ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - When Jimmy Carter announced his candidacy for president of the United States on Dec. 12, 1974, virtually none of the nation’s leading political pundits gave the little-known, one-term Georgia governor a chance of winning his party’s own nomination, much less the White House.

Other Democrats who would run for the nomination were U.S. Sen. Henry Jackson of Washington; Representative Morris Udall from Arizona; Alabama Gov. George Wallace; California Gov. Jerry Brown; and U.S. Sen. Frank Church of Idaho.

But in the wake of the Vietnam war’s end, the Watergate scandal and a national economy in crisis, Carter used his status as a true Washington outsider to gain advantage over his better-known establishment rivals. He also took advantage of the record number of state primaries and caucuses in 1976 to eliminate his rivals.

By June 1976, Carter had captured more than enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination. He chose U.S. Sen. Walter Mondale of Minnesota as his running mater.

On Nov. 2, 1976, Carter defeated President Gerald Ford, who assumed the White House after Richard Nixon’s resignation, to become the nation’s 39th president.

Here, according to the Jimmy Carter Library, is a timeline of his presidency:

1977

• January 20 - Inaugurated President
• February 2 - Signs Emergency Natural Gas Act; “Fireside Chat”
• March 30 - Soviet Union rejects SALT II proposals
• April 4 - Sadat and Carter meet in Washington
• April 6 - Carter signs Reorganization Act
• April 18 - Second Address to the Nation on Energy
• May 7 - London Economic Summit
• June 30 - Carter halts B-1 Bomber Production
• July 19 - Begin and Carter meet in Washington
• August 4 - Department of Energy established
• September 7 - Panama Canal Treaty signing
• September 21 - Bert Lance resigns
• September 27 - Agreement with Soviet Union on SALT II
• October 5 - Signs International Covenant on Human Rights
• November 19 - Sadat visits Israel

1978

• March 16 - Senate ratifies first Panama Treaty
• September 4 - Camp David Summit begins
• September 17 - Camp David Accords signed
• October 13 - Civil Service Reform Act Signed
• October 15 - Congress passes first energy package
• December 15 - Announces normalization of relations with People’s Republic of China

1979

• January 16 - Shah leaves Iran
• January 19 - Deng Xiaoping visits Washington
• February 1 - Khomeini returns to Iran
• March 8 - Trip to Egypt and Israel
• March 26 - Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty signing
• March 28 - Three Mile Island nuclear incident
• April 5 - Address to the Nation on Energy
• June 12 - Carter proposes National Health Plan to Congress
• June 18 - Signing of SALT II Treaty in Vienna with Brezhnev
• July 3 - Cancels energy speech; begins meetings at Camp David on state of the administration
• July 15 - Address to the Nation—the “malaise” speech

• July 17 - Announces Cabinet and senior staff changes
• August 15 - Andrew Young resigns as Ambassador to the United Nations
• August 31 - Soviet troops reported in Cuba
• October 17 - Department of Education established
• October 20 - Decision to admit the Shah to the United States for medical treatment
• November 4 - American Embassy in Teheran overrun
• December 27 - Soviet invasion of Afghanistan begins

1980

• January 4 - Address to the Nation on Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; sanctions announced
• January 20 - First caucuses in Iowa
• January 21 - State of Union Message outlining “Carter Doctrine”
• February 20 - Decision to boycott 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow
• March 14 - Anti-inflation program announced; balanced budget sent to Congress
• April 11 - Decision to attempt hostage rescue mission
• April 21 - Vance resigns as Secretary of State
• April 24 - Rescue Mission fails
• May 18 - Mount St. Helens erupts
• July 16 - Republicans nominate Ronald Reagan
• July 22 - Carter statement on Billy Carter’s relations with Libya
• August 13 - Democratic Convention nominates Jimmy Carter
• September 22 - Iraq invades Iran
• October 28 - Carter - Reagan debate
• November 4 - Reagan defeats Carter in election
• December 2 - Carter signs Alaska Lands Bill
• December 7 - Carter warns Soviets against military intervention in Poland
• December 11 - Carter signs Superfund Bill to clean up toxic waste dumps

1981

• January 16 - Final terms for release of American hostages negotiated
• January 20 - 12 noon - Ronald Reagan inaugurated as President
• January 20, 12:20pm EST - hostages released in Teheran
• January 21 - President Reagan sends Carter to Germany to welcome hostages home

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