What Are Jimmy Carter's Achievements

In the latter-half of the 1970s and the early portion of the 1980s, the United States experienced a change in its Commander-in-Chief. America’s new leader was James Earl Carter Jr., an Annapolis graduate, seven year naval officer, and the former governor of Georgia (Carter 3). When President Carter assumed office in 1977, the United States would undergo several domestic changes, meaning that perhaps one of President Jimmy Carter’s greatest achievements during his tenure was within the United States itself. Despite poor media image, Carter’s homage to the American people left a lasting imprint on the fabric of American society. His greatest domestic achievements include the various reforms created by the Energy Conservation Program for Consumer

Essentially, EPCA’s goals were to “ increase energy production and supply, reduce energy demand, provide energy efficiency, and give the executive branch additional powers to respond to disruptions in energy supply,” (Energy Policy and Conservation Act 1). This act also created the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the Energy Conservation Program for Consumer Products, and Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations, further insuring that the United States would not endure another energy crisis (EPCA 1). The Environmental Protection and Conservation Act allows the president to “restrict exports of coal, petroleum products, natural gas, or petrochemical feedstocks, and supplies of materials or equipment for exploration, production, refining, or transportation of energy supplies,” (EPCA 1). EPCA was impactful on many aspects of American culture. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve allows the president to distribute emergency crude oil in potential energy catastrophe. It has been used three times in American history, most recently in 2011 when President Obama distributed 30 million barrels to “offset disruptions in supply due to unrest in Libya,” (Strategic Petroleum Reserve 1).

The first Department of Education was created by Andrew Jackson in 1867, but in fears of too much control, it was demoted to an Office of Education in 1868 (Department of Education 1). After the Cold War fear of Soviet educational dominance, Congress, in October 1979, passed the Department of Education Organization Act (Department of Education 1). Operations began the following year. The Department of Education Organization Act allowed for greater rights in term of minorities. It also dealt greatly with secondary education, dealing financial aid, and equal access education. These new reforms meant that people were not subjected to unequal treatment on the basis of their race, gender, or disability (Department of Education 1). It also gave greater access to tertiary education to those who could not afford it, providing them financial aid so they could pursue higher education. This allowed more Americans to go to colleges, universities, and trade schools without the fear of financial inability to block them. The Department of Education also monitors how schools are operating across the country, ensuring that all schools are providing equal education to all students. This means that if a school in rural Kentucky is doing poorly, it will try to meet the same standards of a school in Philadelphia. Despite Jimmy Carter’s best intentions many Republicans