I always felt that Jimmy Carter had America’s best interest at heart, but wasn’t a very good manager. The Dems since Carter have been good politicians but bad people.
I agree that he was a horrible manager, but his problem was deeper. He also had very wrong ideas of what policies would promote America's best interests. Hence he was doing the wrong things, if possibly for the right reasons. His 'rat successors, even when they have done right things, have done them for the wrong reasons and have done them very badly.