page_title: Presidency of Jimmy Carter
section_title: Panama Canal treaties
hierarchical_section_title: Presidency of Jimmy Carter / Foreign affairs / Latin America / Panama Canal treaties
caption_attribution_description: Jimmy Carter and General Omar Torrijos shake hands after signing the Panama Canal Treaty., 09/07/1977. Also in this picture Alejandro Orfila (right to Jimmy Carter).
context_page_description: The presidency of Jimmy Carter began at noon on January 20, 1977, when Jimmy Carter was inaugurated as the 39th President of the United States, and ended on January 20, 1981. Carter, a Democrat from Georgia, took office after defeating incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election. Following his defeat, Carter was succeeded by Republican Ronald Reagan, who won the 1980 presidential election.
  Carter took office during a period of "stagflation," as the economy experienced a combination of high inflation and slow economic growth. His budgetary policies centered on taming inflation by reducing deficits and government spending. Responding to energy concerns that had persisted through much of the 1970s, his administration enacted a national energy policy designed to promote energy conservation and the development of alternative resources. Despite Carter's policies, the country was beset by an energy crisis in 1979, which was followed by a recession in 1980. Carter sought reforms to the country's welfare, health care, and tax systems, but was largely unsuccessful, partly due to poor relations with Congress.
context_section_description: Since the 1960s, Panama had called for the United States to cede control of the Panama Canal. The bipartisan national policy of turning over the Canal to Panama had been established by presidents Johnson, Nixon, and Ford, but negotiations had dragged on for a dozen years. Carter made the cession of the Panama Canal a priority, believing it would implement Carter's call for a moral cleaning of American foreign policy and win approval across Latin America as a gracious apology for American wrongdoing. He also feared that another postponement of negotiations might precipitate violent upheaval in Panama, which could be damaged or block the canal.
  The Carter administration negotiated the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, two treaties which provided that Panama would gain control of the canal in 1999. Carter's initiative faced wide resistance in the United States, and many in the public, particularly conservatives, thought that Carter was "giving away" a crucial U.S. asset. Conservatives formed groups such as the Committee to Save the Panama Canal in an attempt to defeat the treaties in the Senate, but Carter made ratification of the treaties his top priority. During the ratification debate, the Senate crafted amendments that granted the U.S. the right to intervene militarily to keep the canal open, which the Panamanians assented to after further negotiations. In March 1978, the Senate ratified both treaties by a margin of 68-to-32, narrowly passing the two-thirds margin necessary for ratification. The Canal Zone and all its facilities were ultimately turned over to Panama on December 31, 1999.
caption: Carter and Omar Torrijos shake hands moments after the signing of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties.
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