Jimmy Carter was the president of the US.
James Earl Carter Jr. ( born October 1 , 1924 ) is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 . Despite being little-known outside of Georgia at the start of the campaign , Carter won the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination . During Carter 's term as President , two new cabinet-level departments , the Department of Energy and the Department of Education , were established . Polls of historians and political scientists usually rank Carter as a below average president .