The day following his inaguration, Carter issued a pardon to all those considered to be "draft dodgers" during the Vietnam War.
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In dealing with the arms race with the Soviet Union, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance was rebuffed in his bid to further ease tensions between the two superpowers. SALT II remained in limbo, which prompted Carter to call for a three percent hike in NATO member nation defense budgets.
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In June 1977, Carter angered conservative "hawks" by canceling the B-1 bomber project, an apparent contradiction to his call for increased defense budgets.
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In September 1977, he signed over U.S. control of the Panama Canal to the Panamanian government, beginning in 1999.
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The first bump in the presidential road occurred when Bert Lance, Carter's friend and budget advisor, was called before a Senate committee to confront charges that he used his position for personal gain. The affair embarrassed Carter, in part because he ran his campaign for the presidency on taking the high road regarding ethics.
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1979: Back on the home front, a simmering energy crisis came to a head. Rising oil prices set off the nation's first energy riot when truckers staged a blockade of freeway exits in Levittown, Pennsylvania, which resulted in two days of violence, 100 people injured, and 170 arrested. Interest rates floated at historic levels, which contributed to a savings and loan crisis. Unemployment was high. Stagnant economic growth combined with high inflation inspired the term "stagflation."
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Carter now suffered from bad decisions and failure to decide. In September, Nicaraguan Daniel Ortega, leader of the Sandinista rebels who had just overthrown the dictatorship of Anastasio Somosa, came to the White House for aid. Carter agreed on $118 million. Ortega subsequently turned his organization into a leftist regime.
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In October, Carter allowed the Shah into the U.S. for medical treatment. That was an affront to militant "students" in Iran, who, on November 4, seized 66 hostages after overrunning the U.S. Embassy — igniting a 444-day hostage crisis.
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On Christmas Day, the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, provoking the tabling of the SALT II Treaty and leading to a proclamation of the "Carter Doctrine," a warning to the Soviets that, if they invaded the Middle East, it would be taken as a "direct threat to U.S. national security."
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In mid-February 1980, Carter urged a boycott of the Summer Olympics, which were to be held in Moscow.
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In late April, in a bold, but fatal decision, Carter opted for a rescue mission of the hostages. The operation, dubbed "Desert One," was a mortifying debacle as two helicopters failed and a third crashed into a plane on takeoff. Altogether, eight men lost their lives, and eight aircraft went down.
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all was quiet on the home front until early August 1980, when the "Billygate" controversy exploded.
The president's brother, Billy, entangled himself in a bit of international intrigue when he and a group of Georgia businessmen and political figures went to Libya to try to establish trade relations. Libya was known to support terrorists, so the meeting was frowned upon by the White House.
Jimmy Carter explained to the American public that "I have no control over what my brother says, and my brother has no control over me."
Part II of the scandal was brought to light when it was discovered Billy had received a $220,000 "loan" from the Libyan government for "oil sales he was supposed to facilitate."
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In November, the Iranian government announced that the hostages would not be released prior to the election, which sealed the president's fate. Carter lost to Reagan in a landslide
Yeah, Jimmy was such a great President... NOT.