Changes

The [[Watergate affair]] of 1973-74 made mistrust of government a central issue, especially after [[Gerald Ford]] pardoned Nixon in September 1974. Together with a bad economy, the Democrats made major gains in the 1974 off-year elections. Racism and segregation remained a common thread binding white Democrats together. In 1975, [[Delaware]] Sen. [[Joseph Biden]] led a coalition of liberals and former [[George Wallace]] supporters to oppose racial integration of schools, and went so far as to consider a [[Constitutional Amendment]].<ref>https://soundcloud.com/user-391839060/npr-1975-interview-with-sen-joe-biden</ref>

The [[Watergate affair]] of 1973-74 made mistrust of government a central issue, especially after [[Gerald Ford]] pardoned Nixon in September 1974. Together with a bad economy, the Democrats made major gains in the 1974 off-year elections. Racism and segregation remained a common thread binding white Democrats together. In 1975, [[Delaware]] Sen. [[Joseph Biden]] led a coalition of liberals and former [[George Wallace]] supporters to oppose racial integration of schools, and went so far as to consider a [[Constitutional Amendment]].<ref>https://soundcloud.com/user-391839060/npr-1975-interview-with-sen-joe-biden</ref>

[[File:Jimmy Carter.jpg|right|150px|thumb|[[Jimmy Carter]] was elected in 1976 and defeated in 1980.]]

[[File:Jimmy Carter.jpg|right|175px|thumb|[[Jimmy Carter]] was elected in 1976 and defeated in 1980.]]

In 1976 Ford was narrowly defeated by [[Jimmy Carter]], a former governor of Georgia. Carter represented the total outsider, who promised honesty in government. He had served as a naval officer, a farmer, a state senator, and a one-term governor. His only experience with federal politics was when he chaired the Democratic National Committee's congressional and gubernatorial elections in 1974. Carter's "consolidation" of governmental agencies resulted in the creation of two new cabinet-level bureaucracies, the [[United States Department of Energy]] and the [[United States Department of Education]]. Carter began deregulation of the trucking, airline, rail, finance, communications, and oil industries, raised [[social security]] taxes, and appointed record numbers of women and minorities to significant government and judicial posts, including [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] as head of the Great Society boondoogle, the Legal Service Corporation. He also enacted more environmental legislation, through the expansion of the [[National Park Service]] in [[Alaska]], adding 103 million acres of parkland. In foreign affairs, Carter negotiated the [[Camp David Accords]], the Panama Canal Treaties, the creation of full diplomatic relations with the [[People's Republic of China]], and the [[SALT II]] Treaty.  

In 1976 Ford was narrowly defeated by [[Jimmy Carter]], a former governor of Georgia. Carter represented the total outsider, who promised honesty in government. He had served as a naval officer, a farmer, a state senator, and a one-term governor. His only experience with federal politics was when he chaired the Democratic National Committee's congressional and gubernatorial elections in 1974. Carter's "consolidation" of governmental agencies resulted in the creation of two new cabinet-level bureaucracies, the [[United States Department of Energy]] and the [[United States Department of Education]]. Carter began deregulation of the trucking, airline, rail, finance, communications, and oil industries, raised [[social security]] taxes, and appointed record numbers of women and minorities to significant government and judicial posts, including [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] as head of the Great Society boondoogle, the Legal Service Corporation. He also enacted more environmental legislation, through the expansion of the [[National Park Service]] in [[Alaska]], adding 103 million acres of parkland. In foreign affairs, Carter negotiated the [[Camp David Accords]], the Panama Canal Treaties, the creation of full diplomatic relations with the [[People's Republic of China]], and the [[SALT II]] Treaty.