Why did Jimmy Carter only serve one term as President of the United Sates?

The 39th President of the United States of America, Jimmy Carter, who served from 1977 to 1981, has passed away. Carter (1924-2023), enjoyed a long career in politics, becoming a Member of the Georgia Senate before being elected Governor of Georgia. After that, he launched his Presidential campaign for the Democratic Party and won the election against then-President Gerald Ford.

But why did Carter only serve one term? Why did he not last longer as leader of the US?

Winning the election

Ford ascended to the top of American politics in 1974 after the resignation of Richard Nixon due to the Watergate scandal, which made him the only President never to have been elected as either President or Vice-President, as Nixon’s original VP had resigned in the previous year.

Carter won the 1976 election as an outsider, but realised that the Watergate scandal provided him with the perfect platform to make a name for himself as a fresh pair of eyes to overlook the US. There were 3 major Presidential debates during the election period which Ford used to close the gap that the bright’eyed, moderate reformer Carter had built up for himself and he wiggled his way into a niche gap that allowed him, a Democrat, to convince southern states such as Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina that he was the way forward. Some Democrats were arguably slightly unsure of their candidate, as he was seen as being too conservative, given his southern upbringing.

The election was judged to be incredibly even, something which turned out to be true, as Carter was elected with 50.08% of the vote to Ford’s 48.02% in the popular vote. Ford’s defeat marked the first time in 44 years that an incumbent president was voted out of office.

Carter loses the 1980 election

In 1980, with Carter at the forefront of politics across the world, four years had passed and another election was due: this time he was up against Republican Ronald Reagan. The straight-talking Reagan took advantage of some of the weaker moments Carter had had during his time as President and, along with the slogan “There you go again”, managed to gain the favour of the people.

Given the terrible Cold War economic climate into which he was sworn as President, Carter reduced government spending and turned US foreign policy towards human rights and arms limitations, something that became unpopular due to the rise of conservatism that had swept the nation. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was another historical moment that damaged his ratings, as the detente between the US and USSR was over and the Cold War of the 1960s had resumed.

Why did Carter not get re-elected?

But the Iran hostage crisis was to be the keystone that was removed, causing his reputation to crash and become impossible to recover. After 52 US diplomats and citizens were captured in Iran, Carter launched a failed attack that attempted to rescue them, damaging his reputation and standings almost irrevocably. In return for releasing the captives, Iran was granted access to over $7 billion that had been frozen in the United States. Iran waited until 30 minutes after Carter left the Presidential office to hand them over.

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Reagan won a landslide victory in 1980, with over 90% of the electoral vote, with just 6 states plus D.C. going with Carter.

And so began a period of conservative reform, cutting taxes and increasing military spending; Reagan would serve as President from 1981 to 1989, signing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Gorbachev, as well as famously remarking that he “tear down” the Berlin wall, something that was seen as a huge after-the fact-success. He also cut school spending by a reported $1 billion.

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