President Carter's "crisis of confidence" speech was prompted by the nation's energy crisis and recession. President Carter, himself a deeply religious man, put forth the idea that America's dilemma was at its root a moral and spiritual issue. A lack of “moral and spiritual confidence,” as he put it, meant that Americans were finding themselves too weak to pull themselves up out of their economic malaise. He also accepted a share of the blame himself, for not being strong enough in his leadership on issues like energy consumption and use of oil resources.
