This article examines the complexities of Jimmy Carter's presidency, acknowledging his widely perceived personal decency while exploring the challenges he faced during a period of significant national upheaval. It highlights the enduring impact of the Vietnam War and the economic instability caused by the 1971 decoupling of the dollar from gold, arguing that these factors significantly shaped Carter's ability to govern effectively.
Virtually everybody with an opinion judges Jimmy Carter to have been a decent man. He was certainly as good an ex-president as we’ve ever had. But what about his legacy as a then-president? That assessment is murkier. A common refrain holds that Carter was a good man but a weak president, that he was not wise to the ways of Washington, that he was naïve in his belief that pure motives could win over champions of impure schemes.
Fearing inflation, he fought the United Mine Workers in their 1978 national coal strike, alienating one of his—and the Democratic party’s—most important bases.But what of the good things that Carter delivered?For all of the upheaval, he actually delivered better economic performance than did Ronald Reagan. That meant faster GDP growth and higher levels of business investment. He delivered the last balance of payments surplus the country has ever known.
Jimmy Carter Presidency Vietnam War Stagflation Economic Crisis
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