R.I.P. Jimmy Carter

He was a rare man in US history--one who found his true calling after his presidency. A diplomat and humanitarian of the highest order.

His presidency was kind of a mess, what with the Iranian revolution, the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, the overtly hostile opposition of Western Republicans, and the ascension of Ronnie Raygun to Chest-Thumping Amurrican. But he and his wife found a new purpose after he left the White House.

A truly good person, and one whose life contrasts so sharply with that of the horrid, selfish liar, grifter, and rapist now about to infest the White House.

  A typical Lewis post, in 3 parts. Part (1) - a nice, polite post about the man Jimmy Carter. Part (2) -Uncalled for sneakily made jabs involving Republicans and Ronald Reagan. Part (3) - an series of nasty, lying President Trump besmirchments.

Trump IS a liar. Trump IS a rapist. Trump IS a con man and a grifter. Those are not "besmirchments." Nor are they "lies." Unless you think he's never lied, stolen anything, cheated anyone, or raped anyone...to which I say. LOL!!!!!!

Much like Joe Biden, Carter was maligNed by inflation that happened during his administration that he wasn't to blame for.      Ironically it was his appointed FED chairman that ultimately fixed it despite Reagan's attempts to thwart him.

Carter  was blasted by the right for correctly avoiding conflict in the Middle East....something current MAGA Republicans tout as center of their foreign policy.    And given the financial and military disaster of the Iraq war Carter looks pretty damn smart.     And his vision to pursue alternate energy to rid our dependence on Saudi oil has been proven out too.   He was 30 years ahead of his time.    Reagan famously tore down the solar panels Carter installed on the White House because those were just stupid liberal facades.     

his healthcare plan was knocked down by his own party - mainly Ted Kennedy.    We would have had universal healthcare like the rest of the free world if it had passed.    

he was a much better president than people credit him with.

For all his sunny disposition facades and cheerful optimism, Reagan did quite a lot of things that were, frankly, petty and stupid. I like to think that those actions originated from his aides, some of whom were real pieces of work. Like Trump, Reagan was kind of a "hands-off" President; neither knew or cared about the nuances of the job and all the boring details. Not to mention the hard work, which they delegated, often with tragicomic consequences.

Carter, in contrast, worked his butt off. However, he lacked the inclination, definitely, and the skill, possibly, to be a glad-handing ass-kisser, which is the only way to get things done in Washington. He was particularly blunt, I remember, in killing Western states water projects that had a projected cost to benefit ratio of 2:1 or worse; the governor of Colorado in particular never forgave him for that. He also created several national parks in Alaska, and the howling in Juneau could be heard in Washington.

Carter was an environmentalist, and that was used as a cudgel by Reagan to defeat him, even though many of his policies are now common practice. He was labeled as a "tree-hugger" by numerous types, which spurred the ascension of the "cut it all downers," as I like to call them. I remember the fury in Oregon when Reagan told James Watt that he could go to town with Forest Service leases and permits. Much of Oregon's old growth forest was sold at a loss and stripped bare. We eventually stopped that, but at great cost.

The American public, being then as now, STOOOOPID, blamed Carter for things that happened during his term that he had little control over. Then Reagan took credit when those various crises resolved--as crises usually do, given enough time. It's eerily reminiscent of Trump taking credit for Obama's successes, and of course his upcoming taking credit for Biden's accomplishments, such as the infrastructure bill, the booming economy, and taming inflation.

he was a much better president than people credit him with.

He didn't support iran's government in 1978-79 and buddied up to khomeni and allowed him to take power.  The short term result was chaos in Iran which severly limited Iran's oil production.  Iran then started a war with Iraq which in turn limited their oil production.  This created the oil shortage of 1979 and drove up oil prices and inflation.

In the long term allowing khomeni to take power started the radical islamic movement and has created the Middle East chaos for the past 45 years. khomeni showed his thanks to America by taking 53 hostages and holding them hostage for over a year.  Carter was played the fool the entire time.

 2016, the BBC published a report which stated that the administration of United States President Jimmy Carter (1977–1981) had extensive contact with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his entourage in the prelude to the Iranian Revolution of 1979. The report was based on "newly declassified US diplomatic cables". According to the report, as mentioned by The Guardian, Khomeini "went to great lengths to ensure the Americans would not jeopardise his plans to return to Iran - and even personally wrote to US officials" and assured them not to worry about their interests in Iran, particularly oil. According to the report, in turn, Carter and his administration helped Khomeini and made sure that the Imperial Iranian army would not launch a military coup.

I agree with Kevin's assessment that Jimmy was a good man.  I'm surprised at Kevin's Biden assessment, although it's very accurate.

In the wake of Vietnam,  Carter correctly noted the futility of nation building in other countries.      Thats a lesson that was quickly forgotten by his successor who found himself backing Sadam Hussein in  the Iraq/Iran war ....only  later to be 180'd  by W with his invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.      We spent trillions of dollars putting our thumbs on the scale in the Middle East with absolutely no measurable benefit to our country.

Carter understood that then....and Donald Trump understands that now.     Too bad we had two Republican Administrations in between that didnt.      

Carter paved the way for for khomeni to return and blocked the Iranian army from stopping him. So Carter did put his thumb on the scale and 45 years later the world is paying for his blunders. 

The entire Iran hostage crisis was based upon Iran and Khomeni's revenge against Carter for his  support of the Shaw.     So...ah.. try again.