Posted on 02/18/2023 1:35:05 PM PST by karpov
More than a quarter-century after completing his term of office, James Earl Carter is still to be found in the thick of debates about national policies on a range of issues: nuclear arms, Iraq, North Korea, and, especially, the conflict between Israel and the Arabs. A steady stream of books and articles continues to issue forth from his pen, and he travels the world on self-selected diplomatic missions. No other former President has chosen to play a similar role. But then, Carter’s whole political career has been out of the ordinary. In order to understand the man today, it is necessary to see him in the light of his past.
In 1976, when Carter tossed his hat into the ring for the presidential nomination, the Democratic party was still deeply riven by the long, bitter debate over the war in Vietnam. Carter’s response was to soar above these divisions, downplaying both ideology and issues. Instead, he put himself forward as a man of piety and character who would restore a high tone to government in the aftermath of Watergate and related scandals. Before the rise of politically-oriented televangelists, Jimmy Carter made his personal experience as a “born again” Christian into a key tenet of his platform. “I can give you a government that’s honest and that’s filled with love, competence, and compassion,” he pledged.
When the scramble for the Democratic nomination began, Carter was widely seen as a long shot. But by the time the primary season was half over, he had left the other, better-known Democratic contenders in the dust. That he was able to compete with them at all–that is, to raise money and enlist volunteers–owed to the national exposure he had received for his inaugural address as governor of Georgia in 1971.
(Excerpt) Read more at aei.org ...
Jimmy Carter is the Uriah Heep of American politics (and a self-deluded old fool).
Obama and Biden are making Jimmy Carter look like (your idea of a mid-range president here) Ford or Coolidge? Anyway, he meant well, which is more than we could say about many of the last half dozen.
I’m assuming you hold that neither Reagan or Carter was deep state.
I’m assuming you hold that neither Reagan or Carter was deep state.
Carter not deep state....hmmm.
That’s rather interesting. I do recall he was deemed difficult to work with by the entrenched Rat Congress.
One might wonder if he may have been sabatoged as well.
That never occurred to me.
Hmmm....
Not worst president... Worst EX president. Carter has spent his life out of office actively undermining the foreign policy of every subsequent president instead of doing his good works quietly.
My take on Carter was that he was a weird somewhat likeable guy who was more mainstream than the previous two nominees and a nicer person than LBJ that the deep state would view as harmless and capable of being controlled.
I don’t think that he had enough of an agenda to be sabotaged.
Let’s keep the tennis courts fair and square.
RE: Our worst ex-President
Is the author limiting his list of ex-presidents only to those who are still alive? If not, I have a few in mind who could give Jimmuh a run for his money ( Brandon excluded, who’s probably the worst in my lifetime ).
The Obamanation is my second favorite for him. My first is the Kenyan Muslim punk bastard.
I’d offer LBJ....so much of today’s problems can be traced back to his failed “great society”.
God definitely took mercy on him. He let him live so long to see two presidents recognized as worse than him so he wouldn’t have to have that moniker.
Excellent observation. LBJ’s “war on poverty” and his support of Ted Kennedy’s immigration “reforms” probably did far more damage to our country than Jimmy Carter could have done.
Well, I suppose that as of right now he is our worst EX-pres, but Brandon will be out one day, and Jimmy’s title will not last past the minute he departs.
But, must state for the record that Jimmy Carter strove to be a decent person, he wasn’t a stupid, lying, corrupt, self-dealing bum like the current occupant of the WH.
** He is a decent man and a Christian who has done a lot of good**
I recall him ever denouncing abortion or lgbtxyz. Fake Christian.
He may not make it to ex-president status the way he’s tottering....
Yeah, Johnson was terrible. When they get as bad as Wilson, Johnson, Carter, Clintoon, Obozo, and Xiden, then they are all equally bad in my book. It’s too hard to find anything positive from their terms in office.
Agreed. With a brother like Billy, you knew he came from a family that would never deliberately harm America.
Billy was a registered agent for Qadafi and Libya.
I was born in the early 60s but I prefer asking people who experienced the 60s as adults: How bad were the LBJ years? Comparable to those presidents you listed or not?
Carter is an American. USNA grad. He was seriously misguided and wrong headed.
Obama is a Kenyan Marxists with nothing but hate for this country. He is a malignant bastard who wants to see this country destroyed.
Those two are very different people.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.