The speech by President Jimmy Carter which was later called the "malaise speech" was used to make Americans become much more self-inquisitive. As a follow up to the speech, Carter took strong steps; he fired several cabinet members who lacked skills and expertise. Americans then started to see Carter as a strong and significant president. He became a leader who could find answers and take America through the energy crisis.

When the president was first scheduled to address the nation, he cancelled at the last minute. After 10 days, he reemerged with a speech. It was a speech that addressed the U.S. energy crisis, unemployment, inflation, and something else a bit more nebulous. In it (the "Malaise Speech") President Carter said:

"The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in ... the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation.

The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America. The confidence that we have always had as a people is not simply some romantic dream or a proverb in a dusty book that we read just on the Fourth of July. It is the idea which founded our nation and has guided our development as a people. Confidence in the future has supported everything else ... the very Constitution ...."

The speech worked. "Crises of confidence" talk occurred!

More Info: www.presidency.ucsb.edu