D espite just one four-year and somewhat unorthodox term in office, Jimmy Carter brought much hope to the White House during a tenure that was marred by several major crisises. As America’s 39th president, he emphasized human rights in his foreign policy, championed environmentalism at a time when it was not yet popular, and appointed record numbers of women and people of color during his administration, which lasted from 1977 to 1981. Several major events transpired during Carter’s presidency, notably the US energy crisis, the Iran hostage ordeal, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, the Camp David Peace Accords and the Soviet-Afghan war. Many viewed Carter, who grew up selling peanuts as a teenager on his family’s land in Plains, Georgia, as an unlikely candidate for Commander-in-Chief, and some critics later dismissed his tenure as a “failure.” However, Carter had a long history of local and state politics before even arriving in Washington, D.C., and eventually claiming the Oval Office. By 1969, he had served on the Sumter County school board, in the Georgia state senate and made an unsuccessful bid for Georgia governor. To win the gubernatorial election in 1970, Carter adopted more conservative positions. But rather than invoking traditional Southern values, Carter surprised his Georgia constituents by calling for an end to racial discrimination in his 1971 inaugural address. “This is a time for truth and frankness. The next four years will not be easy ones. The problems we face will not solve themselves. They demand from us the utmost in dedication and unselfishness from each of us. But this is also a time for greatness,” he said. “At the end of a long campaign, I believe I know our people as well as anyone. Based on this knowledge of Georgians North and South, Rural and Urban, liberal and conservative, I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over.” His support of civil rights would later be a hallmark of his presidential campaign. Barred by state law from seeking a second consecutive term as governor, Carter made another quantum leap and ran for president as the country was reeling from its disastrous Vietnam War, Watergate and the resignation of Richard Nixon. As a relative unknown, even among his own party, Carter was considered the most improbable of long shots. During his campaign he would reportedly often start with the phrase “Hello, my name is Jimmy Carter, and I’m running for President.” However, his tireless campaigning and his promise that “I’ll never lie to you” appealed to voters. After a grueling series of state primaries in early 1976, he won the Democratic nomination over a field of better-known candidates. In the autumn of 1976, Carter narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Gerald Ford. In a respectful address on November 3, 1976, he congratulated Ford, describing him as “the toughest and most formidable opponent that anyone could hope for,” and promised to unite the nation. “It’s not going to be easy for any of us, I don’t claim to know all the answers but I have said many times during my campaign round all 50 states, that I am not afraid to take on the respnsibilities of president of the United States , because my strength and my courage and my advice and my counsel and my criticism comes from you,” he said. “And if I can tap the greatness that’s in you and the American people then we can make our nation’s government and a source of pride once again...It’s time for us to get together to correct our mistakes, to answer difficult questions and to make our nation great.” Carter took office on January 20, 1977, and emphasised his populist message by walking, with his wife and four children, nearly two miles from the steps of the Capitol to the White House. His presidency was mired, however, by several major turns. As his first order of business, Carter granted official pardons to hundreds of young Americans who had evaded military conscription during the Vietnam War. The measure was designed to heal some of the wounds that divided the country. One of his biggest downfalls was that Carter was not a compelling speaker. Combined with economic stagnation, rising inflation and a high unemployment rate he faced throughout his presidency, he failed to adopt widespread public support. He was also uncompromising as an executive, putting him into conflict with members of Congress, even in his own party. Carter failed to win passage of many measures he endorsed, including attempts to revise the tax system, reform welfare programs, control the cost of health care and provide for national health insurance. Notably, in a struggle that lasted almost as long as his presidency, Carter fought over an energy program that was structured to make fuel expensive enough that consumers would be encouraged to conserve it. By the time he appeared in a cardigan for a nationally telecast speech to encourage energy conservation before that first winter was over, Carter was the butt of jokes. Carter delivered this speech, often referred to as his “Malaise Speech,” on July 15, 1979, while the country was in the midst of a full-blown energy crisis. In it, he said that everyday Americans were suffering from a “crisis of confidence.” “It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will,” he said. “We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation. “The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America.” The battle with the energy program preoccupied and debilitated Carter’s domestic staff. There were few other imaginative programs on the home front, leading one Carter aide to lament, halfway through the administration, that the White House was suffering from “terminal narcolepsy.” Where Carter found more success was in foreign policy, which he grew more enthusiastic about as his presidency progressed. He built upon the work of Nixon by formalizing relations with China, ushered agreements that give Panama sovereignty over most of the Canal Zone, met with the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev to sign the nuclear arms control agreement known as Salt II and delivered the Camp David peace accords between Egypt and Israel in 1979. His unyielding policies preserved the climate that isolated the Soviets and contributed to the end of the Cold War a decade later. However, ultimately, what became cemented in Carter’s legacy were the failures of the Iran hostage crisis, when mobs ransacked the US embassy in Tehran capturing 52 people and holding them hostage for the duration of his presidency. In a bold attempt to save the hostages, Carter organized a rescue operation that resulted in disaster when an American military helicopter crashed into a plane waiting to ferry the hostages to freedom. “It was my decision to attempt the rescue operation. It was my decision to cancel it when problems developed in the placement of our rescue team for a future rescue operation. The responsibility is fully my own,” he said in an address to the nation. “As President, I know that our entire Nation feels the deep gratitude I feel for the brave men who were prepared to rescue their fellow Americans from captivity. “And as President, I also know that the Nation shares not only my disappointment that the rescue effort could not be mounted, because of mechanical difficulties, but also my determination to persevere and to bring all of our hostages home to freedom.” The tragedy left an enduring impression on Carter that ultimately contributed to his failed re-election later that autumn - he was trounced by Ronald Reagan in the 1980 race. “I’ve not achieved all I set out to do; perhaps no one ever does. But we have faced the tough issues. We’ve stood for and we’ve fought for and we have achieved some very important goals for our country,’ Carter said after losing. “These efforts will not end with this administration. The effort must go on. Nor will the progress that we have made be lost when we leave office. The great principles that have guided this Nation since its very founding will continue to guide America through the challenges of the future.” However, Carter described the day he yielded office to Ronald Reagan in 1981 as “one of his happiest” because the hostages were freed. His first duty as a former president was to fly immediately to Frankfurt to welcome them back. Though Carter remained active in the Democratic Party, he never again sought elective office and preferred to live, out of the limelight, at his home in Georgia. Carter died on Sunday, December 29, at his home in Plains, Georgia, aged 100.The New York Rangers are still desperately seeking answers following their blockbuster trade of captain Jacob Trouba earlier this month. They'll try to regain some stability when they visit the Florida Panthers on Monday evening in Sunrise, Fla. New York is 3-8-0 since trading Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 6 in a roster shakeup that hasn't ignited anybody. They've dropped three in a row and six of seven, most recently losing at the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 on Saturday. "Right now, it's just frustrating," New York coach Peter Laviolette said. "We're in the business of winning hockey games and we're not getting it done right now, so it's tough to sit here and tell you good things. We're losing hockey games. We need to win hockey games and we're not getting that done." New York had high expectations after reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the second time in three years last season. Hopes of getting past that hurdle and reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2014 were heightened after the Rangers improved to 12-4-1 with a 4-3 win at the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 19. They haven't won two games in a row since. "Result-wise, this is not what we wanted," Rangers center Mika Zibanejad said. "We can talk about a reset, we can talk about whatever, but if the result is not there, it's not going to matter." In the loss to the Lightning, special teams once again played a big role. The Rangers went 0-for-4 on the power play while Tampa Bay went 2-for-5. "We don't score on our power play, we let in two goals, we put ourselves in a bad spot," Zibanejad said. "I don't think that's the effort. I don't think that's the team itself or how we came out, how we started. I don't think that's why we lose a game. We had (44) shots, we've got to get in front of a few more and get some quality chances, but I thought we did. It's frustrating." The Rangers will face a hungry Florida team that has been shut out the past two games, the second time that's happened this month. "Yeah, there is something to that. We are playing the perimeter game for the most part," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "That has a lot to do with it." The Panthers most recently fell to the visiting Montreal Canadiens 4-0 on Saturday afternoon, failing to get one past a goalie making his NHL debut in Jakub Dobes. "I don't think we are going to dwell on this one, just kind of move on," Florida forward Sam Bennett said. "Mistakes are going to be made. It's about how you help each other and fix them. We are just going to move on from this game." Sergei Bobrovsky will start in goal for the Panthers. He's 5-2 in seven starts this month with a 2.24 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage. He made 24 saves in a 3-1 win against the Rangers on Oct. 24. Overall, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner is 15-12-3 in 31 career starts against New York with a 2.83 GAA, a .908 save percentage and one of his 45 career shutouts. Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin was pulled after giving up five goals on 13 shots in 28:08 against the Lightning. He took the loss against Florida in October while making 26 saves and is 4-3-0 with a 2.87 GAA and a .915 save percentage against the Panthers all-time. --Field Level Media
Stocks Gain for the Week, Nvidia Fails to Impress, and Gold ShinesCLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Clemson reserve guard Trent Howard will miss the 12th-ranked Tigers game with No. 16 South Carolina after tearing the ACL in his left knee at practice this week. Tigers coach Dabo Swinney announced Howard's injury Wednesday. The 6-foot-3, 295-pound fifth-year graduate has been a backup much of the season, but had to step into a starter's role due to injuries along Clemson's offensive line. “My heart breaks for him,” Swinney said. Howard came in on the second snap in a 24-20 win at Pitt two games ago when lineman Elyjah Thurmon was hurt on the first play. Thurmon had an ankle injury that required surgery and will not return this season. Howard got his fourth career start last Saturday in a 51-14 win over The Citadel. and was in line for another if injured starter Marcus Tate was unable to go after missing the past three games. Howard was listed as a backup at both right and left guard on this week's depth chart. The Tigers (9-2) face the rival Gamecocks (8-3) on Saturday. —- Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football