Jimmy Carter Was a Lot Better President Than Almost Anyone Ever Admits

[DonViejo]

David Masciotra

In or out of the White House, Carter has been a man of principle unafraid of hard truth. In his 22nd book, he documents the plight of women around the world.

The mindless and childish hatred for President Jimmy Carter, across the right and among a surprising number of liberals, exposes the obscenity and flaccidity of American political culture, where cliché overwhelms insight and bromide mutes the truth of history.

At the CPAC circus and over the airwaves of talk radio, the mere mention of Carter’s name is sufficient to provoke self-satisfied cackles and chortles from the audience, while liberals relegate Carter to the dubious distinction of “best ex-president”—a backhanded compliment equivalent to calling someone the best “non-medalist Olympian.”

Right wingers compare President Obama to Carter, believing it is the ultimate insult, and Obama won’t invite him to speak at the Democratic National Convention or, according to Carter in a recent Meet the Press interview, seek his advice on matters relating to national security and international affairs—a first since Carter left the White House.

Meanwhile, the former president from Plains, Georgia continues, in a soft but steady voice, to recite a refrain against all the resistance—“I will not go quietly.” He maintains direction at the Carter Center—monitoring elections for fairness, reporting human rights abuses, and negotiating deals between NGOs and Third World governments. He volunteers, with leadership and labor, for Habitat for Humanity, and he relentlessly and tirelessly writes.

more
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/01/jimmy-carter-was-a-lot-better-president-than-almost-anyone-ever-admits.html

[CBGLuthier]

1. I think he was too evolved for the job at that time.

I have hope that someday we will get someone of his ilk again and actually allow them to do their job. But truthfully I doubt this nation will ever accept it. Too many assholes. That may ultimately be the summation of the great american problem. Too Many Assholes.

[yeoman6987]

3. I didn't like him at all

However, I was in sixth grade and just remember sitting in the car waiting for gas with my parents. So what did I know? I find him doing a great job with his post presidency.

[CBGLuthier]

5. I was 16 when he took office

Nixon and Ford had fucked the economy into the ground and we had high inflation which Ford thought we could solve by wearing shiny buttons.





The Iranian thing happened and Carter looked bad and Reagan's people manipulated events behind the scenes so the hostages would not be released until after the election. And thus the great screwing of America truly began in earnest.

[otherone]

59. yes!

(I was in 4th grade when he lost. I was very political even back then. I thought it was the end of the world)..

[Shemp Howard]

17. Or maybe he was just too honest for the job.

I didn't always agree with Carter back then. And I don't always agree with him now. But he was, and is, an honest and moral man.

Here's an example. Below is a link where Carter explains his opposition to any invasion of Iraq. It was written on March 9, 2003, right before the invasion. Contrast that with the Senate, where most members took the easy (and cowardly) way out and gave Bush war powers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/09/opinion/just-war-or-a-just-war.html

[L0oniX]

31. ^^^this^^^

[2banon]

39. Nice find..

I agree President Carter is and was indeed an honest and moral man. I always look forward to reading his work and listening to interviews.

Carter's NYT OpEd was dismissed by the Neo-Cons and the blood thirsty Media...

But the Democratic leaders in both Houses of Congress I hold equally responsible, they should have heeded Carter's prescient warnings.

As Difi said to a friend when confronted in the Ladies Room at Dulles airport "what do you expect me to do about it now?" "what's done is done" .....

[awoke_in_2003]

46. Welcome to DU

He was too good a man be president.

[Shemp Howard]

48. Exactly

"He was too good a man to be president"

That's exactly what I was trying to say, in my usual roundabout manner!

[otherone]

60. thanks for that link

reading now

[polichick]

62. Agreed - on all counts.

[hollysmom]

2. Well, they played him for a sap

I don't think he was expecting that republicans were treasonous at the time. and that they would work against the interests of the US, but it was true.

Jimmy is what happens to an honest politician, people will never be ready for that.

[bemildred]

6. +1. nt

[TexasProgresive]

24. It wasn't just the Cons

His own party resented him for being an outsider, not part of the DC ole boys club, and did not work well with him.

[hollysmom]

27. that's true

[hfojvt]

38. some of his party thought he was too conservative

that's why Carter put Mondale on the ticket, as an attempt to appease the liberal wing of the party. Ted Kennedy primaried him anyway, and took his primary all the way to the convention.

[certainot]

30. the 'october surprise' put reagan and the bush crime family into the white house and we're still

seeing ollie north on tv

i don't think carter's ever talked about that publicly- i wish he would, but he's be accusing a lot of people of treason if he did

[Scuba]

4. My favorite President. Voted for him twice.

[Jackpine Radical]

18. He wasn't my first choice in '76--I went with Udall in the Primary season,

but certainly voted for Jimmy in the General. Then he sorta grew on me.

I'm one of the few who thought he was right to do the "malaise" speech--even remember what bar I was in & with whom when he gave it. (I didn't have a TV in those days, so had to go out to a quiet local bar to hear him.)

I certainly supported him when Teddy tried to Primary him in '80.

[Half-Century Man]

19. Turned 18 during his first presidency.

He was the first person I voted to be pres.

[democrank]

7. Carter is a man of principle and courage.

My favorite president.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

53. Agreed and they tried their best to get rid of him

you can decide who 'they' are

[DeeDeeNY]

64. +1

That describes him well.

[voteearlyvoteoften]

8. Watched the Carter Maher interview on Real Time last night

It was fantastic! If you missed it find it somewhere and watch it today.

[YarnAddict]

9. Unfortunately,

he appeared weak and ineffectual. His response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was to boycott the Moscow Olympics, and reinstate draft registration. The Olympics were supposed to be completely non-political (although I don't know if that has ever actually been true) and led to the boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

He stopped providing cover for the brutal Shah of Iran, but that ushered in the even more brutal Ayatollah Khomeini, so I don't know if that was a good move or not.

At times he seemed to be a ridiculous figure. I remember a SNL skit which showed him carrying around a foam doughnut because of his hemorrhoids. Then there was the attacking bunny . . . The guy couldn't catch a break from the media.

I also vaguely remember that Daylight Savings Time was extended, in order to save energy, and we waited for the bus in the dark in the mornings. (Although that may have been a state decision. Can't remember, and maybe someone else will help me out.)

He was absolutely prescient in his understanding of the problems we are facing today. He was a man ahead of his time, certainly, and I think that history will vindicate him, if it hasn't already.

[handmade34]

11. the Republicans and media

treated Jimmy Carter akin to what they are doing to Pres. Obama now... creating a public image that is disingenuous... I adored Jimmy Carter when he was President and have immense respect for him still!!

[mountain grammy]

25. Yes they did, but at least they never called him a Muslim, etc, etc.

My brother in law told me Obama is a Muslim and you're not a Christian if you vote for him. After I finished laughing, I asked him what he thought of Jimmy Carter. Certainly he must have voted for Carter because he was much more Christian than the divorced actor who ran against him. No response.

Carter inherited a shitty Republican economy, but it hurt everyone. Double digit interests rates, fuel shortages, Iran, but never in my wildest dreams did I believe he could be beaten by a bad actor.

[Enthusiast]

41. The point is, all those little "irritations" you cite about President Carter

were the creation of his (our) enemies. The media was under their control then too. The right wanted President Carter to appear weak and ineffectual. They worked on it night and day.

President Carter need no such vindication in my mind.

[bkanderson76]

10. I supported him in '76 and remain unwaivered to this day.

Carter was a compassionate man intensely driven to lead America for all that is right and good. And he still does.
He has set a standard not many man can follow, and today's political legislators certainly prove the point. The vast majority of these are hardly good enough to hold his jock.

[Dustlawyer]

12. I still don't understand how with all of the shit that Reagan pulled: having the Iranians hold

our hostages longer until he could be sworn in and get the credit for freeing the hostages; raising taxes on the poor and middle class so many times; Iran/Contra; "welfare queen"; firing the air traffic controllers; and the record numbers of people in his administration who were convicted of serious crimes!
Carter is not a self promotors, he just went to work everyday to help his country and really did an amazing job that was not reported fairly by the MSM.

[YarnAddict]

13. He was like the bully on the playground,

and most of the american people were like the crowd of kids standing around, egging the bully on, and just glad that they weren't on the receiving end of the bulllying.

[tarheelsunc]

14. Carter was a good President and he's a better man.

If DU had been around during his presidency, I can imagine he would have been thrown under the bus just like Obama though.

[NewJeffCT]

28. Of course

Remember, he was seen as too conservative by many Dems at the time - which is why Teddy Kennedy challenged him from the left in 1980.

[L0oniX]

37. Acting on what is truly and honestly the best for the country goes above party politics.

[cui bono]

58. Yep. We can't help if if both parties are capable of screwing up. n/t

[Spacemom]

15. I was in 4th grade when he was up for re-election

We had a "mock" election at my elementary school. Reagan took it. I remember looking around at my peers and thinking "Don't they know they've just been had?"

I was ahead of my time.

[A Round Tuit]

16. He made it easy...

for the RW to attack him. He never really responded to attacks questioning everything from his personal life (Amy, and his brother Billy) to some of his policies (the sweater thing and the thermostat).
His intentions were good, but his persona allowed him to be easily demonized.

Even now, so many years later, you'd be hard pressed to find people that will actually admit to having voted for him.

A shame, that.

[blackspade]

20. Carter is he best president of the last 50 years.

Hands down.
The theft of the 1980 election as done incalculable harm to this country.

[groundloop]

21. I still have a program from when he was awarded his honorary degree from Georgia Tech

I was in the audience for that. (He had transferred to the Naval Academy so never received a diploma from Tech). I have always wanted to see about somehow getting him to sign that program but don't have a clue about how to go about it.

My wife met him briefly several years ago at the Carter Center, she was going in as he was leaving. He went out of his way to stop and talk to the small group as they entered, everyone was impressed with how gracious and down to earth he is.

I've heard one critique of Carter's presidency saying that he came in too accustomed to how a governor can basically get whatever he wants versus having to negotiate with Congress to get things done. I didn't pay too much attention to politics back then (except that I knew I didn't like RayGuns) but now I've come to see that the truth is that GOPers then were no different than current day GOPers in that they refuse to work with a Democratic President in the hopes of making him look bad.

[frazzled]

22. Jimmy Carter spoke in prime time at the 2012 Democratic Convention

It was on video, not in person (don't know why he didn't attend in person). But it was a prominent spot. This article is pretty much bull.

Jimmy Carter gets prime-time convention slot

CHARLOTTE — The Democratic National Convention Committee and Obama for America announced today that former President Jimmy Carter will address the 2012 Democratic National Convention by video this September. President Carter’s message, including unique insights about President Obama as a global leader, will be played at Time Warner Cable Arena on Tuesday, September 4, in prime time.

“President Carter is one of the greatest humanitarian leaders of our time and a champion of democracy around the globe,” said 2012 Democratic National Convention Chair Antonio Villaraigosa. “A lifelong champion of human rights and investments in education and energy to spur economic development, President Carter will provide unique insight into President Obama’s ability to move our country forward and why we need his vision and leadership for a second term. President Obama is fighting for the next steps in our nation’s economic recovery, to reclaim America’s promise on behalf of hard-workers, the strivers, the dreamers, who ask only for a fair shot and a fair shake.”

“Rosalynn and I regret that we will be unable to be at the Democratic Convention this year in Charlotte. However, we remain steadfast in our support for President Obama and the progress he will make in the next four years,” President Carter said.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/charlie-mahtesian/2012/08/jimmy-carter-gets-prime-time-convention-slot-131378.html

[George II]

23. I always felt that he was a better president than he ever got credit for....

He took over from an administration that spent more time "stonewalling" and protecting itself than governing, and the replacement did nothing as President. For roughly four years the government was basically operating without a President.

Remember, the Nixon administration implemented the first wage and price controls since WWII to fight rampant inflation. Then Ford had that ludicrous "Whip Inflation Now" - remember those WIN buttons? Inflation was a major problem even before Carter took office.

On top of that, the Nixon administration so alienated the Middle East that they established their first embargo and huge price increases for oil - in the space of a year or two the price of a barrel of oil went from $4 to over $20 - that's more than five times in a short period. And back then, maybe more than today, oil prices drove the economy. Everything revolved around oil. Does anyone remember the red, yellow, and green flags and long lines at gas stations? A 5X increase in oil prices certainly was the biggest contributor to inflation under Nixon and Ford, and poor Jimmy Carter took over a horrible economy that was still spinning out of inflationary control.

With inflation comes unemployment, the second contributor to Reagan's "misery index".

He was lost before his presidency had even started.

Reagan didn't make Carter look much better, either. First, it's no secret that he was negotiating with the government of Iran to prolong the hostage crisis through the campaign. No coincidence that the hostages were released at noon on inauguration day.

Reagan also "cured" inflation artificially, and then spent about 7 years taking credit for it. One of the first things he did was change the way inflation was calculated - he took out energy increases and interest rates, two things that contributed the most to inflation. The true inflation continued for years, but was considered "lower" because of the way it was calculated.

Next, Reagan reduced the time that people could collect unemployment benefits. The rate of unemployment is calculated not by the number of people not working, but the number of people collecting unemployment benefits. When Reagan reduced the time by 13 weeks (I believe it was 26 weeks at the time), "unemployment" instantly fell, although no more people were working.

He then manipulated the tax code to seemingly "reduce" taxes - while the tax rates were reduced, lots of deductions were also eliminated, and unemployment payments became taxable. At the time he did all this I was unemployed, and made less than $7000 that year, yet my taxes actually went UP!

So Jimmy Carter was sandwiched between one of the most ineffective presidencies ever (combined Nixon protecting his ass and Ford shoved into office with little notice) and the Reagan administration smoke and mirrors economy. Of course Carter was going to look bad. It's nice to see that as time goes on, history is making Carter look a lot better than he did back in the '70s and '80s.

[amandabeech]

55. I would call Nixon evil, not ineffective.

We complain about the NSA today, but they look like amateurs compared to what Nixon did. I swear that half the people who said anything against Nixon had their very own FBI agent. My first year of college was Nixon's last. Every time that there was a demonstration, there were agent-y looking people crawling all over the place taking pictures of everyone who was there. Nixon was hideous! And, as you point out, the economy collapsed in the '70s because of Nixon's policies early on. Not many people remember that.

[TexasProgresive]

26. I agree-

And his cancelling of the B-1 bomber was good thinking that was regarded with disdain- The MIC doesn't like opposition. "We don't care how stupid a weapon system is, or how expensive, in fact the stupider and more expensive the better."

[rwsanders]

29. When the rescue of the hostages failed...

My dad made the only political statement I've ever heard him make. "They sacrificed 8 of their own to make the president look bad".
My dad was a computer programmer, very analytical, not a CT.
Carter was and is a great man. I read how the RW Baptists gave him hell while he was in office because he wouldn't enact their perverted view of the bible.

[former9thward]

50. If your father made that statement he was a CTer.

Well maybe not a CTer. Even they don't go that far.

[L0oniX]

32. If we had continued his fuel use efficiency policy, cars that get over 50< mpg would be standard.

Does anyone remember the embargo of the mid 70's ...long lines ...cars out of gas ...2 cylinder Honda cars?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

36. I remember two, the one under Carter was minor compared to the one under Ford.

[George II]

57. I forgot to include that in my post...

...Carter warned in the mid '70s that we would have a huge oil/energy crisis one day. He was the one who proposed, and implemented, those oil reserves in the South. Republicans ridiculed him for that, and Reagan all but called him an idiot for putting millions of barrels of oil underground.

Then during early Obama years, when oil prices were going up, Republicans demanded that Obama release some of the oil reserves "for the good of the country". What happened to the Carter ridicule then? What happened to that idiotic idea?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

33. America heard for 12 straight years that Carter sucked....

Both Reagan and Bush The Elder claimed the reason the economy sucked under them was because they inherited a disaster.

Forget the eight years of Nixon and Ford.

That time went down the memory hole like Dubya.

It's all the fault of the one term guy that was like Ned Flanders.

[certainot]

34. talk radio allowed them to rewrite the treasonous reagan/bush history and get away with it

and the left still ignores the radio!

they're still rewriting the october surprise treason and it's aftermath -the bush reagan crime family and what they did and got away with - stealing younger bush into the white house twice and getting away with it would not have been possible if the left had not ignored the talk radio monopoly.

we'd be in a completely different place today and there's little evidence that the dem party or the progressive groups will do anything about it before 2014 elections- another massive mistake.

[LuvNewcastle]

35. A lot of southerners were convinced that Carter

was hated because he was a southerner. People in the media and the entertainment industry did make fun of his accent and his manner. He was depicted as a bumbler and a hayseed peanut farmer who was adrift in Washington. When Kennedy ran against Carter for the nomination, their suspicions were confirmed. He got no respect from most of the politicians and the press, and it seemed hardly anyone would stand up and side with him. The southern switch to the GOP was completed by the time he left office.

It's really a shame that his term ended up that way. The past 30-40 years in the South could have turned out a lot differently. We might not have all these fucking teabaggers running most of the southern states, and we wouldn't have so many in Congress, either. The Democratic Party might even be viable in all the southern states. I'm glad he's being recognized today, and I'm glad to hear him speaking out. He's a very wise man, and the country needs to hear what he has to say.

[raindaddy]

40. Reagan's victory over Carter was a crossroads

Funny how Ronald Reagan who probably stole the election from Carter has been made into an icon by both parties while Carter is pretty much ignored by his own party and has been made into an incompetent bumbler by the Republicans.

We canonize the President of one of the most corrupt administrations in history. Then embrace the decision to prepare for the future by ignoring alternative energy sources and fool ourselves into thinking we could continue to allow an unregulated fossil fuel industry to make endless billions of dollars with no repercussions.

Listening to Carter at almost 90 years old, I have no doubt he's still more prepared and capable of representing the welfare of the American people than Ronald Reagan was his in first term. Anyone doubt we'd be living in a better world if we would've made the decision to reflect his values instead of the route we took back in 1980?

If anyone wonders why we can't find leaders who have the courage to stand up to global corporate tyranny, look no further than what happened to Jimmy Carter.

[zipplewrath]

42. Inverse of Jefferson

Jefferson was a conflict in many ways. His political work was quite admirable in many ways, his personal life was a conflict of behavior versus rhetoric. Carter was a bit of the opposite. Personally his life and rhetoric were and are quite well aligned. His political history is far more repleat with unfullfilled potential. Probably the wrong guy at the wrong place and the wrong time.

[Gothmog]

43. I voted for him twice

The very first national election that I voted in was for President Carter

[MrTriumph]

44. He was the best president since Truman.

Truth-tellers like Pres. Carter are often maligned.

[Worried senior]

45. He was a good president

and treated terribly.

Very proud to have voted for him twice.

[frylock]

47. Our greatest living President

[progressoid]

49. But can he paint a portrait?

[Purveyor]

51. Indeed and thank you for posting. eom

[IronLionZion]

52. Plus in the media circus that controls public opinion these days

appearance/perception is reality. Reality isn't reality anymore. Nobody perceives it the least bit suspicious that the Iran hostages would be released conveniently after the election. And then Iran got lots of nice new weapons in exchange for money for Nicaraguan contras. Only a socialist would question that.

People like Carter get eaten alive and people like Abraham Lincoln would never stand a chance to win any sort of national election ever again. I doubt Chris Christie will stand a chance because of his size. Sarah Palin was torn apart easily and fed to the wolves.

Not everyone can handle the media and exhibit the public perception of charisma the way Obama, Clinton, Reagan, and Kennedy have.

[XiaomuWave]

54. People forget/dont know how conservative he was

I recently went through his White House Diaries book, and he comes off as quite conservative to me.

He was very concerned about deficits and spending.
He was very religious.
He was a proponent of freer trade.

This made him pretty unpopular with his own party, in particular Congressional Democrats.
Kennedy didnt primary him because Carter was too liberal.

[raindaddy]

56. Either he's gotten more liberal or the Dem party has gotten more conservative...

“America has no functioning democracy"
Jimmy Carter responding to NSA's info gathering...

"The disparity between rich people and poor people in America has increased dramatically since when we started. The middle class has become more like poor people than they were 30 years ago. So I don't think it's getting any better."
Jimmy Carter

I was disappointed the way it was done and the complexity that it assumed. Instead of taking a leadership role from the White House and saying, “This is what we think is best,” they had five different congressional committees do it and it got, I think, the lowest common denominator, which is the most complex system. I would really have favored just the expansion of Medicare to include all ages, rather than just to deal with old people.

Carter on Obamacare

[craigmatic]

61. He was an ok president. He was by no means a failure. His problem was that he had

no big agenda for the country. He was a social liberal but fiscal conservative. He solved the hostage crisis, laid the ground work to beat the USSR in Afganistan by funding the rebels. He also tightened government spending leading to the boom in the 80s. Reagan was just there to take credit but these are things Carter couldn't brag about at the time because liberal dems didn't want to hear it and the Afgan thing was covert. Also tip Oneal was a dick to Carter and didn't try to work with him.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

63. several Democratic presidents have had their ratings go up as time goes by.

Truman is now more highly rated than he used to be.

Same with Carter. He was a good man and Reagan really screwed him over with the arms for hostages deal and screwed the country as well.

Carter was the first president I voted for.

[Onlooker]

65. Carter broke the unions

Carter was a lousy president. He deregulated the airlines, trucking, and railroads, in affect costing tens of thousands of union workers good wages. He was very pronuclear, had no urban policy to speak of, and has few accomplishments during his administration. The one really good thing he did was to make human rights part of American foreign policy, but other than that carter was the most conservative Democrat since perhaps Woodrow Wilson. Carter is a decent and moral human being, but he was not a good president.