In 1976 Jimmy Carter was not my favorite Democratic presidential candidate. I worked very hard for Morris Udall, Carter’s main opponent in the Democratic Party primaries. I thought Udall was a better environmentalist, and I appreciated his sense of humor. I was also turned off by Carter’s religiosity.
Carter turned out to be a reasonable President, and I admired him greatly for putting an end to the Army Corps dam building program and for pardoning many Vietnam resisters. Blamed for high gas prices (sound familiar?) and the Iranian hostage crisis, he failed to counter Reagan and lost badly in 1980, winning only 49 electoral college votes.
With my usual penchant for supporting losers, in the 1980 election I may very well have voted for 3rd party candidate John Anderson. (That was 44 years ago, and I’m not sure.)
Carter came into his own as an ex-president. His work as a mediator and a neutral observer in numerous foreign elections, his support for Habitat for Humanity, and his general morality made him the best ex-president in our history. As President he exhibited a certain naivety and ineptness, but he was never vindictive, never stupid, never mean. He was a decent human being, and today that is high praise.
I applied for a job with Habitat for Humanity in 2005. One of the reasons was Jimmy Carter's association with it. They didn't tell me outright but I believe I didn't get the job because of my lack of faith. It worked out because I didn't have to move to Georgia.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons I admire Carter was because he cancelled the B1 supersonic bomber program. He got a lot of flack from Republicans because of that, but Carter was advised by the Air Force that new ground to air missile capabilities made it obsolete. The program was later reinstated but as a low level flying somewhat stealthy aircraft. It has been a success!
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