Jimmy Carter served as the 39th
President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. His administration sought to make the government "competent and compassionate" but, in the midst of an economic crisis produced by
rising energy prices and
stagflation, met with difficulty in achieving its objectives. At the end of his administration, Carter had seen a substantive decrease in unemployment and a partial reduction of the deficit, but the recession ultimately continued. Carter created the
United States Department of Education and
United States Department of Energy, established a
national energy policy and pursued civil service and social security reform. In foreign affairs, Carter strongly emphasized human rights throughout his career. He initiated the
Camp David Accords, the
Panama Canal Treaties and the second round of
Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II). His work to return the
Panama Canal Zone to Panama produced criticism at home for his decision, which was widely seen as yet another signal of U.S. weakness and of his own habit of backing down when faced with confrontation. The final year of his presidential tenure was marked by several major crises, including the 1979 takeover of the American embassy in
Iran and
holding of hostages by Iranian students, an unsuccessful
rescue attempt of the hostages,
serious fuel shortages, and the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.