The Carter Transition

Chapter 33:ii

[Image source: http://www.kennesaw.edu/pols/3380/pres/1976.html]

Incumbent President Gerald R. Ford won the Republican nomination in 1976, narrowly defeating more-conservative

former-Governor Ronald W. Reagan of California.

President Ford would ultimately lose the general-

election to former-Governor

Jimmy Carterof Georgia.

Jimmy Carter campaigned as

an outsider, capitalizing

on Americans’ distrust of politicians

following the Watergate

scandal.[Image source:

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Fall06/Weiner/pages/Overview/definition.htm]

Carter’s stand against racial discrimination garnered him the support of

civil rights leaders.

[Image source: http://drybonesblog.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html]

Carter gained the support of most factions

of the oldDemocratic coalition, . . .

[Image source: http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/art-71880/Jimmy-Carter-and-Walter-F-Mondale-on-the-platform-at]

. . . which resulted in a narrow margin ofvictory over President Ford in the popular vote.

[Image source: http://www.answers.com/topic/united-states-presidential-election-maps]

Carter was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, rising to the

rank of captain, commanding a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine.

After retiring from the Navy,

Carter became a successful peanut farmer in Plains,

Gorgia.[Image source:

http://www.viewimages.com/Search.aspx?mid=1805422&epmid=1&partner=Google]

Carter’s entry into state-politics in

1962 culminated in his election as the governor of Georgia in

1970.

As president, Carter appointed significantly more women and

minorities to important government positions than any

previous administration.

[Image source: http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_snapshots_archive_05191999]

Carter began to lose support from his own party when he attempted to rein-in inflationby supporting spending cuts.

Being a “Washington outsider” had its disadvantages: most of

his close advisors were Georgians with little knowledge of how

crucial it was for the President to work with Congress.

Hints of scandal soon began to

call-into-question the

integrityof the Carter

Administration.

[Image source: http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19770919,00.html]

Carter’s irreverent brother Billy also emerged as an embarrassing “side-show”.

[Image source: http://www.miqel.com/random_images/random-images-4.html]

Carter cultivated a “down home” style, often eschewing many of the ceremonial details of White House life.