Jimmy Carter "the grader" does not make him "the greater"

United States
May 20, 2007 4:03pm CST
To be upfront, I do not like many of the policies and actions that the current President Bush has taken during his 6 plus years in office. But for Jimmy Carter to call this President the worst in history? Talk about nerve. And although Carter's examples focused on foreign policy, the way he said it implied that Bush's administration is the worst overall. First let's compare the economies they administered over. Pretty similar. Gas prices hit record highs during both men's administrations, but under Carter, we lined up for blocks, and could only fill up gas on odd or even days depending on the digit of the car's license plate. We had record federal budget deficits under both men, but under Carter, the red ink took up a greater share of the national GNP. We had high unemployment and double digit inflation under Carter. Something not experienced even by Herbert Hoover (but to be fair, high unemployment/inflation happened to a lesser extent under Nixon)Good or bad, depending on one's circumstance, under both men, our country has gone through unreasonable real estate and gold speculation. As for foreign policy. Carter had the Camp David Accords. But that wouldn't have been possible without two things. 1. The shuttle diplomacy the Nixon and Ford Administrations engaged in, which I've never heard Carter give credit for, and 2. Begin and Sadat were courageous in what they did. Bush has tried, but I'll agree with Carter to the extent that Bush should try harder to negotiate peace in that part of the Middle East. As far as SALT II - thank goodness the Senate didn't ratify it - if so, the movie, "Red Dawn," might have been a docudrama about America's freedom fighters after the Soviet Union invaded us. But I exaggerate. As far as Iran - we were internationally humiliated for over a year, made worse by not having a back -up plan to the failed rescue mission. Now Carter's specific gripe was the pre-emptive attack on Iraq. As a private citizen, I don't think we should have invaded Iraq, and it's a policy I can't forgive the President on, and its where most of my opposition to the current President lies. However, there are two ways to look at this. If the current war and the first President Bush war are counted as separate wars, then yes, Carter would be right. But, if you see it as a continuation of the "first" Gulf War, then our invasion was more of D-Day rather than Pearl Harbor. Only the ground fighting stopped with the first President Bush, Clinton continued the air strikes. Under Bill Clinton, we were attacked by terrorists three times, and people should consider that his limited reaction may have given the terrorist confidence in planning the second World trade center attack. For review, there was the first World trade Center attack, the attacks on the US emabssies in Africa, and the USS Cole attack. If we include domestic terrorists, there's a fourth in the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing. That said, World Trade Center II happened under Bush's watch, and it was nine months into his term. As far as the faith based initiatives. I'm not a big fan of government being a middle man to charitable contributions (just creates a level of bureaucracy which takes away money from people who need it the most) which is what's happening with tax dollars being granted out to charities, but I've no problem with faith based charities applying for and receiving grants, as long as they do not receive favorable treatments. Carter implied that they do, and if so, I'll agree with him here, but for me, that's not cause for Bush to be categorized as worst President ever. I disagree a lot with the current President, but as far as calling this the worst administration in history? I'm not ready to revive the misery index we had under Carter.
3 responses
@agfarm (930)
• United States
21 May 07
To be Fair....I'm only 37 ; however , I have to agree with President Carter about the worst President in History. If for no other reason....He doesn't even listen to the people of his own Party. I can understand , that he doesn't like Democrats....Fine. But when he thumbs his nose at the party that bought his Presidency for him....That's just Arrogant.
@agfarm (930)
• United States
2 Jun 07
I am curious to see if anyone will stand up for him.... Now that he is pushing the "Amnesty for illegals Bill " down peoples throats. I'm starting to see a trend , where even conservatives are starting to see the whole downside to this policy. Sure it's a boon to add more numbers to the alleged " Social-Security " problems , but....how can you honestly tell me that there is a problem w/ Social Security , when that is the Primary source for funding this Failed War? He is indeed the Single worst President Ever. Can any one explain any thing positive , that has come from this administration Excluding ( of course ) the Rich 1 % tax-exempts ??? This country is so Backwards , and divided , that it will take 50 years to recover from this single person's actions.
@MrNiceGuy (4141)
• United States
20 May 07
Maybe we should ask Jimmy how he would handle Iran. Wait..................
1 person likes this
• United States
21 May 07
:-)
• United States
22 May 07
Shhhhh...you're not suppose to bring that out...
• United States
20 May 07
I guess it is time for a Bush supporter, and a supporter of the Iraq war to chime in. There is very little doubt that Carter is one of the worst President's since WWII. I won't relist everything from above, but just look at the feeling in the country when Carter was in office. It was dark days. I think many in today's America have forgotten what the country was like in that time, or they might really try to look at the Iraq war and the consequences to leaving without political blinders. I think Bush's policies are debatable. I agree with some of his decisions and not others. However, I don't think Bush even qualifies for the top 50% worst president's of all time. I also make this prediction, there will be many rushing out to call him a great President after he passes away, much like Regan.
1 person likes this
• United States
21 May 07
I agree. I think people have forgotten how bad off this country was under Carter. I think it was a miserable time to be an American (hence the misery index). As much as I disagreed with the invasion of Iraq, I've never accused Bush of starting an illegal war because it can be seen as a continuation of his daddy's war. It might have come down to an invasion at some point anyway, but I don't think 2003 was time. Objectively, I think Bush's Iraq policies have been 2/3 successful. It's just that it's such an emotional subject for me that I can't see the 2/3 success justifying the 1/3 which I see as failed policy. And I see the invasion as the root of the failures. I say this because it's mostly one region of the country where all the violence is taking place, the other parts seem stable. I do hope that Iraq will be a stable country (or three) one day and if they do, Bush ought to get credit. I can't see Bush being considered great, but he still has a year and a half of making policy and who knows, he might set a few home runs. At this point, he ranks in the lower tier for me, but still several notches above Carter.