Rethinking Jimmy Carter

"How was our 39th President? At one time, I thought the worst in history. However after the 42nd and 44th Presidents, maybe he was not that bad after all..."

In the past, few have been harder on the Carter presidency than I have been. I remember once when I was going through a rant on how bad things were in the 70's, a friend of mine gave me some prophetic advice. "Don't be too hard on him. In our life time there might actually be someone worse." I laughed and told him I sure hoped not. Turns out between Carter and now we have had two presidents who were worse.

Just like history has been very kind to John Kennedy over the years, it is also starting to soften on Jimmy Carter. True, during Jimmy Carter years the economy really went in the tank. True, during Jimmy Carter years economists had to coin a new term - stagflation. True, under the Jimmy Carter years, the housing industry almost died because of 16% fixed mortgages (if you could get one). And true, during the Jimmy Carter years a puppet government in Iran illegally detained 52 innocent Americans for 444 days - and we did nothing.

But he also did some good things while President. He deregulated a way over-regulated trucking industry (The Motor Carrier Act of 1980). That was good not only for the truckers, but also our country. The Camp David accord was historic. Peace still exists to this day between Israel and Egypt. 

But I am rethinking Jimmy Carter mostly for what he did not do. He did not diddle with women who were not his wife. He did not besmirch the Oval Office by engaging in oral sex with an intern. He did not commit perjury to a grand jury. He did not lie to the American people on TV. He did not give nukes to the Norks (although he was on the negotiation team). He did not give nukes to the Iranians. And he did not transform America from a Republic into a Monarchy.

When Ronald Reagan was sworn in, the Iranians immediately released our hostages. They knew if they didn't all hell was going to rain down on them. Ronald Reagan then rebuilt our military, starting with the Navy. No more cannibalizing ships so they could put to sea. He fixed the economy by giving us one of the biggest tax cuts in the history of mankind. He restored our faith in America once again. And the entire time he was rebuilding and fixing things, not one word, not one, tearing down Jimmy Carter. Contrast that to our current guy. He continues to this day to blame and skewer G. W. Bush.

No, I would take a Democrat like John Kennedy again in a heartbeat. Kennedy was more conservative than many of today's RINOs. I would take Jimmy Carter over another lying sack of stuff like Bill Clinton or another Socialist like Obama. I may not have agreed with how Jimmy Carter ran the country, but he was a good man. A decent and fair man. A man of deep faith and convictions. History will be much kinder to President Carter than it will be to Clinton or Obama. And you can take that to the bank.