The legacy of Jimmy Carter

Great Debates
1

Jimmy Carter is a favorite whipping boy for Republicans, who love to point to his presidency as a colossal failure. Jokes abound. But I have to say that if any president, present or past, can even halfway match the legacy that he is leaving, he will have accomplished something terrific.

Anyone who has had even the faintest association with Africa is well aware of the scourge of Guinea worm disease. It’s a plague and a horror, an excruciatingly painful malady that is easily prevented by the simplest of measures. Yet nobody has had the will or tenacity to take it on. Until now. In 20 years, cases in Nigeria alone have been reduced from 650,000 to 121. It’s on the verge of extinction, ending suffering on a scale you can’t even imagine.

For this work alone, Jimmy Carter and the Carter Center should be canonized. It’s the one quasi-religious organization on the planet that I admire.

2

I agree with you. Frontline had a 2 part special on Carter’s presidency about a year ago, and it was fascinating.

I think he did a lot of really good things during his presidency, and continues to do so now. He seems to be a genuinely good person, unlike our current leaders.

3

Jimmy Carter is one of the two most honest and decent men that we have had as President. I don’t think history will rate him highly as President (somewhere in the middle of the pack, I’d say), but as for using the bully pulpit of being an ex-President to do good, no one outranks him.

4

He may be a good man, and some of his post-presidency work is quite commendable, but there was little about his presidency to celebrate. Apart from the Camp David Accords and airline deregulation (that happened under him, right?), he was a complete and total failure as president.

5

The one great thing I that I associate with Carter is his willingness to live out the Christian values he believes. He **does **care for the poor and certainly has shown it through his work.

6

[QUOTE=Renob]
He may be a good man, and some of his post-presidency work is quite commendable, but there was little about his presidency to celebrate. Apart from the Camp David Accords and airline deregulation (that happened under him, right?), he was a complete and total failure as president.
[/QUOTE]

I wondered how long it would take for someone to come in and shit all over the thread. People just can’t seem to resist bashing the guy.

7

[QUOTE=Chefguy]
I wondered how long it would take for someone to come in and shit all over the thread. People just can’t seem to resist bashing the guy.
[/QUOTE]
It’s not “shitting all over the thread.” The thread is titled “The legacy of Jimmy Carter.” If we are talking about his legacy, it is certainly relevant to bring up the fact that he was a crappy president. He did little good during his term and left the U.S. weaker when he left office than when he entered. The man was a failure as a President, regardless of all the houses he may build now.

8

[QUOTE=Renob]
It’s not “shitting all over the thread.” The thread is titled “The legacy of Jimmy Carter.” If we are talking about his legacy, it is certainly relevant to bring up the fact that he was a crappy president. He did little good during his term and left the U.S. weaker when he left office than when he entered. The man was a failure as a President, regardless of all the houses he may build now.
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Title, schmitle. The thread is about what he’s doing now. Sour assholes like yourself can’t change that. My apologies to the mods. You may now close the freaking thread.

9

[QUOTE=Chefguy]
You may now close the freaking thread.
[/QUOTE]

I’m inclined not to, at this point. Renob is quite right that Carter’s (alleged) failures as President may be considered part of his legacy. Those who believe he was a success as President may tout his successes. And, believe it or not, there are those who believe that Carter’s post-presidential career is nothing but an unbroken string of personal aggrandization techniques. If one of them shows up here, that will be a valid perspective as well.

Sorry.

10

Great OP, Mr. Chefguy.

Jimmy Carter will leave a legacy that all Americans can admire. A man cannot be judged solely on a job he held for four years, but more on that in a minute. Carter served his country both in the military and in politics, as governor of Georgia and as PotUS. His service did not end there. He has been instrumental in ensuring democratic elections are held fairly across the globe and his anti-poverty efforts here at home have been well documented. The eradication of the Guinea Worm, a group effort involving many dedicated men and women, is huge. It’s a hideous affliction.

As president, Carter was as much a victim of the times as he was of his policies. Perhaps his biggest mistake, a giant political error, was to tell the country the truth. One could say the American people failed Jimmy Carter as easily as one could make the opposite argument.

Legacy? History? He’ll be honored, much more so than the slouch currently occupying that office.

11

Mediocre president. Great ex-president. And I don’t mean that as a veiled insult to the man. He actually has done great things since leaving office but he never seemed to be able to do them while he was in it.

12

I think Jimmy Carter was screwed over in his presidency, which I won’t go off on because this is IMHO. However, I believe he is one of the few truly good human beings who have held the office, and his life’s work has proven this. It has also reinforced my belief that there is little place in the upper levels of American politics for highly intelligent, decent people. I was so pleased that he won the Nobel Prize. Long may he run.

13

Two things trouble me about Carter’s post-presidential career.

First is his maddening habit of persuing foreign policy goals with little or no coordination with the State Department, whether Republican or Democratic. He is a true foreign policy loose cannon, and a dangerous one, especially since other see him as an asset that they can exploit.

The biggest proof of this was seen in North Korea. While Carter was there with the blessing of the Clinton Administration, he went far beyond his instructions. Kim Jong-Il took full advantage of Carter’s move, giving the world the framework on nuclear technology that was such a mess.

Carter also lobbied the heads of state of the permanent U.N. Security Council members prior to the Gulf War, trying to get them to drop their support for President George H.W. Bush’s military plan and switch instead to an insane plan dreamed up by Carter where the Arab League would oust Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

Secondly, Carter goes well beyond dealing with dictators as an unfortunate fact of life. Certain selected ones he embraces enthusiastically. He was such a close advisor to Yasser Arafat that he had input into Arafat’s speeches. I don’t think anyone here can defend Arafat’s rule much at all.

Carter can.

These things together produce a man often used by dictators to do an end run around the State Department, knowing full well few presidents would want to embarass Carter publicly by repudiating his actions.

I can’t support that, and I will criticize Carter mightily for it. That also includes noting that his award of the Nobel Peace Prize is a choice up to par with recent other choices by the Nobel Committee. And that most surely is no compliment.

14

Predictably, right-wingers like Mr. Moto will bash Carter.

This would have been better off as a “Carter appreciation” thread.

Post presidency, there has never been anyone like Carter.

I’d like to see Mr. Moto defend the “work” of any republican president post-presidency this century. Besides playing golf and fattening their wallets, I’d argue that Eisehhower, Bush and Reagan have done jack-shit in retirement. But really, that’s all they did in office, so no surprise there.

15

[QUOTE=Mister Falcon]
Predictably, right-wingers like Mr. Moto will bash Carter.

This would have been better off as a “Carter appreciation” thread.

Post presidency, there has never been anyone like Carter.

I’d like to see Mr. Moto defend the “work” of any republican president post-presidency this century. Besides playing golf and fattening their wallets, I’d argue that Eisehhower, Bush and Reagan have done jack-shit in retirement. But really, that’s all they did in office, so no surprise there.
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Nope. Carter deserves criticism for these things he has done. It certainly isn’t a partisan attack, either. Bill Clinton hasn’t done anything close to this in his post-presidency, and indeed was stung himself by Carter’s antics.

As for Republican post-presidencies, for the most part they have been short ones of men who have earned their retirement. Carter has had the advantage of being a relatively young president, and to have started on his post-presidency four years earlier than he might have otherwise planned.

I will note, though, that Bush Sr. has been involved in numerous charitable organizations, including a highly successful fundraising effort with Bill Clinton on behalf of tsunami victims. His post-presidency ought not to be completely dismissed.

I will note, too, that Ronald Reagan didn’t have much of a chance to fatten his wallet before his long illness, so his inclusion on your list just seems callous.

Finally, I ought to mention Herbert Hoover, who is in many ways the Republican Carter. He was a one-termer who was believed by many to have been a poor president. Yet his long retirement included postwar famine surveys for President Truman (echoing his earlier famine relief work after WWI) and two commissions that significantly reorganized the executive branch departments under both Truman and Eisenhower.

I should mention, too, Taft, whose post-presidency included service as the Chief Justice.

16

Now wait a second.

Truman - Democrat - died 29 years after leaving office
Eisenhower - Republican - died 8 years after leaving office
Johnson - Democrat - died 4 years after leaving office
Nixon - Republican - died 20 years after leaving office
Ford - Republican - still alive 29 years after leaving office
Carter - Democrat - still alive 25 years after leaving office
Reagan - Republican - died 15 years after leaving office
Bush Sr - Republican - still alive 13 years after leaving office
Clinton - Democrat - still alive 5 years after leaving office

The Republican former Presidents have certainly had just as much, if not more, opportunity after leaving office as the Democratic ones have had.

17

Fantastic human being. Without question, the man has done great things. But from a purely objective point of view the man was not a good President. For whatever reason you want to come up with history does not and will not look upon him kindly as a President.

That’s his legacy, like it or not. One of the finest human beings ever to grace the Oval Office, but one of the poorest Chief Executives. It happens.

18

[QUOTE=Chefguy]
I wondered how long it would take for someone to come in and shit all over the thread. People just can’t seem to resist bashing the guy.
[/QUOTE]

The thread is entitled “The Legacy of Jimmy Carter”, not “The Positive Legacy of Jimmy Carter.”

19

Yeah, there is good and bad. As President he’ll always be tarnished by economic and foreign policy issues. Though I think there’s an argument to be made that had Desert One no flamed out and the hostages been rescued he would be remembered quite differently (and possibly re-elected in 1980).

But like others he’s been the absolute model of an ex-President. He sets an example with work for the poor and free elections. He’s also the model for private pursuit of political goals. I understand what Moto is complaining about in his initial post but the simple fact is that all United States citizens are allowed to pursue their own attempts to influence foreign relations and policy. He just has a greater ability due to his own history. I’m perfectly free to fly to North Korea and tell Kim ‘You da man!’ It’s just that little attention would be paid to it.

As for the other stuff, woof:

Nuclear Enginner
Military Officer
Local politician
State Senator
State Governor
POTUS
Nobel laureate

Hell, here’s his wiki article. It seems a little kissy-kissy but covers the highlights.

You and I should HOPE to strive and acheive that well. It sure beats me playing Temple of Elemental Evil on a Sunday morning until the kids wake up.

20

[QUOTE=Mister Falcon]
Legacy? History? He’ll be honored, much more so than the slouch currently occupying that office.
[/QUOTE]
You’re probably right, but who knows? Maybe the guilt from selling a war with false reasons will get to him, or maybe with just good intentions, W might take a Carter-like ex-president’s path. Maybe he’ll even save more lives than his war took.

I wouldn’t bet money on it at this point, but we can hope at least, until proven wrong.