tired
As President Carter added two new cabinet departments: the Department of Energy and the Department of Education. He established a national energy policy that included conservation, price control, and new technology. In foreign affairs, Carter pursued the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaties, the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II), and the return of the Panama Canal Zone to Panama. He took office during a period of economic downturn known as "stagflation", which included double digit inflation and consumer interest rates of over 20%. The end of his presidential tenure was marked by the Iran hostage crisis, an energy crisis, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow (the only U.S. boycott in Olympic history), and the eruption of the Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington state.
By 1980, Carter's popularity had eroded. He managed to fend off a primary challenge against Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy for the Democratic Party nomination in the 1980 election, but lost the election to Republican candidate Ronald Reagan, despite having a lead in the polls prior to the presidential debate. On January 20, 1981, minutes after Carter's successor was inaugurated and his term as president ended, the 52 U.S. captives held at the U.S. embassy in Iran were released, ending the 444-day Iran hostage crisis.
Carter has had a very active "retirement". After leaving office, Carter and his wife Rosalynn founded the Carter Center, a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization that works to advance human rights. He has traveled extensively to conduct peace negotiations, observe elections, and campaign for disease prevention and eradication in developing nations. He is also a prominent figure in the Habitat for Humanity project, and also remains particularly vocal on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He has written 21 books, including the controversial Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. He has been vocally critical of a number of his successors including Bill Clinton (over his pardon of Marc Rich), George W. Bush (over the Iraq War) and Barack Obama (for his failure to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay). Carter is the second oldest living former President (he's 111 days younger than George H. W. Bush).