RIP:Jimmy Carter

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Dead at the age of 100. At the time he was voted out of office, most people were of the opinion “Good Riddance.” However, Mr. Carter began his best work outside the office of President of the United States.He was truely the definition of what it means to be a Christian. Requisition in Pace.

Many say he was the best ex president America ever had and they were right. A lot of humanitarian work. Not just showing up for a photo ops, but working with his hands.

The most decent man to sit in the White House in a long time. We can only hope the incoming President can learn from the example he set.

I wouldn't hold my breath on that.

Carter, very decent man as was his family. His presidency was a combination of bad luck and just not being a good fit for the job. He went in thinking he could run the country like he did the state of Georgia. Democrats in George at the time were way different than the ones in DC, in some respects.

The Malise speech, while meaning to be candid about the problems facing the country backfired. Interest rates sky high, gas lines, and the revolution in Iran couple with a failed plan to free the hostages doomed him. Got completely destroyed by Reagan in 80.

In short, he's seen as a decent man and was well respected, just not seen so much as a good president. Making it to 100 is impressive and he led a good life.

As hard as it is to imagine these days in the wake of Vietnam and Watergate saying “I will never lie to you” worked as a campaign strategy. Once he won the ‘76 nomination it was clear sailing. Any Democrat would have beaten Ford two years after Ford pardoned Nixon.

His presidency was mediocre and was affected by events beyond his control.

This was an era when Presidents and Congressional leadership no matter what they said about each other during the day in front of cameras, got plastered and made deals at night. Carter did not do that, that was just not who he was. That meant Congress felt no obligation to pass his agenda or enthusiastically campaign for him.

He gets the most praise for his role in crafting the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement that has lasted until this day. Sadat deserves the most credit as it was his idea to fly to Israel and address the Knesset just three years after a bitter war. Begin deserves credit for very reluctantly accepting. Carter deserves a lot of credit for the Camp David Accords a year later. It took 12 days of fraught negotiations.

Carter never uttered the word “malaise” during that 1979 speech. But what he was describing was real. In the wake of Vietnam and Watergate the American public was inward looking and apathetic politically. The 1970s was called the me decade for a reason. Not a good look politically but IMO not the major factor a year later.

What did him in was inflation and the Iran hostage crises. 9 percent inflation two years before the election was if not the major factor in the Democratic candidate losing this year was a major factor. Carter ran for re-election with an inflation rate of 13.5 percent.

The inflation was rooted on the Iranian Revolution. This revolution caused a oil shortage that caused long lines at gas stations and a rise in oil prices. Since so much is dependent on oil, a rise in oil prices spreads inflation throughout the economy.

The Iranian revolution replaced the authoritarian Shah of Iran who gained power via CIA coup with the Islamic Republic. Despite being the first President to emphasize human rights in foreign policy Carter continued the policy of unequivocal support for the Shah throughout the revolution. Not only did the new regime hate America for supporting an authoritarian but an authoritarian that brought “decadent” westernization to Iran. Against the State Departments advice Carter let the Shah into America to receive cancer treatment. Shorty thereafter “students” stormed the American Embassy taking the diplomates hostage with a demand that the Shah be returned to Iran for trial.

If you did not live then it is hard to explain how obsessed Americans became with the plight of the hostages. Today Americans held hostage somewhere is normalized. Then it was still new. The students were believed to have support of the government. Storming an embassy was a breaking of norms of the highest order. Malaise was over. Yellow Ribbons and America flags everywhere. Iranian flags burned, the song “Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran” played on the radio, thoughts and emotional prayers, the evening news ending with “America Held Hostage Day 50” etc.

Carter embarked on a strategy of negotiating with “moderates” for their release. It did not go well because as soon as a person to negotiate was found that person lost their authority or never had it in the first place. After a few months of this Carter ordered a rescue mission that not only had to be aborted but ended up with two rescue helicopters crashing into each other, a pathetic look. It is hard to say how much a President is at fault in these situations but as Commender in Chief he takes the blame.

Most importantly if Carter had dumped the Shah once the revolution started would things have played out differently? I don’t know. The hostage crises continued after the Shah left America and after he died. So was the continued support of the Shah the cause or a Casus belli? It should be noted that aiding a fallen ally is common diplomatic practice.

I would have treated the takeover of the American embassy as an act of war and ordered a blockade of Iran. This was considered such a breech of protocol that America would have had no trouble getting other countries to cooperate.

 

James Earl Carter, Jr. (October 1, 1924 to December 29, 2024)

He'll spit on his grave, unfortunately.

Jimmy Carter: The very last time the Evangelicals voted for a good representative of Evangelicalism. Ever since they've been screwing us over.

I couldn't agree more!

Carter was mediocre as a President. He was a big disaster as a former President.

Look at his participation in the BCCI fraud. Most people who they approached such as Henry Kissinger refused to fall for their scam, but Carter bought into it hook, line, and sinker.

And don't forget his negotiations with North Korea that exceeded the task he went over there for. In exchange for the US giving them large amounts of money in aid, we gave up our rights to inspect their nuclear facilities and nuclear program.

By the way, I received an invitation to attend the grand opening of the Carter Center. I have never figured out why I received that, but I made great use of the invitation.

The wife of the president of the company where I worked was very left. I made sure she saw the invitation. For days or weeks after that, the was ticked off because she didn't get one even though she was far more deserving of one than I was.

Cool for you.

Couldn't agree more!

A statement issued by the office of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, marked the Dec. 29, 2024, death of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and mistakenly extended condolences to former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died in 2023.

The original statement read:

 SOURCE 

I feel sadness for the Carter family that Texas' dipstick of a governor cannot keep up with the news.

^^"... greatest beacon of freedom"?? Pffft. Shove it, Abbott. The only reason I have freedom in my state is because people like YOU don't rule it.

I hate Abbott more than Trump. How he got re-elected after 200+ people froze to death on his watch is beyond me. And don't even get me started on Covid.

And then Trump *and* Cruz got re-elected in '24.