I have some definite issues with Jimmy Carter, but now is not the time to speak of them and, thinking on what Runyon wrote, they suddenly seem very small. As Carter prepares to shuffle off this mortal coil, he does so with grace – reminding us how it is that this man from such modest beginnings and with no national stature rose to the presidency.
Carter plays perhaps a larger role in my worldview than he does in U.S. history. First because my research is on the national security role of the vice president and it was Carter who pulled the vice presidency from obscurity to significance. Many things in politics are the product of major structural forces. Not this. Carter made a conscious decision to elevate and include his vice president in decision-making. If he had not made this decision, it is possible the vice president would continue to languish in relative obscurity.President Wintergreen: Being president is easy. If you want the stock market to go down just give a speech.
Throttlebottom: What do I do if I want the stock market to go up?
Wintergreen: Don’t I wish I knew!
Carter actually did do right by the economy. He appointed Paul Volcker at Fed chair, knowing Volcker would raise interest rates and hurt Carter politically.
Carter definitely had his share of “own goals” where a chaotic process or poorly thought out initiatives hurt the administration. His efforts to emphasize human rights may not always have been wise, but it is difficult to fault them. On USSR the administration had a confused message because Carter could not bring himself to choose between the conciliatory Secretary of State and more belligerant National Security Advisor. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan however, Carter reacted firmly and appropriately.
And of course, since it is in the news, Iran. In his interview, when he was asked about his regrets, Carter answered:
I wish I’d sent one more helicopter to get the hostages, and we would have
rescued them, and I would have been reelected. But that may have interfered with
the foundation of The Carter Center. And if I had to choose between four more
years and The Carter Center, I think I would choose The Carter Center.
It was actually a lovely answer. It showed that after the White House he continued to grow and learn. (One of the great joys of my research was interviewing people with long distinguished careers. I was most interested in their interactions with vice presidents, but hearing the long arc of their experience was so very interesting.)
But, and this is relevant to our current discussions – particularly about ISIS – but also Russia/Ukraine, Iran, you name it. Carter had no good options in Iran. War or military action would probably have resulted in the hostages being killed. Perhaps the U.S. could have sacrificed those lives n order to make a “don’t mess with us” statement. But it is hard to criticize Carter for not being willing to toss away 56 lives. As for other options like counter-coups or subversion – these things all work better in the movies than in real life.
