The 39th president of the United States was honoured with the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. The award recognised his efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and the promotion of economic and social development. The president that we are talking about is Jimmy Carter!
Jimmy Carter was an honest man with a good heart. He believed in making the government more efficient, ending unfair treatment of African Americans, and taking care of the environment. Carter carried out many reforms; he deregulated the trucking and airline industries. His expansion of the national park system included protection of 103 million acres of Alaskan lands.
The energy crisis was a major problem during Carter’s presidency. The oil rich nations in the Middle East raised the oil price and this led to a shortage of gasoline. Though Carter’s Energy Bill helped reduce the shortages, the voters weren’t happy. He therefore established a national energy policy that decontrolled domestic petroleum prices and stimulated production.
There were other serious problems as well. In 1979, Islamist students attacked the U.S. embassy in Iran and took 52 Americans hostage. Carter tried to negotiate their release for well over a year. He also tried a rescue mission, which failed miserably. His lack of success in freeing these hostages was seen as weakness and contributed to him losing the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan.
Even after his tenure, Carter continued with his activism. He established the Carter Centre to promote and expand human rights. He also travelled extensively to conduct peace negotiations, and help in disease prevention and eradication in developing nations.
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