“Jimmy Carter really didn’t like to listen to the advice of other people, he liked the appearance of listening”.
This was a comment I heard on CSPAN radio this evening around 5:30 PM by an author or historian discussing the Kennedy-Carter duel for the nomination and what someone close to the Carter Administration said of Jimmy Carter.
The upshot was that the whole historical notion him being a patient and contemplative listener was pretty much an act and, and he was actually pretty hard headed, and almost always went his own way regardless of whatever anyone, including trusted advisers and campaign staff, said.
Is this fair or unfair? Was Carter really less of an empathetic listener than he was portrayed as?
Jimmy Carter didn’t listen, this is a fact, but it’s also appropriate, because he was elected EXACTLY for that reason.
Nixon (and by extension Ford) were representative, of what was termed at that time, the imperial presidency. Jimmy Carter came into to fame and ultimately won election because he was, and advertised himself as a “man of the people.” And no more imperial presidents.
Jimmy Carter was determained to do what he was elected to do. But what no one told him is, the presidency doesn’t work like that. The president simply can’t do much without backing. How to get that backing? You work with Congress and Judges and bureaucracy.
This is exactly what Carter said he wouldn’t do, pander to those groups. He wanted to change Washington politics, only he never learned to change such a huge complicated system you have to work within it, not against it. 'Cause if you work against it, even your friends won’t help, because they are beneificaries of it. Mr Obama is learning a similar thing. Even though the Democrats have a good sized majority, you still can’t do it alone.
Jimmy Carter was hell bent on putting a new face on Washington politics, and he failed. Along came Iran and Ronald Reagan and it was business as usual.
You gotta give him credit for trying and I certainly admire him for sticking to his own moral code, right or wrong, not many politicians would do say “I’d rather be right than president.”
Dasher by James Wooten is THE book for insight into Jimmy Carter. If I were a youngster starting over, I think I might like to write a biography of Wooten.
It was clear Carter took every comment to heart. If you saw his own town meeting style during the primaries, he was the most conscientious listener a politician could be. No talking points from him.
I suspect that the OP’s quote is true of any successful politician. One advances in politics by selling oneself, and that necessarily takes a gigantic ego.
