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 ...
Yeah, and then tried to blame it on Dubya, who also pronounces it 'nukular'
Jimmah’s glowering visage looks just like Frank Sinatra glaring at the paparazzi.
Both got blue eyes, too.
B-b-b-b-but it’s so much fun to pick on Jimmah! LOL! What is that picture from, I’m still laughing! Oh, shame on me, NOT!
Hell, ANY president from the south could have done that.
“Walter Rodgers is a former CNN correspondent.”
Until Clinton and what is coming next.
I can only hope Illinois will say the same about Hussein in four years.
And by the way, it's correctly pronounced 'nookie-lear'.
“Carter comes as close to a traitorous President...” You got that right! He’s also close to a traitorous ex-President than any in history.
When he stops being an idiot.
He brings it on himself.
OMG!! That picture is hilarious... and accurate!
I knew Jimmah as my POTUS and let me tell you: HE WAS AN IDIOT!, both then and now.
“He was in fact quite a good president.”
And the evidence of that is?
Jimmy Carter’s behavior has been idiotic, both in the White House and out. I have a hard time understanding how a supposedly intelligent man can do so many dumb things.
I have the feeling we're about to redefine that definition. The big 0 has already had more scandals before he even takes the oath.
Now that the Democrats are back in power in Washington, they’ve apparently been emboldened to rewrite history.
In four years Jimmy Carter lost to the Soviet sphere Afghanistan, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, South Yemen, Grenada and Nicaragua. He gleefully gutted the U.S. military and CIA and presented a plan to reduce the strategic nuclear arsenal to 25 warheads. He gave away the Panama Canal and pardoned draft dodgers.
There's a better than even chance that he will be the 2nd worst president ever.
No actually 18% was the nominal mortage rate on housing loans.. for a good while..
SOme loans were as high as 21%.. if I remember correctly..
Interest rates were only one of Jimmys minor debacles..
Jimmy chose the wrong decision MORE than 50% of the time..
Could be 100% of the time, at some points..
That will be I think evident to all sometime in the next six weeks or so.
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