclaimed the national anthem of Canada.
July 16, 1980
- Ronald Reagan won the Republican presidential nomination at the
party's convention in Detroit.
July 19, 1980
- The Moscow Summer Olympics began, minus dozens of nations that
were boycotting the games because of the Soviet military
intervention in Afghanistan.
July 21, 1980
- Draft registration began in the United States for 19- and
20-year-old men.
August 14, 1980
- President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale were
nominated for a second term at the Democratic National Convention
in New York.
August 14, 1980
- Workers in Gdansk, Poland, seize the Lenin Shipyard and demand
pay raises and the right to form a union free from communist
control. The massive strike also saw the rise to prominence of
labor leader Lech Walesa, who would be a key figure in bringing an
end to communist rule in Poland. The workers' first demand was
that Walesa be reinstated to his position as a labor leader.
Walesa had been fired from his position at the shipyard in 1976,
but remained active in labor protests and agitation against the
communist government of Poland. For these actions, he was arrested
numerous times. A few days after the workers had seized the
shipyard, Walesa announced the formation of an organization
designed to tie workers from different fields together into one
labor movement, known as Solidarity. The strikers were finally
able to wring some concessions from the Polish government, but in
1981 the communist regime struck back and arrested Walesa. He was
released in November 1982. Solidarity continued to grow, and in
1989, the crumbling and desperate communist government agreed to
recognize Solidarity and to have open elections; August 31,
1980 - Polish trade union Solidarity formed; 1990
- Walesa was elected as the first noncommunist president of Poland
since the end of World War II. 1983 - Walesa was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with Solidarity.
September 17, 1980
- Former Nicaraguan president Anastasio Somoza was assassinated in
Paraguay.
September 22, 1980
- Long-standing border disputes and political turmoil in Iran
prompt Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to launch an invasion of
Iran's oil-producing province of Khuzestan. After initial
advances, the Iraqi offense was repulsed. 1982 -
Iraq voluntarily withdrew and sought a peace agreement, but the
Ayatollah Khomeini renewed fighting. Stalemates and the deaths of
thousands of young Iranian conscripts in Iraq followed. Population
centers in both countries were bombed, and Iraq employed chemical
weapons. In the Persian Gulf, a "tanker war" curtailed shipping
and increased oil prices. 1988 - Iran agreed to a
cease-fire.
October 2, 1980
- Rep. Michael ''Ozzie'' Myers (D-PA), convicted of accepting a
bribe in the FBI's ABSCAM sting operation, was expelled from the
House.
October 14, 1980
- President Jimmy Carter signed the Staggers Rail Act of 1980 into
law; deregulated the railroad industry to a significant extent,
replacing the regulatory structure that existed since the 1887
Interstate Commerce Act. Railroads were permitted to determine
where they ran trains and how much to charge. This followed the
Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. The act was named for
Congressman Harley Staggers (D-WV), who chaired the House
Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee. Although it is
traditional for laws to be known by the names of their sponsors,
this is believed to be the first (but not last) case in which the
sponsor's name was officially incorporated into the text of a
Federal statute.
October 23, 1980
- Soviet Union Premier Alexei N. Kosygin resigned.
October 28, 1980
- Republican nominee Ronald Reagan asked voters during a debate
with President Jimmy Carter in Cleveland ''are you better off than
you were four years ago?''.
November 4, 1980
- Ronald Reagan won the White House, defeating President Jimmy
Carter by a wide margin.
December 2, 1980
- Denali National Monument and Mount McKinley National Park were
combined and established as Denali National Park and Preserve in
Alaska. Alaska's Glacier Bay National Monument, Katmai National
Monument, Kenai Fjords National Park, Kobuk Valley National Park,
Lake Clark National Park, and Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park
and Preserve were established as national parks and preserves.
December 10, 1980
- U.S. Representative John W. Jenrette (D-SC) resigned to avoid
being expelled from the House following his conviction on charges
relating to the FBI's ABSCAM investigation.
December 11, 1980
- President Jimmy Carter signed into a law legislation creating a
$1.6 billion environmental "Superfund" to pay for cleaning up
chemical spills and toxic waste dumps.
December 12, 1980
- Computer Software Act of 1980 defines computer programs and
clarifies the extent of protection afforded computer software.
January 19, 1981
- The United States and Iran signed an agreement paving the way
for the release of 52 Americans held hostage for more than 14
months.
January 21, 1997
- Speaker Newt Gingrich was fined as the House voted for first
time in history to discipline its leader for ethical misconduct.
May 12, 2002
- Jimmy Carter became the first president or former U.S. president
to visit Cuba since Fidel Castro seized power in 1959.
October 11, 2002
- Former President Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize for his
diplomacy in the Middle East in the 1970s.
December 10, 2002
- Former President Jimmy Carter accepted the Nobel Peace Prize.
W. Carl Biven (2002).
Jimmy Carter's Economy: Policy in an
Age of Limits. (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina
Press, 346 p.). Carter, Jimmy, 1924- ; United States--Economic
policy--1977-1981; United States--Economic conditions--1977-1981;
United States--Politics and government--1977-1981.
Peter G. Bourne (1997).
Jimmy Carter: A Comprehensive Biography
from Plains to Postpresidency. (New York, NY: Simon &
Schuster, 553 p.). Carter, Jimmy, 1924- ; Presidents--United
States--Biography.
Mark Bowden (2006).
Guests of the Ayatollah: The First Battle in America’s War with
Militant Islam. (New York, NY: Atlantic Monthly Press, 680
p.). Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Chronology; Iran Hostage
Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives; Hostages--Iran; United
States--Foreign relations--Iran; Iran--Foreign relations--United
States; United States--Armed Forces--Search and rescue operations.
Definitive chronicle of the Iran hostage
crisis, America's first battle with militant Islam.
Douglas Brinkley (1998).
The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter’s Journey Beyond the White
House. (New York, NY: Viking, 586 p.). Carter, Jimmy,
1924- ; Presidents--United States--Biography; Baptists--United
States--Biography; United States--Foreign relations--1945-1989;
United States--Foreign relations--1989- ; United States--Politics
and government--1981-1989; United States--Politics and
government--1989-.
Anthony S. Campagna (1995).
Economic Policy in the Carter
Administration. (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 216 p.).
Carter, Jimmy, 1924- ; United States--Economic policy--1971-1981;
United States--Politics and government--1977-1981.
Jimmy Carter (2005).
Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis. (New York,
NY: Simon & Schuster, 212 p.). Former President of the United
States. Social values--United States; Religious
fundamentalism--United States; Christianity and politics--United
States; Church and state--United States; Church and social
problems--United States; Human rights--Government policy--United
States; United States--Politics and government--2001---Moral and
ethical aspects; United States--Foreign relations--2001---Passionate
defense of separation of church and state, and a strong warning of
where the country is heading as the lines between politics and
rigid religious fundamentalism are blurred.
--- (2006).
Palestine: Peace not Apartheid. (New York, NY: Simon &
Schuster, 264 p.). Former President of the United States. Carter,
Jimmy, 1924- ; Arab-Israeli conflict--1973-1993; Arab-Israeli
conflict--1993---Peace; Palestinian Arabs--Politics and
government--1973-1993; Palestinian Arabs--Politics and
government--1993- ; United States--Foreign relations--Middle East;
Middle East--Foreign relations--United States; Israel--Politics
and government--1973-1993; Israel--Politics and government--1993-.
Assessment of what must be done to bring permanent peace to Israel
with dignity and justice to Palestine.
Gary M. Fink 1980).
Prelude to the Presidency: The
Political Character and Legislative Leadership Style of Governor
Jimmy Carter. (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 225 p.). Carter,
Jimmy, 1924- ; Executive departments--Georgia--Management;
Georgia--Politics and government--1951-.
ed. Gary M. Fink and Hugh Davis Graham (1998).
The Carter
Presidency: Policy Choices in the Post-New Deal Era.
(Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 310 p.). Carter, Jimmy,
1924- ; United States--Politics and government--1977-1981.
Betty Glad (1980).
Jimmy Carter, In Search of the Great White House. (New
York, NY: Norton, n546 p.). Carter, Jimmy, 1924- ;
Presidents--United States--Biography; Georgia--Politics and
government--1951- ; United States--Politics and
government--1977-1981.
David Harris (2004).
The Crisis: The President, the Prophet,
and the Shah-- 1979 and the Coming of Militant Islam. (New
York, NY: Little, Brown and Co., 470 p.). Khomeini, Ruhollah; Iran
Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981; Islam and politics--Iran; United
States--Foreign relations--Iran; Iran--Foreign relations--United
States; United States--Foreign relations--1977-1981;
Iran--Politics and government--1979-1997.
Victor Lasky (1979).
Jimmy Carter, The Man & the Myth. (New York, NY: R. Marek,
419 p.). Carter, Jimmy, 1924- ; Presidents--United
States--Biography; Presidents--United States--Election--1976.
Bruce Mazlish and Edwin Diamond (1979). Jimmy Carter: A
Character Portrait. (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 288 p.).
Carter, Jimmy, 1924-; Presidents--United States--Biography;
Presidents--United States--Election--1976; United States--Politics
and government--1977-1981.
George Melloan, Joan Melloan (1978).
The Carter Economy.
(New York, NY: Wiley, 312 p.). United States--Economic
policy--1971-1981; United States--Politics and
government--1977-1981.
William Lee Miller (1978).
Yankee from Georgia: The
Emergence of Jimmy Carter. (New York, NY: Times Books, 247
p.). Carter, Jimmy, 1924- ; Presidents--United States--Biography;
United States--Politics and government--1977-1981; Southern
States--Politics and government--1951-; United States--Politics
and government--1974-1977.
Clark R. Mollenhoff (1980).
The President Who Failed: Carter Out of Control. (New
York, NY: Macmillan, 264 p.). Carter, Jimmy, 1924- ; United
States--Politics and government--1977-1981.
ed. Jonathan Moore, Janet Fraser (1977). Campaign for
President: The Managers Look at '76. (Cambridge, MA: Ballinger
Pub. Co., 194 p.). Presidents--United
States--Election--1976--Congresses; United States--Politics and
government--1974-1977--Congresses.
Joshua Muravchik; foreword by Jeane Kirkpatrick (1988).
The Uncertain Crusade: Jimmy Carter and the Dilemmas of Human
Rights Policy. (Washington, DC: American Enterprise
Institute for Public Policy Research, 247 p. [orig. pub. 1986]).
Carter, Jimmy, 1924- ; Human rights; United States--Foreign
relations--1977-1981.
Mark J. Rozell (1989).
The Press and the Carter Presidency. (Boulder, CO:
Westview Press, 235 p.). Carter, Jimmy, 1924- --Relations with
journalists; Press and politics--United States--History--20th
century; United States--Politics and government--1977-1981.
Gary Sick (1986).
All Fall Down: America's Tragic Encounter with Iran. (New
York, NY: Penguin Books, 432 p.). Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981;
United States--Foreign relations--Iran; Iran--Foreign
relations--United States.
Cyrus Vance (1983).
Hard Choices: Critical Years in
America's Foreign Policy. (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster,
541 p.). Secretary of State under Carter. Vance, Cyrus R. (Cyrus
Roberts), 1917-2002; United States--Foreign relations--1977- .
______________________________________________
LINKS
The Carter Center [pdf, QuickTime, iTunes]
http://www.cartercenter.org
After their tenure as chief executive of the United States, some
presidents retire from public life, some become Supreme Court
justices, and many of them continue their dedication to public
service. The Carter Center at Emory University is testimony to
Jimmy and Rosalynn’s Carter commitment to public service.
Established in 1982, the Carter Center is "committed to advancing
human rights and alleviating unnecessary human suffering."
Specifically, the Center is primarily interested in a broad range
of thematic initiatives and public outreach programs dealing with
peace and public health. Visitors can learn about these programs
within the "Peace" and "Health" sections of the site, where they
will find information about their work in combating malaria around
the world, observing various elections, and other related
initiatives. More casual visitors may wish to just browse through
the "Carter Center News" area, or if they are so inspired, they
can even learn about internship and volunteer opportunities at the
Center.
The Hostage Crisis in Iran
http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/documents/ hostages.phtml
Materials related to the taking of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in
1979. "On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the United
States Embassy in Tehran and took approximately seventy Americans
captive. This terrorist act ... lasted 444 days." Includes a list
of the hostages and the casualties, a diary kept by one of the
hostages, and a link to a rescue mission report. From the Jimmy
Carter Library & Museum.
Jimmy Carter Library
http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.org/
Jimmy Carter Library and Museum [pdf, Real
Player] -
http://www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/
Administered by the National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA), the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum opened in 1986.
Website provides access to some of the speeches and letters of
President Carter, along with biographical information about
members of the Carter family. "Documents and Photographs" section
offers a special exhibit on the Camp David Accords, oral
history transcripts from members of Carter's cabinet, and Carter's
official diary from his time in office. Library information
section contains details on how to begin searching the collection,
and a link for visitors to ask questions online. Virtual tour of
the museum and library is also available.
