William Shanley: Jimmy Carter Discusses His Presidency (1983)

Source:The New Democrat

I'm not going to try to make the case that Jimmy Carter was a great president, or one of our best president's, because he clearly wasn't. I have a lot of respect for Jimmy Carter as a man and even to a certain extent for him as president. But he had so much on his plate when he came into the White House in 1977 and that just grew with the economy going down and even into recession in 1979-80 and with everything that came up in foreign affairs, that I'm not sure anyone would've been very successful as president in just four years on those issues.

A big reason why Jimmy Carter was elected President of the United States in 1976 was because he was an outsider. Washington was very unpopular in the mid 1970s with Congress and the Federal Government more broadly because of Watergate and the gridlock that was going on. And here comes this Washington outsider who had never worked or served in Washington, who was a successful Governor of Georgia who had a lot of appeal because he was an outsider. And who ran as someone who would always tell the truth and would always do what he believes was right.

The fact that Jimmy Carter was such a complete outsider to Washington I believe was part of his downfall. It was not just that he was an outsider, but most of his White House staff except for a few including his Vice President Walter Mondale were outsiders as well. People with little to no experience in how the Federal Government works and how Congress works. And not knowing how to deal with Congress. One of President Carter's classic mistakes was when he ran against Congress as President as someone who would take on Congress.

The Problem with that strategy was that his own party controlled Congress both the House and Senate and with big majorities in both chambers. And he needed to be able to work with his own party to get his policies enacted. He not only ran against Congress, but he was a liberal New Democrat back in the late 1970s when that didn't become popular until the early 1990s, dealing with a progressive New Deal/Great Society Democratic Congress that wanted to expand the safety net in America. And go back to the 1960s economically.

Jimmy Carter is one of those classic examples as someone who would've done much better as President had he had some real experience in Washington before he became President. George W. Bush falls into this category as well. But had Carter served in Congress before the White House in either chamber or both chambers and then went back to Georgia to run his business and serve as Governor before he became President. Or served in the executive branch like in the cabinet or a combination of both executive experience at the Federal level and Congressional experience before going back to Georgia he would've had the experience to do much better as President.

I see Jimmy Carter as an underrated President because of his success's in foreign policy as it did with the nuclear arms agreement with Russia. His dealings with China, the Middle East peace agreement with Egypt and Israel, the Panama Canal Treaty, keeping America out of war as President, making human rights the priority of his foreign policy which contributed to the opposition in Eastern Europe gaining strength and being able to take on the authoritarian regimes in Eastern Europe. And with energy policy in trying to move America off of foreign oil. So I would give President Carter a B or perhaps even a B+ as President, but not one of our great president's.

ABC News: Iran Hostage Crisis: 11/11/1979

Source:ABC News- One of the American hostages in Iran. 

"The U.S. embassy in Tehran was stormed by students, protestors on November 4, 1979, trapping and holding dozens of people inside."

From ABC News

What a year and what a way to close out 1979 with a group of Americans being taken hostage in a third-world country in the Middle East.

If I had to guess the worst year in Jimmy Carter's life whether it was in politics, or out of politics. With the economy basically crashing and stagnating with a high combination of high interest rates and inflation. With high unemployment, with those things basically wiping out whatever the economy did as far as economic growth. And then you throw in an energy crisis with a high cost of living. The economic problems that America were facing in the late 1970s actually started in 1978 rather than 1979.

But it's 1979 when they came into full force even leading into a recession. It was just one huge problem after another for the Carter Administration and perhaps too much for any President or administration to deal with especially all at once.

But 1979 and the Iranian Hostage Crisis was great for ABC News. It is where they truly became a national news division that could compete with both CBS News and NBC News. 

You can also see this post at The Daily Press, on Blogger.

ABC News: 'Iran Hostage Crisis 1979 (ABC News Report From 12/3/1979)'

Source:ABC News- James E. Carter (Democrat, Georgia) President of the United States (1977-81)

"30 days into the hostage crisis, U.S. tries to get the shah out of America." 

Source:ABC News

The 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis made ABC News. Similar to how Monday Night Football and perhaps Monday Night Baseball and all of their great college football coverage starting in the 1970s, made ABC Sports. 

Frank Reynolds, Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel, even though they were all very good at their jobs pre-1979, became national network stars for ABC and not just ABC News, because of their great coverage of this story. The Iranian Hostage Crisis, which I believe at least believe was the unofficial start of the so-called War on Terror. They had special reports on this story every night at least early on the story. That show later becomes Nightline with Ted Koppel. Which with him is one of the best news shows of all-time. Too bad it was only a half-hour. 

I don't think you can blame ABC News for Jimmy Carter losing reelection in 1980. But the fact that they dedicated so much of their coverage and resources to a story about American hostages being held hostage halfway around the world by Islamic Theocratic terrorists certainly didn't help President Carter. Because millions of Americans watched ABC News every night to get the latest news on that story especially if one of their relatives was being held hostage. And they were right cover that story as tightly and closely as they did. Because it was almost as if America was at war with Iran to free our people from there and to bring them home. And you had the relatives of these hostages constantly worried about the health and safety of their relatives that were being held. 

You can also see this post at The Daily Press, on Blogger.

Al Jazeera: 'Operation Eagle Claw's Anniversary'

Source:Al Jazeera- Barry Rosen was one of the American hostages that was held by the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979-80.

"It has been 30 years since the US undertook Operation Eagle Claw - a failed military mission to rescue 52 diplomats and embassy staff taken hostage in Iran.

About 90 commandoes, eight helicopters and six aircraft landed in the Iranian desert on the first stage of the mission, but an accident resulted in the deaths of eight soldiers and it was called off.

The hostage crisis lasted for another year after "divine intervention", as some Iranians say, stopped Eagle Claw. 

The anniversary comes amid rising tensions between the US and Iran. 

Al Jazeera Alireza Ronaghi reports from Tehran."

From Al Jazeera 

"Al Jazeera (Arabic: الجزيرة, romanized: al-jazīrah, IPA: [æl (d)ʒæˈziːrɐ], "The Peninsula")[3] is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera Media Network. The flagship of the network, its station identification, is Al Jazeera.

The patent holding is a "private foundation for public benefit" under Qatari law.[4] Under this organizational structure, the parent receives funding from the government of Qatar but maintains its editorial independence.[5][6] In June 2017, the Saudi, Emirati, Bahraini, and Egyptian governments insisted on the closure of the entire conglomerate as one of thirteen demands made to the Government of Qatar during the Qatar diplomatic crisis.[citation needed] The channel has been criticised by some organisations as well as nations such as Saudi Arabia for being "Qatari propaganda"

From Wikipedia

"Operation Eagle Claw, known as Operation Tabas (Persian: عملیات طبس) in Iran,[1] was a failed operation by the United States Armed Forces ordered by U.S. President Jimmy Carter to attempt the rescue of 52 embassy staff held captive at the Embassy of the United States, Tehran on 24 April 1980.

The operation, one of Delta Force's first,[2] encountered many obstacles and failures and was subsequently aborted. Eight helicopters were sent to the first staging area called Desert One, but only five arrived in operational condition.[3] One had encountered hydraulic problems, another was caught in a sand storm, and the third showed signs of a cracked rotor blade. During the operational planning, it was decided that the mission would be aborted if fewer than six helicopters remained operational, despite only four being absolutely necessary.[3] In a move that is still discussed in military circles, the field commanders advised President Carter to abort the mission, which he did.[4]

As the U.S. forces prepared to withdraw from Desert One, one of the remaining helicopters crashed into a transport aircraft that contained both servicemen and jet fuel. The resulting fire destroyed both aircraft and killed eight servicemen.[3]

In the context of the Iranian Revolution, Iran's new leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, stated that the mission had been stopped by an act of God ("angels of God") who had foiled the U.S. mission in order to protect Iran and his new Islamist government. In turn, Carter blamed his loss in the 1980 U.S. presidential election mainly on his failure to secure the release of the hostages.[5] The American hostages were released shortly after Reagan's inauguration." 

Source:Wikipedia- with a look at the 1979-90 Iranian Hostage Crisis.

From Wikipedia 

This rescue attempt not working was a disaster for the Carter Administration for a few reasons: 

One, it showed that they were not prepared and weren't sure who they were dealing with and the area they were dealing with to have a helicopter crash like that, because it lacked the fuel and that they were simply just weak even compared with a group of Islamic terrorist thugs holding a group of American diplomats. And keeping the greatest superpower in the world in crisis mode like that. Seeming not to know what to do and how to handle the situation. To go on top of a  pretty bad economy, the worst economy since the Great Depression.

With high unemployment, high prices, high interest rates and inflation, an energy shortage, America was already in bad shape economically and didn't need anything else to go on top of what they were already going through. The Iranian Hostage Crisis along with the bad economy would be something that Ronald Reagan and Congressional Republicans as well as the Republican National Committee would be able to use against President Carter and Congressional Democrats for the entire 1980 campaign, because the hostages weren't coming home before the general elections. 

I do give credit to President Carter for simply attempting the mission and looking for ways to quickly free the American hostages. One of those A for effort decisions. But an F as far as how the mission was planned and executed.  

You can also see this post at The Daily Press, on Blogger.

Samuel Wilson: Jimmy Carter vs Gerald Ford Presidential Debate (October 22, 1976)

Source:Samuel Wilson- Governor James E. Carter (Democrat, Georgia) debating President Gerald R. Ford (Republican, Michigan) for the presidency in 1976.

"1976 Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford Presidential Debate #3 Oct 22" 

From Samuel Wilson

I don't think you can say that this presidential debate was a blowout either way. Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford I believe were both very sharp (for the most part) and showed they were in command of the issues during this debate. 

To use a sports analogy: imagine a heavyweight championship fight where it's even for the 1st 11 rounds and then the champion makes a big mistake, a self-inflicted wound, lets his guard down for a second and get clobbered for that. That's what happened when he was asked about Eastern Europe and the non-Russian Slavic states over there like Poland, where he basically said that there would be no Soviet control on Eastern Europe during a Ford Administration. When the fact is and President Ford knew this, that Eastern Europe west of Russia, were essentially satellite states of the Soviet Union. Not Russian republics, but they were heavily dependent on Russia for their survival, like Poland and Czechoslovakia. 

America Experience: The President's- Jimmy Carter

Source:American Experience- Jimmy Carter.

Source:The Daily Press

"Jimmy Carter's story is one of the greatest dramas in American politics. In 1980, he was overwhelmingly voted out of office in a humiliating defeat. Over the subsequent two decades, he became one of the most admired statesmen and humanitarians in America and the world. Through interviews with the people who know him best, Jimmy Carter traces his rapid ascent in politics, dramatic fall from grace and unexpected resurrection, including Carter family home movies and a rare film sequence of Carter's final hours in the Oval Office, when he and his advisors waited in vain for the release of the Americans who had been held hostage in Tehran for 444 days.

Carter was the first president to confront the challenge of militant Islam, then embodied by the Ayatollah Khomeini, leader of the Iranian revolution. Carter was also the first president to embark on what would prove to be the excruciating road to peace in the Middle East. But in the end, his presidency was undone by his failure to secure the hostages' release and by a plummeting economy. Yet the memories of his presidency — gas lines, inflation, recession, the Iran hostage crisis, an ineffectual and fractured administration, and the so-called national malaise — would be eclipsed, finally, by his post-presidential successes as a peacemaker in the world's most troubled areas, and his emergence as a champion for the poor in his own country." 

From American Experience 

"American Experience: Jimmy Carter. Airs Tuesday, June 25th at 8pm on PBS 6." 

Source:Arizona Public Media- American Experience Jimmy Carter.

From Arizona Public Media 

Had it not have been for 1974 and the Watergate scandal, Jimmy Carter doesn’t get elected President of the United States, at least in 1976. He probably runs for reelection for Governor of Georgia in 1974 and probably gets reelected and waits for 1980. And looks at his options then. Jimmy Carter, basically was in a time that was perfect for someone like him, after Watergate and President Nixon resigning in 1974. Americans were looking for decent honest person to lead the country.

Gerry Ford was, a good, honest man, but American voters were also looking for an outsider and a new voice that was not from Washington. Not a cabinet official, or someone in Congress, but a breath of fresh air, someone who wasn’t an elitist and someone who spoke their mind and could take the country on a different course. And perhaps end the gridlock in Washington and to a certain extent. That’s what President Carter brought to Washington. He was able to pass a lot of legislation out of Congress.

Yes, President Carter, had a Democratic Congress with large majorities, including a 3-5 majority in the Senate his first two years. But he was also able to get a lot of Congressional Republicans to vote for his legislation, because he worked with the Republican Leadership in the House and Senate. He probably actually had more Republican allies in Congress, than Democratic allies. He had problems with Congressional Democrats. The Democratic Party in Congress (especially in the House) was not the Democratic Party that John F. Kennedy had in the early 1960s. 

National Democrats were moving way to the left and looking more for a George McGovern Democrat, than a Center-Left Democrat (which is what Jimmy Carter was) to lead them. Which made it difficult for President Carter to work with his own party in and outside of Washington. 

Former Senate Republican Leader Robert Dole (Republican, Kansas) said that Jimmy Carter was the smartest President that he ever served with. Senator Dole was in Congress during the entire Carter Presidency and served as Ranking Member of the Finance Committee during that time, but the reason why Senator Dole became Chairman of the Finance Committee in 1981, is because Ronald Reagan defeated President Carter and Republicans win back the Senate in 1980. 

Jimmy Carter had a great feel for policy and issues and was very intelligent, but he didn't have much a political touch and vision to take the country in. He was better suited running a cabinet department, than leading an entire administration and country in a certain direction.

History Day: 'Iran Hostage Crisis Documentary 4th in State'

Source:History Day- James E. Carter (Democrat, Georgia) President of the United States (1977-81) 

Source:The Daily Press

“The Iran Hostage Crisis: Successes and Failures of American Diplomacy

individual documentary

junior division”

From History Day 

What a crazy time for America and Iran. The Iranian people were fed up with their dictatorial authoritarian government that they had in Iran under the Shah that both the United Kingdom and United States backed for almost forty years and even installed in Iran. So what you had was a bunch of Islamic theocratic revolutionaries under Ruhollah Khomeini decided to stand up and the Shah knew he no longer had the authority to lead his country and decided to leave his country. Which left a power shortage in Iran with a new Islamic theocratic government under Supreme Leader Khomeini coming into place.

And because America had backed the Shah for so long and President Jimmy Carter saying that the Shah was such a fine leader and good man for Iran, these Iranian revolutionaries decided to take out their frustration and anger on what was left of American involvement in Iran which was our embassy there. And took about hundred American U.S. embassy employees hostage. Which is how the Iranian hostage crisis started. Which was essentially the end of Jimmy Carter as a strong leader in America, or even having the potential of being a strong leader of the United States. Because now America looked weak compared to a third-world country and was held hostage.