The First 100 Days: Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter became President on January 20, 1977. When Carter was inaugurated as President he stated that his aim was to make the government more "competent and compassionate". It was a difficult time for the nation. The economy was in bad shape, caused by rising energy prices and inflation. This recession would continue and worsen during Carter's presidency. In his inaugural address, Carter foretold the coming of a time of austerity and challenge when he said, "We have learned that more is not necessarily better, that even our great nation has its recognized limits, and that we can neither answer all questions nor solve all problems."
Carter had campaigned on a promise to eliminate the trappings of what he called the "Imperial Presidency". The nation had lived through Watergate and saw the pardoning of Richard Nixon by Gerald Ford. Carter began his time in office with the symboic gesture of walking along Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House in his inaugural parade, much to the chagrin of the Secret Service. Once in office Carter reduced the size of the staff by one-third, cancelled government-funded chauffeuring for Cabinet members, and put the USS Sequoia, the presidential yacht, up for sale.
On January 20, 1977, his first day in office, Carter fulfilled a campaign promise he had made by issuing an executive order declaring unconditional amnesty for Vietnam War-era draft evaders.
Carter began to implement plans to reorganize government by separating the Department of Health, Education and Welfare into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. He signed into law a major Civil Service Reform, the first in over 100 years. The change took effect in 1979.
One of his early initiatives was in housing. The Housing and Community Development Act of 1977 set up Urban Development Action Grants, extended provision of aid to the physically disabled and the elderly. In the following year, the Community Reinvestment Act of 1978 would pass, a law that sought to prevent banks from denying credit and loans to poor communities.
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 was also passed early on in the Carter Presidency. It's intention was to enable the coal industry to develop coal resources without damaging other natural resources in the process. The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 was aimed at safeguarding mineworkers from harm in the workplace.
Carter's early actions illustrated the difficulty that a Washington "outsider" can encounter in dealing with Congress. Carter had portrayed himself to voters as someone who was not a member of the Washington elite and as someone who would shake up the Capitol. But Carter's refusal to play by the rules of Washington contributed to his administration's difficult relationship with Congress. From the beginning of his presidency, Carter's Chief of Staff Hamilton Jordan feuded with leading Democrats like House Speaker Tip O'Neill. Congressmen complained about unreturned phone calls, verbal insults, and an unwillingness to trade political favors on the part of Oval Office staff. This led to a souring of relations between Carter and Congress and affected Carter's ability to enact his planned legislation. During the first 100 days of his presidency, Carter wrote a letter to Congress proposing several water projects be scrapped. Among the strongest opponents of Carter's proposal was Louisiana Senator Senator Russell Long, a powerful Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. Carter's plan was overturned and led to ongoing bad feelings between the president and some of his party's leading members of Congress. This rift grew between the White House and Congress. Carter wrote that the most intense and mounting opposition to his policies came from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. He later said that he attributed much of this to Senator Edward Kennedy's ambition to replace him as president.
A few months after his term started, Carter issued a "hit list" of 19 projects that he claimed were "pork barrel" spending. He said that he would veto any legislation that contained projects on this list. He erroneously believed that he had the support of about 74 Congressmen in this goal. But this list was met with opposition from the leadership of the Democratic Party. Carter had characterized a rivers and harbors bill as wasteful spending. O'Neill thought it was unwise for the President to interfere with matters that had traditionally been within the purview of Congress. Carter was later forced to sign into law a bill containing many of the "hit list" projects, making him look weak and ineffective. When Congress refused to pass major provisions of his consumer protection bill and his labor reform package, Carter vetoed a public works package calling it "inflationary". He said that it contained what he considered to be wasteful spending. Congressional leaders retaliated by gutting his consumer protection bill, and transforming his tax plan into a bill that benefited a number of special interests. Carter came to refer to the congressional tax committees as a bunch of "ravenous wolves".
In April 1976, during the campaign for president, Carter had proposed health care reform that included key features of a bipartisan bill for universal national health insurance that was sponsored by Senator Ted Kennedy. In April of 1977, Carter proposed mandatory hospital cost control. This proposal ultimately passed in the Senate in October 1978, but was defeated in the House in November 1979.
Carter had told Americans that the energy crisis was what he called "a clear and present danger to our nation" and "the moral equivalent of war". He drew up a plan he thought would address this crisis. Carter said that world oil supply would probably only be able to keep up with Americans' demand for six to eight more years. In 1977, Carter convinced the Democratic Congress to create the United States Department of Energy. The goal of the new department was to encourage energy conservation. Carter set oil and natural gas price controls, had solar hot water panels installed on the roof of the White House, and had a wood stove in his living quarters.
The start of the Carter presidency was a time of continuing recovery from the severe 1973–75 recession, which had left fixed investment at its lowest level since the 1970 recession and unemployment at 9%. In the years to come, the nation would be hit with double-digit inflation, coupled with very high interest rates, oil shortages, and slow economic growth. The U.S. economy, which had grown by 5% in 1976, continued to grow at a similar pace during 1977 and 1978.
On the international front, Carter took his first trip abroad in May of 1977, just after the end of his first 100 days. He traveled to London on May 5, 1977 where he attended the third G7 summit. Over the next week he met with the prime ministers of Greece, Belgium, Turkey, Norway, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and with the Presidents of Portugal, Syria and Switzerland. He also addressed the NATO Ministers meeting.
During his first month in office, Carter began plans to cut the defense budget by $6 billion. One of his first acts was to order the unilateral removal of all nuclear weapons from South Korea and announce his intention to cut back the number of US troops stationed there. The moves were criticized by some military men during their testimony before congressional committees. He was publicly criticized that year by Major General John K. Singlaub, chief of staff of U.S. forces in South Korea, who disagreed with Carter's decision to lower the U.S. troop levels there. On March 21, 1977, Carter relieved him of duty, saying his publicly stated sentiments were "inconsistent with announced national security policy". Carter planned to remove all U.S. troops from South Korea by 1982, with the exception of 14,000 U.S. Air Force personnel and logistics specialists, but after cutting only 3,600 men, he was forced by intense Congressional pressure as well as strong opposition from the military generals to abandon the effort in 1978.
The initial stages of Carter's presidency illustrate the difficulty a president can find himself in when he chooses to go to war with Congress. This was especially the case in the days that followed Watergate, when the mood of Congress was to weaken the power of the Presidency rather than strengthen it.
Carter had campaigned on a promise to eliminate the trappings of what he called the "Imperial Presidency". The nation had lived through Watergate and saw the pardoning of Richard Nixon by Gerald Ford. Carter began his time in office with the symboic gesture of walking along Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House in his inaugural parade, much to the chagrin of the Secret Service. Once in office Carter reduced the size of the staff by one-third, cancelled government-funded chauffeuring for Cabinet members, and put the USS Sequoia, the presidential yacht, up for sale.
On January 20, 1977, his first day in office, Carter fulfilled a campaign promise he had made by issuing an executive order declaring unconditional amnesty for Vietnam War-era draft evaders.
Carter began to implement plans to reorganize government by separating the Department of Health, Education and Welfare into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. He signed into law a major Civil Service Reform, the first in over 100 years. The change took effect in 1979.
One of his early initiatives was in housing. The Housing and Community Development Act of 1977 set up Urban Development Action Grants, extended provision of aid to the physically disabled and the elderly. In the following year, the Community Reinvestment Act of 1978 would pass, a law that sought to prevent banks from denying credit and loans to poor communities.
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 was also passed early on in the Carter Presidency. It's intention was to enable the coal industry to develop coal resources without damaging other natural resources in the process. The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 was aimed at safeguarding mineworkers from harm in the workplace.
Carter's early actions illustrated the difficulty that a Washington "outsider" can encounter in dealing with Congress. Carter had portrayed himself to voters as someone who was not a member of the Washington elite and as someone who would shake up the Capitol. But Carter's refusal to play by the rules of Washington contributed to his administration's difficult relationship with Congress. From the beginning of his presidency, Carter's Chief of Staff Hamilton Jordan feuded with leading Democrats like House Speaker Tip O'Neill. Congressmen complained about unreturned phone calls, verbal insults, and an unwillingness to trade political favors on the part of Oval Office staff. This led to a souring of relations between Carter and Congress and affected Carter's ability to enact his planned legislation. During the first 100 days of his presidency, Carter wrote a letter to Congress proposing several water projects be scrapped. Among the strongest opponents of Carter's proposal was Louisiana Senator Senator Russell Long, a powerful Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. Carter's plan was overturned and led to ongoing bad feelings between the president and some of his party's leading members of Congress. This rift grew between the White House and Congress. Carter wrote that the most intense and mounting opposition to his policies came from the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. He later said that he attributed much of this to Senator Edward Kennedy's ambition to replace him as president.
A few months after his term started, Carter issued a "hit list" of 19 projects that he claimed were "pork barrel" spending. He said that he would veto any legislation that contained projects on this list. He erroneously believed that he had the support of about 74 Congressmen in this goal. But this list was met with opposition from the leadership of the Democratic Party. Carter had characterized a rivers and harbors bill as wasteful spending. O'Neill thought it was unwise for the President to interfere with matters that had traditionally been within the purview of Congress. Carter was later forced to sign into law a bill containing many of the "hit list" projects, making him look weak and ineffective. When Congress refused to pass major provisions of his consumer protection bill and his labor reform package, Carter vetoed a public works package calling it "inflationary". He said that it contained what he considered to be wasteful spending. Congressional leaders retaliated by gutting his consumer protection bill, and transforming his tax plan into a bill that benefited a number of special interests. Carter came to refer to the congressional tax committees as a bunch of "ravenous wolves".
In April 1976, during the campaign for president, Carter had proposed health care reform that included key features of a bipartisan bill for universal national health insurance that was sponsored by Senator Ted Kennedy. In April of 1977, Carter proposed mandatory hospital cost control. This proposal ultimately passed in the Senate in October 1978, but was defeated in the House in November 1979.
Carter had told Americans that the energy crisis was what he called "a clear and present danger to our nation" and "the moral equivalent of war". He drew up a plan he thought would address this crisis. Carter said that world oil supply would probably only be able to keep up with Americans' demand for six to eight more years. In 1977, Carter convinced the Democratic Congress to create the United States Department of Energy. The goal of the new department was to encourage energy conservation. Carter set oil and natural gas price controls, had solar hot water panels installed on the roof of the White House, and had a wood stove in his living quarters.
The start of the Carter presidency was a time of continuing recovery from the severe 1973–75 recession, which had left fixed investment at its lowest level since the 1970 recession and unemployment at 9%. In the years to come, the nation would be hit with double-digit inflation, coupled with very high interest rates, oil shortages, and slow economic growth. The U.S. economy, which had grown by 5% in 1976, continued to grow at a similar pace during 1977 and 1978.
On the international front, Carter took his first trip abroad in May of 1977, just after the end of his first 100 days. He traveled to London on May 5, 1977 where he attended the third G7 summit. Over the next week he met with the prime ministers of Greece, Belgium, Turkey, Norway, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and with the Presidents of Portugal, Syria and Switzerland. He also addressed the NATO Ministers meeting.
During his first month in office, Carter began plans to cut the defense budget by $6 billion. One of his first acts was to order the unilateral removal of all nuclear weapons from South Korea and announce his intention to cut back the number of US troops stationed there. The moves were criticized by some military men during their testimony before congressional committees. He was publicly criticized that year by Major General John K. Singlaub, chief of staff of U.S. forces in South Korea, who disagreed with Carter's decision to lower the U.S. troop levels there. On March 21, 1977, Carter relieved him of duty, saying his publicly stated sentiments were "inconsistent with announced national security policy". Carter planned to remove all U.S. troops from South Korea by 1982, with the exception of 14,000 U.S. Air Force personnel and logistics specialists, but after cutting only 3,600 men, he was forced by intense Congressional pressure as well as strong opposition from the military generals to abandon the effort in 1978.
The initial stages of Carter's presidency illustrate the difficulty a president can find himself in when he chooses to go to war with Congress. This was especially the case in the days that followed Watergate, when the mood of Congress was to weaken the power of the Presidency rather than strengthen it.