Tag #Malaise Speech

What specific societal anxieties and economic conditions contributed to President Carter's 1979 "Malaise" speech, and how did his frank assessment impact his presidency?

In his 1979 "Malaise" speech, President Jimmy Carter warned of a crisis of confidence in American society, marked by self-indulgence and consumerism, and a belief that the next five years would be worse than the previous ones. This mirrored a period of economic stagnation, inflation, and the aftermath of the Vietnam War and Watergate scandal. Carter's frank assessment, however, ultimately cost him re-election.