Discussion for article #239637
What The 2016 Candidates Can Learn From Jimmy Carter
Sadly, in this political clime, candidates must weigh their associations so very carefully; or risk slicing off some percentile of a demographic they require for election.
The Rightwing Wurlitzer as it was known not so long ago-- has so capsulized and packaged every polâs and public figureâs persona and record into sound-bite-sized nuggets-- processed for consumption and regurgitation so thoroughly-- as to be accepted as historically accurate-- in this age of easy distraction.
James Earl Carter was my Governor, and the first POTUS for whom I cast a ballot.
That Iâm a (D) allows for a perspective of respect and admiration for his lifeâs achievements.
But there is a multi-generational propaganda machine spewing white noise non-stop-- that will never allow for the nuances of his legacy to be anything more than a quick and simple eulogy scrolling across a cable networkâs chyron.
There exists a whole segment of our countryâs citizenry who will never be exposed to the depth of greatness of this man.
A segment whose ideology will staunchly refuse to allow them to learn from Jimmy Carter.
And a whole raft of cut-out candidates who seem unable to learn from their own mistakes-- much less from a great man.
jw1
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Any human being could learn a tremendous amount about grace, decency and giving back from Jimmy Carter. As for his presidency, most of his supposed failures amounted to bad luck-the Shah could have developed the cancer that led to his fall a year later and Carter would have likely won a second term. So, I guess the message to the candidates is: be lucky.
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It is easy to learn from role models like President Jimmy Carter about lifeâs ideals.
One can also learn from deeply and pathologically flawed individuals like Vice President George Bush the Dumber and from Donald Trump about real life.
From Trump, Iâve learnt about the value of humility ââ humility is worthless, to never trust the orthodoxy on anything and that conservatives are crazier than you can imagine.
From Vice President George Bush the Dumber, I learnt about the solace, peace of mind and bliss, vengeful malice and willful ignorance can bring.
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Also, if you appreciate a good craft brew from a microbrewery, thank Jimmy Carter. If you have one of the thousands of jobs created by the microbrewery industry, you can also thank Jimmy Carter. From Wikipedia:
In 1979, Carter deregulated the American beer industry by making it legal to sell malt, hops, and yeast to American home brewers for the first time since the effective 1920 beginning of Prohibition in the United States.[63] This Carter deregulation led to an increase in home brewing over the 1980s and 1990s that by the 2000s had developed into a strong craft microbrew culture in the United States, with 3,418 micro breweries, brewpubs, and regional craft breweries in the United States by the end of 2014.
Contrary to popular opinion, Reagan had nothing to do with the timing of the Iranian hostage release. Iran viewed US with utter contempt back then. They hated the US no matter who was President. People give Reagan too much credit when they repeat the theory he negotiated the timing of the hostage release. Warren Christopher negotiated the release of the hostages with the Algiers Accords: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algiers_Accords
EDIT: The Iraq-Iran war started in September 1980.We backed Saddam from the get go. If Iran and Reagan had a special relationship, would we actually facilitate Saddam obtaining chemical weapons and using them on Iranian soldiers? We provided Saddam with intelligence from the start. Reagan had no influence or deal with the Iranians.
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I voted for Carter both times, but the second was a hard pull. I trace the downfall of the Democratic partyâs certain grip on Congress to his lack of leadership. Like Obama, he did little to inspire faith in him as a leader. He eschewed the theatrics of American presidential leadership, a necessity recognized by George Washington (who first blocked itâ in the acting sense), Jackson, Lincoln, the Roosevelts, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and of course, Ronald Reagan. When he was elected, everyone was really angry at Republicans. Instead of using this golden opportunity (devastating for the nation, but as Rahm states, never let a serious crises go to waste)to fill the vacuum of power left by Nixon and Ford (the latter was also oblivious of the need to look like a leader) he was dismissive of his Congressional leadership team, led by real pros like Tip OâNeil and Mike Mansfield and Robert Byrd, who all despised him. His performance was so miserable that Ted Kennedy, who 7 years earlier had killed a young girl he was sleeping with, mounted a credible challenge to Carter, the energy of which, after Kennedyâs crash and burn on 60 Minutes, went into creating the Reagan Democrats. (Jeff Greenfield has a great piece in Politico today about Obamaâs similar failure.) His attention to minutia was legendary. (Remember how he personally, from his desk in the Oval Office, personally handled scheduling of court time on the White House tennis courts? A real leader would have only cared that everyone else went running away when he came downstairs for a few sets.) A leader cannot be considered great if his accomplishments do not last. The Egypt-Israel agreement (something most of the Israeli and Egyptian participants occurred despite, and not because, of Carter) is the only thing that is still in effect. On January 21, 1981, the solar panels came off he White House, and in the next six years the tax system that continues to widen the income and opportunity gap that continues to grow was put in place. January 20, 1977 was the day the New Deal died, and that is how Carter will be remembered in 50 years.
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What The 2016 Candidates Can Learn From Jimmy Carter
Avoid the presidency at all cost and instead start a charitable organization that can actually do some good in the US and world?
In the second election I unfortunately voted for Anderson(wasnât old enough the first time)âŚhey live and learn!
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Good post. Iâm a solid D, regard Carter as one of the most decent men to ever had occupied the White House and an utter failure as a leader.
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I was one of those who set up Kennedyâs 1980 campaign. And I wound up voting for Anderson when he lost. Carter was a nice man but he when it came to the Presidency he was in way over his head.
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Really appreciate this balance in your comment! I am so sick of left wingers, of which Iâm one, waxing to the absurd about how we never had such a terrific president, blah-blah. Greatest man perhaps, no argument there. 
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What the 2016 candidates WILL learn from Jimmy Carter.
Carter was a good and decent man and a flawed president. Perhaps it was inevitable. I remember my late Father referencing Lord Actonâs remark that âgreat men are almost always bad menâ and saying President Carter might just be too good and honorable a man to be a great president. Whatever the case, President Carter is a wonderful exemplar of what it is to be a good and worthy human being who has contributed mightily and positively to his country and the world.
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Maybe we need to cut Carter some slack about the hostage crisis, or rather Carterâs agreeing to allow the shah into the US for medical treatment after he was deposed, which precipitated the crisis.
IIRC, this was part of a pressure campaign that also involved former Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger, who prevailed upon the Carter administration and advocated for âhumanitarianâ treatment for the ailing shah.
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Carter was an inept executive. That had been true in Georgia and it was true in his Presidency. He didnât get a long with a very conservative legislature in Georgia as Governor. He didnât get a long with a more liberal Congress as President. His appointments were somewhat incoherent esp. on the foreign policy side. He presided over policy messes like his mental health initiative which was underdeveloped and created a vacuum that Reagan could use to gut progressive aspects of mental health policy and usher in over 30 years of stagnation. Itâs a long list of failures. His post-presidency demonstrated a flair for negotiation that was missing from his presidency and perhaps reflected that he worked fine as a single actor but couldnât run a bigger enterprise. He also clearly was motivated by a need for redemption. Metastatic cancer is an awful way to goâslow and debilitating, but sentiment and compassion shouldnât blind us to who he was and the lessons that should be learned.
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Wash your mouth out. The difference between Obama and Carter as President, is that the former is a great and profoundly successful president who succeeded with everything stacked against him. Carter is way down there in the ratings.
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Conservatives started the myth that Reagan had a deal with the Iranians on the timing of the hostage release. By repeating this conservative lie, people further diminish Carterâs role in their eventual release due to the Algiers Accords. If Reagan had actually did this, he would be held in contempt for using hostage lives to further his political aspirations. Conservatives want their base to believe this to take away from Carter and Warren Christopher and add to Reaganâs legend. I canât comprehend why progressives/liberals take part in this fantasy.
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I heard an Argentinian say that the Carter Administration pressure on the junta saved perhaps thousands of lives. Some ârealistsâ like to mock the emphasis on human rights as being naive. I imagine those people saved by our interest at that time would beg to differ.
Here, some confirmation of my recollection.
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I canât believe that the article leaves out Camp David. The lasting peace between Israel and Egypt is possibly the only permanent achievement American diplomacy has ever brought about in that region of the world. It is a huge success, and it would not have happened without President Carter.
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For one, he didnât sell arms to the ayatollah.
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Carter was a victim of the right wing noise machine before we recognized what it was. The Iran hostage crisis was the Benghazi of its day, blown all out of proportion with no regard for context or history. If the country had followed his lead on alternate energy we would have been much better off compared to going to war for oil in the Middle East under the Republicans.
Obama is a great president. He is getting the most good work possible done considering the well financed opposition that doesnât hesitate to hurt the country in an effort to defeat him.
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