Carter and Reagan pause before plunging into their futures
It was half time in national politics or, perhaps more aptly, that moment in a relay when the baton hangs between outstretched hands about to meet. Major crises were unresolved: 52 Americans were still held hostage in Iran, and the U.S. economy threatened to dip once more into recession. But on the banks of the Potomac, all seemed unusually peaceful. Congress was in recess, and Jimmy Carter was getting ready to retire to Plains, Ga. President-elect Ronald Reagan had not yet arrived in the capital. Both the old President and the new President issued remarkably similar New Year's wishes for the nation. Reagan hoped for "a year of health, happiness and peace." Carter said he resolved "to have a good transition and prayed that we will continue to have peace and prosperity for American people."
Still aching from the collarbone that he broke while cross-country skiing, Carter celebrated New Year's Eve at Press Secretary Jody Powell's house. Then, in what amounted to a last fling as First Family, the President and Rosalynn flew aboard Air Force One to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl, which pitted Carter's favorite, the University of Georgia, against Notre Dame. Wearing a button that proclaimed WE'RE NO. 1, the Carters stopped off at Atlanta to pick up some 20 old friends and guests for the game, including Georgia Governor George Busbee, former Budget Director Bert Lance, Lawyer Charles Kirbo, Sportsman and Communications Magnate Ted Turner and former Attorney General Griffin Bell. It was a happy day: Carter's team won, 17-10.
Back in Washington that evening. Carter again tackled the issues that are his responsibility until Reagan is inaugurated. The President has nearly finished signing or vetoing the bills sent to him by the lameduck session of Congress, with decisions left only on how much protection to extend to the U.S. steel industry and whether to allow banks to open branches in other states. The President also was, as always, preoccupied with the hostage crisis in Iran, giving final approval to a State Department message that was dispatched to Tehran through Algerian intermediaries (see WORLD).
At week's end, Carter was making preparations for one of his final official acts: sending his 1981 State of the Union message to Congress this week. This time, he will not deliver it in person. Instead, he plans to give a televised farewell address from the Oval Office the week before Reagan's Inauguration. Says Press Secretary Powell: "It will be forward looking, not a justification of the past."