- The price of U.S. oil more than tripled after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposed an oil embargo on the U.S and its allies in response to their support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War.
- The embargo led to long gas lines, increased inflation and a sharp drop in the U.S. economy, which was already struggling from the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal.
- The crisis revealed that the U.S. was vulnerable to events in distant parts of the world and raised concerns that the country was losing its economic dominance, The crisis also led to a decline in public confidence in the U.S. government.