The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter’s presidency was a brief but intense 4 years in the history of the United States. The sandwich between the chaotic terms of Richard Nixon’s Watergate scandal, the foreign policy aggressiveness of Ronald Reagan, and the political charisma of Bill Clinton made Carter’s presidency seem like a failed experiment.

Carter was an outsider from the first day he ran for office, his “outsider” sentiments were welcome in an anxious America still reeling from the Watergate Scandal and the Vietnam War. His southern roots connected him to progressive and liberal democrats, and he promised to be a leader who could bring a peaceful end to the Vietnam War and lead America through the turbulent times.

Despite his promising platform, the 1977-80 Carter administration had some very difficult decisions to tackle. Because of the poor international relationships between the US and the Middle East following the fall of the Shah of Iran and the Iranian revolution, Carter needed to broker a peace between the warring factions. The Camp David Accord provided some promise of stability in the Middle East, but it also caused contention in the US due to the strong-arming of Israel and the support of the Muslim countries.

The Carter presidency also saw the height of the Cold War, as many believed that prominent American adversaries like the Soviet Union and Cuba had an increasing influence in Central and South American countries. In response, the Carter administration created programs like US foreign aid to combat the spread of Communism throughout the region.

The economic position of the US was also seen as a major concern of the Carter administration. Inflation spiked along with unemployment, leading to the passing of Carter’s infamous Economic Recovery Tax Act.

Carter was also quickly challenged with the energy crisis. He proposed a energy independence plan to increase the US production of oil, but it also caused tension amongst other energy-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia. Carter’s plan was ultimately unsuccessful, and he ended up backing a ban on crude oil imports in an effort to combat inflation.

The most consequence of Carter’s presidency, however, was not in economics, nor its foreign policy, but in its social structure. Carter was the first post-Vietnam War president and he initiated a push to move forward and forget the disagreements of the past. Carter’s call for a new era of morality, integrity and justice was an attempt to reconcile the divisions between people through a culture of mutual respect.

Though the Carter presidency was cut short due to the election of Ronald Reagan, many of the legacies remain to this day. Several of his initiatives such as the Economic Recovery Tax Act were adopted by subsequent presidents, and his emphasis on human rights and foreign policy has been used as a model for future presidents. Carter’s presidency may have been relatively short compared to the terms of other presidents, but its impact will be felt for many decades to come.