[Speed Gibson,
Sunday June 11, 2006 at 8:36am]
The Jimmy Carter Library
As part of a Gray Line tour, I got to visit the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library here in Atlanta, only my second of such places. The first was the Lyndon Johnson Library in Austin, Texas earlier this year.
The trivia was fun, all the election collectibles in particular. Their replica of the Oval Office is at least as impressive as the one at the LBJ library. But otherwise, I wasn't very impressed. We saw a little bit of Mr. Carters formative years in the Navy and early political life, and of course, of Rosalind Carter's family.
But then we had several aisles of accomplishments of President Carter, and he did have some. I remember opposing the Panama Canal treaty at the time, but it appears to me now that Carter was correct. The Camp David accords have also stood the test of time.
But otherwise, I'll agree with Dennis Prager and many others that while not corrupt, the Carter administration was the worst of the Twentieth Century. Carter did not understand the Iranian hostage situation, and his attempts to all but ration gasoline were but one facet of a totally misguided energy policy. We also had stagflation. He perhaps was overly friendly with his Democrat controlled House and Senate, but I can't say that this was all his fault. Indeed, he appointed Paul Volker to the Federal Reserve, even if it was Ronald Reagan that gave him the courage to wring the inflation out of the economy.
Unlike the Johnson library, I didn't think the Carter library was very forthcoming with such failures. That the LBJ exhibits dealt openly with Vietman, protests, and riots gave great credibility to the exhibits showing his career in the Senate and before. I learned much about President Johnson, and came out with a higher opinion of him.
The Carter exhibitors should consider adding a little more candor. Jimmy Carter, yes, was an inept President, and continues to be an irritant to both Democrats and Republicans since, regarding foreign policy. But he was and is a decent, honest man and being a little more forthcoming would only enhance that image.
The trivia was fun, all the election collectibles in particular. Their replica of the Oval Office is at least as impressive as the one at the LBJ library. But otherwise, I wasn't very impressed. We saw a little bit of Mr. Carters formative years in the Navy and early political life, and of course, of Rosalind Carter's family.
But then we had several aisles of accomplishments of President Carter, and he did have some. I remember opposing the Panama Canal treaty at the time, but it appears to me now that Carter was correct. The Camp David accords have also stood the test of time.
But otherwise, I'll agree with Dennis Prager and many others that while not corrupt, the Carter administration was the worst of the Twentieth Century. Carter did not understand the Iranian hostage situation, and his attempts to all but ration gasoline were but one facet of a totally misguided energy policy. We also had stagflation. He perhaps was overly friendly with his Democrat controlled House and Senate, but I can't say that this was all his fault. Indeed, he appointed Paul Volker to the Federal Reserve, even if it was Ronald Reagan that gave him the courage to wring the inflation out of the economy.
Unlike the Johnson library, I didn't think the Carter library was very forthcoming with such failures. That the LBJ exhibits dealt openly with Vietman, protests, and riots gave great credibility to the exhibits showing his career in the Senate and before. I learned much about President Johnson, and came out with a higher opinion of him.
The Carter exhibitors should consider adding a little more candor. Jimmy Carter, yes, was an inept President, and continues to be an irritant to both Democrats and Republicans since, regarding foreign policy. But he was and is a decent, honest man and being a little more forthcoming would only enhance that image.