Why do cons claim Jimmy Carter was a bad president?

Question

Is this a republican talking point or did some Fox commentator recently say this? Cons seem to be in unison on this and I think they are just parroting someone. Carter was way better than his predecessors.

Answer 1

Just about everyone thinks that Carter was a bad president. I'm not trying to be biased, but it's generally true. Most people think that Nixon was worse (myself not included), and Johnson is regarded as far worse (except for some of the civil rights stuff), but just about everyone thinks that Carter was bad. In fact, on many lists made by historians, Carter is ranked the lowest of any 20th century president (most historians are quite liberal). Carter was very well intended, and was a genuinely good person, but he made some very bad decisions. His weakness regarding the Shaw cost us direly, he increased dependence on foreign oil, and he began massive military reductions. He also tried to do a lot of very good things but accomplished very few of them.

So, I'd say the reason that conservatives say that Carter was a bad president might be because somebody tells them so, but the fact remains that he was not a very good president.

Answer 2

Don't get me wrong. I liked Jimmy Carter. He is an intellectual man. He was the first president with a PhD mind you but he had it in his head that he had to touch every portion of his administration. No other president had attempted to do that in modern times (about 25 years) and when he realized that it was much more complex to run the United Stanes than it is to run Georgia, he was overwhelmed.

He also didn't know how to deal with some unforeseen things that threatened to obliterate the economy like the use of oil as a weapon by middle eastern countries and the rise of the Japanese automakers, that almost bankrupted Detroit in the late 70s. Add in the Iran hostage crisis where a raid to free the hostages ended in several dead soldiers in the desert and you're looking at the making for a pretty inept president.

Now, George W. has pretty much surpassed Jimmy Carter's ineptness but that doesn't suddenly make Jimmy an awesome president by any stretch.

Answer 3

Carter was a good man, but an awful President.

If Carter was so good, tell us about all his successes as president. Go on, I'm waiting.

His top 10 failures include:
1. Very high inflation.
2. Even higher loan interest rates
3. Poor economy.
4. Poor national morale
5. Weak on National Security
6. Americans held hostage for 444 days.
7. High energy prices
8. Gas shortages
9. Giving away the Panama canal
10. Allowed Soviets to invade Afghanistan. Responded by boycotting Soviet olympics.

Hard to give high marks to a President with a record of utter failure. We're still dealing with the ramifications of his weaknesses in the middle east.

I don't know if I'd say he was the worst president "ever," but he certainly the worst in the last 75 years or so. Maybe in the worst 5 list overall.

Answer 4

Carter was weak politically. However, he did 2 things that were very important to the economy of the last 25 years:

1) Deregulated many of the industries like railroads, telecom, etc.
2) Appointed a Federal Reserve chairman that would begin the process of stamping out inflation by constricting the money supply.

Conservatives like to take credit for the above 2 items, btw, but it was actually Carter that did it. One of the reasons for his bad economy was that he ended Nixon's price controls on oil (a necessary move). In doing this, oil prices went crazy, but then would settle back down again years later.

No Republican will admit it in a million years, but Reagan's economy from 83-89 actually had a lot to do with Carter.

Answer 5

I don't watch TV news and rarely ever vote party line. Why then would people say Carter was a bad president? (I thought then and still do today, that he was a HORRIBLE president.) Something to do with giving away the Panama Canal and all of its revenue, Supporting terrorists and dictators (PLO and the Shaw of Iran), instigating an oil embargo against us, allowing welfare fraud, waste and abuse to run rampant, inflation was allowed to run unchecked,... Militarily? Ah, can you say MX missile plan Vs B-1 Bomber? The guy was and still is a loser extraordinaire.
*several hours later (had to run my daughter to the airport)*
And probably the single biggest (and most people just simply are not aware) is, like Otto von Bismarck having set the stage 30+ years prior, that lead to WW I, Carter gutted the CIA leaving this country blind for world intel and heavily dependent upon foreign services to give us information. Such as Bush's WMD intel from a single source being kept in Germany -- that we never got to question directly -- in the end it seems he admits to having lied, that had both he and voting members of congress convinced Saddam was making more. It's on Carter's head and hands.

Answer 6

If you'd actually like to know, there are simple, valid reasons. The economy tanked under his leadership with inflation going crazy, but more importantly his failures in foreign policy are widely agreed (by partisans on both sides of the aisle) to be directly responsible for the current state of Iran, Afghanistan and much of the Middle East.

His career as an ex-President has been highlighted by his excellent work on behalf of Habitat for Humanity, and virtually no one questions his desire to do good deeds. But that didn't help him make quality decisions in key areas of his presidency or some since, such as when he defied then-President Clinton in declaring "fair" Haitian elections that most renounced.

Here're a couple of articles that I hope help. Enjoy!

Answer 7

I'm not even a Republican but I would consider carter to be the worst president in my lifetime. Double digit inflation, gas shortages, Iran holding our embassy and personnel hostage and doing nothing and then when he finally tried it was botched worse than the Three Stooges would do. He also seemed like a fool being chased by a rabbit, claiming to see a UFO, having a faith healing sister and a brother who was the town drunk and also a lobbyist for Libya.

Answer 8

Carter wasn't that great of a President and a lot of the reason was that he was a Washington outsider and was screwed by his own party, who never supported him, especially Tip O'Neil. He really shoudn't be blamed for the energy crisis, OPEC had placed an embargo on the US. He also didn't understand world politics that well but the Iran Hostage situation was the result of the US staging a coup back in the 1950's and putting the Shah in power. He really was too honest and too naive to be an effective President. He tried to do some good things, and talked about energy independence, but again, he had no backing and not that much political saavy.

But the obvious reason cons keep bringing him up is that they are trying to make GW Bush look good in comparison -- but Bush is the absolute worst president ever.

Answer 9

Want a real answer?
16% Prime Rate.
18% Home Mortgage Rate.
Noble Peace Prize with a known terrorist.

Truly it was the Economy. 18% to buy a house. 9% Unemployement, and he literally said, that "Printing more money and then fixing some prices" would fix it.

He did appoint Paul Vollker head of the Fed. which was good.
No, this is not from Fox, I'm to old for that argument....
I was working and trying to buy a home when he was Prez.....

Answer 10

Worst
President
Ever

I lived through those years. He was a failure in every sense of the word.

The economy was a shambles, 18+% interest rates, inflation out of control, high unemployment, he gutted the military, facilitated the Iran revolution, etc etc.

By every measure, Carter was the worst president of the 20th century, and probably the worst ever.

There was a reason Reagan won the greatest landslide in US presidential history.