Posted on 01/04/2009 3:54:37 PM PST by melt
He suffers from an egregiously unfair reputation. His record, though, shows he was quite a good president
Oakton, Va. - In this season of new resolutions, Americans would do well to rethink their perceptions of Jimmy Carter. President Carter has suffered the misfortune of having his legacy almost entirely shaped by his political enemies rather than by objective reality or a basic sense of American fairness.
Today, Carter is caricatured as a weak-kneed, sweater-wearing puritan who struggled with lust in his heart, presided over a malaised America, and micromanaged even the scheduling of the White House tennis courts. More recently, he's taken heat for his blunt portrayal of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.
What an egregiously undeserved reputation. Carter wasn't just a "good man who got in over his head," as critics say. He was in fact quite a good president.
He kept us out of endless wars. He protected the Alaskan wilderness (Sen. Gaylord Nelson (D) of Wisconsin once told me that "Carter was the greatest environmental president the country ever had.") He promoted a visionary energy policy. He countered the Soviet military threat. And since he left office, he has persistently promoted the cause of peace around the world. The landmark Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty he fashioned remains in force today.
Against the backdrop of an unnecessary trillion-dollar war in Iraq, it is instructive to recall how Carter avoided a similar morass when he negotiated the Panama Canal treaties, for which he was excoriated by Ronald Reagan's Republicans. When he left office, he was able to say with Thomas Jefferson "[D]uring the period of my administration not a drop of the blood of a single citizen was shed by the sword of war."
In the public mind, Carter continues to be judged as "ineffectual."
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
Always trying to rewrite history.
The SOB GAVE AWAY the Panama Canal which is now under CHINESE control!
If he wasn’t the worst president ever, why did they award him the Nobel “Peace” Prize? That award is only given to people who are out to stick it to America.
"More recently, he's (Carter) taken heat for his blunt portrayal of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. "
I lived through the Jimmy years, even voted for Ford, (argghh) so I don’t know who this writer is trying to fool; maybe someone born since then who can’t read, knows nothing, and doesn’t care anyway.
“Worst until the Magic Hero that is.”
“The One” will make the Carter years look like the good old days.
LOL
political humor, right?
On the lighter side, Jimmah’s brother was highly entertaining.
sorry..not an “official” war. (s/off)
Is that the “nukular” pronunciation the left always castigated GW for saying?
**We conservatives are just so damned outcome based**
Actually we prefer the term .. RESULTS ORIENTED
and Jimmuh was ... NEITHER
Breaking News: Obama lands on trip from Chicago. All nets covering it.
Sorry, now you can return to regularily scheduled Freeping.
oh, pleeeezzzze, give me a break. Most of us are not the ill informed Obama voters.
Jimmy Carter’s presidency was like the Detroit Lions 2008 season.
The economy rolls pretty much on its own and the POTUSi can only help screwing it up, but blaming the 18% inflation on poor Jimmah is going a bit too far, me thinks.
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