Congress build a permanent structure supportive of environmentalism, especially the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970, which enjoined all federal agencies to help protect the environment. Nixon appointed a series of strong environmentalists in two highly visible positions including William Ruckelshaus, Russell Train, Russell W. Peterson, and John C. Whitaker (who was a senior White House aide for four years, becoming Undersecretary of the Interior in 1973). Nixon initiated worldwide diplomatic attention to environmental issues, working especially with NATO. Finally, they assert: "Nixon did not have to be personally committed to the environment to become one of the most successful presidents in promoting environmental priorities." The Ford Administration (1974–1977) Environmentalism was a peripheral issue during the short administration of Gerald Ford, 1974–1977. His primary concern was a stable economy, and environmental issues were sacrificed against policies for economic growth. Environmentalists left over from the Nixon days, such as EPA head Russell Train were frustrated, while opponents of environmentalism such as Thomas S. Kleppe. As Secretary of the Interior, Kleppe was a leader of the “Sagebrush Rebellion” in which Western ranchers had the support of state government in 15 Western states who passed laws and launched litigation to try to nullify federal environmental protections that interfered with their business. They lost repeatedly in the federal courts, most notably in the Supreme Court decision in Kleppe v. New Mexico (1976). Ford's successes included the addition of two national monuments six historical sites, three historic parks and two national preserves. None were controversial. He signed the Safe Drinking Water Act (1974) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976), two of the landmark laws approved in the "environmental decade." In the international field, agreements with Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, the Soviet Union and several European countries included provisions to protect endangered species. Ford narrowly defeated Ronald Reagan for renomination in 1976, when environmental issues were not at issue. He was defeated by Jimmy Carter, who attacked Ford's environmental record. The Carter Administration (1977–1981) Jimmy Carter supported many of the goals of the environmentalist movement, and appointed prominent environmentalists to high positions. As president his rhetoric strongly supported environmentalism, with a certain softness regarding his acceptance of nuclear energy; he been trained in nuclear energy with atomic submarines in the Navy. Carter signed several significant bills to protect the environment, including the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, which regulates strip mining.