History tends to soften the blow upon former presidents after they have left office. As time goes on, it is easier to judge the overall efficacy and outcome of a president’s term as we witness the long-term effects of their policies bear fruit. This causes the placement of presidents upon the scale of “best to worst” to frequently shift when we revisit the scale with the gift of hindsight.
If you read the obituaries for Jimmy Carter, America’s 39th president, who passed away in late December of last year at the age of 100, you will notice a pattern in the way he is described. That he was a “no-frills, steel-willed” man, the “real deal,” so to speak. You will read how he was limited to one term due to “disillusioned voters” after the 1980 presidential election and how he went on to live an extraordinary post-presidential life with his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn. Yes, Carter will be remembered living life as “the ideal former-presidency” given his focus on initiatives that were more beneficial to mankind, such as The Carter Center and his work with Habitat for Humanity.
Despite some of his post-presidential activities, his term in office from 1977 to 1981 was simply a failure.
Starting with his international image, Carter displayed weakness, which America’s enemies exploited. His ideology of a “peaceful coexistence” allowed Iran’s government, led by Mohammad Pahlavi, the “Shah of Iran,” to be overthrown by radical Islamic revolutionaries. The Shah’s authoritarian practices and abandonment of his position in early January 1979 during the height of the Islamic Revolution. In October that same year, Carter decided to allow him to enter the U.S. for medical treatment. This was seen as an insult to the revolutionists, and in response, they stormed a U.S. Embassy in Tehran, capturing 63 American diplomats as hostages. This lasted for the last 444 days of Carter’s presidency, in what is known as “The Iranian Hostage Crisis.” Six months later, in April 1980, Carter ordered the military to rescue these hostages, which resulted in a humiliating failure in an Iranian salt flat. Three helicopters experienced mechanical failures, and eight servicemen were killed when their helicopter collided with a transport plane during the evacuation. As images of his failure flooded headlines across the globe, Carter somberly accepted responsibility.
His incompetence in hostage diplomacy also spoke to his inability to recognize who America’s true friends were. While Carter is rightfully credited with laying the foundation for an Egyptian-Israeli peace agreement through the Camp David Accords in 1978, his post-presidential activities sing a different tune. In January 1996, bona fide terrorist leader and murderer Yasser Arafat became the president of the Palestinian Authority. According to CIA director Jim Woolsey, “Arafat was essentially ‘elected’ the same way Stalin was, but not nearly as democratically as Hitler, who at least had actual opponents.” For a man to dedicate so much of his life to election monitoring, you would think Carter would criticize an election even the Israeli left would describe as a sham. Sadly, Carter would rather be described as the PLO Chairman’s biggest fan. During the 1990s, Carter would come to see Arafat as a friend and pupil, teaching him how to speak as more of a moderate to seem more appealing to Western Civilization, even as Arafat simultaneously led attacks on Israel and started the Second Intifada in 2000. Later, in 2003, Carter declared he could have secured peace between Israel and the Palestinians, telling the New York Times, “Had I been elected to a second term, with the prestige and authority and influence and reputation I had in the region, we could have moved to a final solution.” Judging by the previous “Final Solution” to take place, I think it’s safe to say that Israel is blessed Jimmy Carter lost.
Well, maybe Jimmy Carter did not have the best foreign policy record, but what about the economy?
Unsurprisingly, Carter was not much better. While the unemployment rate was high during the Carter administration, it peaked at 8.3% in 1983, well into Ronald Reagan’s first term. In November 1976, the inflation rate was 4.8%, and would climb to a suffocating high of 14.38% in June 1980. 30-year mortgage rates went from 8.8% in November 1976 to a staggering average of 18.45% in October 1981, only months into Reagan’s first term. If the Carter years were an index fund, it would be called the “misery index,” and rightfully so. As such, the American people voted out misery in the 1980 presidential election after Ronald Reagan famously turned to the camera and asked, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” With that, Carter left the White House, like the Prodigal Son returning to his humble, modest roots in Plains, Georgia.
Sort of.
The Carter Center, a non-profit dedicated to advancing human rights as well as partnering with Habitat for Humanity to build homes for the poor, was founded by Jimmy and Rosalynn in 1982, and undeniably deserves every accolade received from across the world. But in 1990, Carter wrote letters to U.N. officials aimed to withdraw their support of joining George W. Bush’s coalition aimed to roll back the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait’s oil reserves, also known as The First Gulf War. After “Operation Desert Storm” in 1991, The U.S. successfully expelled the Iraqi forces. Imagine today if Donald Trump wrote letters to the U.N. disavowing Joe Biden’s attempt to prevent Kuwait, which America has a tremendous relationship with, from being invaded by foreign adversaries? No doubt the media would be throwing the word “treason” around like football on Sunday.
Jimmy Carter should be remembered for living a successful life, but a failed presidency. While I have never met him, I have no doubt that Jimmy Carter was, at heart, a good man who had the best intentions for mankind. To quote Anne-Marie Bigot de Cornuel, “No man is a hero to his valet,” and Carter is no exception. As I’ve stated above, the long-term effects of his policies have borne fruit, and I am sorry, but they are spoiled.