Carter was no weak leader

Recently we learned that former American president Jimmy Carter has entered hospice care at age 98.

We should take some time and consider the legacy of this much underrated president and truly decent man.

Many people view former president Carter’s one term in office of 1977-81 as a failure. The U.S. economy was plagued by increasing gas prices, oil shortages and high inflation. (These issues hit all western nations at this time.)

During his administration Iranian terrorists seized the American embassy in Tehran in November 1979, a military operation to free the embassy hostages failed disastrously in April 1980, and the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979.

The political right branded Carter as a weak, unsuccessful president.

Is it true? The evidence shows he was anything but.

First, Carter was bold on the foreign policy front. He refocussed U.S. foreign policy toward emphasizing human rights over dictatorships friendly to American business and political interests. He led attempts to decrease global poverty. He successfully negotiated the return of the Panama Canal to Panama in 1999.

His biggest achievement was the 1978 Camp David Accords negotiated between Carter, and the leaders of Israel and Egypt which brought peace between those two nations. At the time, Egypt was the only Arab nation with a large enough military to destroy Israel.

When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, Carter approved the arming of the Mujahideen, and imposed severe sanctions on the Soviets including an American boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, joined by other western nations including Canada.

He also began a large military buildup to counter the growing aggression of the Soviets.

It is hard to see a weak, ineffective leader in any of these instances.

Carter’s great moral strength really became evident with the Iran hostage crisis.

The crisis was precipitated when Carter approved the deposed shah of Iran entering the U.S. for medical care.

The shah had a poor human rights record as ruler of Iran, however he had been a steadfast ally of the U.S. Carter felt the U.S. had a moral obligation to allow him to receive the best medical care.

In retaliation, Iranian “students” seized the American embassy in Tehran and took 52 hostages.

Many on the right argued for immediate military action which could have led to a massive loss of life. Politically that may have been Carter’s best option.

Instead he insisted on a diplomatic solution to the crisis in order to protect lives.

When that appeared unsuccessful, Carter did authorize a military raid to free the hostages which ended disastrously.

He then appeared before the American people that same night and explained what happened and insisted on accepting full responsibility.

In the end the hostages were freed peacefully.

Far from being weak, Carter’s performance during this crisis showed him to be a very strong, honourable leader.

With high inflation devastating the economy Carter appointed Paul Volker as head of the Federal Reserve Board with a mandate to reduce inflation. Volker did exactly that, although Carter was out of office when inflation was finally defeated.

When he ran for election in 1976, Carter famously promised the American people he would never lie to them. Even his worse critics admitted he had not lied in office.

Can anyone reading this today think of a single Canadian or American elected official in the last 50 years that we could say the same about?

President Jimmy Carter’s administration was, in reality, marked by compassion, decency and unbending honesty. We would be very fortunate to have him in power today.