Why did Jimmy Carter accomplish so little during his 4 years as president?

[auditor0007]

Volcker raised interest rates sky high and introduced a deliberate recession to cool inflation (or stagflation).

It was a very bold move and not popular politically.

But it's why the economy took off shortly after Reagan took office.

However unemployment was high as a result. So what did Reagan do? Cut taxes.

That didn't work.

So Reagan raised taxes and started spending like crazy. The government started hiring. And lo and behold, unemployment went down.

It was a "miracle".

Exactly.

Reagan Grew Government More than Any President in My Lifetime

Non Military Government Employees by President

Ronald Reagan
- Started: 2,875,000
- Ended: 3,113,000

Reagan EXPANDED the Federal Workforce by 238,000

Bill Clinton
- Started: 3,083,000
- Ended: 2,703,000

Clinton REDUCED the Federal Workforce by 380,000

George W Bush
- Started: 2,703,000
- Ended: 2,756,000

Bush EXPANDED the Federal Workforce by 53,000

Obama's numbers cannot be tallied yet because he is still in office, but here are some interesting facts.

By the end of 2010, the United States had less employees than we did at the end of Reagan even though the population has grown from 226,545,805 to approximately 330,000,000 in 2010.

REAGAN VERSUS OBAMA
1988 — 3,113,000 

2010— 2,840,000

In his 3rd year Reagan added 1.2 million government employees, which not only improved his employment stats, but it put more spenders/consumers in the economy which prevented main street layoffs.

By contrast Obama laid-off 250,000 government employees during his 3rd year.

(Do you understand the Reagan hoax?)

Reagan created the biggest government this country has ever had. He nearly tripled the size of the carter Government and Carter debt. He was a bigger Keynesian than anyone in my lifetime.

I actually liked Reagan for the most part. I understood he was a pragmatist when it came to governing despite his conservative leanings. What is so humorous is that today's far right wing idolizes him yet they would never vote for him because they would say he is a RINO.

 

[dr.d]

Actually...the Camp David Accords by Carter was the only lasting peace accord by any prez...


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[S.J.]

Bullshit ! he stood up to the Iranians(didn't give them weapons for hostages),stood up to the Soviets(didn't ignore their human right abuses), stood up to OPEC(preached Energy independence, not climbing in bed with the Saudis), he stood up to the Federal Reserve bankers( didn't let Federal bankers rob American taxpayers blind)

None of which can be said about Reagan or Bush.

Bullshit! He got bitch slapped by the Ayatollah, and when The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Carter tried to call Breznev and Breznev wouldn't even come to the phone (the "red phone"). Opec screwed him over too. Carter's answer to that was to put price freezes on gas at the retail level. Idiot! He drove all the little independents out of business, leaving only the big companies like Shell, Exxon, Mobil.

If you call Reagan's treason to hold the hostages until after the election"bitch slapped". Carter was a friend of small business and but it was big business(International corporations, Federal Reserve) that hated him. Yes Soviet and OPEC was mad but what is stronger Carter trying to do something about it or Reagan talking tough and kissing their ass behind the scenes.

That's a crock of shit. Reagan held no office during the hostage crisis. No one knew if he would be elected or not, and the notion that he could have influenced Iran to hold the hostages is utterly ridiculous. That ludicrous scenario was dreamed up by the liberals in an effort to slander Reagan and make Jimmy Carter look less incompetent. Ted Koppel did a series on his "Nightline" show called "Closing in on the October Surprise". He claimed he was going to expose a conspiracy by Reagan to steal the presidency from Carter. He was gonna find the truth, and each week he gave an update on his investigation. Every one of his "leads" ended in a dead end. Finally he gave up but do you think he came on air and said "I found nothing"??? No, he said NOTHING. He just dropped the subject. Koppel wasn't man enough to admit he was wrong. Neither are you.

 

[g5000]

I always assumed he had to deal with a congress of the other party but i just checked and that is false. Democrats had huge majorities in both houses!

During his first two years dems held the senate 61-38 ( 1 indy} and the House 292-143

His next two years it was 58-41 ( 1 indy) and 277-158.

He prolly could have made a lot of changes if he wanted to, but chose not to. I like that. In particular, he didn't start any wars though the bankers and news media tried to push him into a war with the staged Iran hostage crisis of 1979. He was NOT a weak president. He stood up to the war profiteers.

The Democrats won Congress and the White House because of Nixon and Watergate and a huge pile of corruption and underhanded government behavior during his Administration.

However, the Democrats were a suicide cult back then. All they knew how to do was whine and give head to Russia. Much like the GOP today.

The suffocating stagflation was also a major contributor to Carter's malaise, as well as Three Mile Island, the second Arab oil embargo, the Iranian hostage crisis, and the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. One body blow after another did him in.

Carter's solution to the oil embargo was to go on TV and tell all of us to put on sweaters.

Then along came Reagan. Cheery, optimistic, bursting with solutions to our problems. He would be crucified by the GOP of today for not being a hateful whiner and for his willingness to work with Democrats. Plus he had been a Democrat and the President of a labor union. A Hollywood labor union, no less! A guy like that would never be given a chance today by the GOP.

 

[Truthseeker420]

Bullshit! He got bitch slapped by the Ayatollah, and when The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Carter tried to call Breznev and Breznev wouldn't even come to the phone (the "red phone"). Opec screwed him over too. Carter's answer to that was to put price freezes on gas at the retail level. Idiot! He drove all the little independents out of business, leaving only the big companies like Shell, Exxon, Mobil.

If you call Reagan's treason to hold the hostages until after the election"bitch slapped". Carter was a friend of small business and but it was big business(International corporations, Federal Reserve) that hated him. Yes Soviet and OPEC was mad but what is stronger Carter trying to do something about it or Reagan talking tough and kissing their ass behind the scenes.

That's a crock of shit. Reagan held no office during the hostage crisis. No one knew if he would be elected or not, and the notion that he could have influenced Iran to hold the hostages is utterly ridiculous. That ludicrous scenario was dreamed up by the liberals in an effort to slander Reagan and make Jimmy Carter look less incompetent. Ted Koppel did a series on his "Nightline" show called "Closing in on the October Surprise". He claimed he was going to expose a conspiracy by Reagan to steal the presidency from Carter. He was gonna find the truth, and each week he gave an update on his investigation. Every one of his "leads" ended in a dead end. Finally he gave up but do you think he came on air and said "I found nothing"??? No, he said NOTHING. He just dropped the subject. Koppel wasn't man enough to admit he was wrong. Neither are you.

Reagan doesn't have to be President to make promises to Iran.Get nothing for the hostages from Carter or a chance at getting weapons from Reagan if they hold the hostages. That is a clear choice for Iran.

 

[S.J.]

If you call Reagan's treason to hold the hostages until after the election"bitch slapped". Carter was a friend of small business and but it was big business(International corporations, Federal Reserve) that hated him. Yes Soviet and OPEC was mad but what is stronger Carter trying to do something about it or Reagan talking tough and kissing their ass behind the scenes.

That's a crock of shit. Reagan held no office during the hostage crisis. No one knew if he would be elected or not, and the notion that he could have influenced Iran to hold the hostages is utterly ridiculous. That ludicrous scenario was dreamed up by the liberals in an effort to slander Reagan and make Jimmy Carter look less incompetent. Ted Koppel did a series on his "Nightline" show called "Closing in on the October Surprise". He claimed he was going to expose a conspiracy by Reagan to steal the presidency from Carter. He was gonna find the truth, and each week he gave an update on his investigation. Every one of his "leads" ended in a dead end. Finally he gave up but do you think he came on air and said "I found nothing"??? No, he said NOTHING. He just dropped the subject. Koppel wasn't man enough to admit he was wrong. Neither are you.

Reagan doesn't have to be President to make promises to Iran.Get nothing for the hostages from Carter or a chance at getting weapons from Reagan if they hold the hostages. That is a clear choice for Iran.

Let's see the proof. Where's the indictment?

 

[BlindBoo]

Actually...Carter brokered a lasting peace accord between Egypt and Israel ( w Began and Sadat at Camp David) ...something no prez was able to do before... Also was the first to establish a National Energy Policy, established the Panama Canal Treaties, Boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow after the USSR invaded Afghanistan, bailed out Chrysler, signed the Airline deregulation Act, removing gov control of that industry, deregulated the American Beer Industry and had the balls to try rescue U.S.hostages from Iran, although that particular effort didn't work out...
All in all..not to shabby for a 1 term prez, although he seems to be remembered just for that failure and a sucky economy...not his many accomplishments.
He was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and started the Habitat for Humanity Project, which he continues to be involved in...but that was after his presidency.




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Bullshit! He got bitch slapped by the Ayatollah, and when The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Carter tried to call Breznev and Breznev wouldn't even come to the phone (the "red phone"). Opec screwed him over too. Carter's answer to that was to put price freezes on gas at the retail level. Idiot! He drove all the little independents out of business, leaving only the big companies like Shell, Exxon, Mobil.

If you call Reagan's treason to hold the hostages until after the election"bitch slapped". Carter was a friend of small business and but it was big business(International corporations, Federal Reserve) that hated him. Yes Soviet and OPEC was mad but what is stronger Carter trying to do something about it or Reagan talking tough and kissing their ass behind the scenes.

That's a crock of shit. Reagan held no office during the hostage crisis. No one knew if he would be elected or not, and the notion that he could have influenced Iran to hold the hostages is utterly ridiculous. That ludicrous scenario was dreamed up by the liberals in an effort to slander Reagan and make Jimmy Carter look less incompetent. Ted Koppel did a series on his "Nightline" show called "Closing in on the October Surprise". He claimed he was going to expose a conspiracy by Reagan to steal the presidency from Carter. He was gonna find the truth, and each week he gave an update on his investigation. Every one of his "leads" ended in a dead end. Finally he gave up but do you think he came on air and said "I found nothing"??? No, he said NOTHING. He just dropped the subject. Koppel wasn't man enough to admit he was wrong. Neither are you.

His running mate was GWH Bush of the CIA (Cowboy division).

 

[dr.d]

Modern Presidencies (my opinion)
Most overvalued: Reagan
Most undervalued: Carter
Most successful: Clinton
Least successful: GW Bush


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[blackhawk]

Carter was not cut out for the ugly cut throat politics of D.C. he's a decent man who was a bad president.

 

[HenryBHough]

Carter was not cut out for the ugly cut throat politics of D.C. he's a decent man who was a bad president.

And, in his later years, he has become a decent carpenter. Interestingly, though, in developing that skill he did not set out to play at being Jesus. Unlike our most recent "president" who, so far, has failed to assemble even much of a cabinet.

Cabinet assembly successes: HRH Clinton; John F'n Kerry and an assortment of tax dodgers.

 

[Vigilante]

Astonishing how the term "October Surprise" has been turned on its head, to make REAGAN look bad!

The very term "October Surprise" was INVENTED by Reagan aides, and referred to the possibility they feared most: that Jimmy Carter would find SOME way, ANY way, to free the hostages in late October, just in time to get a big bounce in the polls and win re-election.

They had good reason to fear Carter would pull such a stunt. After all, Carter had pulled one stunt after another while fighting off Ted Kennedy in the primaries. Whenever it appeared that Ted Kennedy was going to win a state, word would leak from the WHite House that the hostages were about to be released... Carter would win the primary... and... SURPRISE! The hostages stayed in Iran.

Reagan and his advisors were convinced that Carter would try to play a similar game, and undoubtedly tried hard to spy on the Carter team (maybe even planting some moles there), so they'd know if Carter had some such spring-the-hostages-a-few-days-before-the-election trick in mind.

That's a FAR cry from saying Reagan kept the hostages in Iran. If anything, I suspect the Iranians released the hostages because they shared a silly misconception with American leftists: they thought Reagan was a trigger-happy maniac eager to start a war. The Iranians were AFRAID of Reagan, and released the hostages to avoid ticking off a man widely perceived as a warmonger.

That Reagan was NOT trigger-happy, and that he would prove willing to do business with Iran, to start to repair relations is something the Ayatollahs couldn't possibly have known in 1980.

 

[percysunshine]

Jimmy Carter was well known as an intellectual egghead, I believe his I.Q was thru the roof. I just started a business during his first term, and it was very bad. Carter just couldn't move on any issue. 10 percent unemployment, 22 percent interest rates. Iran kicked him around for a year and a half, 50 hostages being held. He really was just a lousy President. The worst until now.

Carter didn't cause the mass inflation we were experiencing, and Volker's goal to get it under control stymied the economy. It was something that was going to take some time no matter who was in office. Had Carter been re-elected, the economy would have taken off much as it did under Reagan. All too often we actually believe that a president is the reason for a good or bad economy when in fact, most of the time it is just based on cycles. Government can have some affect on the economy, but more often than not, it just takes time for things to turn around.

Volcker raised interest rates sky high and introduced a deliberate recession to cool inflation (or stagflation).

It was a very bold move and not popular politically.

But it's why the economy took off shortly after Reagan took office.

However unemployment was high as a result. So what did Reagan do? Cut taxes.

That didn't work.

So Reagan raised taxes and started spending like crazy. The government started hiring. And lo and behold, unemployment went down.

It was a "miracle".

"The Federal Reserve board led by Volcker raised the federal funds rate, which had averaged 11.2% in 1979, to a peak of 20% in June 1981. The prime rate rose to 21.5% in 1981 as well."

Carter was planting peanuts and drinking Billy beer in 1981.

Just say'n ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Volcker

 

[LeftofLeft]

Carter was terrible for the US economy. While I applauded him attempting to free the hostages in Iraq, I think he could have been more aggressive and hence, successful. I think he showed extreme bitterness when he lost to Reagan.....which carried over to the day Reagan died which I think is pathetic. When I think of Carter, I think of gas lines.

All of that said, I think he accomplished a lot with Middle East Peace in bringing Began and Sadat to the hills of Maryland for an accord.

 

[percysunshine]

Sooo, both Carter and Obama have a Nobel Peace Prize.

Which President earned it?

.

 

[FJO]

Sooo, both Carter and Obama have a Nobel Peace Prize.

Which President earned it?

.

Funny you should ask that.

To answer you, neither of them did, which puts a powerful light on the validity of Nobel Prizes, especially those have to do with economy and politics.

 

[FJO]

Modern Presidencies (my opinion)
Most overvalued: Reagan
Most undervalued: Carter
Most successful: Clinton
Least successful: GW Bush


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You should invest in a book authored by a remarkably unbiased collection of pundits of both liberal and conservative persuasion:

ISBN 0-7432-5433-3 title: Presidential Leadership.

Published in 2004, obviously it will have nothing on more recent presidents.

But commenting on those you quoted, (and those prior to the publication of said book) above, here is the conclusion in the book:

A. Best Presidents:
1. George Washington
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. Franklin Roosevelt

B. Worst presidents:
1. Jimmy Carter
2. Zachary Taylor
3. Ulysses Grant (and this dude has a memorial)

C. Most Controversial president:
1. Bill Clinton
2. Woodrow Wilson
3. Ronald Reagan

D. Most overrated president:
1. John Kennedy
2. Ronald Reagan
3. Woodrow Wilson

E. Most underrated president:
1. Ronald Reagan
2. Calvin Coolidge
3. Dwight Eisenhower

Take it from there. There are many interesting facts (or fables, depending on your point of view) in the book. If there was an update to it chronicling the presidents after the effective date of this book, I would certainly buy it.

 

[Truthseeker420]

That's a crock of shit. Reagan held no office during the hostage crisis. No one knew if he would be elected or not, and the notion that he could have influenced Iran to hold the hostages is utterly ridiculous. That ludicrous scenario was dreamed up by the liberals in an effort to slander Reagan and make Jimmy Carter look less incompetent. Ted Koppel did a series on his "Nightline" show called "Closing in on the October Surprise". He claimed he was going to expose a conspiracy by Reagan to steal the presidency from Carter. He was gonna find the truth, and each week he gave an update on his investigation. Every one of his "leads" ended in a dead end. Finally he gave up but do you think he came on air and said "I found nothing"??? No, he said NOTHING. He just dropped the subject. Koppel wasn't man enough to admit he was wrong. Neither are you.

Reagan doesn't have to be President to make promises to Iran.Get nothing for the hostages from Carter or a chance at getting weapons from Reagan if they hold the hostages. That is a clear choice for Iran.

Let's see the proof. Where's the indictment?

The President of Iran, The Prime Minister of Israel, The Reagan/Bush staff member, The Portuguese Prime Minister who was assassinated by the CIA who said he had documents about the October Surprise....

It doesn't take a genius to make the connection between Iranians who demanded weapons from Carter for the Hostages to Reagan who gave weapons to Iran. And those are facts.

 

[thereisnospoon]

I always assumed he had to deal with a congress of the other party but i just checked and that is false. Democrats had huge majorities in both houses!

During his first two years dems held the senate 61-38 ( 1 indy} and the House 292-143

His next two years it was 58-41 ( 1 indy) and 277-158.

He prolly could have made a lot of changes if he wanted to, but chose not to. I like that. In particular, he didn't start any wars though the bankers and news media tried to push him into a war with the staged Iran hostage crisis of 1979. He was NOT a weak president. He stood up to the war profiteers.

He was unqualified and overwhelmed.
There was an anti GOP backlash due to the Nixon thing. That is the ONLY reason Carter was elected.

 

[S.J.]

Reagan doesn't have to be President to make promises to Iran.Get nothing for the hostages from Carter or a chance at getting weapons from Reagan if they hold the hostages. That is a clear choice for Iran.

Let's see the proof. Where's the indictment?

The President of Iran, The Prime Minister of Israel, The Reagan/Bush staff member, The Portuguese Prime Minister who was assassinated by the CIA who said he had documents about the October Surprise....

It doesn't take a genius to make the connection between Iranians who demanded weapons from Carter for the Hostages to Reagan who gave weapons to Iran. And those are facts.

In other words, you have no fucking proof, just accusations and conspiracy theories that you can't back up.

 

[percysunshine]

Sooo, both Carter and Obama have a Nobel Peace Prize.

Which President earned it?

.

Funny you should ask that.

To answer you, neither of them did, which puts a powerful light on the validity of Nobel Prizes, especially those have to do with economy and politics.

The Egypt/Israel Peace Accord was a low bar accomplishment? Really.

The guy did something right.