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July 13, 2010

Obama is the Next Carter?

Many Presidential scholars consider Jimmy Carter one of the smartest people to have ever been in the office of the President for our country. He is praised for his compassion and the way he handled monumental tasks and problems that occurred just prior to and during his Presidency. Yet he is considered a "failure" for the most part by the majority of Americans and was only given one term due to those perceived "failures."

Carter was a little-known Democratic candidate when he decided to run for office. His position as an "outsider" and an agent of change helped to push him quickly to the top of the polls for the Democrats and to the eventual win over Ford for the office.

The scholars point out that many of Carter's initiatives and plans started bearing fruit at the very tail end of his Presidency and into Reagan's first term in office, but it is Reagan who gets the credit for those successes. They mention that NO one who was in office during those four years likely could have done a better job handling the oil/energy crisis, the recession and inflation, the conflict in the Middle East, and the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.

Sound familiar?

Now, we have Obama in office. Like Carter, he comes in with an oil/energy crisis to deal with, a recession and the possibility of run-away inflation, a conflict in the Middle East, and armed conflict in Afghanistan. He is working hard to make sure inflation doesn't kill the already bad economy by artificially keeping interest rates low and creating work projects. He is trying to improve the economy by regulating banking and convincing Americans to spend money on Americans. He is trying to curb American oil dependence on the Middle East and encourage more research on alternative energy sources. He is trying to figure out a more peaceful solution to the Middle East. He is left with Americans being engaged in an unpopular war in a foreign land and having to clean up the mess of an armed conflict in Afghanistan.

So, basically, we have Obama nearly exactly reliving Carter's Presidency. And I'm getting the not-so-subtle feeling that, like Carter, Obama's changes won't really bear fruit for another year or so but, by then, it will be too late and the people will want anyone else in the office, regardless of party. Whomever wins the next election will then take credit for the improved economy (even though it started to improve before he was elected) and other initiatives that Obama has and will put in place, and will be seen as a savior and a great leader by Americans.

I hope I'm wrong. But history is suggesting I'm not. With luck, our next President will be as smart and successful as Reagan was at a) not touching his predecessor's plans so they keep working, b) implementing new plans that keep the old ball rolling for a good long time, c) making Americans believe in themselves and the country again, and d) improving the country's standing among the world's leaders once again.

If this all comes to pass, I hope that Obama can go on to be as successful as Carter outside the office. Carter's humanitarian efforts are considered some of the best post-Presidency work of any person to hold the office. Some would argue he is the most successful former President to ever hold the office.

1 comment:

  1. Your perspective of Obama is interesting as I see a totally opposite person occupying the White House. I see a charismatic man with few credentials and limited political experience in a notoriously corrupt Illinois government who was packaged in the most extensive and successful PR campaign in decades. The election came down to either the first woman or the first black man, and the people behind the A-A candidate had "something" on the Clintons that knocked Hillary out of the race. Once McCain selected Palin as his running mate, it was a win for the first A-A president.

    He is fumbling his way through his tenure, rather than leading the country. When he should be transparent, he is suspiciously hidden behind his phalanx of people who speak for him. He is a divisive force, not the president of unity that we were all looking toward, selecting people to work in the administration who have either questionable credentials or strong political biases that they make little, if any effort, to temper. He speaks well when the teleprompter is working, and cannot articulate a coherent sentence when it fails.

    Obama is a product sold to the American public, but his shelf life is limited because he's not the product people thought they were buying. Fool me once, shame on you: fool me twice, shame on me.

    *chiessl

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