Mississippi's economy grew steadily thanks to federal funds and agricultural diversity. (Lecture Notes 11/20/14) Jimmy Carter became president in 1976 and during that time the economy was terrible. During his presidency, America faced a major energy crisis, the Iran hostage crisis, and the Camp David Accords. The President and the government were slowly abandoning not only Mississippi, but all of America (Class Notes 2/12/14) In 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected president. Reagan favored low taxes and less federal control, meaning states like Mississippi could decide race relations. Reagan used racist language and cut many government programs that had strong appeal to conservative whites in the South. This created another racial barrier. In 1988, George H. Bush took office and slowly cleaned up Reagan's mess. Bush said, “Read my lips, no new taxes,” but he was ultimately forced to raise taxes. The government was failing once again. In 1992, Bill Clinton became president and introduced social reforms that led to an improvement in the economy. There was virtually no unemployment, a strong stock market, and available energy. Thanks to Clinton, the government was doing its best to address poverty and race relations for a change. In 2000, George W. Bush was president and the United States was slowly coming back