I got this from the internet. The presidency of Jimmy Carter began on January 20, 1977 at noon Eastern Standard Time, when Jimmy Carter was inaugurated as President of the United States, and ended on January 20, 1981. A Democrat, he took office after defeating Republican incumbent President Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election. His presidency ended with his defeat in the 1980 presidential election by Republican nominee Ronald Reagan.
Carter, the 39th US President, sought to make the government "competent and compassionate" but, in the midst of an economic crisis produced by rising energy prices and stagflation, met with difficulty in achieving its objectives.[1] At the end of his administration, Carter had seen a substantial decrease in unemployment and a partial reduction of the deficit, but the recession ultimately continued.[1] Carter created the United States Department of Education and United States Department of Energy, established a national energy policy and pursued civil service and social security reform.[1] In foreign affairs, Carter strongly emphasized human rights throughout his career. He signed the second round of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II) with the Soviet Union and, in an effort to end the Arab–Israeli conflict, initiated the Camp David Accords. With the Torrijos–Carter Treaties, he guaranteed the transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama in 1999. His administration also established official diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, while he signed the Taiwan Relations Act to define relations with Taiwan.
The final year of his presidential tenure was marked by several major crises, including the 1979 takeover of the American embassy in Iran and holding of hostages by Iranian students, an unsuccessful rescue attempt of the hostages, serious fuel shortages, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In the 1980 presidential election, Carter defeated a primary challenge from Ted Kennedy, a prominent liberal Democrat. However, Carter lost the election in a landslide to Reagan. In polls of historians and political scientists, Carter is usually ranked as a below-average president.
