On his second day in office , Carter pardoned all the Vietnam War draft evaders . During Carter 's term as president , two new cabinet-level departments , the Department of Energy and the Department of Education , were established . He established a national energy policy that included conservation , price control , and new technology . In foreign affairs , Carter pursued the Camp David Accords , the Panama Canal Treaties , the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks ( SALT II ) , and the return of the Panama Canal Zone to Panama . On the economic front , he confronted persistent stagflation , a combination of high inflation , high unemployment and slow growth . The end of his presidential tenure was marked by the 1979 – 1981 Iran hostage crisis , the 1979 energy crisis , the Three Mile Island nuclear accident , and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan . In response to the invasion , Carter escalated the Cold War when he ended détente , imposed a grain embargo against the Soviets , enunciated the Carter Doctrine , and led an international boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow . In 1980 , Carter faced a challenge from Senator Ted Kennedy in the primaries , but he won re-nomination at the 1980 Democratic National Convention . Carter lost the general election to Republican nominee Ronald Reagan in an electoral landslide . Polls of historians and political scientists usually rank Carter as an average president ; he often receives more positive evaluations for his post-presidential work
1980 Democratic National Convention
1980 Democratic National Convention
Jimmy Carter