ict by withdrawing the primary Arab military force, Egypt, from the equation through a land-for-peace settlement, finalized in the Camp David Accords.
             Although Jimmy Carter entered the 1976 presidential campaigns as an unknown political candidate running against the current president, Gerald Ford, he managed to defeat Ford by a close margin as he offered the American public a fresh political platform that stressed honesty and morality, providing a greatly-desired changed from the experiences of the Nixon Administration and the Watergate Scandal ("United States History" 20). In the second presidential election debates between President Ford and Jimmy Carter, Carter did mention that America had lost international respect as a consequence of the economic and political actions of President Nixon, and Ford had further "endangered" America's "reputation and influence within the community of nations ("The Second 1976 Presidential Debate," Part III, 1). Carter further emphasized the issue of American international "integrity" as the basis of strength, arguing that it was only through the U.S. support for the weaker and "trampled" nations that the United States will regain its international position of power and influence (2). Carter voiced the belief that the American economy was suffering as a result of the loss of American international prestige, and proposed that the military defense budget be cut in order to strengthen the economy ("The Second 1976 Presidential Debate," Part III, 2-3). This was a shocking proposal to make in the Cold War climate, and President Ford responded by stating: "Let me say very categorically you cannot maintain the security of the United States with the kind of defense budget cuts that Governor Carter has indicated" ("The Second 1976 Presidential Debate," Part III, 3). According to Ford, Carter's proposal would t...