The Other McCain

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The Very, Very Bad President

Posted on | May 15, 2011 | 34 Comments

It is nowadays said by many that Barack Obama is the worst president in American history. If this is so, President Obama will have eclipsed a mark that most observers believed would stand unchallenged until the final trumpet: The abysmal record of James Earl “Jimmy” Carter.

One of the reasons, I believe, that so many younger voters supported Obama in 2008 is that no one under 30 could remember how genuinely awful the Carter presidency was, nor could they recognize the similarities between the unbounded Hope inspired by the vague promises of the Democrats’ 2008 candidate and the tremendous expectations for national redemption that were invested in the 1976 Democratic candidate. The parallels and analogies, however, were readily apparent to those old enough to remember the Era of Malaise and, as soon as I got a detailed look at the Democrats’ economic agenda in December 2008, I declared bluntly: “It Won’t Work.”

More than two years later, with unemployment again on the rise — “Unexpectedly!” — and a “double-dip” housing recession now increasingly evident, I consider my prediction amply vindicated, and the only question remaining about the Obama presidency is, “How much more Carteresque will it become?” Frankly, I think our current president still has a good way to go before he can merit the claim of being worse than Jimmy Carter, and too many Americans have forgotten exactly how wretched Jimmy was.

Not content to have accumulated an embarrassingly bad record as president, Carter then went on to become America’s worst ex-president: Popping up in the media from time to time to criticize his Republican successors. (As a measure of the catastrophic damage Carter did to his own party’s reputation, the GOP controlled the White House for 20 of the 28 years after he left office.) No matter how many times he was laughed to scorn or ignored as irrelevant, Carter seemed to believe himself entitled to impose his transparently partisan opinions on a nation that wished he’d go away. Finally, in March 2007, Carter had the unmitigated gall to claim that President Bush was “the worst in history.”

This astonishing assertion was sufficent to inspire Investor’s Business Daily to publish a 10-part series on Jimmy Carter’s record, which began:

So Jimmy Carter calls the Bush administration “the worst in history.” This from the man who wrecked the world’s greatest economy and made a nuclear Iran and North Korea possible.
We didn’t think we’d see the day when a president-elect of France would be more appreciative of America’s role in the world than one of our own former presidents.
But here is Carter telling the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that President Bush’s “administration has been the worst in history,” one that has “endorsed the concept of pre-emptive war even when our own security is not directly threatened.”
Later, Carter called his comments “careless or misinterpreted.” But given a chance to retract, he didn’t. Apparently the man whose idea of leadership was to sit in front of a fireplace and blame everything on America’s “malaise” does not consider Islamofascists turning passenger jets into manned cruise missiles and flying them into skyscrapers a direct threat.
Nor does he consider himself responsible for the chain of events that gave us not only 9/11, but al-Qaida, the Taliban, Hezbollah and a nuclear Iran and North Korea. . . .

That IBD series came to my attention today because one of our longtime readers, Mike in Ardmore, contacted me to ask if I knew of any article that detailed Carter’s failures. Some research revealed that the series was still online via the Wayback Machine, which we are pleased to make available to our readers:

JIMMY CARTER: Profile in Incompetence

  • Part I: Look Who’s Talking — So Jimmy Carter calls the Bush administration “the worst in history.” This from the man who wrecked the world’s greatest economy and made a nuclear Iran and North Korea possible.
  • Part II: ‘Malaise’ Maestro — When it comes to economic performance, there’s no contest: Apart from the early years of the Depression, Jimmy Carter’s brief tenure as president was the worst in the 20th century.
  • Part III: Carter Planted Seeds Of Al-Qaida — After being told over and over by President Jimmy Carter that America’s ability to influence world events was “very limited,” the Soviet Union believed him and invaded Afghanistan. And al-Qaida was born.
  • Part IV:Iran: Carter’s Habitat For Inhumanity – In the name of human rights, Jimmy Carter gave rise to one of the worst rights violators in history — the Ayatollah Khomeini. And now Khomeini’s successor is preparing for nuclear war with Israel and the West.
  • Part V: Carter’s Red Carpet — On President Jimmy Carter’s watch, more territory was lost to tyranny than at any other time since Yalta. And he’d have us return to those thrilling days of yesteryear.
  • Part VI: A Feeble President – When men of strength are presented with difficult problems, their responses are firm and decisive. Jimmy Carter spent four years as president of the United States responding with weakness.
  • Part VII: Friend Of Dictators  – In foreign policy, Jimmy Carter proved his presidency the worst ever by subordinating U.S. interests to his vague “human rights” policy. All he did was enable dictators to take him to the cleaners.
  • Part VIII: Camp Hype — It’s often asserted that while Jimmy Carter’s presidency was marred by error and incompetence, the peace deal he brokered at Camp David was an unmitigated triumph. Time to pop that bubble, too.
  • Part IX: Carter’s Oil Crisis – Of all the errors Jimmy Carter committed, none has earned him more well-justified scorn than his handling of the 1970s energy crisis. True enough, he didn’t cause it. But he did make it much, much worse.
  • Part X: Carrying Over Carter’s Ineptitude – In 1976, Americans thought they were sending an outsider to the White House. Today, the same policies so thoroughly discredited by Jimmy Carter’s disastrous presidency define the Democratic Party.

So there you have it: The definitive chronicle of Jimmy Carter’s rotten presidential record. You may want to bookmark this page for future reference, just in case you encounter someone who doesn’t realize just how bad Carter really was. And the next time one of your conservative friends swears that Barack Obama is the worst president in history, you can send them this post and say, “Maybe he’s not the worst — yet.”

Of course, Obama’s still got another 20 months remaining in office, so he might hold the uncontested title soon enough.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers!


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Category: Barack Obama, History, Jimmy Carter

Comments

  • http://randysroundtable.blogspot.com/ Randy G

    Too bad so many either were not around when the “peanut” man was, or have forgotten just how bad a President he was. I lost what I thought was my career job under Jimmy, and I will never forget that a$$head and his policies!

  • Anonymous

    Every time he opens his yap, all I can think is “More mush from the wimp!”

  • Anonymous

    One of the reasons Carter is so well remembered as worst president is because he insists on reminding us by the worst ex-president.
     Taking into account the technological advances that will enable us to relive all the joys of O’Sputnik’s regime while extrapolating his probable actions out from Jan 2013. Just imagine for a moment how the defeated Incumbent (not to mention his wife) will react to the ultimate rejection of everything he is and stands for. I submit that as soon as he leaves office most objective observers will consider O’Sputnik not merely the worst president but in the same spirit and logic that earned him his Nobel prize the worst ex-president starting Jan. 21, 2013  

  • Anonymous

    Slight quibble with your assertion in the second paragraph that “One of the reasons, I believe, that so many younger voters supported
    Obama in 2008 is that no one under 30 could remember how genuinely awful
    the Carter presidency was”. Reality is (and yes it makes me feel older to note this) I doubt anyone under 40 could remember how awful Carter was. Especially since, with a mostly complicit media, younger voters only remember him as that religious president who built home for poor people. If Carter was a Republican any stories about him in the years after leaving office would highlight the warts. Since he was a Dem you hardly ever hear mention of his failures and his near pathological dishonesty. I think Bob Novak was one of the few to make a real issue of Carter’s blatant dishonesty. Most others if they would mention Carter’s policy failing would gloss them over with a “He means well” line of BS. 

  • http://pumping-irony.livejournal.com/ Wilbur Post

    What the hell is it about Democrat ex-presidents that they simply can’t shut the hell up and get the hell off the stage like a normal human being would?  Ford, Nixon, Reagan, both Bushes – all had the simple humility and grace to say “OK, my time is up, it’s someone else’s time in the spotlight.”  And they all left the stage, rarely criticizing the next guy, even though they were often themselves criticized (this means you, Bushbasher Obama!)  and allowing their respect for the office to take precedence over their personal reputations.  But the Democrats?  Well, Clinton is just chronically narcissistic and can’t stand being out of the spotlight.  Carter is just an a**hole – he’s determined to “prove” to everybody what a big mistake we made in booting his useless ass out in favor of Reagan, but the more he talks the more he makes the opposite case.   His self-rightouesness is pathetic.  He is an embarrassment with his butt-kissing of every two-bit left wing dictator on the planet.  Jimmy Peanuts may or may not be the worst president ever but he sure as hell the worst ex-president we’ve ever had. 

  • Anonymous

    Good points. I grew up in the 80s and I would hear from friends of the family that Carter was the worst ever president. But when they discussed his legacy on MSM, they’d imply that he was underappreciated, his policies misunderstood, a victim of random economic trends, etc., and of course they would celebrate his allegedly wonderful accomplishments as an ex-president.

    Your comments also raise an interesting question: Is Obama already the most dishonest president in American history? It seems like Obama will be competing with Carter in a variety of other, lesser dog show categories, not just “Worst in Show” . . . most dishonest, most yippy, etc.   

  • Raoul Ortega

    Let’s not let our own last of historic perspective blind us. The worst president was earlier that Carter, but he was a Democrat. When the Democrats lost an election, they tried to secede and start their own country, and Democrat James Buchanan did nothing to try and stop them or even slow them down.

    And another candidate for “worst” is also a Democrat, one Thomas Woodrow Wilson, who lied us into a war and then tried to set up a police state in support of it. One that Republican Harding had to tear down, which is why our “Progressive” intellegencia always tried to paint him as incompetent and corrupt.

  • Joe

    A very close race. 

    To his credit, President Obama is much better on foriegn policy than President Carter.  That is not saying a lot, President Obama is not that great on foriegn policy, but Carter was that bad.  Perhaps the worse ever. 

    But Obama let Pelois and Reid go insane on spending and that will prove to be one of the worse decisions ever (from a fiscal perspective).   And health care reform destruction will live in infamy if it gets implemented. 

  • http://twitter.com/DaTechGuyblog Peter Ingemi

    I think the successful  raid on Bin Laden cements Obama as over Carter.

    Then again never say never

  • Anonymous

    Carter is also responsible for the disaster that is Zimbabwe–his administration gave that country Mugabe. On the the other hand, he did appoint Paul Volcker to the Chairmanship of the Fed, and Volcker, more than anyone else, deserves credit for stopping the inflation of the 1970s. And Carter also began the process of deregulation that Reagan continued. So though he had a lot of negatives, there were some positives. I keep searching for similar positives with Obama and cannot find them. When the full extent of the damage he has done is finally appreciated, Obama will be ranked lower than Carter. However, he will still finish above Herbert Hoover, the man who tried, much as Obama is trying, to grow the government to get us out of recession.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WXDRTRY6KKQATXCBOMAR5VW5UM Bill Heacox

    Technically true, Peter. The problem is Obama merely was along for the ride- people smarter and better than him set the killing up, then pulled it off. The Jug-Eared Marxist had to be cajoled, wheedled, begged, and, if the reports are true, finally simply ignored when the orders came down in his name. That crass, indecisive fuck had to mull it over for a final 16 hours- a decision you or I or Stacy or almost anyone else here could have made in under 5 seconds.

    Consequently, I have a newfound respect for Leon Panetta. He’s the reason why Obama didn’t choke on this.

    Sorry- didn’t mean to rant at you.

  • Castor River

     A man died and went to heaven. As he stood in front of the pearly gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him. He asked “What are those clocks?”St Peter Answered “Those are lie-clocks. Everyone who has ever been on earth has a lie-clock. Every time you lie, the hands on your clock move”.Oh, said the man “Whose clock is that?”“That is mother Teresa’s “, replied St Peter. “The hands have never moved, indicating that she has never told a lie”.“Incredible”, said the man. “Whose clock is that one?”St Peter responded.. “That is Abraham Lincoln’s clock, the hands have moved twice, telling us that Abraham told only two lies in his entire life”.“Where is Barack Obama’s clock?” asked the man.St Peter replied. “Jesus has it in his office. He uses it as a ceiling fan”A man died and went to heaven. As he stood in front of the pearly gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him. He asked “What are those clocks?”St Peter Answered “Those are lie-clocks. Everyone who has ever been on earth has a lie-clock. Every time you lie, the hands on your clock move”.Oh, said the man “Whose clock is that?”“That is mother Teresa’s “, replied St Peter. “The hands have never moved, indicating that she has never told a lie”.“Incredible”, said the man. “Whose clock is that one?”St Peter responded.. “That is Abraham Lincoln’s clock, the hands have moved twice, telling us that Abraham told only two lies in his entire life”.“Where is Barack Obama’s clock?” asked the man.St Peter replied. “Jesus has it in his office. He uses it as a ceiling fan”

  • JeffS

    Jimmah is the very, very bad President.

    Obama is the very, very socialist President.

  • http://www.leftbankofthecharles.com Charles

    I grew up in a small Iowa farming town, and remember the Carter years in the late 1970s as a time of prosperity and innovation. At the time, Carter was severely criticised for the Panama canal treaty, but that has turned out all right. Bin Laden went to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. The blame America first crowd wants to credit the U.S. for creating Al Qaeda, but it was the fault of the Soviets.

    We don’t know what would have happened had Carter been given a second term in 1980. Certainly the period 1980 to 1986 was very, very hard on my very Republican hometown with Reagan as President.

  • Joe

    I suspect Leon and Hillary told Barack if he did not go for this, they would go to the press.   

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FJCKT4POV7F5OJ5S6E5QFV7TYY Jay

     Apparently, your “small Iowa farming town” didn’t use money, so it wasn’t affected by double digit inflation.  Or gasoline, so you didn’t have to worry about gas lines.  How about double digit unemployment?  Or was it too small to have any jobs?  How did the Iranian revolution turn out?  Is it better to have an Islamic revolutionary government in power?

    I’m sure that the disinflation and economic growth under Reagan was a real tragedy.  And the end of the Soviet Union must have been a crushing blow.

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  • Mountjoyjw

     Charles — Your comment that Teh Jemmeh’s giveaway of the Panama canal has not hurt us would be accurate if it has the suffix “yet” appended to it.  Panama has given control of the canal’s day-to-day operations to red China — trust that this WILL hurt us, if and when china ever wants it to.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WXDRTRY6KKQATXCBOMAR5VW5UM Bill Heacox

     

    At the time, Carter was severely criticised for the Panama canal treaty, but that has turned out all right.

    You’re sure about that, Charles? You do know that the Chinese government now owns the only accessable shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, right?  

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WXDRTRY6KKQATXCBOMAR5VW5UM Bill Heacox

    I’m going to say there’s likely more truth to that than we’ll ever know, Joe.  

  • http://noahware.blogspot.com/ Noah Bawdy

     Thank you so much for taking the time to pull this out from the Wayback Machine. I have told youngsters how horrid the Carter Administration was and listed dozens of these items. It’s nice to have a place that puts them all in a glaring light.Wayback Machine. I have told youngsters how horrid the Carter Administration was and listed dozens of these items. It’s nice to have a place that puts them all in a glaring light.

  • johnl

    Carter was responsible for the beginning of airline deregulation and the legalization of homebrewing. Stacey you are old enough to remember when Canada and Mexico had better beer than USA, but now, we have Stone, Sam Adams, Anchor, … He’s had some unfortunate outbursts since leaving office. But to his time in office, he is better than any Democrat since Cleveland. 

    And one of the most calamitous aspects of this engineer from Georgia’s presidency had to do with his harebrained schemes for energy independence. Your man Cain, also an engineer from Georgia, also talks about energy independence. Can you explain how Cain is different from Carter in this respect?

  • Joe

    Okay, I will give him homebrewing.   But that is because drinking was the only way to get through the Carter years.   Which is really sad given I was in grammar school when he was president. 

  • Steve in MT

    The difference between the two is that Jimmah was a hyper moralizing but foreign policy ignorant technocrat that couldn’t let anyone in the country make a decision without his approval.  The man used to decide who got to use the WH tennis courts for Pete’s sake.
    The Marxist in Mom Jeans doesn’t like to make decisions, but loves to campaign, which is his specialty.  During the next 18 months, Obama’s attacks on strawmen Republicans will make the Seal Team Six action look like a camp out in the backyard.   Actually accomplishing anything but getting elected is beyond his interest.

  • http://www.facebook.com/edward.nutter Edward Nutter

    Granted that Carter is a tough act to follow if you’re racing to the bottom. However Carter was facing the massively conventionally armed and nuclear Soviet Union.  Obama is facing Iran, a bit player in the earlier drama.  And Obama is trying his level best to exceed Carter in creating his own energy crisis despite technology that enables the U.S. to equal the Middle East in energy production.

  • Anonymous

     That has to be one of the greatest lines of all time!

  • Anonymous

     Let’s just say Carter was the worst president in the memory of most living Americans and be done with it.

  • Anonymous

     Funny!

  • Bill Johnson

     well, yeah, but helicopters crashed in both instances…

  • http://twitter.com/ajroo alec russo

    Im afraid the killing of OBL will give our left wing history writers a success to tribute to Obama no matter how big a failure the rest of his Presidency becomes.  The attempt to salvage Obama’s image in the wake of a loss in 2012 will center around that victory no matter that he stumbled backwards into it while using Bush’s policies which he has vilified since day one.

    Unless something beyond embarrassing happens, Obama will never reach the depths of Carter’s reputation black hole.  The economic failures are a wash but Obama succeeded where Carter failed miserably.   Obama presided over a military raid that killed the most wanted man on the planet, while Carter sat as the military imploded in the desert on his watch.

    Obama will always have that one success, and the lefties will never let us forget it.

  • http://www.leftbankofthecharles.com Charles

    Nope, no gas lines or double digit unemployment. I do remember the Nixon’s price controls and Ford’s whip inflation now WIN buttons.

  • http://www.leftbankofthecharles.com Charles

    Global warming will open another shortcut.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_WXDRTRY6KKQATXCBOMAR5VW5UM Bill Heacox

    That’s your answer? You can’t refute me or make your argument stand, so you’re going to go the petulant child route?

    Dude, if you want to tell me Carter was the best thing since sliced bread, why not simply say so and get it over with. I mean, seriously, Charles- this crap along with your other replies to other posters has pretty much outed you as not very serious in your thoughts on politics. I’m quite sure you would be a bit more comfortable on DU or Kos. There you could expound on your desire for Carter II, and no one would bat an eyelash. You might even find new and exciting ways to ward off killer rabbits.   

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