This document provides biographical and historical information about several US presidents from Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama. It discusses their backgrounds, major accomplishments, challenges faced, and key events that occurred during their administrations, such as the Iran hostage crisis, Reaganomics, the 9/11 attacks, and the Affordable Care Act. Presidential elections from 1980 to 2012 are also summarized.

1. President Jimmy Carter(D)-39th
1977-1981
• Only U.S. President to
have received the Nobel
Peace Prize after leaving
office
• Had been a peanut
farmer and governor of
Georgia before being
President
• Strongly emphasized
human rights as
President
• Has been a very active
former President

3. Presidential Accomplishments
• Created two new cabinet-level departments-- the
Department of Energy and the Department of
Education
• Declared amnesty to Vietnam draft dodgers
• He encouraged energy conservation and
installed solar panels on the White House
• Signed a treaty with Panama that would give
control of the Panama Canal back to Panama on
December 31, 1999
• Started SALT II talks but ended them after
USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1979
• Boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in
Moscow due to the invasion as well

5. Camp David Accords-”Land for
Peace”

6. Problems as President
• Had to deal with high inflation and
unemployment during his four years
• Iran hostage crisis (1979–1981)
• 52 US citizens were held hostage for 444 days
from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981
• A group of Islamic students and militants took
over the Embassy of the United States in
support of the Iranian Revolution
• Carter was blamed for not freeing the hostages
and many consider it the reason he lost the
1980 election

7. Ayatollah Khomeini

10. Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident
• The accident began on March 28, 1979
• It was a core meltdown at the Three Mile
Island Nuclear Generating Station near
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1979
• It was the most significant nuclear power
accident in the history of the US

12. 1980 Eruption of Mount St. Helens

14. Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan-
1979
• The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in
December, 1979
• The purpose was to help out the
communist gov’t that had been in place
there since 1978
• Western countries(US, UK, France, etc)
conspired to help get rid of this gov’t
• We sent military aid to the
mujahideen(“people doing jihad”)

16. • While the Soviets took control of the cities and the
transportation and communication center, the
mujahideen resorted to guerilla tactics
• The Soviet were hoping that their invasion would pacify
the country against the “insurgents”
• Their invasion had the opposite effect and more and
more people joined the mujahideen
• The Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan in February, 1989
• Afghan deaths vary from 1-to 2 million
• 5-10 million Afghans fled to Pakistan and Iran
• Another 2 million Afghans were displaced within the
country
• Along with fatalities were 1.2 million Afghans disabled
and 3 million maimed or wounded
• Many consider Afghanistan to be the Soviet Unions’
Vietnam

17. 1979-80 Energy(Oil) Crisis
• Occurred in the US during the Iranian Revolution
• Protests severely disrupted Iranian oil production
• Exportation of oil was stopped
• Widespread panic resulted driving the price of oil
far higher than it had been
• Oil prices were $15.85 per barrel (42 US
gallons) before the crisis and rose to $39.50 per
barrel during which was only topped in 2008

19. Ronald Reagan(R)-40th
1981-1989
• Was a radio
broadcaster in Iowa,
an actor and
Governor of California

22. Reagan’s Assassination Attempt-March 1981
• Survived an
assassination attempt
by John Hinckley Jr.

23. Presidential Accomplishments
• "Reaganomics"
1. advocated reducing tax rates to spur
economic growth
2. control the money supply to reduce
inflation
3. deregulate the economy
4. reduce government spending.

24. • 1983 invasion of
Grenada
• 1986 bombing of Libya
• Publicly described the
Soviet Union as an "evil
empire”
• Supported anti-
Communist movements
worldwide
• Opposed to détente
• Ordered a massive
military buildup in an
arms race with the
USSR

25. Reagan and Gorbachev-Ending the
Cold War
• Had numerous meetings with Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev which helped bring an end to the Cold War

27. • INF Treaty-1987
– The treaty eliminated intermediate nuclear and
conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise
missiles
• Reagan Doctrine-provided aid to anti-
communist resistance movements in
Africa, Asia, and Latin America
• US was instrumental in training, equipping
and leading Mujahideen forces against the
Soviet Army in Afghanistan

28. Discussion
• Why did the US win the Cold War?
• Why did the USSR lose the Cold War?

29. 1. We had close ties with our Allies
and the USSR didn’t.
2. China started siding with us after
1972.
3. The Soviet economy was in
shambles whereas the US’s was
flourishing.
1. Huge deficit
2. High inflation
3. Corruption
4. Social problems
5. Shortage of basic needs(food, housing)

30. 4. The strong anti-communist presidency of
Reagan.
5. Gorbachev’s willingness for change and
reform.
1. glasnost and perestroika
2. admitted Soviet mistakes
3. took blame for the Cold War
4. communist system had failed
**5. allowed Eastern Europe to do what
they wanted**
6. Arms Reduction Talks
1. SALT, INF, Reagan-Gorbachev
meetings

31. 7. Soviet Mistakes
1. invasion of Afghanistan
2. ignoring social concerns
3. spent everything on military

32. Space Shuttle Challenger
Explosion

33. War on Drugs
• Reagan announced a
War on Drugs in 1982
due to crack
epidemic.
• Nancy Reagan “Just
Say No”
• Anti-Drug Commercial

34. Iran Contra Scandal-1986
• US used the $$ from
secret weapons sales
to Iran to fund the
Contras(anti-
communists) in
Nicaragua which
Congress had
outlawed
• The goal was to free
seven US Hostages
in Iran at the time
• The International
Court of Justice ruled
that the U.S. had
violated international
law in doing so
• Reagan said he knew
nothing of this action
• Eleven people within
the Reagan
Administration we
convicted

35. Oliver North

36. George H.W. Bush(R)-41st
1989-1993
• Served as the Vice
President of the United
States under Ronald
Reagan (1981–1989)
• Was a Congressman
from Texas
• Was Ambassador of the
US to the United Nations
• Director of the CIA
• Currently the oldest
surviving former
President

37. 1988 Election

38. Berlin Wall Comes Down
Nov. 9, 1989

40. Persian Gulf War
August 1990-February 1991
• August 2, 1990, Iraq
Invaded Kuwait

41. Persian Gulf War
• Why did it start?
• Operation Desert Shield
• Operation Desert Storm
• Results:
– Coalition Force victory, Iraqi withdrawl from
Kuwait, destruction of Iraqi/Kuwaiti
infrastructure
• Coalition-482 dead, Iraq-20,000-35,000
• 1991-2003
– No-fly zone, weapons inspectors, WMD’s

42. No Fly Zone

43. • How did the Persian Gulf War eventually
lead to 9-11?

44. • Signed the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990 which prohibits discrimination based on
disability
• He worked to increase federal spending for
education, childcare, and advanced technology
research
• Signed the Clean Air Act requiring cleaner
burning fuels
• Signed the Immigration Act of 1990 which
increased legal immigration to the United States
by 40 percent

45. • Took down Manuel
Noriega in Panama
• Tried to help with the
Somali Civil War with
UNITAF
• Signed North the North
American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA)-
eliminated the most tariffs on
products traded among the
United States, Canada, and
Mexico, to encourage trade
between the countries

46. Why did President Bush lose
the 92 Election?
• “It’s the economy stupid.”
• “Read my lips, no new taxes.”

47. Bill Clinton(D) 42nd
1993-2001
• Law Professor at
Arkansas
• Elected Arkansas
Attorney General in
1976
• Elected Governor of
Arkansas in 1978
• Only 2nd
President to
ever be impeached by
the House of
Representatives

48. President Carter and Governor Clinton

49. 1992 Election Bush vs. Clinton
vs. Perot

52. 1996 Election
Clinton vs. Dole vs. Perot

55. Accomplishments as President
• NAFTA was passed into law
• Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
-required large employers to allow
employees to take unpaid leave for
pregnancy or a serious medical
condition.
• Lowered taxes for low income families and
raised taxes for the wealthiest Americans
• Under Clinton, the United States had a federal
budget surplus for the first time since 1969

56. • Brady Bill
– started federal background checks on firearm
purchasers in the United States
• “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy in US Military
• Set up first official presidential website
• Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)
– defines marriage for federal purposes as the
legal union of one man and one woman
– allowed individual states to refuse to
recognize gay marriages performed in other
states
• U.S.–China Relations Act of 2000

57. Challenges
• Failed to get his universal health care plan
passed
• Whitewater Scandal
• Troopergate
• Paula Jones-Settled $850,000
• Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia
• Osama bin Laden-al-Qaeda bombings in
Africa
• Kosovo Crisis in Yugoslavia
• Bombed Iraq(Saddam Hussein) frequently from
1998-2001

58. Impeachment
• Due to lying under
oath about his
“relationship” with
Monica Lewinsky
• The Senate voted to
acquit Clinton

59. Clinton’s Approval Rating

60. George W. Bush(R)-43rd
2001-2009
• His father was the 41st
President of the US
• Governor of Texas
1995-2000
• Went to Yale and
Harvard
• In the oil business
• Co-owner of the
Texas Rangers 1989-
1994

61. 2000 Election Bush vs. Gore vs.
Nader and the Chad’s

63. • The closeness of the Florida vote led to a machine
recount
• The initial recount also went to Bush, but the
outcome was tied up in courts for a month until
reaching the U.S. Supreme Court
• On December 9, in the Bush v. Gore case, the US
Supreme Court stopped an ordered statewide hand
recount
• The machine recount showed that Bush had won
the Florida vote by 537 votes out of six million
• Although Bush received 543,895 fewer individual
votes than Gore nationwide, Bush won the election,
receiving 271 electoral votes to Gore's 266

64. 2004 Election-Bush vs. Kerry vs
Nader

66. Accomplishments
• Bush Tax Cuts
– Passed after US gov’t had three straight years
of budget surpluses
– “The surplus is not the government’s money.
The surplus is the people’s money.”
• No Child Left Behind Act
– aimed to measure and close the gap between
rich and poor student performance
– provide options to parents with students in
low-performing schools
– target more federal funding to low-income
schools

67. • Medicare Act of 2003
• Bush Doctrine
– policy that the United States had the right to
secure itself against countries that harbor or
give aid to terrorist groups
– which was used to justify the 2001 invasion of
Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq

68. The Capture, Trial and
Execution of Saddam Hussein

69. Challenges
• 9-11 and the War on Terror
• War in Afghanistan-2001 to present
• War in Iraq-2001-2011
• Abu Ghraib Prison Abuse
• Enhanced interrogation techniques-waterboarding
• North Korea
• Hurricane Katrina
• Bank Bailout-Emergency Economic Stabilization
Act of 2008
• The struggling US economy
• Stem Cell Research
• Immigration

70. 9-11-2001

71. Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda

72. Abu Ghraib Prison Abuse

73. Waterboarding

74. Hurricane Katrina

75. President Bush’s Approval Rating

76. 2008 Election-Obama vs
McCain

77. Barack Obama and Joe
Biden(D)

78. John McCain and Sarah Palin

80. 2008 Presidential Election Map

81. Barack Obama-D
• Born in Honolulu,
Hawaii in 1961
• Married his wife,
Michelle, in 1992
• Has two children-
Malia and Sasha

82. Michelle Obama

83. The Obama Family

84. Professional Background
• Graduated from Columbia College and Harvard
Law School
• Was a community organizer in Chicago in mid
1980’s
• Was a college professor at the University of
Chicago Law School in early 1990’s
• Was a civil rights lawyer from 1993-96
• Has been an author of several books
• Was a state senator from 1997-2004
• Was a US Senator from 2005-2008
• Has been the 44th
President of the United States
since 2009

85. Major Accomplishments of
President Obama’s First Term 2009-2013
• Stopped the use of “enhanced interrogation
techniques”
• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009-aka Economic Stimulus Package
• Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act-
aka Obamacare
• Ended War in Iraq in 2010
• Ending War in Afghanistan in 2014
• Killed Osama bin Laden
• Ended “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

87. • Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
– Equal pay for women
• Instituted part of the Dream Act by
Executive Order in 2012
• Helped topple Muammar Gaddafi in Libya
in 2011
• Passes the GI Bill 2.0 in 2011
• Race to the Top

88. Issues of President Obama’s First
Term
• The bad US economy
• The huge national debt
• The War in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Ending enhanced interrogation methods
• Obamacare
• GM Bailout
• Obama’s a Socialist

90. • Supporting gay marriage
• Gun control
• SOPA/PIPPA

91. 2012 Election-Obama vs Romney

92. Barack Obama and Joe
Biden(D)

93. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan(R)

94. 2012 Presidential Election Map