article_snippet.sent: In the late 1970s, for example, President Jimmy Carter tried to obtain consent for important international treaties, but conservatives argued the agreement was evidence that President Jimmy Carter was weak on defense.
article_snippet.sent: President Jimmy Carter pushed for important international treaties as essential to international peace but to no avail.
article_snippet.sent: After Iranians took American hostages and the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, important international treaties died in the Senate.
article_snippet.sent: This was the case with another treaty that President Jimmy Carter asked the Senate the Senate to ratify: the Panama Canal Treaties of 1978.
article_snippet.sent: President Jimmy Carter decided that turning authority of the Panama Canal over to Panama was essential to regional peace and stability.
article_snippet.sent: President Jimmy Carter knew this would be tough sell, and Tennessee Republican Howard Baker for President Jimmy Carter part predicted President Jimmy Carter wouldn't even get 20 votes as conservative groups coordinated conservative groups campaign through the Committee to Save the Panama Canal and the Emergency Coalition to Save the Panama Canal.
article_snippet.sent: However, President Jimmy Carter countered aggressively, both on a personal level -- helping secure the vote of Sen. Richard Stone of Florida by sending a personal letter to the senator, dispatching experts to Florida to answer the questions of constituents and addressing audiences through state-of-the-art telephone hookups.
article_snippet.sent: In the end, the Senate ratified the treaties by one vote more than the required two-thirds majority, although President Jimmy Carter also paid a political price after energizing the right during the fight.
article_snippet.sent: On May 27, 1988, the Senate ratified the treaty 93-5.