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Title: The Presidency of James Earl Carter, Jr. by Burton I. Kaufman ISBN: 0-7006-0573-8 Publisher: Univ Pr of Kansas Pub. Date: March, 1993 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)
Rating: 5
Summary: Carter as he was, mostly failure but some major successes
Comment: Several years ago, a young co-worker asked me about Jimmy Carter and my response was that he was a much better ex-president than he was a president. His subsequent work in areas such as Habitat for Humanity as well as international relations has been excellent. He has served as a goodwill ambassador, election monitor and has negotiated several international agreements that favored the United States. He has also continued to be a champion of human rights causes throughout the world.
Contrasting his success after his presidency with his performance while in office demonstrates the reasons why his presidency is generally assigned a mediocre grade. His idealism in championing human rights was the most obvious example of the truism that idealism may help get you elected, but it gets in the way of governing effectively. In the age of the cold war and international tensions, a cold, heartless pragmatism seems to be the only thing that works.
I found Kaufman's explanations of the Carter presidency to be the most even-handed and honest that I have read. Carter made many mistakes, had some made for him and in other cases was just the victim of circumstances. Nevertheless, he did have some striking successes, the two most notable being the Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt and the treaty relinquishing the Panama canal. In these events, Carter showed how much potential he really had as a president. I remember when the networks pre-empted their regular programming as Carter, Sadat and Begin came back from Camp David with the agreement in hand. It was a stunning achievement and it amazed the world. The magic of that moment is captured in the book, as well as the subsequent problems that continue to plague the region. Despite all the violence in the area of Palestine and Lebanon in the years since the accords were signed, the fact that Israel and Egypt still continue to have formal relations and are at peace show how sturdy those agreements are.
As someone who lived through those years and followed the Carter presidency in great detail, reading this book brought back a great deal of memories. Without attempting to boast, I do have an excellent memory, and the recounting of the events are all exactly as I remember them.
The author closes with a very important and often overlooked point. Carter's presidency is considered a failure, and yet he refused to negotiate away anything in order to release the hostages in Iran. Reagan's presidency is considered a success and yet he attempted a bribe for the release of the hostages in Lebanon by selling armaments to Iran. There is no doubt that on that point, Carter bests Reagan.
I would like to close this review with a personal point. Yes, Carter's pushing of human rights did create problems. But, when you consider that some of those whose rights were being violated, Walesa in Poland and Havel in the Czech Republic, rose to the leadership of their nations, perhaps he was just ahead of his time.
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Title: The Presidency of Gerald R. Ford (American Presidency Series) by John Robert Greene ISBN: 0700606394 Publisher: Univ Pr of Kansas Pub. Date: January, 1995 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Presidency of Richard Nixon (American Presidency Series) by Melvin Small ISBN: 0700612556 Publisher: Univ Pr of Kansas Pub. Date: June, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House by Douglas Brinkley ISBN: 0140276165 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: May, 1999 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: The Presidency of George Bush (American Presidency Series) by John Robert Greene, John Robert Green ISBN: 0700609938 Publisher: Univ Pr of Kansas Pub. Date: January, 2000 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: The Presidency of John F. Kennedy (American Presidency Series) by James N. Giglio ISBN: 0700605207 Publisher: Univ Pr of Kansas Pub. Date: January, 1992 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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