Author: Moira Warburton
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former US President Jimmy Carter died on Sunday at the age of 100. Here are some key events from the Georgia Democrat’s time in office from 1977 to 1981.
CAMP DAVID AGREEMENTS
The Camp David Accords were a series of agreements signed in 1978 between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. The accords, brokered by Carter at the presidential retreat in Maryland, eventually led to Israel and its Arab neighbor signing their first peace treaty.
Begin and Sadat received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978 for their work towards peace. Carter won in 2002 in part because of his “tireless efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts.”
US-CHINA RELATIONS
Although relations between the United States and China had been slowly warming for several years before Carter took office, it was under his administration that the two countries overcame opposition at home and announced they would formally recognize each other, opening official diplomatic relations in 1979 after months of secret negotiations. .
THE IRANIAN HOSTAGE CRISIS
In 1979, Iranian revolutionaries captured 52 staff members of the American embassy in Tehran and held them hostage for 444 days, ostensibly to punish the United States for granting asylum to the recently deposed Iranian leader. Carter appeared weak in public after a military rescue mission he ordered in 1980 ended in failure with eight American soldiers killed in a plane crash.
The hostages were freed minutes after Ronald Reagan was sworn in to replace Carter in 1981.
ENERGY CRISIS
Energy prices and production were volatile during the 1970s, but the 1979 Iranian revolution was the focal point of the upheaval in global oil markets, leading to large production cuts and a resulting spike in costs. The summer of 1979 was marked by long lines of drivers waiting for rationed fuel at gas stations. Carter responded by promising to reduce dependence on foreign oil imports and focus on improving energy efficiency, but public confidence was irreparably shaken.
ECONOMIC ADVERSITIES
Carter’s (NYSE: ) re-election campaign in 1980 was marred by recession fears. His administration struggled with inflation of over 14% by 1980, caused by high energy prices after the 1979 gas shortage. He and his advisers tried to tackle inflation by raising interest rates to more than 17%, but this contributed to a recession during the 1980 presidential campaign.
