The Under- and Over-Estimated Jimmy Carter, RIP

[corbe]

The Under- and Over-Estimated Jimmy Carter, RIP

Posted on December 29, 2024 by Steven Hayward in Jimmy Carter


 
The public appearance last fall of a senile Jimmy Carter was one of the worst cases of public elder abuse I’ve ever seen. It was ghoulish of his family to wheel him out in such an undignified condition in service of a political stunt on behalf of the Democratic Party, even if Carter wanted to bask in the glow of knowing that soon he would no longer be regarded as America’s worst modern president after Joe Biden’s ignominious end.

I generally disdain speaking ill of the recently departed, and there are some aspects of real genius to the Carter story, especially his insight into how an obscure figure could rise fast and win the presidency out of the ashes of Watergate in 1976. And we can expect a flood of encomiums in the days ahead about how Carter was an unappreciated president, and above all that he was America’s greatest ex-president.

In fact this story line has been taking shape for at least 25 years now. As disastrous as his presidency was, many Americans came to have a warm spot in their heart for Carter, sympathizing with his intentions, admiring his good works such as Habitat for Humanity, fighting to eradicate horrible diseases in the Third World, and hopeful about his globetrotting efforts on behalf of peace.  People magazine, which Carter criticized during his presidency for its focus on self-absorbed celebrity, wrote about him 20 years ago: “Almost everyone agrees that Jimmy Carter was not our best President, but as former Presidents go, he’s tops,” while Time magazine wrote that Carter is the “consensus best ex-President.” Carter’s former chief of staff Jack Watson remarked effusively that Carter is “the only man in American history who used the United States presidency as a stepping-stone to greatness.” Howard Baker said in the 1980s that “history will be kind to Jimmy Carter.”

<..snip..>

https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/12/the-under-and-over-estimated-jimmy-carter-rip.php

[Hoodat]

Racist POS.

[Cyber Liberty]

As former President, he repeatedly trashed Israel as "an Apartheid Country."  It was not, and is not anything like S. Africa.

[mountaineer]

If you hear one thing more than another, it's that Jimmy Carter was such a good Christian (so much better than Reagan!). The formerly evangelical, now very much left-leaning Christianity Today magazine has taken that approach. This fellow disagrees:

John G. West
@JGWestDI
I was going to stay silent about the passing of Jimmy Carter, but reading the Christianity Today article was too much. I wish the best for Carter’s grieving family, and Carter should be lauded for his humanitarian efforts, his efforts to bring about peace in the Middle East, and for what I take was his sincere (if liberal) faith. But CT’s exercise in hagiography further destroys its reputation as a serious publication for evangelical Christians.  A partial rundown:

(1) Ronald Reagan was divorced once, not twice, like the CT article claims. This is a pretty basic fact. You'd think the author (a professor at a Christian university) or a CT editor would have caught this error. Yes, this might seem a minor mistake. But in context, it’s part of a more egregious misrepresentation. The point of drawing attention to Reagan’s divorce was to slam evangelical voters for trading in the saintly Carter for the supposedly far less devout and loose-living Reagan. This is a common trope voiced by left-wing evangelicals, but it happens to be FALSE. We now know, thanks to the work of scholars like Paul Kengor, that Reagan was a pretty serious evangelical Christian in his personal life. Not that I think Christians should pick politicians based mainly on personal devoutness. I don't. They should pick politicians primarily based on their policies. But the insinuation  that Reagan was not a serious Christian (unlike Carter) is untrue.

(2) The article suggests that Carter’s disastrous presidency was foisted on him by outside events over which he could do nothing. Again, this is a standard talking point by the left. But it’s highly debatable. Anyone who knows how Carter facilitated the Islamists to take over Iran, or how his weak foreign policy emboldened Soviet aggression, will realize that his disastrous presidency had a lot to do with his own policies.

(3) Although the article glancingly mentions the White House Conference on Families, it doesn’t do much at all to help people understand why evangelicals were so upset about this event. Among other things, the Conference offered a redefinition of “family” that is incompatible with Christian teaching. I might also mention that Carter appointed some extreme cultural progressives to the courts. That was another reason theologically conservative evangelicals were upset with him.

(4) The article talks early on about Carter's conservative theology. Yet not one word is spend discussing his promotion of gay marriage much more recently. Why? By the end of his life, Carter definitely did not embrace a conservative theology. But I guess delving into that wouldn't fit the narrative that CT wants to offer. So it was suppressed.

It’s appropriate to laud Carter for the good things he did, especially at  the time of his passing. But a serious Christian publication would have offered something more serious than this worshipful piece.

One reason it’s important to talk about Carter’s real record is because his rise to fame and power is symptomatic of an unhealthy strand in evangelical Christianity even today. Many evangelicals embrace public figures who wear their faith on their sleeve, paying almost no attention to their actual policy views and actions. When Christians do that, they get politicians and public officials like Jimmy Carter... or, more recently, Francis Collins. In my upcoming book Stockholm Syndrome Christianity (out Feb. 3), I discuss how damaging this has been for our culture and for Christianity. But it won’t stop unless people recognize it is a problem.
9:02 PM · Dec 29, 2024

Link to the article at Christianity Today, Died: President Jimmy Carter, Politician, Peanut Farmer, and Christian

[mountaineer]

Ouch!

https://twitter.com/lordbuckly/status/1873783239602819091

[Free Vulcan]

In fact this story line has been taking shape for at least 25 years now. As disastrous as his presidency was, many Americans came to have a warm spot in their heart for Carter, sympathizing with his intentions, admiring his good works such as Habitat for Humanity, fighting to eradicate horrible diseases in the Third World, and hopeful about his globetrotting efforts on behalf of peace.

And that right there, today, is 90% of what's wrong with America today. 'Awww look at the precious kittehs and puppehs!'

It's called human shielding, using 'Oh my heart!' emotive crap to cover whatever garbage you're trying to get away with, delivered with a smile and genial attitude. And American seem to fall for it almost every time.

Polishing the turd still makes it a turd.

[Hoodat]

Two birds of a feather.

[Free Vulcan]

And let's never forget Carter's instrumental hand in turning Rhodesia into Zimbabwe.

[Hoodat]

And let's never forget Carter's instrumental hand in turning Rhodesia into Zimbabwe.

And handing Angola over to the Cubans.

[libertybele]

Honestly, I was pretty young when he was president and didn't pay much attention to politics.  I remember newscasts about his humanitarian efforts.  However, I also remember inflation or stagflation, whatever they called it and double digit interest rates.   

[mountaineer]

Sunny
@sunnyright
Here's Jimmy Carter issuing a statement of condolences for Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.

"we have never doubted Hugo Chávez's commitment to improving the lives of millions of his fellow countrymen."

"Chávez will be remembered for his bold assertion of autonomy and independence for Latin American governments and for his formidable communication skills and personal connection with supporters in his country and abroad to whom he gave hope and empowerment."

https://cartercenter.org/news/pr/hugo-chavez-030513.html
9:42 AM · Dec 30, 2024

[mountaineer]

David M Friedman
@DavidM_Friedman
Carter’s failure to confront radical Islamism cost him a second term. After he left office, he continued to support radical Islamists, including those seeking to destroy Israel. His appeasement of evil led to the disastrous rise of the Iranian Ayatollah — in the immediate term resulting in 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days until Reagan’s inauguration, and in the long term bringing us five decades of terror around the world.
10:45 PM · Dec 29, 2024

Lizzy Savetsky
@LizzySavetsky
I’ll just leave this here.
RIP President Carter. I have the utmost respect for the office of the American Presidency and I wish his family peace. Unfortunately, how Jimmy Carter treated Israel is unforgivable. Here he is, embracing Hamas leader, Ismail Haniya in 2009.

6:09 PM · Dec 29, 2024

[mountaineer]

Scott Jennings stated on CNN: “In the run up to the Persian Gulf War, [Jimmy Carter] wrote letters, to all of our allies, and to Arab States, asking them to abandon their cooperation and coalition with the USA.. if it’s not treasonous, it’s borderline treasonous.”

https://twitter.com/SteveGuest/status/1873946919552364754