Did you end up going? It was *unbelievably* cold. I remember seeing National Guard troops using blowtorches or flamethrowers or something on the downtown DC sidewalks in the early morning of inauguration day, in an attempt to melt the ice.
Outstanding, and again bringing your personal experience to us, hungry for context. My first vote was for Carter, and I watched in disgust at the Reagan manipulation of the hostages. Great work.
Thanks Jim for this thoughtful article on Jimmy Carter. A wonderful remembrance on his 100th birthday. Your paragraph " It was construed as embarrassing for Jimmy Carter that his hard-luck brother, Billy, was in a penny-ante way cashing in on the family fame by promoting six packs of his own “Billy Beer.” Such a contrast to another former President who has stooped to selling all sorts of paraphernalia. No embarrassment or shame or the press pointing our of how inappropriate his behavior is. Thanks President Carter for setting standards. Hopefully we will be able to head in that direction again after the election.
The Carter story of yours that I keep coming back to, the one that shows who he was and what the nation has lost, is the one where he edits out your factual and reasonable sentence on Nixon with an explanation that it's not how we speak about our predecessors.
I'm embarrassed to say I didn't vote for Jimmy Carter in either presidential election, but I'm also very proud to say that I've learned since then what a great human being he is and what a great president he was. I was, and still consider myself to be, a "Gerald R Ford Republican," who hasn't voted for a Republican candidate for the past 3 decades. As Bill Maher (and many others) have said, I didn't change, the party did.
Jimmy Carter and Jerry Ford always exhibited the utmost respect for one another, before and after the 1976 election - easy to do, since both were honorable men. Carter installed solar panels on the roof of the White House; Reagan had them removed. Carter had a fiscal plan which, if followed, would have eliminated the national debt; Reagan ignored it, cut taxes, increased spending, and thus quadrupled the national debt. While it was Kissinger and Ford who initiated the process of creating peace between Israel and Egypt, it was Carter who sealed the deal with the only treaty in the Middle East that has never been violated. Carter did not initiate any wars or order the killing of any foreign national. It is difficult to imagine where our nation would be had he not lost to Reagan in 1980.
I was wrong about Carter back then, but today I have the utmost love & respect for the man. Until the Republicans abandon their cultish adoration for a corrupt carnival barker and return to the values they once cherished, I will continue to support Democrats. I pray there may be many other Americans who are willing to reconsider their former beliefs and adjust their voting habits accordingly.
Carter and Ford had not been on friendly terms during the 1976 campaign — what a surprise! But they did become respectful and friendly. I know first-hand how gracious the Ford team was during the always awkward "transition" period, of turning over the reins. Weird but true: the head of that effort, on Ford's site, was his chief of staff: the young Dick Cheney. (Who was faultlessly gracious.)
And Ford appreciated Carter's thanking him in the first line of Carter's inaugural address. (A move that I encouraged, as part of my very limited role in that speech.) They were careful to be supportive of each other's record and achievements in their post-presidential years.
I have thinking about the milestones that the very determined Jimmy Carter would be aiming for — especially after the loss of the love of his life, Rosalynn, nearly a year ago.
- First would be his 100th birthday.
- Then, I imagine, would be casting his vote in Georgia. (And I would be amazed if he has not already done that.)
- Then, waiting for the results in the melee that will start on November 5.
- Then, God and poll-watchers willing, seeing another Democrat sworn in on January 20.
If Carter is around that long, it would mean, remarkably, that there would be four living Democratic former presidents: Carter, Clinton, Obama, Biden.
Compare their legacies with those of the two living Republican former presidents: GWB and Trump.
An excellent appreciation, both now and when it first came out. What you haven’t explained is how a Harvard guy like you wound up on a good-old-boy team like Carter’s campaign.
Deb and I were living in Texas when the Carter campaign was revving up, while Deb was in graduate school at UT Austin and I was working for Texas Monthly. (After a brief stint working as an aide to the youngest-ever member of the Texas State Senate, a rising politico named Lloyd Doggett. Now familiar as practically the dean of the Democratic contingent in the US Congress, and as the first Congressman to call publicly for Biden to step aside.)
At the Texas Monthly and previously in Charlie Peters's Washington Monthly, I'd written a few stories about innovative "good-government" efforts at the state level. A couple of times I mentioned what Governor Jimmy Carter was doing in Georgia. As they started scaling up the campaign staff (and as they got the money to higher staffers at a rate of maybe $250 per month), one of my friends called to say: Interested? I thought: Why not?
When he was running in 1976, Carter would quote Bob Dylan, "He not busy being born is busy dying." Apparently, they weren't just words for Carter, who spent a remarkable amount of time on earth forestalling death because he was busy being born.
Thanks. And, yes, it was notable about Carter that he actually read, remembered, and took seriously the "fancy" things he read — poetry, lyrics, scripture.
On January 22, 1974, I was in Atlanta to attend the second of the two Bob Dylan concerts there. The night before, Jimmy Carter had hosted a party for Dylan at the Georgia governor’s mansion.
My friends and I were having dinner at a Southern-style “meat and three” restaurant called Ma Hull’s. To our surprise, in walked famous rock drummer Buddy Miles, and three other people associated with the Dylan tour.
Seating was first come first served, and I ended up across the table from Buddy Miles. He told the story of showing up with Gregg Allman sometime after 1:30 AM the night before at the governor’s mansion. Carter greeted them at the door in jeans and bare feet and kept them there for several hours talking politics and other topics.
Miles told me, “I never thought I could support a white southern politician for anything, but this guy is different.“ Slightly more than 18 months later, Carter had been elected President of the United States.
I wish a very Happy Birthday to Jimmy Carter, who has lived his life with purpose and love. Thank you, James Fallows, for this tribute and recounting of history.
We are blessed to have you also, James Fallows. Thanks for writing this. My parents were married in 1926, I was born in the 1940s, & I remember those before times. Difficult, yes. I was furious at RR’s victory & predicted he wouldn’t be the last third rate performer in our political life. It was a sad day.
I enjoyed this article when it first came out and reading it again is an excellent way to celebrate Jimmy Carter's 100th birthday. Whether or not he was a great president, Carter is one of the more remarkable men whoever held the office. This is a great day. Jimmy Carter is 100 years old.
Jimmy Carter was three quarters of the way through his third year as POTUS when I came here as a 25 year old Labour voter from the UK to do postdoctoral research in preparation for a career in academia. Talk of a Kennedy candidacy in 1980 was already in the air and his poll numbers would have made 2023 Ron DeSantis quiver with excitement. With my head full of Camelot-style nonsense I latched on to that concept with enthusiasm and was shocked when I asked my research advisor (a very kind man and no arch-conservative) about the Kennedy candidacy and he just laughed.
In 1980 I saw Carter's presidency in terms of the hostages in Iran and the Kennedy candidacy in the primaries. I felt that Carter was using the hostages as a means not to engage with Kennedy. Then when the general election came I saw the hostages a millstone around Carter's neck made worse by having played up the hostage crisis earlier in the year. I watched the Carter-Reagan debate, coming away with a clear sense that Carter was the far superior candidate. The "there you go again nonsense" that the media at the time credited with Reagan "winning" the debate went right by me. By that time I had come to understand that Carter was in fact a pretty good POTUS, especially when compared with Reagan might be like.
I wonder if Kennedy ever reflected on the fact that his candidacy in 1980 helped usher in the Reagan presidency that started a process of reversing so much of the progress that he, his brothers and so many other Democrats had worked to bring about. Conservatives might have captured the presidency in 1984 but given what we know now would Reagan have even run ?
I'm not a big fan of the Carter as the best ex-President meme. I don't think that having a remarkable after-Presidency should be expected of each former POTUS, and my impression is that most of them have acted that way. Of course Carter has given us a great example of what can be achieved by a POTUS after leaving office. But as your article emphasizes, Carter has always been ready to achieve when circumstances allowed it. Perhaps it's as if he didn't necessarily see the presidency as the pinnacle of his achievements.
One important aspect of the Carter post-presidency has been his willingness to speak forcefully on the issues of the day (especially the Middle East) and sometimes critically about subsequent administrations. There's an assumption that former Presidents should be sparing in their statements, especially as it might be viewed as political. But when Carter spoke I always saw it as an assertion of principle not driven by politics. He has been willing to speak out at inconvenient (for some) moments when his speaking out has maximum impact.
I hope he makes it past the election and beyond, witnessing the election of Kamala Harris and the demise of the another (and definitely the worst) ex-President.
My American poetry prof at Georgetown (I was an undergraduate in 1980) didn't laugh at the Kennedy campaign. It disturbed him, and I received an education on the consequences of running against an incumbent. (32 years later, Sanders contemplated primarying Obama but was dissuaded.)
It was a hard lesson. But it's been learned somewhat I think, at least by Democrats, judging from how quickly they rallied behind Kamala Harris after Joe Biden withdrew.
Good points on all fronts; thanks for setting them out. On Kennedy: Even though I wasn't working for Carter any more at that point, I was against the Kennedy run from the get-go. I thought its only likely result would be to torpedo the Democrats' chance in the general election. (Which is what insurgent campaigns, against a first-term incumbent, virtually always lead to. In fact, at the moment I can't think of an exception — there probably is one but it doesn't come to mind.)
I don't know this first-hand, but I have heard from many people who would know that, amid the constellation of critics and detractors he encountered, the one Carter had the hardest time forgiving was Teddy Kennedy.
Agree with you about the occasions when Carter has chosen to speak out, as former president. (In striking contrast to GWB at this moment, sitting on his hands about the prospect of Donald Trump. I think GWB's mother were still alive, she would have shamed him into saying something.) You know the reputational cost and other consequences Carter has incurred for speaking his mind about the Middle East. I gather that there is still controversy about whether Carter did more good, or harm, by intervening directly with the North Korean's during Bill Clinton's time. ( https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/kim/interviews/carter.html ) I have never looked into this closely enough to have a clear opinion.
Thank you. I'd forgotten about the North Korea business.
On another unrelated theme, you might remember in the years after 9/11 when Carter commented about being applauded when boarding an airline flight. He said something like: "They're not cheering for me, it's for my Secret Service detail."
I wasn't much of a fan of Jimmy Carter at the time. But gosh what I wouldn't give for the luxury of being impatient with the likes of him as President again.
14 hrs ago·edited 14 hrs agoLiked by James Fallows
Jim, as Carter’s chief speech writer, you have an intimate insight into Jimmy Carter, the man and the president.
As an outsider, I have distinct personal impressions. Regarding integrity, I recall his promising to the American people that he would never lie to them. How different from Nixon, Trump, and other presidents!
I was especially interested in his Herculean efforts at Camp David to obtain an agreement between Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat. (I had spent time with Sadat at his Pyramids home years before and had lunched with David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister.)
What I recall is President Carter’s unflagging tenacity to bridge the vast gaps between Begin and Sadat. He should have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts and accomplishments.
The 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace agreement was remarkable then and even more today given the current Middle Eastern situation.
We were in a period of ‘stagflation’ that permeated our entire country. He had the guts to bring in Paul Volcker, whose draconian measures, including inflation and unemployment in double digits and interest rates approaching 20%, broke stagflation in Reagan’s early years. Without committing to this politically damaging remedy, stagflation could have been a prolonged way of life.
I felt that President Carter sought to do what was right. His stance on the Panama Canal treaty was another such example. This was the right thing to do, after our long, jaded history with Panama and the canal. He was castigated by Reagan and Republicans, but persevered in obtaining Senate approval.
The Iranian hostage situation occurred on his watch. As a former Foreign Service Officer, I realized then that there was nothing that he could do to get them back safely.
From afar, I consider that how Carter conducted himself and what he accomplished for the United States was even more admirable after his presidency. He richly deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.
I find it remarkable that President Carter, after many months in hospice, has reached his 100th birthday. I hope that he achieves his wish to vote for Kamala Harris. This would be a fitting capstone to a remarkable life.
I was there at Camp David for several days of those negotiations. It is absolutely, beyond-question true that the peace deal could not *possibly* have happened without Carter's tireless, shrewd, creative, effort to reach both of them men on both the left-brain and right-brain levels.
As I tried to say in this appreciation, it is a karmic faireness to Carter that he has survived long enough to get the Peace Prize, to see his achievements (and Reagan's!!) reassessed, to have his own party once again see him as a proud part of its heritage rather than as a symbol of failure (which is how Clinton mainly behaved toward him). (You can sort of understand Clinton's standoffishness, in this way: Clinton was the very next Democrat to make it to the White House after Carter, and like Carter, Clinton came in as a governor of a southern state. So Clinton had to convey the message, "I'm not going to be another one-termer.")
What if Carter didn't run the political business cycle in reverse? Prioritizing the Iranian hostage's lives and appointing Paul Volker killed his Presidency. You do something like that early in your administration, not near election year.
Or that's what I thought in the 1980s and 1990s. Reagan showed us the public relations advantages of being breezy, rather than overwrought. On leftie friend of mine realized we were doomed when Jimmy Carter reported that he has asked his daughter what the most important issue in the world was and she answered, "Nuclear proliferation". As the kids say now, "Cringe".
Carter was an outstanding ex-President. To be sure his leadership was underrated in 1976-1980, but my god his administration's public diplomacy was primitive. Would it have worked before television? I don't know.
Best wishes to former President Carter on his 100th birthday. It doesn't show above, but I honestly admire the guy. The near-eradication of the Guinea worm disease alone, deserves cheers.
I know what you mean about the "unlucky" timing of events for Carter. A lot of that timing was out of his control. His first Fed Chairman, G. William Miller, turned out to be just the wrong person for the job — but perhaps even the most inspired choice could not have offset the worldwide plague of "stagflation" intensifying at just that time. By the time Carter brought in Volker, in 1979, things were already going bad on a bunch of fronts. And Volker's "solution"—the prime rate neared 21% in 1980 — took many years to "work." Even if Carter had started out with Volker, he would have been running against bad economic headwinds in 1980.
Getting the hostages out was probably always beyond his control. (Craig Unger's new book about the Reagan collusion with the Iranians to keep them in place has chapter-and-verse on why the Iranians were determined to hold onto them, in large part to spite Carter.)
First contribution to a candidate I ever made. $25. As a "Thank you," I received an invitation to the inauguration.
A lot has changed; thankfully, Jimmy Carter hasn't.
Did you end up going? It was *unbelievably* cold. I remember seeing National Guard troops using blowtorches or flamethrowers or something on the downtown DC sidewalks in the early morning of inauguration day, in an attempt to melt the ice.
Outstanding, and again bringing your personal experience to us, hungry for context. My first vote was for Carter, and I watched in disgust at the Reagan manipulation of the hostages. Great work.
Thank you, I appreciate it.
Thanks Jim for this thoughtful article on Jimmy Carter. A wonderful remembrance on his 100th birthday. Your paragraph " It was construed as embarrassing for Jimmy Carter that his hard-luck brother, Billy, was in a penny-ante way cashing in on the family fame by promoting six packs of his own “Billy Beer.” Such a contrast to another former President who has stooped to selling all sorts of paraphernalia. No embarrassment or shame or the press pointing our of how inappropriate his behavior is. Thanks President Carter for setting standards. Hopefully we will be able to head in that direction again after the election.
Bonnie, thanks. Yes, what a contrast.
The Carter story of yours that I keep coming back to, the one that shows who he was and what the nation has lost, is the one where he edits out your factual and reasonable sentence on Nixon with an explanation that it's not how we speak about our predecessors.
Those were the days!
I'm embarrassed to say I didn't vote for Jimmy Carter in either presidential election, but I'm also very proud to say that I've learned since then what a great human being he is and what a great president he was. I was, and still consider myself to be, a "Gerald R Ford Republican," who hasn't voted for a Republican candidate for the past 3 decades. As Bill Maher (and many others) have said, I didn't change, the party did.
Jimmy Carter and Jerry Ford always exhibited the utmost respect for one another, before and after the 1976 election - easy to do, since both were honorable men. Carter installed solar panels on the roof of the White House; Reagan had them removed. Carter had a fiscal plan which, if followed, would have eliminated the national debt; Reagan ignored it, cut taxes, increased spending, and thus quadrupled the national debt. While it was Kissinger and Ford who initiated the process of creating peace between Israel and Egypt, it was Carter who sealed the deal with the only treaty in the Middle East that has never been violated. Carter did not initiate any wars or order the killing of any foreign national. It is difficult to imagine where our nation would be had he not lost to Reagan in 1980.
I was wrong about Carter back then, but today I have the utmost love & respect for the man. Until the Republicans abandon their cultish adoration for a corrupt carnival barker and return to the values they once cherished, I will continue to support Democrats. I pray there may be many other Americans who are willing to reconsider their former beliefs and adjust their voting habits accordingly.
Well put, thank you.
Carter and Ford had not been on friendly terms during the 1976 campaign — what a surprise! But they did become respectful and friendly. I know first-hand how gracious the Ford team was during the always awkward "transition" period, of turning over the reins. Weird but true: the head of that effort, on Ford's site, was his chief of staff: the young Dick Cheney. (Who was faultlessly gracious.)
And Ford appreciated Carter's thanking him in the first line of Carter's inaugural address. (A move that I encouraged, as part of my very limited role in that speech.) They were careful to be supportive of each other's record and achievements in their post-presidential years.
I hope he lives long enough to vote for Harris.
I have thinking about the milestones that the very determined Jimmy Carter would be aiming for — especially after the loss of the love of his life, Rosalynn, nearly a year ago.
- First would be his 100th birthday.
- Then, I imagine, would be casting his vote in Georgia. (And I would be amazed if he has not already done that.)
- Then, waiting for the results in the melee that will start on November 5.
- Then, God and poll-watchers willing, seeing another Democrat sworn in on January 20.
If Carter is around that long, it would mean, remarkably, that there would be four living Democratic former presidents: Carter, Clinton, Obama, Biden.
Compare their legacies with those of the two living Republican former presidents: GWB and Trump.
An excellent appreciation, both now and when it first came out. What you haven’t explained is how a Harvard guy like you wound up on a good-old-boy team like Carter’s campaign.
Jack, thanks!
Deb and I were living in Texas when the Carter campaign was revving up, while Deb was in graduate school at UT Austin and I was working for Texas Monthly. (After a brief stint working as an aide to the youngest-ever member of the Texas State Senate, a rising politico named Lloyd Doggett. Now familiar as practically the dean of the Democratic contingent in the US Congress, and as the first Congressman to call publicly for Biden to step aside.)
At the Texas Monthly and previously in Charlie Peters's Washington Monthly, I'd written a few stories about innovative "good-government" efforts at the state level. A couple of times I mentioned what Governor Jimmy Carter was doing in Georgia. As they started scaling up the campaign staff (and as they got the money to higher staffers at a rate of maybe $250 per month), one of my friends called to say: Interested? I thought: Why not?
When he was running in 1976, Carter would quote Bob Dylan, "He not busy being born is busy dying." Apparently, they weren't just words for Carter, who spent a remarkable amount of time on earth forestalling death because he was busy being born.
Thanks. And, yes, it was notable about Carter that he actually read, remembered, and took seriously the "fancy" things he read — poetry, lyrics, scripture.
On January 22, 1974, I was in Atlanta to attend the second of the two Bob Dylan concerts there. The night before, Jimmy Carter had hosted a party for Dylan at the Georgia governor’s mansion.
My friends and I were having dinner at a Southern-style “meat and three” restaurant called Ma Hull’s. To our surprise, in walked famous rock drummer Buddy Miles, and three other people associated with the Dylan tour.
Seating was first come first served, and I ended up across the table from Buddy Miles. He told the story of showing up with Gregg Allman sometime after 1:30 AM the night before at the governor’s mansion. Carter greeted them at the door in jeans and bare feet and kept them there for several hours talking politics and other topics.
Miles told me, “I never thought I could support a white southern politician for anything, but this guy is different.“ Slightly more than 18 months later, Carter had been elected President of the United States.
Great story, thank you.
I wish a very Happy Birthday to Jimmy Carter, who has lived his life with purpose and love. Thank you, James Fallows, for this tribute and recounting of history.
Thanks for your kind words. Agree with you on Happy Birthday wishes.
Great reflection and analysis. I am not a US citizen but have followed the politics. And of an age to remember all the events covered.
Thanks!
And while you're not a citizen, can you become one, and register to vote, by November 5?
(Just kidding, but it's a tense time.)
We are blessed to have you also, James Fallows. Thanks for writing this. My parents were married in 1926, I was born in the 1940s, & I remember those before times. Difficult, yes. I was furious at RR’s victory & predicted he wouldn’t be the last third rate performer in our political life. It was a sad day.
That is very gracious, thank you.
I enjoyed this article when it first came out and reading it again is an excellent way to celebrate Jimmy Carter's 100th birthday. Whether or not he was a great president, Carter is one of the more remarkable men whoever held the office. This is a great day. Jimmy Carter is 100 years old.
Jimmy Carter was three quarters of the way through his third year as POTUS when I came here as a 25 year old Labour voter from the UK to do postdoctoral research in preparation for a career in academia. Talk of a Kennedy candidacy in 1980 was already in the air and his poll numbers would have made 2023 Ron DeSantis quiver with excitement. With my head full of Camelot-style nonsense I latched on to that concept with enthusiasm and was shocked when I asked my research advisor (a very kind man and no arch-conservative) about the Kennedy candidacy and he just laughed.
In 1980 I saw Carter's presidency in terms of the hostages in Iran and the Kennedy candidacy in the primaries. I felt that Carter was using the hostages as a means not to engage with Kennedy. Then when the general election came I saw the hostages a millstone around Carter's neck made worse by having played up the hostage crisis earlier in the year. I watched the Carter-Reagan debate, coming away with a clear sense that Carter was the far superior candidate. The "there you go again nonsense" that the media at the time credited with Reagan "winning" the debate went right by me. By that time I had come to understand that Carter was in fact a pretty good POTUS, especially when compared with Reagan might be like.
I wonder if Kennedy ever reflected on the fact that his candidacy in 1980 helped usher in the Reagan presidency that started a process of reversing so much of the progress that he, his brothers and so many other Democrats had worked to bring about. Conservatives might have captured the presidency in 1984 but given what we know now would Reagan have even run ?
I'm not a big fan of the Carter as the best ex-President meme. I don't think that having a remarkable after-Presidency should be expected of each former POTUS, and my impression is that most of them have acted that way. Of course Carter has given us a great example of what can be achieved by a POTUS after leaving office. But as your article emphasizes, Carter has always been ready to achieve when circumstances allowed it. Perhaps it's as if he didn't necessarily see the presidency as the pinnacle of his achievements.
One important aspect of the Carter post-presidency has been his willingness to speak forcefully on the issues of the day (especially the Middle East) and sometimes critically about subsequent administrations. There's an assumption that former Presidents should be sparing in their statements, especially as it might be viewed as political. But when Carter spoke I always saw it as an assertion of principle not driven by politics. He has been willing to speak out at inconvenient (for some) moments when his speaking out has maximum impact.
I hope he makes it past the election and beyond, witnessing the election of Kamala Harris and the demise of the another (and definitely the worst) ex-President.
My American poetry prof at Georgetown (I was an undergraduate in 1980) didn't laugh at the Kennedy campaign. It disturbed him, and I received an education on the consequences of running against an incumbent. (32 years later, Sanders contemplated primarying Obama but was dissuaded.)
It was a hard lesson. But it's been learned somewhat I think, at least by Democrats, judging from how quickly they rallied behind Kamala Harris after Joe Biden withdrew.
Good points on all fronts; thanks for setting them out. On Kennedy: Even though I wasn't working for Carter any more at that point, I was against the Kennedy run from the get-go. I thought its only likely result would be to torpedo the Democrats' chance in the general election. (Which is what insurgent campaigns, against a first-term incumbent, virtually always lead to. In fact, at the moment I can't think of an exception — there probably is one but it doesn't come to mind.)
I don't know this first-hand, but I have heard from many people who would know that, amid the constellation of critics and detractors he encountered, the one Carter had the hardest time forgiving was Teddy Kennedy.
Agree with you about the occasions when Carter has chosen to speak out, as former president. (In striking contrast to GWB at this moment, sitting on his hands about the prospect of Donald Trump. I think GWB's mother were still alive, she would have shamed him into saying something.) You know the reputational cost and other consequences Carter has incurred for speaking his mind about the Middle East. I gather that there is still controversy about whether Carter did more good, or harm, by intervening directly with the North Korean's during Bill Clinton's time. ( https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/kim/interviews/carter.html ) I have never looked into this closely enough to have a clear opinion.
Thank you. I'd forgotten about the North Korea business.
On another unrelated theme, you might remember in the years after 9/11 when Carter commented about being applauded when boarding an airline flight. He said something like: "They're not cheering for me, it's for my Secret Service detail."
Your point about the Kennedy candidacy - excellent. Plus… Reagan’s cheap one liner really showed who he was & others have taken the same low road. 😭
I wasn't much of a fan of Jimmy Carter at the time. But gosh what I wouldn't give for the luxury of being impatient with the likes of him as President again.
As someone who had his many criticisms of Carter at the time, I know what you mean, and agree.
Jim, as Carter’s chief speech writer, you have an intimate insight into Jimmy Carter, the man and the president.
As an outsider, I have distinct personal impressions. Regarding integrity, I recall his promising to the American people that he would never lie to them. How different from Nixon, Trump, and other presidents!
I was especially interested in his Herculean efforts at Camp David to obtain an agreement between Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat. (I had spent time with Sadat at his Pyramids home years before and had lunched with David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister.)
What I recall is President Carter’s unflagging tenacity to bridge the vast gaps between Begin and Sadat. He should have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts and accomplishments.
The 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace agreement was remarkable then and even more today given the current Middle Eastern situation.
We were in a period of ‘stagflation’ that permeated our entire country. He had the guts to bring in Paul Volcker, whose draconian measures, including inflation and unemployment in double digits and interest rates approaching 20%, broke stagflation in Reagan’s early years. Without committing to this politically damaging remedy, stagflation could have been a prolonged way of life.
I felt that President Carter sought to do what was right. His stance on the Panama Canal treaty was another such example. This was the right thing to do, after our long, jaded history with Panama and the canal. He was castigated by Reagan and Republicans, but persevered in obtaining Senate approval.
The Iranian hostage situation occurred on his watch. As a former Foreign Service Officer, I realized then that there was nothing that he could do to get them back safely.
From afar, I consider that how Carter conducted himself and what he accomplished for the United States was even more admirable after his presidency. He richly deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.
I find it remarkable that President Carter, after many months in hospice, has reached his 100th birthday. I hope that he achieves his wish to vote for Kamala Harris. This would be a fitting capstone to a remarkable life.
Keith, thank you. I agree on all points.
I was there at Camp David for several days of those negotiations. It is absolutely, beyond-question true that the peace deal could not *possibly* have happened without Carter's tireless, shrewd, creative, effort to reach both of them men on both the left-brain and right-brain levels.
As I tried to say in this appreciation, it is a karmic faireness to Carter that he has survived long enough to get the Peace Prize, to see his achievements (and Reagan's!!) reassessed, to have his own party once again see him as a proud part of its heritage rather than as a symbol of failure (which is how Clinton mainly behaved toward him). (You can sort of understand Clinton's standoffishness, in this way: Clinton was the very next Democrat to make it to the White House after Carter, and like Carter, Clinton came in as a governor of a southern state. So Clinton had to convey the message, "I'm not going to be another one-termer.")
What if Carter didn't run the political business cycle in reverse? Prioritizing the Iranian hostage's lives and appointing Paul Volker killed his Presidency. You do something like that early in your administration, not near election year.
Or that's what I thought in the 1980s and 1990s. Reagan showed us the public relations advantages of being breezy, rather than overwrought. On leftie friend of mine realized we were doomed when Jimmy Carter reported that he has asked his daughter what the most important issue in the world was and she answered, "Nuclear proliferation". As the kids say now, "Cringe".
Carter was an outstanding ex-President. To be sure his leadership was underrated in 1976-1980, but my god his administration's public diplomacy was primitive. Would it have worked before television? I don't know.
Best wishes to former President Carter on his 100th birthday. It doesn't show above, but I honestly admire the guy. The near-eradication of the Guinea worm disease alone, deserves cheers.
I know what you mean about the "unlucky" timing of events for Carter. A lot of that timing was out of his control. His first Fed Chairman, G. William Miller, turned out to be just the wrong person for the job — but perhaps even the most inspired choice could not have offset the worldwide plague of "stagflation" intensifying at just that time. By the time Carter brought in Volker, in 1979, things were already going bad on a bunch of fronts. And Volker's "solution"—the prime rate neared 21% in 1980 — took many years to "work." Even if Carter had started out with Volker, he would have been running against bad economic headwinds in 1980.
Getting the hostages out was probably always beyond his control. (Craig Unger's new book about the Reagan collusion with the Iranians to keep them in place has chapter-and-verse on why the Iranians were determined to hold onto them, in large part to spite Carter.)
Agree about the Guinea worm!
Thanks again. Ordering the Craig Unger book now.
What if we got back to the days before public relations was the highest priority for everything? Just asking for a friend.