Most Underrated President?: In defense of Jimmy Carter

Hello Everyone,

I've decided to try a new sign-in line. I'll probably alternate between several, using whichever one I feel like on that given day.

Anyway, I'd like to take this opportunity today to pay tribute to a man who worked very hard, but never gets any credit for everything he did. In spite of many achievements, this man has been turned into a laughingstock (is that all one word?). Well, I'm going to take this time to stand up for this man who is too often ridiculed or brushed aside. I'm writing this about the 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter.

Earlier today, I came across a similar piece written on Carter by a good, christian journalist. If you're too lazy to follow the links I put up (I don't blame you!), I'll summarize some of the things the article says. I also have a link to the world's greatest research site which I'll also summarize.

When he signed the treaty giving the Panama Canal back to Panama, he was met with intense ire by the republicans. However, looking at what has been done since, this was a wise move, considering that advisers thought retaining the Canal would ensure a costly war. He authorized the SALT (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) II treaty in 1979, which drew down numbers of missiles in both the US and the Soviet Union. Again, this was criticized because it was thought to weaken the nation's defenses.

On the human rights front, Carter was simething of a pioneer. He distanced himself from the policy of containment, which all previous presidents had employed. The policy involved supporting pro-US leaders, even if they were dictators who abused their people, to curtail communist influence in poor nations. Carter ended support for despots like Anastasio Somoza in Nicaragua, Alfredo Stroessner in Paraguay and Chile's infamous Augusto Pinochet. He was critical of South Africa's Apartheid regime. He wasn't successful in promoting human rights in every instance, but on the whole, his record on this is phenomenal compared to most other presidents. This is to say nothing of the Camp David Accords and progress toward a peace between Israel and the Arab world, an issue which plagues us to this day.

However, Carter realized that the Soviet Union was a threatening entity. So while he signed the SALT II treaty and cut back on defense spending, he also authorized stealth bomber technology and authorized new technology for the missiles that were developed. It was under Carter's watch that US support for the mujahideen fighters began. Carter, along with National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski (wanna try and pronounce this name?), began sending finances and training to the islamist mujahideens in 1979. Carter also set up the Rapid Deployment Forces, the predecessor to CENTCOM. In many ways, Carter was just as much a hawk as he was a human rights-nik.

When it came to the environment, Carter was definitely a pioneer. He was "green" even before there was such a thing as being "green" (and long before he saw Inconvenient Truth!). He emphasized conservation and efficiency. It was in 1977 that the Department of Energy was created to reach these ends. He even decreed that hot water be turned off in some federal facilities. He had a wood stove in the living quarters and ahd solar panels put on the roof of the White House. Under his watch, the National Renewable Energy Lab was created here in Golden, Colorado, which is still functioning to this day, and which employed my grandfather from 1977 to 1985. Many of the ideas that were dismissed back then are now taken seriously as environmental common sense, making him the first environmental president.

There were, of course, things he didn't do so well on, like the economy, the whole thing with inflation. As the article points out, the inflation was due in large part to OPEC's control of the oil prices. And, though he did screw up on some policies, as FDR said,"Better the occasional faults of a government working out of a spirit of charity, than the constant ommission" of a government working only for the well off at the expense of everyone else. Some of his successors sought to cut programs by the government, while forgetting one thing, people need the government. In spite of all the talk of self-reliance, which I support, btw, people can't do everything themselves. Government fills a need, but this is a whole other post.

Anyway, there was the whole "malaise" speech (in which the word "malaise" was never used). Carter pointed out that the nation had replaced the traditional belief in God with a belief in unbridled material consumption. The speech goes as follows:

"I want to talk to you right now about a fundamental threat to American democracy... I do not refer to the outward strength of America, a nation that is at peace tonight everywhere in the world, with unmatched economic power and military might...
The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and spirit of our national will. We can see this crisis in the growing doubt about the meaning of our own lives and in the loss of a unity of purpose for our nation.
In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption. Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns. But we've discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning.
I'm asking you for your good and for your nation's security to take no unnecessary trips, to use carpools or public transportation whenever you can, to park your car one extra day per week, to obey the speed limit, and to set your thermostats to save fuel... I have seen the strength of America in the inexhaustible resources of our people. In the days to come, let us renew that strength in the struggle for an energy-secure nation."

Later, the speech was said to have "struck a responsive chord" with the American public. Few public figures since have made pronouncements like this. It seems like this man had lots of insight.

So, what cost Jimmy Carter politically? Mostly, it was his willingness to make unpopular Lots of people talk a big game about making unpopular decisions, but when President Carter actually did it, opponents turned him into a mockery. For his actions, Carter took just as much flack from democrats as republicans. Many democrats didn't like the peanut farmer from the deep south, who by the way, was devoutly christian.

Since his presidency ended in 1981, Carter has been working tirelessly for the good of the least among us. He held summits in Africa in the 90's. He has worked on the ground in Israel and Palestine for "Peace, not Apartheid". He, along with his wife, Rosalynn, have worked with Habitat for Humanity, helping build homes for the poor to be able to own. In 2002, his humanitarian work even won him the Nobel Peace Prize. So, while Jimmy Carter may not have been the greatest president, he may just be the most underrated. So, Mr. Carter, the Daily Reeder salutes you.

This is the Daily Reeder, Over&out.