The man had a good run to 100 years old and was probably the nicest guy to ever be President. He was a great American man but a terrible American politician who was a former President for my entire life.
I hope he understood the scale of Joe Biden’s failure and national embarrassment, which I suspect he did, and could rest in peace knowing he won’t be in any discussions about the worst President ever anymore.
You just can’t help yourself.
Think I’ll chug a Billy Beer
Vias con Dios President Carter.
I was completely sincere.
Carter was a thoughtful guy who did a lot of great things in his life, but I’m sure his legacy as a historical figure weighed on him.
I don’t think he’ll ever be in that discussion again. I think we’re wrapping up what will surely be the most disastrous and embarrassing administration in American history. Certainly the most bizarre, assuming nothing tops it, that is.
Biden puts Carter into much better perspective and he wasn’t so bad, in comparison.
Carter looks pretty solid from a Canadian perspective. It is true Camp David was ambitious and he struggled with economic issues and some global affairs.
Yet he is the best example of what a senior statesman can do: freeing millions from the stigmata of chronic diseases like Guinea Worm and schistosomiasis, giving credibility to Habitat For Humanity, and fully deserving the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the SALT II treaty, Panama, and establishing diplomatic relations with China (following Nixon’s efforts).
I am too young to remember the shocks of stagflation or the Shah, but with the benefit of hindsight it seems a bridge too far to put all the blame on Jimmy. He was not always great at building relationships with the media and some influential Democrats, and this hurt him. But he seems a very decent dude, and there are not many successful politicians who are very decent dudes. Can you imagine any politician today asking people not to vote for them if they lie or misrepresent the truth?
Even the worst of the modern presidents are gods among men compared to the worst presidents of the 19th century.
Unlike Biden, Carter was an outsider – McGovern, Humphrey, LBJ, and Kennedy before him were all congressmen – and that is what helped get him elected.
At the same time, both Biden and Carter were often explicit about the role their religious faith played in their decision-making as President. That’s one thing in common.
The Jimmy Carter era was fascinating, and is perhaps best thought of as the final exhausted leg of a journey initiated by FDR and refined by LBJ. I read an interesting take on Carter that said that something to the effect that he understood America’s problems at the time, but didn’t understand America’s capacity to solve them.
That speaks to his commendable charitable work as a former president. It is also the sine qua non of a transitional leader.
RIP Mr. Carter
All presidents should only serve 4-years.
8 is too long for anyone, I don’t care how great they seem.
Start with congress term limits before you worry about presidents term limits
I like the idea of a single six year term. Then they can focus on work instead of reelection.
And if a president committed a crime before or while in office, the statute of limitations is paused while they are in office.
I have this weird idea that to continue winning elections you should get a higher percentage of votes if you’re the incumbant. For instance, your first election you need 50% but it increases by 1% each election cycle to a max of 55%.
And who determines if a president commited a crime?
I would assume breaking any existing laws, just like everyone else.
War crimes and shit like that I’ll leave to the Hague.
And we saw how that panned out the last few years
Yes we did.
But since I was not elected benevolent dictator for life, we won’t know how my ideas pan out.
Anyway, Jimmy Carter was a moral man, and I respect him for that.
Carter was a terrible President…and i agree that after his presidency he was a man that helped others less unfortunate thru his humanitarian aid
other than Truman, probably the most moral president
Interesting article on Carter’s relationships with other politicians. (Limited NYT gift link, followed by normal link to same article).
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/29/us/politics/jimmy-carter-successors.html
In his personal life, certainly.
There’s a strong argument against Carter as a moral President, which is completely and totally different from being a good person in day-to-day life.
I don’t think he was ever ready for the trade-offs that come with the authority.
Depends. Few Presidents have done their term without getting the country involved in a war. And Carter did this in Egypt, Panama, and later in North Korea, China, etc. He was progressive, for better or worse, at a time of social upheaval that reads better today than it probably did back then.
His problem was crazy inflation, gas prices and Iran. His economic remedy worked but Reagan got the credit. Iran might have been different with three more capable helicopters.
If he had trouble with authority, he should have been less outspoken, fostered better relations with the very Democratic House and Senate, and moved more slowly on civil rights to keep his Southern base happier. Apparently this was not the Carter way of doing things. He was a cowboy, Carter.