Southern Pines, N.C.- How should history view President Jimmy Carter? According to historian and Francis Marion University research scholar Dr. Scott Kaufman, the answer is complicated. Kaufman spoke at Campbell University’s annual Kenelm Seminar, Monday, Oct. 19, in Southern Pines, N.C.
Campbell’s annual Kenelm Lecture, founded in 1981, is sponsored by the Department of Government, History and Justice and funded by the Kenelm Foundation of Collingwood, N.J. Seminars are held three times annually at the Weymouth Center in Southern Pines, N.C. and focus on taxation, politics and law.
Called one of the five worst presidents in American history, Jimmy Carter is also ranked among the best, according to surveys, Kaufman said. In 2002, Carter won the Nobel Prize for his initiative to bring peace to the Middle East with the Camp David Accords. His efforts brought Arabs and Jews together and established a framework for peace that had not existed before. The failure of Carter’s political leadership in dealing with inflation, recession and the hostage crisis in Iran served to derail his presidency in many ways, according to Kaufman. When Carter took office in 1977, America was in the middle of an energy crisis. Severe gas shortages, high prices and long lines at the gas pump focused Americans’ outrage on a seemingly endless economic decline. Instead of coming up with ways to solve the problems, Carter delivered his infamous “Crisis of Confidence” speech, essentially blaming Americans for their lack of support and adherence to the American values of hard work and family values. Following that speech, Carters’ approval rating dropped lower that that of Nixon’s during Watergate.
Still Carter could also boast many successes with the Panama Canal treaties ceding authority over the canal back to Panama, the Salt (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) treaties between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, which lessoned the risk of nuclear war, and the Camp David Accords, among others, Kaufman said.
So why is Carter called both underrated and the worst president?
“He didn’t know how to handle a crisis, even though some of the events were out of his control; he was too insulated and refused to compromise with Congress,” Kaufman said.
On the other hand, he didn’t leave the nation with a mass of debt, he was free of scandal and he didn’t get America into an unwinnable war, he added.
“He was not a great president and he wasn’t the worst, probably more than anything else, he was mediocre,” said Kaufman.
Dr. Scott Kaufman is the Francis Marion University Board of Trustees Research Scholar and the author of several books, including “Rosalyn Carter: Equal Partner in the White House,” “The Presidency of James Earl Carter, Jr.,”and “Plans Unraveled: The Foreign Policy of the Carter Administration.” Kaufman also published a children’s book, “Francis Marion: Swamp Fox of South Carolina.”
Photo Copy: Dr. Scott Kaurman delivers Campbell University’s annual Kenelm lecture in Southern Pines on Monday. (Photo by Bennett Scarborough)