I can remember when Jimmy Carter was president. I was in high school at the time
and politics were not on my mind. But when I joined the military in 1982, you could still
feel the effects of his presidency. I’m not saying that it was bad, but could have been
better.
What the American people want in a president is a leader, someone who is not afraid
but confidant, someone who is not a failure but a winner. Americans love winners.
President Carter is said to be an honest, moral, and religious man, something most
Americans admire in a person but think a politician cannot have. In a way, that could be
one of the reasons he was listed as a failure even though he wasn’t. He is responsible for
the Camp David Accords, SALT II Treaty, Panama Canal Treaty, Egyptian-Israeli
Treaty, and an EPA program. With these programs, why was this man considered a
failure?
When Jimmy Carter became president, he was considered an outsider. He was a one
term governor from Georgia that nobody really knew, maybe that’s what appealed to the
voters. Somebody who was not a career politician, a fresh face in Washington at the time.
One of his problems is that he did not try to make friends with congress, either as a whole
or individually. He surrounded himself with people he knew, mostly from Georgia, and
not with people who could help guide him through the “corridors” of Washington. What
President Carter needed to do was at least meet with the people who would work with or
against him, this way everybody knew where they stood with each other. Because he did
not do this, he had nobody to call on for support when it was needed.
When he took over from President Ford, he inherited a mess. The Cold War was in
full swing and it appeared that we were losing it to the USSR. South Vietnam had fallen
the year before and the Communists were stronger that ever. President Carter did not
seem to be anti-communist enough to suit congress. During his term Americans were
taken hostage by Iranians. By his not doing anything at the time was construed as
weakness. A little country had taken us on and was winning, holding us at bay. This did
not appeal to the American public. When the rescue mission ended in disaster, he was the
one who told the media. He was then seen as a failure because he connected himself with
it. That is not a bad thing, in fact, it’s admirable, but the people want a winner. I do
remember when President Carter spoke to the public about the failed mission, and the
expression on his face would scare you, like everything was not OK. What we needed at
the time was an expression of determination, that everything was fine, we would make it
through this crisis. What was needed at the time was a strong leader, something that he
did not seem to be.
The one thing that I remember most when Reagan became president was the releasing
of the hostages in Iran. President Reagan got accomplished in one day what President
Carter could not do for over a year. That was seen as a winner to the Americans.
President Reagan made you feel good to be an American. This was something that hadn’t
happened since Kennedy. It was finally cool to show your patriotism. This was
something President Carter did not achieve. President Reagan seemed to fit in the office
of chief executive. He was very confident not only in his abilities, but the abilities of the
American people. What is ironic is that President Carter was a graduate of the Naval
Academy and President Reagan did not serve a day in the military. It goes to show that
leaders are born not made.
Looking back over the presidents we have had since the 1930’s, with the exception of
Reagan, the most influential presidents have been FDR, Truman, and Clinton. FDR took
over when the country was going through hard times because of the depression. He
founded the CCC to give people jobs so they could get out of the bread lines and back to
work. Then WW II came to us. Although we, as a country, did not want war, he helped
Britain, Russia, and China against the onslaught of the axis powers. It seemed as if he
knew it was inevitable that we were going to be directly involved whether we wanted to
or not.
The next most influential president would be Truman, not because of his leadership
abilities, but because he put us and the world into the nuclear age. He was also the first
president to be involved in the cold war. During this time there was the Berlin Airlift that
was seen as a victory, not only for us but for free Germany. The Korean conflict was
during his time also. Although not listed as a loss, it cannot be a victory.
The next president that I find influential would be Clinton, not because of what he was
but what he wasn’t. He was not a moral or honest man. I really lost respect for the man
when, after being caught having an affair in office, he lied to us. I would have had more
respect for him if he would have just told the truth. The reason I find him influential is
because he showed us what the presidency should stand for and not what it had become.
Whether he liked it or not, the office of the president should be one of dignity and pride
not one to be squandered off to the highest contributor. I had spent 10 years in the
military when he became president. After making sweeping reforms, a lot of us decided
to get out. The reasons are too many to list here, but the main one is that the military
cannot be used for social change. It has to be gradual. I gave the man a chance but at 12
years I got out.
For a president to be successful, he has to be a born leader, someone people will
follow through during the tough times as well as the good. Will history be kind to Carter?
I think so. For all his perceived failures, he was still a good president. He just didn’t have
what it took to be a born leader, that was his one downfall.