I just Read about the Carter Years, Was it really as HORRIBLE as it sounds?

Question

The 1970s are described as a period of stagflation, meaning economic stagnation coupled with price inflation, as well as higher interest rates.

Price inflation caused interest rates to rise to unprecedented levels (above 12% per year). The prime rate hit 21.5% in December 1980, the highest rate in U.S. history.

The economy suffered double-digit inflation, coupled with very high interest rates, oil shortages, high unemployment, and slow economic growth.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan marked the end of détente, and Carter did nothing.

From November 4, 1979 until January 20, 1981, a 444-day period and Carter sat with my thumb up his *** while 63 americans were held hostage in Iran.

Unlike GWB, when Carter ran for re-election He lost 44 states and was completely humiliated in one of the worst landslides ever.

When after 4 years the American People had a chance to get rid of Carter they did so in Landslide fashion.

And after 4 years of George W. Bush;

"George W. Bush emerged from the election with fifty-one percent of the popular vote -- the first outright majority for any presidential candidate since his father in 1988, and the first president since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 to be re-elected while gaining seats in both the House and the Senate."

This speaks volumes about who is the worst president!

People that rip on Regan are hilarious. I can read. He won re-election with 49 states. His VP rode his coatails to basically a 3rd term for Reagan.

America Loves this man!

Answer 1

I voted for Reagan. When Reagan won everyone was so excited. I remember the place I hung out at,people were jumping up and down in happiness. And I 'm from a blue state.

Answer 2

For those who insist on perpetuating the myth that Jimmy Carter is some kind of nice Christian guy, let's not forget that he hangs around with Holocaust denyers and has written and said things that just skirt the line of outright anti-Semitism.

As for his effectiveness as President, I was 9 years old when he was elected and this is what I remember about his Presidency:

He ignored inflation, concentrating instead on other aspects of the economy, until the last year of his term.

He all-but-ignored an attack on the sovereign territory of the United States (our embassy) and allowed those who are now still in control of Iran to hold our people captive for 444 days.

His responsibility to this country and to the world was to act swiftly and decisively to remove any notion that there was something to be gained by terrorism. Instead, he launched a half-hearted and, well, half-#ss#d attempt, called "Operation Eagle Claw".

When that operation literally went down in flames Carter gave up, providing assurance to tyrants and terrorists everywhere that the United States was unwilling or incapable to defend itself.

He ignored an outright act of war by Iran yet blames every death and every injury in the Middle East on Israel.

The 1970's, for me, is about this country writhing in the full throes of the cultural attack that had been going on since before WWI, with Socialist revisionism painting the US and Western Civ as the bad guys and every tin-pot hooligan in the rest of the world being given a pass due to their being disadvantaged or otherwise abused.

In our rush to be sophisticated and multi-cultural we replaced the values (sorry for using the "v" word) that built the US into the apex of Western Civilisation with situationalist ethics and cafeteria counter religions.

We allowed those outside of the American mainstream to dominate and dictate the conversation and allowed our nation to be carved into special interest groups beyond number.

In that time, in the late 1970's, we needed a leader and instead we got a guy who micro-managed and under-achieved. We had a President that, it's now clear, completely bought into the idea that "It's our fault".

Reagan had his faults but he made this country more whole that it had been in decades (perhaps ever).

HW was a useful caretaker but, in the end, accomplished little. His fear of finishing the job in Iraq set the stage for much to some.

Clinton, who I voted for in the first Primary, sold us down the river.

W. has been paddling, nearly single-handedly, trying to keep us from heading over the falls.

I hope to be able to say, when and if I make it to old age, that the US survived and was made stronger by the cultural attacks of the late 20th century, despite the failings of it's various Executive Officers.

Answer 3

It was probably worse than it sounds, I remember that interest rates on a mortgage hit 18%, my brother in-law had just finished building a house that he had planned to sell and the interest payments were killing him. It got so bad that when he finally did get the house sold he barely broke even on the deal.

I have to LMAO when I here Jimmy "Crack Corn" Carter talk about how bad Bush is doing, in comparison Carter was so much worse for the US than it is possible to imagine.

You are right about the 444 days our citizens sat as hostages in Iran, Carter made one failed attempt to rescue them but as soon as Regan became President, he told Iran how it was going to be and our folks came back home.

Carter is the face on the Democrat's mascot, a JACKASS

Answer 4

But did you know Ronnie Ray Gun made a secret deal with the Iranians,that not only required the hostages be kept in captivity until inauguration day,but also began a relationship that lasted until the White House got caught selling arms tio the Iranians in order to fund the Contras.

Ronnie got away with that crap,like he did a lot of shady and often illegal things,by playing the lovable buffoon who was too old a and out of touch to know what his underlings were doing.

Which might explain the deficits he ran up,which were more than all other presidents before him combined,and weren't addressed until a Democratic president,Bill Clinton,not only balanced Ronnie Ray Gun's disastrous mess,there were surpluses under his administaration...

Answer 5

He had more integrity then any other President in my life-time. It was bad, he was saddled with the bills from Vietnam but it wasn't as bad as people think, just like Reagan wasn't as good as people say. Take a look at the deficit Ronny ran up while he was President. Your statement about the hostages shows how little you actually know about the incident. I think you need to do a little more reading on the subject.

Answer 6

I was a pre-teen during his administration, so I really didn't pay much attention to politics then. I do remember how my parents and my friends parents complained about how hard it was to make ends meet. complain about gasoline prices, and the local economy going to heck in a hand-basket.

It seemed to improve under the Reagan years, even though most of the adults I knew initially complained about him.

Answer 7

Ronald Reagan ran a campaign of promising to "balance the budget" which was ridiculously small under Carter by today's standards. Eight years later Reagan and H. Bush had more than quadrupled it!
Reagan got the hostages out by selling advanced weapons systems to the Ayatollah at discount rates in case you've forgotten that. Reagan said he would not bargain with terrorists - Reagan lied!

Answer 8

I lived through it. My parents will tell you that the econmy was horrible. It's why Carter got destroyed by Reagan and his Veep lost all but one state in 84.

Answer 9

And in spite of this lengthy rant, Carter STILL had more personal integrity and spirituality than Dub will EVER have.

Word.

Answer 10

No, and worst president was not Jimmy Carter. It's a toss-up between Nixon and George W. Bush.