The entire Carter presidency was unnecessary. Too bad we couldn't have avoided it, as well.
I totally disagree. In some ways Carter was a godsend. If Ford would have been elected to his own term it would have been just as bad economically (remember Whip Inflation Now?), although Ford would have probably dealt with Iran harsher than Carter.
But the RINOs would have pushed for Bush I to run in 1984, while dismissing Reagan as too old. There wouldn't have been a Reagan presidency had Ford won in 1976. Plus voters got to experience the failure of a Dem presidency on hand with Carter.