Jimmy Carter

Carter, (James Earl) Jimmy

(1924–  ) thirty-ninth U.S. president; born in Plains, Ga. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy (1946) and served in the navy until 1953; part of that time he worked under Admiral Hyman Rickover on the naval nuclear reactor project. Carter left the navy to take over the family's peanut business, which he built up. He served two terms as a Democrat in the Georgia legislature (1963–67). After serving as a liberal governor of Georgia (1970–74), he began campaigning for the presidency and won the Democratic nomination of 1976, narrowly beating Gerald Ford in the election. In contrast to recent administrations, he had promised an open and progressive government responsive to the public; despite a Democratic Congress, however, his presidency was notable more for good intentions than achievements. He did effect the Panama Treaty and the historic Camp David agreements between Israel and Egypt (1979), but his initial popularity waned during 1979–80 as a result of mounting economic difficulties and the seizure of U.S. hostages in Iran. He lost the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan. Back in private life he was active in national and international social concerns, taking a hands-on approach to everything from building homes for poor Americans to mediating between hostile parties (as in Haiti).

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Carter, Jimmy

 

(James Earl Carter). Born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains, Ga. American state figure.

The son of a farmer, Carter graduated from the Naval Academy in 1946 and served in the US Navy. After his discharge in 1953 he took over his family’s farm. He was elected to the Georgia state senate in 1962. Carter served as governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975. In 1976 he was nominated as the candidate of the Democratic Party for the office of president of the United States. He defeated the Republican Party’s candidate, G. Ford, in the election of November 1976 and took office in January 1977.

In foreign policy the Carter administration directed its efforts at maintaining and strengthening the position of the USA and emphasized relations with the Western European allies and Japan. Supporting in principle the continuation of the policy of detente, Carter increasingly sought to secure exclusive advantages for the USA in its relations with the USSR to the detriment of the agreed-upon principles of sovereignty, equality, mutual benefit, and noninterference in the internal affairs of the other side. Early in 1980, Carter announced a decision to postpone indefinitely the ratification of the second Soviet-American Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT-II), signed in 1979. Other steps were also taken to increase international tension and to curtail economic, scientific, technological, and cultural exchanges between the USA and the USSR. The “human rights” campaign launched by Carter was in effect a pretext for interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. A policy of increased US military presence in various areas of the world was pursued, and all-around assistance to Afghani counterrevolutionaries was rendered. The unpopularity of Carter’s policy resulted in his failure in the 1980 presidential election.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.