In “The Simpsons,” when Springfield Mayor Quimby unveils a statue of former President Jimmy Carter, an audience member exclaims, “He's the greatest monster in history!”
During Carter's presidency and in his immediate post-presidential years, many in government and the media establishment certainly treated him this way. However, once he created the Carter Center and began building homes for the poor, the foundation's narrative shifted to “Carter was a lousy president, but he had the greatest post-presidential career ever.”
The part about the post-Carter presidency is certainly true. The part about his presidency is not. In fact, although historians and most establishment speakers wouldn't put him there, Carter must rank among the near greats or even the greats.
Historians judge presidents based on their vision; Economy. public persuasion; Crisis leadership regarding foreign affairs; Commitment to equality and diversity, working people and vulnerable people; relationship with Congress; And in recent years, the ability to help the environment. Carter should get high marks in all of these matters, even in foreign affairs.
Vision: Carter not only had a vision for peace in the Middle East, he actually achieved it. It was Carter who sat down Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel and made a peace treaty, the Camp David Accords, something no president before or since has come close to doing.
Economy: In the late 1970s, Carter was telling Americans to conserve energy and switch to solar power and other renewable fuels. If America had done that, it would have become energy independent years ago, instead of paying four dollars per gallon of gasoline as some Americans are doing now.
But what about the 1980 recession? As Harry Truman said of Herbert Hoover: “He did not create the Depression; he created it.” It created a depression for him. Likewise with the economic problems in 1980, Carter's Fed was clinging to its belief in tight monetary policy to fight inflation, which led to a recession. The Feds committed the crime, but Carter committed the crime.
Public Persuasion: Critics of the state media mocked what they called Carter's “malaise speech” (Carter did not use the word “malaise”), in which he asked Americans to unite and sacrifice to deal with the energy crisis. However, at the time, public reception of the speech was largely positive, resulting in thousands of positive phone calls and letters to the White House. Members of the media praised presidents such as Roosevelt, John Kennedy, and George W. Bush when they asked Americans to unite in the face of the crisis; They laughed at Carter when he did the same thing and worked to turn public opinion against him.
Diplomacy on manhood
Crisis Leadership in Foreign Affairs: Carter's Foreign Affairs The Battle of Waterloo was a hostage crisis in which more than 60 Americans were captured and held in Iran for 444 days. But in retrospect, was Carter's performance really that bad? Most presidents would have bombed Tehran or the Iranian oil fields and started a war that would have killed the hostages and thousands of innocent civilians.
Instead, Carter was willing to move at a snail's pace using boring tools like economic sanctions and diplomacy. The result was not the loss of the life of a single American hostage, but all the hostages returned to their homes safely, and the war did not break out. Carter's behavior was not masculine, just efficient.
Environment: Carter proposed a comprehensive energy plan but it was not approved; If it had done so, America would have become energy independent, instead of relying on foreign energy, over the next forty years, and the United States would not have been involved in two wars in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan.
During Carter's era, America imported 30% of its oil. Today, the percentage has reached 76%.
Commitment to Equality, Diversity, Working People, and the Powerless: Carter routinely appointed, and urged Senate confirmation, minorities and women, usually with extreme liberal views, to federal office and federal judicial positions.
As for workers, it achieved the largest relative job growth of any post-World War II administration, while promoting collective bargaining, passing labor safety laws, and establishing job creation programs.
Relationship with Congress: Congress did not like Jimmy Carter, but the fact that he got so much legislation passed—legislation that has not been passed since—shows his skill in dealing with a reluctant Congress.
May Jimmy Carter – perhaps America's last great president – rest in peace after 100 years of a life dedicated to serving others.
william s. Pike is the author of Winning Political Campaigns, a how-to book covering all aspects of political campaigns. He lives in a clearing.
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